Notes: Without beta.
She looked at him, with her eyes as wide and round as the moon, illusion, hope bleeding out from them. But fear, too.
"It's him, it has to be."
The man nodded. They both had been looking for him for so long. And now... But this same situation has happened before, and all their hopes were shattered each time.
"I have a feeling... this time it's him."
They embraced each other, trembling with anticipation. This time... It will be different.
/0/
My Grandma told me, long, long ago, that she found me when she was very young. She had her hair red as sunset, and her eyes were deeper, with a blue as the sea, and her skin was smooth, without those brown spots. She was taller, too, and her voice, she said, mesmerised all the men who heard her song.
But now, she needs me to walk, and her hands shake and her skin is like the trees that surround the house. But I don't care. I prefer Grandma like this, she is beautiful to me. Because her eyes are of the lightest blue, a gentle blue, and her hair is silver as the moon, and her voice talks about a life lived without regret.
When she found me, I was a little baby. It was long, long ago. But I am still a child, while she is old. She told me that when she realised that I didn't aged she feared for me. She told me that I was too precious for her. She couldn't bear any children in her womb, so I was like a blessing. She gave me my name, Ian, and told me that she found me in the deepest part of this forest.
Why were you in the deepest part of the forest?, I asked her. And she smiled at me and she told me that I called for her, I called her mama, and cried her name until she found me. And when she took me in her arms I stopped crying and smiled.
I have liver with her inside the woods all my short life. But she says that my live isn't short, it's just that I forget things so I can still be a child, in the body of a child.
She is resting now. She hasn't been able to walk this past week. She says that's because she is dying, and that when she is dead, she won't be with me anymore. I'm mad at the Death, for wanting to take away Grandma. I need my Grandma, the Death not.
"Ian, sweetheart, come here." Her voice is shaking when she calls me, I approach more.
"What is it, Granny? Do you want water?"
"No, my sweetness, I want to give you something."
I help her to sit and put cushions so she can be more comfortable. She ask me to give her a squared box of wood. It's pretty, with patterns on it, and a shiny lock. I wonder why I haven't seen it before.
"I enchanted this box so you couldn't find it until I gave it to you." I nod. She takes a deep breath, I know she is about to tell me something about my origins, so I sit better and look at her, expectant. "When I found you, this was with you. No, you were holding it tight. You had great magi power. I was afraid for months of you. But you never did anything to me. You see, I had to protect you until you were old enough to get back all your past life, so I learnt magic. Magic to protect you. I learnt how to make a shield, how to hide things. How to hide you." She stops and I give her her water bowl. She drinks slowly, spilling some drops. "Whenever I made magic you reacted to it, as if it were a part of yourself. Those times you really scared me, so I made my last spell, a protection barrier surrounding this area, so nobody with ill intentions could came here."
"Why?"
"Because if the wrong ears were to hear about you, and your location, your life would be in danger. When you came here, more than 70 year ago, you linked this realm with your own. The time in this realm is different from yours, so in there, there haven't been more than 10 years since you came."
"Time goes faster here?" Grandma nods. I'm afraid now. "That why I don't age like you?"
"No, my love, it's because of who you are."
"I don't understand, Grandma."
She smiles at me, holding her box. When she is about to open it, someone knocked at the door. She paled, and I run to hide.
"Hello? Is somebody here? Hello?"
A woman's voice.
"Let it go, there's nobody here since long ago. We must have missed the right road."
"No! I know it's here!"
"Granny..." I whimper. I have always been afraid of everything. I don't like strangers.
"Shh, my little one. Go, open the door. Don't worry, they won't hurt us."
"How do you know?"
She smiles at me. "I know because there is a wee bit of power in me."
I nod and open the door. Outside there are two people: a tall man with dark hair that is greyed in some parts; a small woman with the signs of age on her blue eyes.
"Yes?" I ask, they look at me, surprised. She starts crying, falling to the ground, looking at me. I look at the man. He is crying too, and has his mouth opened, as if he wants to say something, but can't find the words.
"Let them inside, Ian, my sweet."
"Co...come in?"
/0/
While I prepare some infusion and pastries in the kitchen, Grandma and the strangers talks with quiet voices, as if they don't want me to hear. I frown, I want to know. When the infusion is ready, I set all in a tray and walk towards Grandma's bedroom. They have moved some chairs and a table so they can sit near Grandma and I can put the tray in a reachable place.
I notice they shut when I came in. That's just unfair.
"Ian, sweetheart, come here." I climb to the bed and sit beside Grandma, she pets my head and hugs me and kisses my forehead. "Look, my love, these people have come here to take you home."
I look at Grandma with wide eyes. "But this is home," I reply. I see from the corner of the eye that the woman tenses up and the man clenches his jaw. "And I don't know them."
"Shh. Don't worry, my Ian. They came from your own land. You will be happier with them."
I can feel the tears on my eyes, but I refuse to cry in front of these strangers. "What if they are bad people?"
Grandma laughs. "Oh, honey, they are not. They know who you are. They are here to take you home." I can see the worry growing bigger and bigger in her eyes. "Ian, love, I am old. I will die soon and you will be left alone. With them you can have a family-"
"But you are my family," I cut. I have never been like this, but I'll fight. I don't want to leave Grandma. "I can live on my own perfectly. And I can be here and take care of the house."
She shakes her head. "No, sweetheart. If you are left alone here, I know my barriers will come down and you will be defenceless. This is the best idea."
I look at the strangers, pleading them.
"I..." starts the woman. "Maybe he can stay here until..."
The man nods. "And we can stay here as well. We will protect this place."
Until now I haven't noticed but they are wearing light armour, and she has a short blade and he has a bow and arrows. Their clothes are slightly worn out, and their shoes looks like they have travelled countless roads. They can protect us, but for how long in a battle?
Grandma nods and says some more things. I am not listening, looking absorbed at their weapons. The woman's eyes locks with mine and I feel something special. There's this strange thing that appears in them when she looks at me. It's too intense, so I look away.
It has been settled. I can't argue. They will stay here, and when Grandma dies, I'll go with them.
I didn't know yet, but inside the wooden box, that object was calling me.
