This is what happens when you decide you want to be a writer. You write random things that come to mind, and it takes over your whole life. Don't own these characters; Brandon Mull does. Not getting any compensation for this piece except a little priceless satisfaction. Starts out with a dream sequence, so if things don't make sense - don't expect it to. Just go with it.
"I don't understand. You're dead," said Kendra. She blinked as if that would erase the person in front of her from existence. But he remained, taut lipped and tense on the cell cot.
Bracken's arm around her waist tightened, and he looked between the two with a furrowed brow. Kendra wished she'd explained to him about Navarog/Gavin earlier, so that he would understand that strange stare down they were having. But, then again, why tell your current boyfriend about an old crush you had if said crush is supposed to be dead?
Gavin shook his head. "No, I'm not."
"But I saw Raxtus eat you."
Bracken tugged on Kendra until she followed him around the corner. There, out of sight of the demon prince, he cupped her face and touched their foreheads together. "I sense a great deal of discomfort in you, Kendra," he said, keeping his voice low enough so as not to carry through the air.
"Don't hide her from me, fairy boy," said Navarog. "We had a deal."
Kendra frowned. "Deal? What deal."
A look of shame crossed Bracken's face as he looked down at their feet. "They want you to do more than just talk to him."
"What more could I do?" She spoke too loud and winced when Navarog chuckled.
"Let me explain my predicament myself," Navarog insisted.
Bracken regarded Kendra with bubbling eyes and swallowed hard. "What do you want?"
It worried her to see such distress on Bracken's face and reminded her of a time that felt so long ago now when the world seemed at its end. But that had been four years ago – far behind them and buried like a corpse.
"I'll listen," said Kendra, nodding.
Bracken kissed her forehead before grasping her hand and bringing them back to the bars of Navarog's cell.
The demon prince laid propped up on his side, eyeing the couple's twined hands with a wrinkled nose. He lifted dark eyes to Kendra and said, "I need your help."
She never thought she'd hear a demon admit that. "Why?"
He stood up and approached the bars, to which Bracken stepped forward and shot him a warning glare. "Watch it."
Gavin rolled his eyes. "I'm on my best behavior, fairy boy."
"Stop calling him that," said Kendra.
"Pony boy, then?" Navarog shrugged. "I can live with that."
Bracken turned to Kendra and set a hand on her face when it scrunched up with too many emotions. "Don't worry about me. I could care less what he calls me."
Gavin cleared his throat. "I believe we were talking about me," he said.
Kendra sighed, removing Bracken's gentle hand and squeezing it. I love you, she thought to him before facing Gavin.
Bracken rewarded her with a kiss to the temple.
Gavin snorted. "If you're done, then." Sniffing and turning his nose, he began, "I'm not quite sure what you mean by 'dead', since I never remember dying."
"But you –"
"Let me finish," he insisted. He continued when Kendra nodded. "As I told Bracken and your grandparents, when I escaped from the special dragon sanctuary, I was unlucky enough to come across a rare, poisonous thorn bush on my way out. It scratched me and, long story short, I contracted a deadly disease that only you – a fairy kind – can cure me of."
Gavin paced in front of the bars. No matter how calm and collected he walked, the tension in his muscles gave away a sense of nervousness about him.
"Why should I help you?" Kendra asked. She remembered all the vile things he'd done to her, how he killed her friends and betrayed her. She may be a virtuous hand maiden of the Fairy Queen, but that didn't make her any more enthused about helping Navarog.
She expected Bracken to be on her side, to not push the issue. It startled her when he looked at her with a curious expression, as if he had no clue why she would refuse.
Navarog, too, was confused.
Kendra frowned at Bracken. "What is that look for? Is it not alright for me to be mad at the boy who betrayed me in every which way?"
"Betray?" Gavin said this.
Kendra groaned and leaned on Bracken for support. He held her close without thought and said, "What happened, then? How did he hurt you?"
So Kendra delved into the story of Wrymoost, how Navarog had been planted as a mole in their team and how he ate her friends, nearly killed others, and broke her trust. Recalling it all burned the corners of her eyes, and she fought back the emotion. Bracken rubbed her back and hummed a soothing melody in her ear. Gavin sat back on his cot and waited for them to separate.
"Are you sure she's alright, pony boy? Your fairy magic didn't rework her brain, did it?"
Kendra pushed away from Bracken and walked right up to the cell bars, livid and cracked. "What are you talking about? Why are you even here? I can't believe anyone's ever believed a word you've said."
Gavin winced as if she'd hurt him, and the thought made her laugh.
"Kendra, are you well?" Bracken asked, feeling her forehead.
She shook out of his grasp. "Yes, why wouldn't I be?"
"You see, love, that isn't…. uh–"
"That's not exactly how the story goes," finished Gavin.
Kendra felt the world trip over. "I was there when it happened."
Gavin nodded. "Yes, you were there when I saved you on Sidestep Cleft from those dragons. You found out my true identity – and weren't happy about it then, either – but I double-crossed the Sphinx for you."
Kendra shook her head at the same time Bracken took over the explanation. "He was recaptured later at the vault in the Obsidian Waste and didn't make it out until after the war had been won."
"Then I was made busy in various dragon sanctuaries and never got to visit," said Gavin, sending Bracken a sour scowl. "About a year ago, a dragon ate a caretaker, and I was put under suspicions. They locked me up for a bit, and I escaped. And because I got poisoned by a plant, I needed to come here and be cured."
"He's in the cell because we didn't believe he was telling the truth, at first."
Kendra looked to Bracken, not quite sure how to feel. She didn't remember any of this occurring. Gavin – her ally? "Is he for real?"
"Unfortunately, yes." Bracken sounded dejected.
