By TempestXtreme
Disclaimer: I own only Rebecca Angelheart and Violet. Lashana and Telca belong to themselves (because they are living, breathing people, even if they are completely insane), and they also own Kadrith and Tvashtar and the three dragons. Their harems belong to their creators.
Rebecca woke up early that morning, mostly due to the fact that her night had been filled with dreams of Tempest. They weren't bad dreams – they would have been happy dreams if it weren't for the fact that Tempest had been dead for a month. Her hand closed around the black feather that she wore around her neck at all times – except when she was showering or swimming – and shook her head. The feather had come from Tempest's wings, and it radiated power. The reason? Tempest had been a powerful warrior – an arch-angel, one of the few Warriors of the Light that had been granted such power. Granted that he had not been the most powerful, but still…
Shaking her head to clear her mind of such thoughts, Rebecca got out of bed and went into the bathroom to take a shower, emerging a few minutes later dressed comfortably in violet-coloured jogging pants, a dark blue long-sleeve top over a dark blue sports bra (Lashana's fashion sense had been rubbing off on her – she hardly ever wore her usual white dress anymore), and black sneakers. She put the feather back around her neck and tucked it into her top, walking out of her room and almost bumping into Duncan. He looked at her and smiled.
"Good morning," he said. "How did you sleep?"
Rebecca shrugged. "Good, I guess," she said, purposely not telling him about the vivid dreams that she had had. "You're not going to sing, are you? It's too early for anybody else to be getting up."
Duncan paused. "Good point," he said. "I don't want to be hit over the head with a frying pan again."
They walked down to the kitchen together, and Duncan started to hum – he found that humming did not get him hit on the head – while Rebecca started to brew some coffee. It wasn't as though she needed caffeine to wake up (she had always been an early riser), but Lashana and/or Zelgadis would want a cup when they woke up.
That, and she didn't want Duncan to see the sadness in her eyes…
*-*-*-*
"Morning!"
Rebecca smiled as Tempest put an arm around her and pulled her closer.
"Gods above, I love you," he whispered as he rested his chin in her thick brown hair. Rebecca sighed happily and snuggled closer.
"I love you too," she said, enjoying the moment.
"Your Highnesses! There's an-" a voice said, seconds before it was cut off and the door was blown in.
The poor assassin didn't know what hit him.
"FIREBALL!"
The two Fireballs hit the assassin head-on, blowing him out of the door.
Rebecca grumbled under her breath…
*-*-*-*
"Rebecca? You awake?" Duncan asked, shaking the human sorceress lightly. "Hello?"
Rebecca blinked and looked at her friend. "Oh, sorry," she said. "I was…thinking."
Duncan frowned. "About Tempest?" he asked. She sighed and nodded.
"Today is the One Month Anniversary of his death," she said softly. She stared
at her reflection in the coffee, belatedly noticing that the coffee was cold
but not really caring at that particular moment. Duncan watched her curiously
for a moment before putting his hand on her right shoulder.
"You don't know that he's dead," he said. "He might just be trapped somewhere. You'll see him again, I'm sure of it."
She mustered up a weak, but still lovely, smile. "Thank you, Duncan," she said. "You're a real friend."
She could swear that he actually blushed. "Am I embarrassing you?" she asked, a confused look in her dark green eyes.
The Immortal shook his head quickly. "No, it's not that," he said. "You're just a really nice person."
"You say that like it's a rare thing," Rebecca replied, chuckling. "Lashana and Telca are nice people too, under their tough exteriors."
"As long as you don't piss them off," Duncan countered. Rebecca laughed.
"Good point," she said, grinning. "Thanks."
Duncan blinked. "For what?"
"Cheering me up," the brown-haired sorceress said. "We should get breakfast ready before the other's wake up. I do not want to get caught up in that Feeding Frenzy again!"
Duncan chuckled. "Hey, I TRIED to warn you," he said, smirking. "But you just had to go for the French toast."
Rebecca glared at him. "You weren't any help," she said, her glare turning into a wide grin. "Anyway, let's get ourselves some breakfast! We've still got a few hours until the others wake up."
Duncan grinned – he liked to cook, even if the other's thought that he was trying to poison them.
*-*-*-*
"Becca! Get down!" Tempest ran to her and shoved her aside, taking the full force of the Rune Flare spell with his own body. He hardly even noticed the impact, and merely shot off a Rune Flare of his own, sending the attacker flying backwards. Rebecca shook her head and got to her feet, snarling.
"So he wants to play with magick?" she said. "Fine!"
She closed her eyes and started to chant, her voice echoing with power as a newly born wind started to blow around her, blowing her hair into the air.
"Darkness beyond twilight, crimson beyond blood that flows… Buried in the flow of time… In thy great name, I pledge myself to darkness! Let all the fools who stand before us be destroyed by the power you and I possess!"
Rebecca's emerald eyes snapped open, the crimson orb of energy formed in her hands, the black magick waiting for her to finish the spell…
"DRAGON SLAVE!"
*-*-*-*
"Yo, Becca!"
Rebecca blinked and looked towards the door, right at Lashana. "Oh, morning Lashana," she said absently. "You're up early."
::She has to feed the dragons,:: Ahkor said from where he was lazily hovering over his 'mother'. Tvashtar was behind her, watching his Avatar loyally. Rebecca still found it strange that Lashana and Telca actually needed Guardians, but she had seen stranger things in her 700+ lifetime.
Lashana sighed. "I'll feed you in a minute," she said. Just let me talk to Becca for a minute, OK? You go find your brothers.
Ahkor glanced at Rebecca and nodded to Lashana. ::OK Elfy,:: he said, and flew away.
Lashana sat in a nearby chair and looked at Rebecca. "What's the matter?" she asked. "You're depressed about something, I can see it in your eyes."
Rebecca shook her head and looked towards the forest. "Nothing you need to worry about," she said. "I'm just having a hard time…adjusting to not having Tempest around, that's all."
Gods, she still misses him. Then again, so do I… "It's been a month," she said. Rebecca closed her eyes and let out a deep breath.
"Even if it had been one thousand years, I would still be feeling empty inside," she said. She opened her eyes and looked at Lashana, her green gaze locking with the Elf's dark blue one. "I loved him so much that it hurts to think about him. Every time I close my eyes, I see another memory, feel more pain in my heart, my soul. Unlike you, he won't be brought back…"
She trailed off as tears formed at her eyes. "Gods above, I miss him… I miss him so much that it hurts."
"You still have the rest of your family," Lashana said softly, trying to console her friend. It's a good thing Xellos isn't here; he'd be trying to get more dark emotions out of Rebecca…
"I do, don't I?" Rebecca said, mustering up a grin. "And I have you, Telca and the Guys as friends!"
She smiled then, a happy smile. "You should feed your dragons before they start to whine," she said. "I'm going to take a swim!"
Lashana chuckled and nodded. "OK, see you later then," she said, and went inside. "Ahkor! Don't chew on the leftovers!"
::But I'm hungry!::
Rebecca chuckled and snapped her fingers, changing her clothing into a dark blue one-piece bathing suit. She reached into a portal and pulled out a large green towel that she draped over a chair before running and diving into the pool.
*-*-*-*
"How's the water?" Rebecca asked as she watched Tempest do laps around the pool.
"Nice and warm!" Tempest replied…and then he saw the mischievous look in his wife's eyes. "What are you planning?"
"LY BRIEM!"
"AAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCK! REBECCA!!!!"
Rebecca chuckled and ran out of the indoor pool area after blowing her now-freezing husband a kiss. He was an omni-elemental; he'd survive!
The End
Well? What did you think? Review, dammit! Um, please? ^_^