Disclaimer: All character belong to Tamora Pierce, I'm just playing games with them.

Author's Note: This is set after the Immortals War (post RotG), but before Daine and Numair move in together. It is kind of a side step across from A Stepping State, taking place before Mabon (Autumn Equinox). You don't need to have read that to be able to read this, but if you haven't read it, it is quite good!

Enjoy!

Watching

The weather was hot for September, the sun still strong in the blue sky. Several white clouds bobbed over the horizon, although none of them did anything to cool the heat of the strong sun. Veralidaine Sarrasri was sat down in the field, wearing short breaches and a loose, short sleeved shirt, lazily reading a book Numair had given her. Surprisingly, the book was not on filled with arcane facts or pouring with knowledge that the mage was trying to fill Daine's head with, but instead it was a book packed with stories; stories that Daine was half familiar with already as they told tales about the gods, many of whom she had met a month or so ago. She lay back, enjoying the warmth of the sun bathing her, making her skin feel as though someone was applying gentle hands over her body in a relaxing massage. Her eyes drifted away from the print and she took in the scene around her. The trees, full of green leaves, blew gently in the summer breeze, the branches swaying as if they were dancing to some soothing tune. Tall blades of grass and a collection of wild flowers swayed along to the almost silent tune, their movements almost hypnotic. Daine breathed in deeply, inhaling the scent of the wild flowers that were now at their peak. In just a few weeks, autumn would enter, and the flowers and the leaves would return to the Great Mother until spring, renewing the ground with their goodness.

In the distance she could hear the babbling of a brook as it trickled over a rocky bed, the musical tune permeated by the occasional chirrups of the male grasshoppers that were calling to the females in the area by rubbing their wings together. Other than that, the air was quiet, the sun was at its strongest and the animals and birds were sensibly silent and still, waiting for the cooler afternoon when they would begin again their hunts for food and playful games.

Daine stood up, book in hand and wandered to the running water, slipping off her sandals and immerging her feet in the cool water, the pleasant icy chill refreshing her from the toes up. She bent down and scooped up a handful of the cold liquid, drinking it thirstily. The brook was surrounded by a few weeping willow trees, their branches trailing into the slow running water, and giving some shade to the waterfowl and fish that resided there. She saw a wood duck swimming across the shallow water towards her, telling her already about the plentiful amount of fish that were now living in the brook. Daine engaged in a pleasant conversation with the bird, until he gave his excuses and went off to hunt for some dinner, and she returned to her book.

Numair had been commandeered by Jonathan into undertaking some complicated experiment to determine the full power of the Dominion Jewel, and the range of its capabilities. He expected that the experiments would take some months, given that other events would push it to the back of the to do list, so he wanted to make a start now, while things were quiet and there was little else to so, seeing as the trouble in Corus had ceased. He had offered Daine the chance to help him, and be his assistant for the day, but Daine had taken one look outside at the glorious sunshine and shook her head. They would spend too much time indoors once winter came, she was going to make the most of the last of the summer sun, spending her day lounging around in the fields. Kitten had opted, however, to stay with the mage, studying the properties of the magical jewel, so Daine, much to her secret pleasure had been left to spend the day in solitude, or as much solitude as there would be available, given the wildlife that was currently in the area.

She continued to read the story that told of how the dream god Gainel gained his powers, and although the story was interesting, the way in which is was written was not; the prose was too heavy, it lacked description and it read more like a lecture given by the most boring of professors in the most tedious of subjects. Sighing, she placed the book face down on the ground, taking care that it wasn't going to get spoilt and lay back, cushioned by the long grass. She looked up at the blue sky that was unshielded by the willow trees and wondered what the gods did on days like this, when all was quiet and serene, the sunshine soothing even the most fractious of people into a calm, tranquil state of being. Her eyes closed, the gentle heat making her sleepy and the sound of the running water washing over rocks relaxing her mind as she slipped away into a story book of her own.

Somewhere next to another stream a man with shadowy pits instead of eyes seemingly gazed into the distance, his long, sensitive fingers toying with a blade of grass that he had plucked from beside him. The day was similar to the one in the mortal realms, full of blazing sunshine and warm breezes. The tense atmosphere of summer when Uusoae had been raging her war had evaporated, leaving the occupants of the divine realms to continue their business as they had done before.

Unlike some of the other gods, Gainel did take an interest in mortals. Their everyday lives helped him in his task of giving them dreams, and he enjoyed becoming involved in a few of their lives and attempting to assist them through what they dreamt. The stormwings and other immortals left behind had eased his job slightly, now the mortals' dreams were becoming more creative without his interference, their imaginations were more fertile and could create sleep-images to amuse themselves.

