PART I: Love Doesn't Ask Why

Love doesn't ask why,
It speaks from the heart,
Never explains.

...

"It's a girl!" Denna smiled as she held the newborn child in her arms.

Dennee was exhausted, she had been in labor for hours and it was finally over. It hadn't been any easier on Denna though, having had to deliver the child. Denna had absolutely no experience in such a situation and she freaked out on Dennee several times during the process, but through all the pain and the screaming, the two of them managed to get through it. A new life had begun, and the world as they knew it would never be the same.

Denna cleaned the newborn Confessor to the best of her ability before bringing her to Dennee. The Mord'Sith felt oddly attached to the child and refused, if only briefly, to hand the newborn over to her partner. When Dennee took her into her arms, the Mord'Sith felt… something she could never explain.

"Hello beautiful." Dennee spoke to the miracle child, her voice nearly inaudible as she attempted to catch her breath.

"She has your lips," Denna whispered.

"And your eyes." Dennee smiled.

"Are you sure?" she almost chuckled, "Our eyes are so similar."

Dennee let out a little chuckle. "Well, she definitely has your hair."

Denna touched the top of her head as she looked down at the nearly bald baby in the Confessor's arms. "Very funny," she frowned.

Dennee looked over to her briefly, a thin smirk on her lips.

The Mord'Sith rolled her big blue eyes before moving closer to the Confessors that now made up what she could call her family. She sat next to Dennee, smiling down at the little person they had made together.

She brought her bare hand out, needing more than anything to touch the flesh of pure innocence once more. She could hardly imagine she had ever been so fragile herself… having been taken to the temple – her new 'family' – at no more than three years of age. Tiny fingers soon wrapped themselves around her finger. It was as if the little Confessor could sense the inner pain this Mord'Sith felt. At that very moment, Denna knew that she would never – ever let anything like that happen to her child. This child would grow up in far better conditions than either of her mothers had. There would be no hate, only… love. And if there was one thing Denna had learned from her partner, it was most definitely how to love… and be loved.

"What will we call her?" Dennee asked, breaking the Mord'Sith from her thoughts.

"What?" Denna tilted her head ever so slightly, clearly lost.

"She needs a name." Dennee knew something was weighing on her lover, but she dared not bring it up, at least not quite yet.

"She's as beautiful as her mother," Denna smiled down at their child, knowing all too well that Dennee was looking at her as she spoke, her large eyes would be glistening at this very moment. "It seems only fitting, that she be named after her." She knew Dennee was fighting the urge to attack her with an excited hug, so she added, "We will name her Denna Jr." She turned to look at Dennee, with the most conniving smirk she could offer.

Dennee's jaw dropped. "Oh no," she shook her head. "I'm the one that carried her for nine months, I'm her mother. Which would make this precious little girl Dennee Jr., of course."

"Oh, really?" Denna raised her brow, "And that would make me what exactly? She's my child too."

"You're her father, obviously." The Confessor shrugged.

Denna stared at her blankly for a moment.

Dennee acted as though she was too preoccupied with the bundle in her arms to notice, but inside, she was laughing.

"Do I look like a man to you?" Denna spoke, at last. Gripping one of her agiels to control herself.

"Well," Dennee shrugged once more, "If the boot fits…"

"Oh," The Mord'Sith tilted her head ever so slightly, the pain of the agiel comforting her nerves only slightly, "If you weren't holding our baby right now…"

Dennee turned her head to look at her, waiting for her to finish her 'threat'.

"I would agiel you so hard." Her eyes narrowed as her low, sultry voice spoke.

"Would you now?" The Confessor licked her lower lip tentatively, clearly displaying her thirst for the 'torture'.

The Mord'Sith shook her head in faked despair, "I can't even scare you with my agiels anymore?"

"Depends what you mean by 'scare'" she winked.

Denna bit her lip to stop herself from laughing.

Smiling, Dennee returned her gaze to the infant in her arms and hummed quietly to their daughter, rocking her ever so gently.

The blonde woman leaned her head on her lover's shoulder, allowing herself to feel the soothing movement the Confessors shared. She closed her eyes as the three of them swayed in rhythm. It wasn't long before her mind began to wander off, back into that painful place. Being in this peaceful room with the two most beautiful people she had ever known, she almost felt she could cry without consequence – almost.

Having spent the past few years with Dennee Amnell, one would think the Mord'Sith might have brought down her defenses in a larger sense. But that hadn't been the case for Denna. There had been some weak moments, sure, but opening up was a daily struggle for this Sister of the Agiel. Deep in her heart, she trusted the Confessor wholly and completely, but there was always that part of her, the root of her Mord'Sith nature, that would not allow her to break free.

The soothing motion had led the tiny Confessor into a peaceful sleep, lovingly cradled by her Confessor mother.

Dennee removed one hand from under their unnamed baby and gently placed it over her lover's. "What is it?" She asked softly, "Something is weighing on you, I can tell." She winked in attempt to lighten the weight on her lover. "Whatever it is, you know you can tell me."

Denna, fighting the urge to weep, shook her head slightly.

"Please Denna." Dennee pleaded with that look in her eyes; the look that made Denna weak in the knees – not that she would ever admit it.

"I don't –" her voice cracked and she wanted to punish herself for it, but Dennee squeezed her hand gently and just like that, the walls around her weakened. "I don't want her to suffer the way we did. I want her to…"

"Have a childhood? A real childhood?" Dennee completed her sentence, letting her know she shared her thoughts.

"Yes." Denna whispered back.