"Unfortunately?"
"He's referring to the way fairy kind heal those like me." Gavin rolled onto his feet and grabbed the bars. With a mischievous smirk, he said, "They kiss the afflicted."
Kendra wrinkled her nose. Even if his story held true, she could only think of what she remembered, and it pained her to think differently.
Studying him under new light, Kendra wondered why he looked so healthy if he was about to die. Bracken heard her question – their hands brushing – and replied, "It isn't a physical illness so much as it is a mental one. He'll go insane by the end of the year's time, and, with the power he's got, do an untold amount of damage. That's why we need you to help him."
Gavin winked when she glanced at him.
"Alright," she mumbled, feeling her sense of duty weigh her down. Once, she had liked this young man very much. But now she had Bracken, whom she loved without a doubt. Would it feel wrong to kiss another pair of lips? How would Bracken feel?
As if to answer her, Bracken's hand fit to the back of her head and meshed their mouths together. His lips were gentle and reassuring, saying everything he needed without having to speak. Kendra sighed as he leaned away, and Gavin made a disgusted noise.
Bracken opened the cell with the swift click of a key and motioned for Gavin to exit. Then he pecked Kendra's mouth once more and said he would be waiting around the corner. "Another part of the deal," he murmured, not meaning for her to hear.
Kendra jumped when she felt Gavin's hand touch her arm. He chuckled when she glared at him and said, "I can't tell you how much I've missed you." He ran a hand through his dark, tousled hair. "I'll admit, I was disappointed to learn of the existence of pony boy and you. I really care for you."
"His name is Bracken, and I love him," insisted Kendra. Just one swift kiss – that should be all he needed.
Instead of responding, Gavin drew his arms around her waist and stepped in close. His eyes softened, and his lips parted in anticipation. Kendra snapped shut her eyes and kissed him on the mouth.
"Kendra?"
She heard the tender voice from afar, as if in the back of her mind. Her limbs shuddered as the image of locking lips with Gavin dissolved into a blanket of orange. She felt soft grass blades under her palms and popped her eyes open.
Sitting up, Kendra surveyed her surroundings. She was in the midst of a nondescript clearing with the sun reaching its peak in the clear sky. She wore a lacey top and her favorite pair of shorts. And approaching her from the trees was her fiancé carrying two glasses of grandma's lemonade.
"How long was I out?" she asked as he sat down beside her and handed her the cool drink.
"Not long." Bracken shrugged and took a sip from his cup. His lips puckered at the sour taste.
On her left hand, the ring finger displayed a choice ring of precious pink diamond set in shiny silver. It matched the band Bracken wore. While faeries had their own traditions for the meeting of two people, Kendra's parents had wanted her to have a human wedding, and so she would have a wedding first and then move with Bracken to the fairy kingdom and proceed with their ceremonies. In a year, she would be made an eternal and start her biggest journey in life – living.
They tipped their heads and shared a quick kiss. And then Kendra remembered her strange dream.
Bracken's brow furrowed when Kendra frowned and leaned back on her hands, deep in thought. She let him touch her fingers and read the dream as she worked through it. And, as expected, he came out more perplexed than before.
"Who is Gavin?"
"Gavin never existed. He was Navarog." Kendra hated the way her heart clenched. It meant she hadn't yet gotten over the past.
"He existed to you once," said Bracken. "And that was enough to make him real for you." He drummed his fingers on his glass and took a methodical slip. "So who was he?"
Kendra chose to drink rather than respond. The sour yet sweet taste of the lemons made her tongue tingle and her nose wrinkle. She drank half the cup before she spoke. "He was a cute guy with a unique ability and a charming stutter." Despite herself, Kendra grinned. Her finger traced the rim of the glass. "Being different and unique myself, it was nice to meet someone I could relate to, someone I thought I could have a piece of 'normal' with."
"Did you love him?"
Kendra shrugged. "I was fourteen at the time. Maybe, if he'd kept up the charade for a few years, I would have fallen for him. I guess I'm grateful he didn't have a chance." She blinked and two crystalline tears sprouted from her eyes. "It would have hurt so much worse then."
Her fiancé set aside his lemonade and scooted closer to wrap her in his embrace. His kissed the tear closet to him and let the second drip down her chin and evaporate on her collarbone. "Were you thinking of him today or yesterday?" he asked, sounding curious. Not angry.
"A little, yeah," said Kendra, wiping the sticky streaks on her cheeks with her finger.
Bracken coaxed her head to his shoulder, pressing a kiss to her hair. "They say a dream is a collage of all thoughts of your day so that you may ponder on your hearts desires and live for them in tomorrow."
"I thought of him just the same as I have any other painful experience."
"I'm sorry he hurt you." And she knew he meant it.
"It's alright," said Kendra. She titled her head to brush her lips over the fabric of his soft shirt. "It's all in the past now."
Their hands tangled with the grass. The gem on Kendra's ring finger sparkled like a star. Bracken said, "You can trust me. Always."
"I know."
His free hand cupped her face as he pressed light kisses along her cheekbone. "I love you." He kissed the side of her mouth. "I want to marry you."
Kendra laughed. "How does a week sound to you?"
Bracken's mouth swept along hers, molded to hers. Before they became engaged, he had only kissed her a handful of times. But now that they were promised, and the date of their wedding closed in, he had stopped finding excuses to do much else.
He grinned. "Perfect."
I was surprised I even wrote this. Haven't been working on fanfic projects for awhile. I like my OW projects better. But One-Shots are nice and noncommittal.
Don't let the Naravog/Gavin name thing bother you (if it does); Kendra had a hard time deciding for a bit what she wanted to call him.
Review, if you would, please. :-)