No Wish to be Alone
Chapter 6
She woke, alone, to the
cheerful babble of the stream and the songs of morning birds. It took a moment
for her to get her bearings. She was lying on his coat, which he had somehow
managed to spread beneath them. Her hair was somewhat disheveled, and she was
still wearing the sleeveless pink dress, but her red jacket had been tossed
aside carelessly. She retrieved it from where it lay in a crumpled heap and
shook it out, noticing with a grimace that a few buttons on her dress had been
undone, and some were actually missing from the jacket as though they'd been
torn off. She felt a jolt go through her at the memory of his caresses, the
scent of his skin, the comforting pressure of his arms around her...
The sound of something
whipping through the air brought her back to her senses. She scrambled to her
feet, gathering their coats in her arms. Making her way back to the camp, she
smiled wryly at the thought that they hadn’t even stayed there. The sounds of
his katas grew louder as she approached their neglected bedrolls. She came from
behind a flowering bush to find herself face-to-face with the deadly point of Masamune’s blade. They both froze for a moment, then the
blade was sheathed and he was crossing the distance to her. He looked terrified
and his body shook as he pulled her into his arms. She found herself reassuring
him, telling him it was all right, she was unharmed.
His face was wet, she
realized, and she pulled back a bit to stare in wonder at what she was surely
the only living being to ever see. He was crying! It was certainly the only way
she ever would imagine him crying. His face didn’t redden, his nose didn’t run;
instead, his Mako eyes filled with crystal clear tears that ran down the smooth
planes of his face. His expression was one of pure misery.
"I—I can’t believe I
almost—," he choked on the words. Her hands went to either side of his
face, forcing him to look at her.
"It’s all right, I’m
fine! You didn’t hurt me!" she soothed, "It was an accident. I. Am.
All. Right."
He leaned down, touching his
forehead to hers. "For a moment, I thought...I remembered what SHE wanted
me to do...," His green eyes searched hers, as though trying to find any
glimmer of censure in them. "...I can’t become that beast again. As I got
closer to you, in the
She saw he was about to turn
away from her, and she decided to take control of the situation. Standing on
her tiptoes, she put her arms about his neck and kissed him. He is surprised,
she thought, Hmmm...my poor brave warrior...I
suppose I’ll have to watch out for you, too. She chuckled against his
mouth. He broke the kiss long enough to look at her, startled. Then, finally,
he, too, grinned.
"I’m acting like a fool,
aren’t I?" He sighed, letting her wipe the tears away. "Ah,
well...just make sure you don’t tell anyone about this. I wouldn’t want it
getting out that I’m just a big baby..."
"Hmmm...now I have something for blackmail—oh!" She gasped as
he picked her up and hugged her close. "Um, well, I guess I can keep a
secret."
*****
They spent the day relaxing by
the stream. He didn’t need the break; he could run tirelessly for hours, as he
had when he saved her from her friend. However, she was still not used to traveling,
and the pace he had made her keep up to this point had been grueling. He sat by
the bank of the stream, coat and boots beside him, clad only in his black
pants. He watched her now, playing in the stream again. She was an interesting
mix of beautiful woman and innocent child. He wondered if she realized the
immense potential she had for wielding magic on a very high level. She
intrigued him.
Unaware of his measuring gaze,
she waded in the stream. She loved the way the water felt as it rushed past her
bare legs. Her skirt was caught up above her knees, tied with her bedraggled
hair ribbon. She had washed her hair in the stream that morning, and now it
hung in a damp, unsecured braid down her back. When she got tired of walking on
the stones, she stretched out on a flat rock that made up part of the small
rapids. The face of the rock was dry and warm, heated by the sun. In no time at
all, she was asleep.
*****
She was wakened by the sound
of thunder. The sunny day had turned cloudy, the warm breeze now held a touch
of ice. All the colours around her seemed muted, and
the birds no longer sang. She sat up, rubbing her eyes and blinking. Confused,
she looked over to where he had been sitting earlier in the day, to find him
missing. Better get back to the camp, she thought, Maybe
he’s gone to make sure we don’t lose anything to the wind.
The water was now much, much
colder than it had been, and she gasped when her feet got wet. She made her way
to the bank, dried off her feet and let her skirt back down, then headed down
the path to their camp. When she got there, her mouth dropped open in surprise
and shock.
The clearing was empty.
He was gone, and had taken
everything with him.
She was alone again.
Alone.
The storm broke over the
valley.
The first bolt of lightning
hit the ground not far from her, galvanizing her into action. She ran back to
the water and huddled under the willow tree, soaked to the skin and freezing
cold. Her tears mingled with the rain that filtered down through the leaves,
landing on her face. She sobbed dejectedly throughout the storm, feeling a
sense of loss as acute as though someone she loved had died.
"He couldn’t have left
me," she made herself say, "He wouldn’t have left me alone..."
The Planet was, strangely, silent.
Not a whisper, not a hint, not a note of music...just...nothing.
Then she heard a woman’s
harsh, mocking laughter.
This is a dream, she said to herself, wake up. Wake
Up! WAKE UP!!
*****
"...wake up! Come on,
love, you need to open your eyes!" His hands gripped her shoulders,
shaking her gently. His heart skipped a beat as her eyelids fluttered. When she
finally looked up at him dazedly, he could have wept again at the joy in her
expression. She threw her arms around him and burst into tears.
"It...was...h-horrible!"
she cried, burying her face in his neck. "I—I was alone, and you had gone,
an-and a storm...and a woman was l-laughing at me!" Oh, he smelled so
good, like air, and grass, and leather...and she was warm again.
A woman,
hmm? He
thought, My ‘mother’, perhaps? He had
believed this place safe from her mental intrusion, but she was apparently
growing in power. He sighed, hugging the girl closer to him. "Let’s go
back to shore," he said, kissing the top of her head and inhaling the
scent of her hair.