Noticing the unintentional sigh that had escaped her lover's lips, the Confessor pulled Denna's hand with her own to lie under the child as she slept. "She will."

After a long, serene silence, Denna whispered. "She still needs a name."

"I know." The Confessor purred.

"Something with… meaning."

"To both of us." Dennee added.

"Exactly."

"Like Kahlan." Dennee teased.

At the mention of the name, Denna jolted upright. "That is not even a little funny." She spoke without even the slightest attempt to mask her hatred for the name.

"Shhhh, not so loud!" The Confessor warned, "You'll wake Kahlan."

"We are not naming our daughter Kahlan." Denna glared, with little effort to lower her tone. "That would be like naming her Cara!"

Dennee gasped. "She killed my first born, my mate, my sisters, and me! How dare you suggest that disgusting name?"

"And your sister tried to kill me twice." Denna stared her in the eyes, knowing full well her point had been made, but still she felt the need to add, "And if she knew about us, about this child – she would kill us all."

And though she knew those words needed to be spoken, the Mord'Sith regretted them the instant she saw that single tear fall from her lover's deep blue eyes.

"I… I'm sorry." Denna's voice cracked.

"No." Dennee's voice had been reduced to that of a sobbing young child as she forced the words from her lips, "You're right. I'm sorry."

"I…" Denna brought a hand up to wipe her lover's tears. She couldn't quite explain what it was about Dennee Amnell that made her so incredibly vulnerable, no one else could invoke pain within her the way she could. She wouldn't even have to lift a finger, she didn't even have to try, it was simply the way she would suffer in silence, with nothing but her eyes to betray her mask of confidence. Seeing the pain in those beautiful eyes of hers was worse than any torture the Mord'Sith had ever endured – more painful than anything she could ever do to her pets. "I l-love you."

"And I love you." Dennee said with so much ease that it made a chill run down Denna's spine.

The blonde mother smiled before leaning in for a sweet taste of her lover's lips.

When their lips parted, it suddenly dawned on Denna, "our names are so similar…"

"Wow." Dennee's voice dropped down in sarcasm. "We've been together for three years, and you're just now realizing this?" she shook her head, "And all this time I thought what they said about blondes was a myth…"

Just as she finished her sentence, she felt a firm hand hard against the back of her head.

"Ow!" she whined, though she failed to mask the hint of playfulness in her voice.

"Need I remind you, Ms. Amnell," Denna's voice was flat with annoyance, "that you yourself were a blonde when we first met."

Dennee glared at the Mord'Sith. "I'm not that person anymore. Different body, different life." She stuck her tongue out like a bratty eight year old.

Denna rolled her eyes, "I did have a point to make."

"I see you have two." The Confessor smirked, her gaze falling to her leather clad chest.

"As do you, mom." Denna returned her smirk as she wrapped a hand around her lover's breast squeezing it tenderly. She gasped in shock as warm liquid created a circle around the breast in her hand.

The two women looked at one another for a moment before bursting into laughter.

When their laughter had finally subsided, the Mord'Sith began to mumble, "DenDee… Deena… Den… Dee…"

The Confessor raised her brow, quite disturbed by whatever it was that her lover was doing. Denna however, did not seem to notice the strange look she had been receiving, and thus, the Confessor felt the need to verbalize her thoughts, "What are you doing?"

The blonde stared at her for a moment, as if she had been in a completely different world. But when she saw Dennee's expression, she answered as though it should be obvious, "I'm trying to combine our names."

Dennee stared blankly at the mumbling mother.

"So we can name our child." She added, as though her thoughts should be easily known by her partner.

"That is the dumbest thing I've ever –" she paused suddenly, as if lightning had struck, and then excitedly added, "Dennea!"

"Oh! I like that one!" she smiled before mumbling to herself, "I would have thought of it eventually."

"No you wouldn't." she scoffed. "Admit it, I'm a genius!" she teased in that charmingly conniving way she often did.

"What?" the blonde gasped, "But combining our names was my idea!"

The Confessor rolled her eyes and nudged her lover's shoulder.

"So we're agreed then? Dennea Amnell." The Confessor asked, looking down at the beauty that slept peacefully in their arms.

"Yes, I'd say we are." She sighed inadvertently and then quickly grinned, "That would make you the father, not me."

The brunette furrowed her brow in confusion.

"She's taking your family name, not mine." She smirked. "And if we were ever to…" she hesitated briefly, "be wed, then I as well, would be taking your name."

"You're talking marriage, DenDen." She grinned, while inside she felt a nagging pain in her chest, knowing full well how much it hurt her lover, to not even know her birth family's name.

"Not that I would ever marry you." She teased.

"You say that like I would ever say 'yes', if you had the guts to ask, that is." The Confessor challenged.

"Oh," she narrowed her eyes in response, "like you could ever resist being attached to this sexy beast."

"Just watch me," she brought her lips within an inch of her lover's. "Go on, ask."

Denna swallowed the lump in her throat, all too tempted by the breath they were now sharing. It wasn't long before she felt it though, that threatening pinch in her chest, the one that always seemed to control her. No matter how hard she fought, the old Denna always won.

She shook her head slightly and released a deep, silky whisper, "Oh no, it doesn't work that way, love."

They stared deep into each other's eyes, neither willing to break their gaze.

But before either of them could say another word, the door burst open, sending a sharp panic through their veins

...
A/N: Just a heads up, that this fic will only have 4 parts/chapters. Unfortunately, it may be a while before I can post part 2... Exams and all... But I'd love to know what you think so far!