A/N: Why no Cara/Nicci, LotS fandom? I think they'd be an awesome power couple.
Series finale (boo) spoilers, it branches into AU somewhere around the middle of the episode. It also contains some minor book!Nicci references.
This story makes Cara a bit OOC at the end, and I apologize for that. I really want her to show the new expert comforting skills she learned from Richard, Kahlan, and Zedd to someone. Read and review.
XXXXX
In a twisted way, it satisfies Cara that Nicci is repentant. It makes her proud of her decision to bring the Sister of the Dark back to the living world instead of leaving her a lovely corpse in the straw of a barn in some rotting village.
xXx
Though she would never admit it to anyone, Cara felt a sting of guilt when her bowstring twanged and Nicci slumped to the ground. It reminded her of Denna and countless others that never used to plague her conscious, but now prickled deep in her chest. As they entered the abandoned barn at the edge of the village, she reasoned that she'd been around Richard and Kahlan too long.
"Could you control her?" asked Zedd, looking despondently at the motionless Sister.
"Of course, wizard," Cara haughtily responded. "Do you think Richard would be upset if I left her dead?"
Zedd slowly nodded his white-haired head. "She could be salvaged, especially after seeing the wonders worked with you."
Dropping to her knees, Cara frowned. The arrow still jutted unceremoniously from Nicci's neck, but she pulled it out with a slick popping noise, casting it to the side. She leaned over the body as she said, "Don't flatter those two. I listen to Richard and Kahlan because it suits me." Her face closed the gap to Nicci's, lips pressed hard together, and she exhaled, feeling strangely relieved when the woman below her whimpered.
She claimed it wasn't because the troubled eyes and blonde hair reminded her of Dahlia.
Cara claimed that, but it wasn't true.
xXx
She kissed her so brutally that Nicci had bruised for three days after returning to life, and Zedd had shuffled awkwardly on his feet when Cara's lips met their target. The mark was a sign of Nicci's failure, and of her new emptiness. While Cara had never intended it, the purplish blotches suited her new allegiance, or at least her dark infidelity to the Keeper.
It also satisfies Cara that Nicci is ashamed to meet her eye, even when Zedd expresses a deep interest in her magical knowledge and Richard smiles from his place by Kahlan's side. Nicci's blackened charcoal eyeliner makes a perfect barrier from Cara's discerning, harsh glances, but no amount of Han or spells can protect her from the Mord-Sith's hawk-gaze.
Nicci surreptitiously glances up. The woman in red smiles cavalierly in response. Cara had taken control of her magic the second she had woken, and Nicci isn't eager to remember anything about what happened earlier that day.
xXx
Nicci gasped awake, inadvertently clutching the leather straps of Cara's armor, clinging to anything but the hell from where she had escaped. Her neck contorted painfully as one hand flew to the sore wound in her throat, the one that Zedd healed efficiently and gently.
Cara thought he was being kinder than he needed to be.
Women like Nicci did not learn their lessons until they had known true cruelty. Cara knew this because she had once been the epitome of the stereotype locked in Darken Rahl's dungeons. She learned the pain of having to kill when death was her only desire, and it made her stronger than any other Mord-Sith. She may not have been as patient as Denna, but Cara could inflict pain like none of her sisters.
But even with her years of training, Cara couldn't bring herself to mock the other woman, still heaving on the ground, sweat staining the hay beneath her.
Nicci's eyes poured tears, body racked with sobs of fear like she had never shown before in her life. The shaking sorceress did not release her grip on her savior, disturbing Cara's psyche enough to silence her with an Agiel to the temple.
xXx
With one extended palm, Cara had stripped the most powerful sorceress in the world of her abilities. Nicci would never again be able to control the Mother Confessor through an ancient maternity spell. Her war-magic would never be used against Zedd; she had no more elemental tricks up her sleeve. Richard would never have to worry about black lightning winding through his heart. After all, Nicci could hardly breathe too deeply without Cara's permission these last few hours.
They sit at a campfire, late in the evening, roasting a boar over a shallow pit. Kahlan stares at Nicci, mournful and bitter in the same way she was when Cara was a foe, and Nicci does her best not to flee into herself. She still puts on an air of nobility, but the dirt on the hem of her black dress mars the illusion.
She obviously wants to be strong again, and she obviously wishes she could be anywhere but here, but Nicci tries for a reason she doesn't understand to be wanted by the Seeker and his team. She blames it on Richard's kindness at first, but she cannot explain her lingering feelings when his attention is elsewhere.
Cara half-smirks as she sharpens one of Kahlan's daggers, finger expertly wrapped around the small grinding stone.
