Healing

SUMMARY

Sequel to The Curse of Darshra.

D went through a lot when Count Leo possessed his body and locked away his mind. Now he heals under the caring eye of his twin sister, Alexandra. How does D's road of recovery go and will the people of Darshra accept him?

Chapter One

Apology and Forgiveness

D's hands shook as he closed the clasp on his cloak.

Today he was going to apologise publicly for the massacre of hundreds of people. Edward Brown, the Mayor had told him that he didn't need to apologise because it wasn't his fault, but D felt that it was only right that he apologised of the merciless killing of the relatives and loved ones of thousands.

No matter what anyone said, there was still a tiny voice in D's head which told him that it was his fault that so many people had suffered and he couldn't shake the feeling of needing to repent for what had happened. He'd talked to Lexa about it a lot and she had let him agree to apologising.

Now he was scared.

He was scared of everyone's reaction.

From what he'd heard, several people were coming to watch and this made D very nervous. After all, there were a lot more city folk then there were of him. Sure, he was a good fighter, but he didn't think that he'd be able to bring himself to defend himself from the people after everything that Count Leo had done to them, through him.

"You're as jumpy as a jack rabbit, D." said Lexa, walking up behind D and reaching around him to grasp the cloak clasp from his hands and close it without a second thought. "Anyone would think that you were a kid headed off to the dentist the way you're acting."

"I feel as jumpy as a jack rabbit…" replied D, turning around to look at his sister, only to grasp Lexa's wrists when she reached up to his cloak clasp again. "…and you fiddling with my cloak clasp is not helping in the slightest."

"You must be nervous if you're admitting it out loud." said Lexa, ignoring what D had said about his cloak clasp and adjusting it again. "Everything will be fine. I have lived in Darshra for a very long time and not one person has ever tried to dismember, skewer or harm me in any way shape or form. Nothing's going to happen. Stop worrying if you don't want to screw up royalty, okay. In my experience, it's always best to speak from the heart." she looked at her watch. "It's time. Make me proud, bro."

"I'll try." replied D. Lexa grinned and swiped her hat from the coat stand at the door, placing it neatly on her head before she slid D's from the stand and placed it on her brother's head. She smiled at her brother and gave him a hug before opening the door and stepping out into the gleaming sunlight, D right behind her. Lexa smiled to the people as they passed them. Then she saw a very familiar face amongst the crowd.

"Hanna!" she yelled, waving to a girl with golden blonde hair and glimmering chocolate brown eyes.

"Lexa!" Hanna yelled back. She walked through the crowd, a nine year old boy with brown eyes and brown hair following her.

"How are you, girl?" asked Lexa.

"Not, bad, not bad." replied Hanna, the twenty year old smiling for all she was worth.

"And who's this?" asked Lexa.

"My nephew." replied Hanna. "Say hello, Kevin."

"Hello." replied the boy. He sounded a bit nervous.

"Hello." said Lexa, kneeling down to his height. "You're a handsome little boy, aren't you?"

"I'm not little." grumbled Kevin.

"Of coarse not." replied Lexa, smiling. "I imagine that you're a strong lad and you're going to make some lucky woman very happy when you're older."

"Thank you." he replied, blushing.

"He came down to visit me now that everything's… you know." Hanna looked a little reluctant to say anything that might be a touchy subject with the twins. "Well, congratulations on pulling through, anyway. Good luck with your speech, D. I'm behind you all the way."

"Thank you." replied D, working hard to keep his face expressionless.

"You don't have to be stoic here, D." said Lexa. "You're free now. You can express how you feel as much as you want."

"Lexa's right." Hanna chipped in. "It'll do you good to smile more."

"Oh, goodness!" yelped Lexa. "It's about time that me and D got into place. Catch you later."

"Sure thing." replied Hanna. "We're with you all the way."

Lexa and D began to make their way through the crowd and they soon came up to the town square where a podium had been placed on a raised, wooden platform. D and Lexa walked over to the podium, where Edward Brown was waiting for them with a smile on his face.

"Hello you two!" the mayor called over the bustle of the town square. "I cannot say how wonderful it is to see you both! D you really don't have to do this, you know."

"I would never forgive myself if I didn't at least apologise for all of the damage I've caused." replied D.

"Of coarse." replied Edward. "There are plenty of people who have come to hear you out. I think several of them understand that you wish to repent for what happened, even if it was out of your control."

"It wasn't." replied D, clenching a fist. "If I'd had more control then this wouldn't have happened."

