AN: You know... I realized that I never wrote a story based off TFE. When I mentioned this to SWF, she had an idea already in mind for me. And this is it. :D Chris might be a little OOC, though. Sorry. Read, Review, & Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Don't own DotM. Never have. Never will. But I love Chris and Catty! Haha.
Summary: "And what am I, Chris?" "You are Catty. A goddess, a hero."
It was bright.
Very bright.
Her eyes closed immediately after opening, and she cringed from the light. Hadn't it just been dark? Hadn't she been swallowed by it, to the point where the only light she had was within herself?
It was bright again. Even with her eyes closed, the light was shining down on her fiercely, and she just couldn't escape it. A groan escaped her parted lips. "Turn the light off," she croaked.
A chuckle reached her ears. It was light and male; it was a laugh that she knew so well, it might as well have been her own. She dreamed of it every night before she had faced the Atrox. She gasped and sat up quickly, her head swimming with the sudden movement. Light flooded her eyes completely as she opened them wide. It took her a few moments to regain her sight, but when the images around her came into a clear, crisp view, there was only one thing that she wanted to even look at.
"Chris." It was a mere whisper from her lips, but to the two of them, it was the loudest sound.
Chris was sitting next to her, a gentle smile on his face. Her heart fluttered at the familiar sight. How long had it been since she's last seen him? How long since... Since she had killed him along with destroying the Secret Scroll? His smile was the most beautiful sight she had ever seen.
She sat in a wondrous field, blooming with life, with light, and all she could see was Chris's wonderful face. She drank him in. His eyes, his hair, his smile. It was her smile, really, the one he had specifically for her. A tear slipped down her cheek.
"Don't cry, Catty." Chris brought his hand up, taking his thumb to run across the tear making its way down her face. He wiped it away, still smiling his special smile. "If I had known my presence would upset you..."
"Oh, no!" She laughed, loudly. How long since she had laughed? How long since she had defeated the Atrox? Or... Did she? "Am I dead, Chris?"
"Yes." He stroked her cheek softly. Catty glanced him over, noticing how different he was than any other time before. He seemed happier. There wasn't the burden of watching out for her, of being connected to the Scroll. He just had time to be eternally at peace. "You did it, Catty. You fulfilled your destiny as the Heir."
"I... The Atrox is no more then?" Her heart burst in excitement. She had did it. She had saved the world... She had saved Vanessa and her mother. Oh, Kendra... You won't even know what happened to me...
"The Atrox is no more." She shivered from his stare; he never took his eyes from her. "You are a hero, my goddess."
"Am I? In a way... I feel as though I'm really not."
Chris pulled her closer to him, and she allowed it, letting her body press against his in a soft embrace as they held each other. It was something they had never really done before, when they had been alive. He was afraid to get too close to her back then because of who they had been: Keeper and Heir. Now... Now those limitations that had once been set before them were gone.
No walls.
No barriers.
His arms were tight around her, his touch warming her body. Her head pressed against his chest, and she couldn't resist the urge to sniff him, taking in his scent. He smelled of grass and dirt, like he was the earth. It was like he had come from the earth, where all life rose from and went back to.
"Why would you believe that you are not a hero, Catty?" He finally asked her after they had spent a little bit of time just enjoying one another's company.
She nuzzled into his shirt, rubbing her cheek up against his chest. Even though she knew they were both dead, she could feel his heart beating rhythmically beneath her, could feel her heart do a funny little jig as he began to run his fingers through her hair. "Everything that I've done..."
"I know that you fulfilled your destiny, Catty. I know that you were the only one brave enough to face the demon on your own, knowing full well that you would have to sacrifice your life." He tilted her head up, forcing her to stare into his face, into his eyes. "What do you think that you've done?"
She opened her mouth, knowing what to say in her heart, but the words refused to leave the inner sanctuary that was her mind. She was afraid to bring it up, to stare him the face and admit to what she had done, even though he had forgiven her on that long ago day. He waited patiently, and in his eyes Catty could see all the love he had for her. She shook her head, not knowing what to say. His lips descended towards hers, and for the first time that she could recall, he kissed her. Not the other way around.
"Tell me," he coaxed. "Don't hide anything from me. No more secrets."
"I seem to remember that it was you who kept secrets before."
He pressed his mouth against hers again, laughing softly. "Exactly why we shouldn't have anymore secrets."
"I... Killed you, Chris. I killed Kyle. I betrayed my friends, especially Vanessa. I let her think the worst of me, and I acted so cruelly sometimes that I wasn't sure if I was pretending anymore. I don't feel like a hero, Chris. I feel far from it," Catty cried out, feeling the pain of her mortal past.
He held her even tighter, resting his cheek on the top of her head. "Catty... You did what you had to do. You didn't kill me or Kyle. We sacrificed our lives for you. You are important to us, to what we were trying to achieve. We let our lives be taken so that you could continue on.
"I wanted to tell you... I never felt anything but joy when you destroyed the Secret Scroll. You freed me, and you freed yourself. You allowed yourself to take that final step towards defeating the Atrox in one final, glorious battle. You went in, deceiving your father, as a warrior. You faced the Atrox as a soldier in battle, and you let your inner nature destroy it. Only someone with a pure heart and soul could have done what you did, Catty. Do you still deny what you are?"
She was silent for a minute, processing everything that he had just said to her. She let a smile flicker in the corners of her mouth. "And what am I, Chris?"
"You are Catty. A goddess, a hero."
"What are you then, Chris?"
Now it was his turn to smile again. "I am yours, as I should have allowed myself to be when you first had interest in me."
"How can I ever forgive myself enough for what I've done to you? I know what you have said, but what I feel differs greatly, Chris. How can I ever make it up to you?"
Chris sighed, shaking his head at her in exasperation. Her smile slowly turned to a frown, and her shoulders sagged as she feared that he would turn from her, that his arms would unwrap from her, and that she would have to face the afterlife without him. Noticing her sudden change, he swiftly kissed her again, letting his mouth linger on hers longer than before. He wanted her to know that there was nothing she would say or think that would keep him from her now. "Catty, we have all of eternity for you to make up for something I've already forgiven you for."
She grinned, a wicked glint flickering in her brown eyes. She placed her hands on either side of his face, whispering the words, "Sounds perfect," before kissing him deeply, knowing that this was the only place that she ever wanted to be. In his arms. For all of eternity.