A spark flies, and Nicci's eyes dart cautiously to the Mord-Sith. Her sharp features scowl when Cara snickers, obviously amused by her discomfort. The edginess of their campsite leaves only Richard unaffected. The man could find no evil in the Keeper himself. He lightly touches Nicci's shoulder and hands her a cut of meat, steaming and smelling delicious. She accepts with a small word of gratitude. Even hundreds of years as an ancient sorceress has not stripped Nicci of her dignified upbringing, and she was clearly raised to be polite.
"No soup and salad, Lord Rahl?" Cara drawls. She bites greedily into the boar when he hands her a slice, never losing her sight of Nicci.
"Not today," says Richard. He smiles reassuringly. "Maybe tomorrow I'll make a six course meal." Kahlan smiles graciously, Cara rolls her eyes and Zedd dives into the subject head first, hoping beyond hope that Richard isn't being facetious.
"Would you really, my boy? That would be a sight for a sore stomach," Zedd says.
Gingerly eating her meat, Nicci struggles to comprehend why the First Wizard and not-quite-Mord-Sith even bothered reviving her.
xXx
She had woken groggily, slung over the flanks of a large brown stallion, blood dripping into her eyes from her stinging temple.
The four of them walked slowly, wearily, to Zedd and Cara's horses. Richard's dusty face could not hide his smile, but Kahlan's concerned eyes landed on Nicci, erasing all the joy from her visage. She gasped lightly, but Zedd laid a hand on her tense shoulder.
"We couldn't leave her there," he mumbled. "Darken Rahl might've taken her, or someone worse. And besides," Zedd playfully winked to her, "Cara took pity on the poor soul and extended her mercy."
Cara punched his arm none too lightly and growled, "I've never had a pet Sister of the Dark before, and I'm thinking of expanding my collection." She sauntered to the horse, leaves crunching beneath her red boots, and leaned against the saddle. She pulled the sticky strands of hair from Nicci's bloody face.
"Isn't that right, pet?" she asked.
When Nicci remained silent, Cara smiled. She lolled her head sideways, catching Richard's attention. The Seeker sighed and began to untie the Sister, "No, Cara, you don't need any more pets but chipmunks. Nicci is free to go and live her own life. Everyone deserves a second chance."
Zedd mumbled something about this being far beyond her second chance if counting her first body, but no one noticed.
"Lord Rahl!" Cara complained. She thrust her fists against her hips and set her jaw. "You take all the fun from my life."
Kahlan sidled next to the horse, piercing blue eyes locked onto Nicci. "Where will you go?" she asked. She did not wear her Confessor's mask, and for once, it frightened Nicci more to see her tender side. She wondered if the maternity spell had latent after-effects, because there was no other explanation for Kahlan's sudden worry for her.
Nicci slid from the horse, stumbling ungracefully into Richard. When she righted herself, her eyes were wet again. She was so ashamed, so embarrassed to have become an object of pity. But really, for all her former power, Nicci had nowhere to go.
She would be safer with her old enemies, she knew, but she could never ask to remain with them after what she had done. Disappearing or dying would be better alternatives.
An awkward pause enveloped the group.
Cara's full lips twitched. "No, I'm not letting her leave. She comes with us until I think she's learned her lesson."
The other three smiled, and Nicci didn't understand until later that Cara had just saved her life for the second time that day.
xXx
Around the campfire, Kahlan is laughing about something Nicci didn't hear, and Richard plants a happy kiss on her forehead. Even Cara manages to crack a smile, and Zedd nudges her with an apple for her trouble. Glowering, Cara accepts. He snorts at her disdain, but she takes the apple anyway.
Nicci does not understand them at all.
They act as if Richard had not been stabbed to death by his lover earlier that day.
They act as if Kahlan had not been possessed with the evil in Nicci's heart by a spell that even Zedd couldn't fathom. They act as if Cara had not kissed a bruise onto the lips of one of their greatest enemies to return her to life.
Cara sees Nicci's thoughtful gaze and tosses her the red apple in her hand.
"Still hungry?" she sharply asks. Nicci barely catches the fruit in time, and when she looks up again, Cara is hovering ominously above her.
The former Sister of the Light, former Sister of the Dark, former enemy of the Seeker leans back anxiously. Their close proximity makes Nicci feel like she's about to be hurt. Richard looks stern, hand reaching unconsciously to the Sword of Truth.
"Nicci and I will take first watch," Cara says. She sits on the fallen log beside the other blonde. "That way Richard and Kahlan can take the other three, since I'm sure they have so much to discuss."
Kahlan blushes and Richard grins, but they both consent to Cara's plan. Zedd doesn't even offer his services, knowing full well they will be refused.
By the time they have all laid out their bedrolls and fallen under the curse of their exhaustion, the stars glow brightly in the sky. Cara slouches on the log, unmoved from her previous position. It unnerves Nicci how still the other woman can be, but she does her best not let it show on her face.