"If you say so." Edward replied. He gestured D over to the side of the platform with Lexa and stood at the podium himself. He faced the crowd, who now had their attentions focused on him.

"Good morning, citizens of Darshra!" he called out to them, the microphone heightening his voice volume quite a bit. "We hopefully all know what's going on. But for those who need a recap, I'll fill you in. Over the past few months, the town was plagued by a dunpeal who everyone thought had lost his mind. We found out that it was not the dunpeal, but another being inside of the dunpeal's body that had been causing the havoc. However, the dunpeal, who calls himself D, sees fit to publicly apologise to you. However, before D speaks, let us hear his sister's view on the matter. Alexandra, take over from here." Alexandra stepped forwards and faced the crowd.

"People of Darshra." she began confidently. "Good morning, first of all. I can't say how happy I am that everything turned out fine in the end. I know that many of you have lost friends and family to the entity that is Count Leo. I understand if several of you feel bitter towards my brother. However, just stop and think. I am not so different to my brother, and yet you still allow me the privilege of living in this great city and enjoying your gracious company every day. I cannot tell you just how happy I was when I first came here. None of you would've been around then. But Darshra was a lot smaller at the time and vampires and dunpeals were feared and hated then even more then they are today. But when I came here, that changed. Your ancestors accepted me with open arms and let me become one of the community. I cannot express in words how much that meant, and still does mean to me. Now can you accept another dunpeal that is very much like myself? It's your choice, which will you make?"

Lexa then stepped away from the podium, leaving the crowd in a stunned silence.

"Thank you Alexandra." said Edward. "And now, let us allow D to say his piece." D stepped forwards. He took a deep breath and faced the crowd of curious faces. He could hear whispers skittering through the crowds and could hear some of the things they said.

"Looks a lot like Lexa."

"I can understand his need to apologise for everything."

"It can't have been easy."

"Must feel so ashamed for a moment of weakness, the poor man."

"He must really believe that he's in the wrong."

"If anyone should be apologising it should be this Count Leo character, I think Lexa was to lenient with him when she killed him. Should've been tortured to death, slowly for all of the pain he's caused that poor man and so many others."

"People of Darshra." D began, his deep voice cutting through the whispers like a hot bread knife through melted butter. "I am here, simply for one thing. To apologise for all of the pain and suffering you've had to go through the past few months, simply because of a moment of weakness on my part. I do not ask for your forgiveness. It is not something I deserve. I am sorry for parting you from your friends and family in such a brutal way. I am sorry for the heartache that I know several of you will be going through now and in the future. I understand if you do not want me to reside in Darshra anymore. If you wish me to, I will leave and I shall never come back, even after all of you are dead and gone. You may inflict any punishment you deem worthy for what has happened, but I don't think that even that can compensate for the damage I've caused. That is all I have to say. Thank you for listening." D looked out over the crowd and saw movement at the front of the crowd and D looked there.

A seven year old girl with dirty blonde hair in pigtails had stepped away from an elderly woman and was walking to the from steps of the platform. D had already moved aside before she'd moved, so she was still in plain view of all of the crowd as she stood before the dunpeal, her little blue dress and blonde pigtails fluttered in the breeze as she looked up at him as everyone else looked on in silence.

"My parents were killed." she told him in a strong voice, her voice was sweet and full of pride. "They were killed by Count Leo."

"I'm sorry." said D, looking the girl in the eyes.

"But, I don't blame you." she reached forwards and took the pale hand of the dunpeal in her much smaller ones. "You were as much of a victim in this as I was. You are a good person. I can see it in your eyes." the little girl turned to face the crowd, her blue eyes flashing with stubborn confidence as she continued to hold D's long fingered hand within her own. "I think that D deserves a right to be forgiven! He was as much of a victim as we were! Anyone who holds a grudge against him over something he cannot help is a fool! When I found my parents lying dead in their room without their heads I wondered why a vampire hunter would do such a thing! But I understand now! It wasn't his fault and there was nothing he could've done to prevent it! The only person who deserves retribution is Count Leo! But he is dead and gone! Let us rebuild this city and allow D the freedom which he deserves! Darshra has always been a safe haven for dunpeals! That will not change and I think that we should welcome D into the fold!"

"I'll second that!" came a shout from a man in the crowd.

"Me too!" came the voice of a woman. And soon the entire crowd was agreeing with the one small girl who'd spoken out first.

The little girl smiled and turned back to D.

"We want you to stay." she said simply, still holding his hand.