He was watching a young woman asleep in one of the fields in the mortal realms, a book telling stories of his siblings beside her as she lay in the late summer sun. She was the daughter of his friend, Weiryn, the god of the hunt, and he had met her and her lover, Numair Salmalin, when they had been dragged into the divine realms earlier in the year. He had taken an interest in her dreams for several years, providing ways for the Badger god to speak to her and now, more recently, a portal for her mother, The Green Lady, to also communicate with her. She was an interesting subject for dreams, being half human and half People, and also being God-born. She had already shown that she was capable of handling responsibilities and he imagined that she had a great future ahead of her in this time of change.

Gainel sensed something or somebody standing behind him. Turning round he found Shakith standing a few feet away from him. Although he did not have the conventional eyes of others, he knew how she looked, with her dark flowing hair and porcelain skin, and features that he knew young men wished their lovers to have in their dreams. She sat beside him on the rock where he was resting, her arm gently brushing against his. For a moment, for all his godliness, he felt awkward, like Numair Salmalin had done when a pretty girl would sit next to him in the lecture hall.

"What are you seeing?" She asked in her low, smooth voice.

"I was watching Veralidaine as she slept in the fields," Gainel replied. She, unlike the mortals, would hear what he said clearly. The only way he could communicate with humans was through their dreams and nightmares.

"She will have sore skin later," Shakith replied. "Even at this late stage in summer the sun can still do damage. Can you not interfere and wake her? Otherwise she will have a most unpleasant night."

Gainel laughed slightly and sent the girl a dream of burning, causing her to wake suddenly and move into the shade. Shakith often surprised him with her concern for the mortals whose lives she dealt with. She had taken a particular interest in Salmalin for some time now, working with Gainel to provide snippets of what could be his future life through his dreams.

"What has made you want to get involved with Salmalin and Veralidaine?" Gainel asked her gently, still watching Daine as he felt too shy to look at Shakith, thinking that she might have developed mind reading abilities overnight.

"Their story," she answered. He could feel that she had focused her attention on him. "They have been in love for so long. It seemed that neither of them would come to their senses and tell the other. And when they did, their doubts were strong enough to hinder what Mother Earth intended."

Silence hung between them, although it was a comfortable pause, merely two people who were enjoying the sunshine.

"There was another reason why their romance interested me," Shakith said, moving into his view, so his senses were blocked and he could only focus on her, which he was trying not to do in the first place, knowing how her close proximity could effect him.

"Why is that?" He asked, hoping with all his heart that it somehow had something to do with him.

Their moment was disturbed by a cat, a large specimen of the species, who proceeded to jump up onto Gainel's knee.

"Sarra would like you and Shakith to come for dinner this evening, an hour before the sun sets," the cat purred at them, her enormous tail twitching. "I recommend you come, you both look like you could do with a good feed!" The cat jumped off the dream god's lap and began to prowl off, her eyes scanning the area for any mice that might have picked an inopportune moment to take a walk.

"Thank you, Queenclaw," Shakith called after the cat, who merely flicked her tail once more in response, a target in sight. The cat then stopped and turned around quickly, her expression disgruntled.

"Shakith, Mynos would like to see you as well. You know he doesn't like to be kept waiting!" Then with a burst of energy that contrasted with her size the cat god began to chase after a large white mouse that scuttled into a bush, only to be caught seconds later by a victorious Queenclaw.

Shakith stood up, then placed her hand on Gainel's arm, sending shivers through his body.

"I will see you at Sarra's then?" She asked, her expression concerned.

"Definitely," Gainel replied, savouring her touch.

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Shakith arrived at Sarra's home earlier than she had planned to. Although she was a seer, she had no way of seeing the futures of other gods or herself, and at this moment in time the one thing she wished for was to be able to see what would happen that evening.

Sarra greeted her warmly, as ever, and brought her to sit at the table outside the house she shared with Weiryn.

"Everything is almost ready," the Green Lady said, and Shakith could hear the smile in her voice. "Weiryn went hunting this morning and brought back venison, and I thought it was too good not to share." She sat down beside the goddess.

"You are very kind, Sarra," Shakith responded, her dark hair blowing in the breeze. "Your food is always delicious."

Sarra laughed, the sound like a peeling of bells. "Daine was most surprised when she was here to find that I could cook so well. I fear that it is not my talents in the kitchen, but the quality of the ingredients. Everything tastes some much better here. Even after four years I am still amazed by the tastes of things."

Shakith smiled at the woman, neatening up her hair as she did so. She wondered how long it would be until Gainel appeared.

