I just finished A Sweet Far Thing and loved it, but can't seem to get my head around how life could go on without Kartik; for me it can't, so I came up with this. It is short and in need of more, but I will update with probably both a prequel and following chapters, including what has happened with other characters.
My last two years I had vowed to devote solely to my studies at University. In the beginning it was all I could do to keep myself from the realms. How badly I yearned to enter, but inside it held too much for my mind to deal with at the moment. Eventually, school happily preoccupied most of my time; Spence, the realms, everything became more of a distant dream rather than my too real past.
But the night hit me like the world all reversed at once; November 10. What should be a grand celebration of his life, one that I was thankful was ever part of mine, was now just a terribly empty aching memory of how much I still missed Kartik. I set my pen down on the table and walk over to my bed. The apartment I have taken since I finished school in New York was small and much more modest than the grandness I had been surrounded with in London. But it is all my own and the worth in that is surely invaluable; my papers strewn all over my ink stained table attest to it. I sink onto the bed and my feather pillows and Jewel colored blanket, that had reminded me so much of India I had to purchase it, absorb me like a billowy cloud; waiting to take me off to a dream world.
My purpose for sleeping was only to take a small escape from reality; a trivial glimpse of the soulful brown eyes and playful smile that still possess every bit of my heart. Sleep came fast; white light began to surround me from every direction, threatening to blind me if I open my eyes more than a squint. I wait for something else to appear, but there is nothing more than this white vastness. After what feels like surely an eternity the familiar door that I have not seen for the two years I have kept my aversion from the realms, begins to appear off to the side. It stands alone; nothing else. Never before had I entered the realms through a dream; my half conscious self tried to consider the possibilities: Will anything I experience be real? And more importantly, will I be able to leave before I wake again? Everything inside me pleads with me to go through, to be in the worlds that I hadn't realized I've missed so terribly until now. With one sharp breath I step through. My eyes blink wide open, relieved to have exchanged the harsh white light for the soft, sunny glow of the garden. It was beautiful; it looked just as it had the first time we ever stepped into this magical world. My hand outstretched to the roses that grew as far as I could see, their petals falling as pink crystals to the ground when my fingers graze them. The crystals hit the ground as puddles, reflecting the entire splendor around me. Although the magic was now flowing powerfully in the land, I had doubted if it could ever be the enchanting place I once knew, instead of the destructive, bloodthirsty ruins that sat etched into my mind like a bad dream. But surely it was.
"Most high, you have returned."
A voice that I had missed hearing, spoke from behind a patch of trees.
"Gorgon?"
I look for her. She steps from behind the trees, and the warning she had once implored to me 'not to look directly at her' resounds through me, protecting against the snakes that sweetly tried to gain my eye.
"It has been a long season. We wondered if you should ever return."
The small word "we" that she used indicated that peace still remained throughout the tribes of the world; the magic was well serving its purpose.
"I am sorry Gorgon. Much has been happening in my world."
"Ah"
Her body stood unnaturally still as she spoke with me, the only movement came from the restless serpents on top her head.
"Tell me, am I dreaming or is this real?"
She answered no more than something as close to a smile as I have ever seen on her face.
It all felt so real, I surely couldn't tell, but truly it didn't matter; for either way I was now here, returned.
Rustling came from the spot where Gorgon had just stepped from. Out stepped Philon and Asha, I was overjoyed to see them. They had once been enemies to each other and almost to me. But the discovery of a war hungry betrayer amongst the centaurs and the return of magic to restore the land had brought long awaited peace to the people. However, in all my previous visits to the realms they had never come to the garden.
"High priestess, we welcome your return," Philon lowers his head in a small bow.
Asha joins her hands together, as if in prayer, and lowers her head towards me too.
I return their gestures with a curtsy of my own,
"I have missed you all."
"The realms have flourished since you stopped the Winterlands' creatures and kept your promise to us."
That night flashed across my mind. It hurt more every time that I remembered that night. Asha must've seen the cloud of hurt that came across my face, for she stepped forward and touched my cheek with her hand. Asha's hands had less sores on them than her legs, but they were still a display of her disfigured skin. Yet, her touch was gentle and I did not flinch away.
"We have something for you. For all you have done to protect and restore order within the lands here we were able to give you a token in return."
I smiled in anticipation; they had a gift for me, all bad memories swept out of me. Then I saw him. He was standing next to the small gathering of trees that they had all first appeared from.
"Kartik?"
My voice was hardly there, scared to speak and prove my eyes to be liars. He walked to me; a brilliant smile grew on his lovely dark face as he came closer; stopping only an inch from me.
"Kartik?"
I said again in disbelief. The tears threatened behind my eyes, my trembling hand fell onto my mouth.
"Dear Gemma, don't cry, it is me."
He seemed to find my disbelief funny and as his chest lifted and fell with his laugh I knew he was actually there.
"But how?"
Kartik's body being entwined in the branches of the Tree of All Souls flickered in my head; his sacrifice to save me. My hand left my mouth and reached out to touch his cheek. Tears were no longer a threat, but now a very real uncontrollable flood down my cheeks. His hand sealed over my own as his eyes closed accepting every bit of my touch.
"It was Philon, Asha, Gorgon, everyone!"
"They freed you?" I asked in disbelief and slight fear; what would the tree do without its sacrifice?
"No Gemma," his hands now held my soaked face like a child's, "I still belong to the Winterlands, but the tribes have allowed me to be free to be with you…in your dreams."
"My dreams?"
His thumb smoothed over the worry line that was now creasing my brow.
"I am dreaming then? This isn't real?" Something inside of me felt heavy.
"Our dreams are more real than any life could be."
Asha's calm, sweet, wise voice reassured from behind me. I turned to look at her and all three gave a good-bye nod as they backed away and disappeared into the trees. I now stood alone with Kartik in the garden.
This story is continued, somewhat, in my other AGATB stor; The glow from Afar. If you want a happy ending with Kartik and Gemma just ending up together then stop with this. If you want to continue with more drama including more characters from the books read the other story.