D was touched. His face softened as he knelt down to the girls height.

"Thank you." he said, softly, so that only she could hear. She smiled even wider and launched herself at him. She linked her arms around his neck and D instinctively clasped his arms around her back to stop her from falling should her grip waver. When the girl pulled away she grabbed his hand again and pulled him into the crowd where people came forwards to assure him that they were fine with him and several children would voice their own thoughts with shameless innocence.

D soon leaned that the girls name was Annabelle. She lead him over to her grandmother, who regarded the dunpeal closely.

She was very old, the people silenced as she looked closely at D. he got the feeling that she was a greatly respected person in the city and was silently respectful as he returned her gaze.

"You are a good man, D." she said at length. "Though I was saddened by my son's death and that of his wife, I do not hold any of it against you. I know that if you had been in control of your actions then you would never have allowed what happened to happen. My granddaughter clearly thinks the same. My granddaughter hasn't smiled since her parents deaths. Thank you for putting a smile back on her face again. You've made a very old lady, very, very happy."

"If it had not been for me then your granddaughter would not have lost her smile." replied D.

"If it hadn't been for Count Leo, D." replied the woman. "He is the one who killed my son and his wife. You are the one who returned both the smile and the light to my granddaughter's eyes. That is something which I could never repay you for. I know that I'm a bit of an old fool, but I know that there is not a way in all of hell that you'd willingly harm a human." D did not have an answer to that, so he simply remained silent.

"I know that you are still hurting after what happened." said the woman. "And I will tell you now, that if there is any way that I can help, I will assist you."

"Thank you." replied D. "Your forgiveness, I feel, is not something I should be given, but I shall not dishonour you by not accepting it."

"That is all that I can ask, D." replied the woman. "My name is Elizabeth, by the way. Anna, didn't you have something to give the gentleman?"

"Oh yes!" she cried, skipping over to her grandmother and waiting patiently as Elizabeth reached into her handbag and pulled out a small item, which Elizabeth kept from D's view as she passed it to the smiling girl.

Anna turned to D and walked up to him, her hands clasped around something in her hands.

"Hold out your hands and close your eyes, D." said Anna. D was confused by this statement and cocked his head to the side and frowned.

"Why?" he asked. There was no mocking tone in his voice, just pure curiosity. Anna turned to her grandmother for an explanation. Lexa smiled from her place in the watching crowd, like so many others, she understood D's confusion.

"He doesn't know what you're trying to do, Anna. I suspect it's been a while since someone's given him a gift the way you are going to." explained Elizabeth.

"Oh!" the girl chimed in realisation. "It's meant to be a surprise!" she told D. "When people give you a present without wrapping paper you are meant to cover your eyes whilst the person who is giving it to you either leads you to it, or places it in your hands if it is small enough for that. Hold out your hands like this…" she quickly placed D's hands with the palms flat, facing upwards and with them placed together so that they were symmetrical. "And then close your eyes." D did so without a word. He felt something hard and cool being placed into his hands.

"Open your eyes." said Anna.

D did so and he was met with the sight of a glass figurine half the height of a new pencil. D let out a barely audible gasp as he looked at the way the little glass hippogriff caught the sunlight. On the front of the rock the hippogriff was stood on. It said Love and Unity prevails through all.

D looked at the girl, a warmth in his eyes that people didn't even know he possessed.

"Thank you." he said. Anna smiled widely and hugged him.

"I knew that you'd like it!" she cried. D encircled her back with his free arm.

"I like it very much, Anna." replied D. "Thank you for such a wonderful gift."

When D returned to his full height, Anna stepped back from D, smiling up at him.

"I have to go home now." she said. "I've got chores to do and then I'm gonna help grandma bake a cake. See you another day, D!" she rushed off to her grandmother.

"Goodbye D." said Elizabeth. "I hope to see more of you."

"Thank you." replied D. "Goodbye."

"Bye, bye!" yelled Anna, waving until she was swallowed by the crowd. D felt the smallest of smiled curving his lips.

"D." Lexa's voice sounded from behind him. D turned around and there was Lexa. "We have to be getting back home too."

"Of coarse." replied D, smiling slightly. Lexa's smiled widened.

"I never thought I'd see you smile again." said Lexa.

"They do say that I'm full of surprises." replied D. He followed Lexa through the crowd, his lips still upturned slightly as he walked.

That night, D went to sleep, feeling like he'd just had the world lifted from his shoulders, and boy did it make a big difference.

I do not own Vampire Hunter D. I make no profit from this piece