The dream god arrived exactly on time, quite literally appearing in a seat next to Weiryn at the table. Weiryn had just begun to carve the meat, that smelled superb intermingled with the herbs and wine that Sarra had used to cook it. The dinner passed with little said, a testament to Sarra's cooking. The sun had slowly begun to set, casting a myriad of colour across the evening sky that would have caused Numair and Daine to have studied the picture had they been there, but to the four gods sat around the table, it was an ordinary sight, and for Shakith, she had seen many of the future sunsets over the divine realms.

After they had eaten the conversation turned to the settling down after the events of the summer, and the imprisonment of Uusoae. They discussed Numair and Daine and their relationship, Shakith amused at the way Weiryn tried to be balanced about the affair rather than giving away his true feelings about the fact that his daughter had found a lover. Sarra had asked briefly how their relationship would fair, to which Shakith had smiled and merely replied that all would be well, unable to give much more away.

"He will treat her well?" Weiryn had growled.

Shakith nodded. "He would die for her. He will never have to, but he values her life above his own."

"Will they have children?" Sarra had questioned, smiling wistfully as she waited for the answer.

Shakith laughed. "You know I'm not supposed to tell you this. As her parents, you are not meant to know her future. But yes, they will have children, although not for awhile yet."

Gainel smiled as he saw Sarra's beam and Weiryn's thunderous expression.

"Oh, don't be silly, my love," Sarra said lightly to her mate. "You know he loves her, and she him. And they share a bed. Bear in mind that we didn't need a bed to conceive Daine!"

"That was different! I don't like to think of…" Weiryn began.

"Then don't!" Sarra snapped. "She's a grown woman, you need to accept it!"

The sun disappeared completely, leaving the stars and the moon in its place. Sarra and Weiryn had taken the pots in to wash and Queenclaw had prowled off on her nightly hunt. Shakith felt Gainel looking at her and she felt herself colour, thankful for the blanket of darkness to hide it.

"You were telling me something earlier, before Queenclaw interrupted us?" The dream god said in his soothing voice.

Shakith felt her heart pounding in her chest, unsure of what to say. Should she tell him? Or remain silent and hope that these feelings would pass?

"That Daine and Numair's relationship… reminded me of someone else…" She wondered what his reaction would be. Shakith felt his presence move closer to her and his hand touch her arm.

"Who would that be?" He asked softly, close enough now that she could feel his breath against her skin. "Someone we know?"

For a second, the multitude of information that Shakith received about the future shut down and all she could sense was the man in front of her. Holding her breath, she put her hands up slowly so she could touch his face, hoping that she was doing the right thing by acting on her instincts as she had had to persuade Numair Salmalin to do in order to follow what fate had set out for him. She felt Gainel respond to her touch, edging closer to her and then pressed his lips against her, holding her tightly against him. Shakith felt electrified as their bodies met, and for the first time since she had given up her sight she felt alive, as if the future held more for her that simply seeing it.

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Daine sat up in bed, pushing the covers away from her. She had been awoken by a strange dream, strange enough that it had made her sit up to contemplate what she had seen.

"Numair!" She called the sleeping mage who was lying next to her.

"What's the matter?" He woke, sleepy but concerned.

"Do Gods fall in love?" She asked, a puzzled look on her face.

"Well, you father and mother did, so I suppose so. Why?"

"Ma wasn't a goddess though at the time. I mean could they fall in love now, create a new myth almost?" Daine responded, fully awake.

Numair groaned. "I don't know, Daine! I only know what is in the book I gave you to read today. Why have you woken me up, sweet?" He tried to make his grumblings as polite as possible.

"I was having a dream about Gainel and Shakith," she informed him, ignoring his desire to go back to sleep.

"Really?" Numair asked, half interested at the mention of Shakith.

"They kissed."

Numair smiled. "That would be almost an ideal match, but I'm sure it was just a dream brought on by too much sun and reading stories about the gods," he reassured.

Daine smiled. "Probably," she agreed, neglecting to mention that she hadn't really read the book, falling asleep in the sun instead, and lay back down next to him, wondering why Gainel would send her dreams about him and Shakith.

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Gainel and Shakith laughed as they watched Daine's puzzlement, both pleased by the mage's comment.

"Maybe it won't be so difficult to let other people know," Shakith said as she returned to his arms. "Salmalin seemed pleased with the idea."

Gainel brushed her hair out of her face with his fingers, something he had yearned to do for years. "We should have discovered this many moons ago," he whispered.

"Maybe this was how fate had intended it to be," she replied, wondering what else was lined up for them, as they began to move back into Sarra's house, to celebrate the rest of the evening.