Nicci was educated in a palace full of bitches and subtle threats, and she is not about to let a single woman topple her resolve, even if she owes her life to the Mord-Sith in question.
"If I were in your shoes, I would hate me right now," Cara says lowly and without preamble. The sound of her voice makes Nicci jump, but she delicately arches her eyebrows instead of responding. She doesn't know what to say.
"Better to die than be here," Cara continues. Her straight blonde hair falls from her shoulder as she turns. She says, "You still have blood on your face."
Nicci seethes, "And who put it there?"
"The same person who saved you," Cara spits. Her pearly teeth shine in the moonlight, making her grimace a little lovelier than she probably intended. "It's fine though," she calms her voice. "I would hate me too."
xXx
The calm, green hues of the Underworld juxtaposed the blistering pain that sliced across Nicci's body. It seemed the Keeper had been waiting for his favorite traitor to return to his hellish home.
Nicci shrieked, naked body writhing in agony. She was hardly aware of the other souls around her, equally nude but lacking the muscle-ripping torture that haunted her. She bit through the skin of her lips.
Her fingers cracked reflexively backwards, bones snapping, until her eyes felt ready to burst from her skull. The Keeper said not a word to his once faithful Sister, but she could hear the echoes of his prophesies, his commands, over the sound of her own shrill screams.
"Please!" she begged, but he didn't allow another word to form. Nicci arched her back as the deadly burn dripped down her spine to an endless death that would never arrive.
Then suddenly, she was awake.
Suddenly, Cara knelt over her and all the pain was gone.
xXx
Nicci stands abruptly, fists balled so tightly her nails drive deep into her palms. "You don't know how it felt!" she shouts.
Cara's hands clamp unforgivingly over her mouth as she hisses, "You'll wake them!"
When Nicci pulls away, mouth still tender from the Breath of Life, Cara follows her backwards, moving in a dance-step that she only uses for fighting.
"I think I know more than you give me credit for knowing, Nicci," she says throatily. Her grip wraps around Nicci's thin wrist, preventing her from escaping, and it irritates her in a way she can't begin to fathom. "I think the Keeper would've made you regret every single thought you've ever had, and then he would have repeated the story until your soul dissolved into nothing. Don't bellyache that I don't understand. You're not the only one here who's died."
Cara steps closer, lips inches from Nicci's. The back of Nicci's mind makes the astute observation that Cara is very attractive for being so short.
"But I want you to hate me," Cara purrs. "It makes it easier. You'll remind yourself every morning when you wake, and every night before you sleep, that I brought you back to your living misery, and it will console you."
Nicci squirms in rage under her scrutiny. Not since the Prelate's review at the Palace of the Prophets has she felt stripped so bare in a person's mind. Cara's hand moves to her forearm, light and swift, but Nicci is too surprised to pull away, or at least that's how she reasons with herself.
"Every day you'll say that you're only staying so you can find a chance to kill me. You'll remind yourself every single day, until one day, you'll forget to say it."
Cara is irresistibly alluring standing this close to Nicci, breath ghosting her face.
"And on that day, it won't be true," she hums. "You'll stay because you have nowhere else to go, and because you feel happier here than you have ever felt in your life."
Without warning, Nicci pulls their bodies flush together, and kisses Cara hard on the lips. Hard enough to turn her bruise a deeper purple. Hot tears drip through the blood trail on her eyes, but she can't bring herself to pull away. Cara firmly grips Nicci under the chin, moving her mouth back. The taller woman brokenheartedly stares, body quivering in her sorrow and confusion.
Face still situated in Cara's hand, Nicci whispers, "Please, kill me."
After a moment, Cara pulls up a corner of her tattered black dress. Nicci's rigid body is suddenly flushed with heat and apprehension, but Cara does not unclothe her. Instead she says, "No, you're too weak to justify a murder." She bunches the cloth between her fingers to gently wipe the blood away from Nicci's features. As the blood cracks from her face, Nicci cannot help but cry harder. She hangs her blonde head low like a child reprimanded, shoulders shaking.
Cara pulls her down commandingly to lean against a tree trunk. She situates Nicci in her lap, arms wrapped around her waist, carefully avoiding her agiels, until her face is buried in the dip of Cara's neck.
"I won't tell them you cried," Cara says, voice hard in determination. "But don't ever ask me to kill you again." Nicci races to catch her breath, but she hiccups lightly. Eventually she thanks Cara, burrowing closer.
"And don't ever tell them I let you sleep on me for nothing in return," Cara growls. "They'll start getting the wrong idea." Nicci almost manages to smile. She closes her eyes against the warmth of Cara's shoulder, and when the others wake the following dawn, no one questions why the watch was never changed.
xXx