PART II: That's the Way It Is

When you want it the most
There's no easy way out
... Love comes to those
Who believe it

...

She raced through the woods as quickly as her legs would allow her. She could feel her heart's rapid pace, the throbbing rage in her mind, and the unrelenting ambition within her veins. She was so close she could feel it, goose bumps rising on her skin as the wind pounded against her flesh, pulling her long dark hair to flow with the wind behind her, a loose strand stubbornly obstructing her view.

Nothing could stop her now. She hadn't even thought the whole thing through, but the moment she heard that treacherous woman's name, she knew. It was her. And this time, she would get her. This time, she would pay for her crimes. Even if she had to lose her own life in the process, she would make Denna suffer. She could already see it in her mind, and though it frightened her a little, it also excited her. Maybe she was just angry; maybe that woman had just reached the final straw. Or perhaps she was simply going crazy. Whatever it was, she didn't care. All she could see was her hand wrapped around that despicable woman's neck as her magic would condemn the tyrant to death.

Finally, she caught sight of the small cabin, but she didn't stop or even slow down. Instead, she found herself pushing to go even faster, causing an irritating burning sensation to spread through her legs and arms. But she didn't let it get in her way, she did all she could to ignore it, and as she concentrated on her goal, she missed the thick fallen branch on the ground and effectively tripped over it, causing her to topple over and fall flat on her face. She let out an aggravated huff as she propped herself up by her arms. As she lifted herself from the ground she brushed at the fabric of her dress in frustration, attempting to remove some of the dirt that now caked her white dress.

She mumbled something under her breath and shook a leaf out of her hair before continuing towards the cabin door. She didn't bother keep silent or scout for any potential threats; her mind was far too focused on her vengeance to even care. At this point, she was sure she could take out an entire army on her own if she had to, it wouldn't be the first time, after all.

She reached for the door handle, expecting to find it locked, but to her surprise, it wasn't. She turned the knob and pushed the door open. When she entered, she saw no one, which puzzled her. The room was small, though larger than anticipated. It was dark and the only source of light appeared to be a few unlit candles and a small window on the back wall, which was half dressed with a tattered old curtain. As she scanned the room she noted how little it held within its walls; near the window sat three wooden chairs, which all seemed to be broken in some way or another, surrounding a small round wooden table which held a few dirty dishes, a rag, and some fruit. She also spotted a few books on a slanted shelf, a large vase on a stool in the corner which housed an unidentifiable wilted plant, and a ragged old doll on the floor whose hair had become a large clump on top of the faceless toy's little head. The walls were dressed with a few portraits of people she could only assume were the former tenants of the cabin and a stone fireplace which, judging by the two pieces of wood creating an 'x' over it's opening, hadn't been used in a long time. She stepped deeper into the room until she spotted a small hallway. In it she found three doors, the two on either side of the wall were closed, but the one at the end of the hall was slightly ajar which allowed the warm light to pool out from the small space.

Without another thought, she marched towards it, grabbed the handle and swung it open, causing it to bang against the side of the wall before bouncing back towards her. She held her arm out to stop it, she raised her head – her breath a heavy pant – and she glared into the room before her eyes could even register what – or who – was within.

Their heads turned in unison as the door suddenly flew open. There, with reddened flesh, wild hair, and vengeful eyes stood the one known as the Mother Confessor. Her eyes were fixed on the Mord'Sith at first, and only when she saw her sister did her expression change. She batted her eyes, as if unable to believe the sight before her. She opened her mouth, as if to speak, but no words emerged before she closed it again. She could feel the panic rise through her chest and up into her throat, mixing itself into the anger that had firmly planted itself within her. She tried a few more times, the words refusing to escape her grasp, until finally, her sister's name managed to break away from her dry lips.

"… Dennee?" the name came out weak and strained, but at least she was finally beginning to get a grip of her defiant lips.

"Kahlan…" Dennee's eyes grew wide with fear. Her first instinct was to pull the wrapped bundle closer to her heart, needing desperately to hide her from the woman she once admired more than she could ever say.

"What are you doing here? Are you alright?" She took a hesitant step towards her sister but stopped as her eyes wandered to Denna momentarily, taking note of how unnaturally close she was to her little sister – and not just close, but comfortably so.

Denna, feeling the intruder's gaze upon them, quickly pulled her arms away from her loved ones, equipping herself with screaming agiels behind her back. She did not, however, make any kind of move to attack, choosing instead to wait, as Dennee had urged her many times before, for the attack to become a necessary measure.

"I-" Dennee choked back her words for a moment, struggling to obtain the confidence she needed to face her sister, "I could ask the same of you."

"I'm here for her." She shot a deadly glare towards the Mord'Sith as she emphasized the last word and in response, Denna tightened her grip on her agiels to prevent herself from attacking.

"What do you want from her?" she pulled the bundle even closer, the child's heart now sharing her same frightened pace, before she corrected herself, "from us."

And just as easily as it had come, the anger and panic escaped the older Confessor, only to be replaced by an immediate and overwhelming sense of bewilderment. "Us? What in the Spirits are you talking about, Dennee?" Her voice was higher than usual, squeaky even, as if she couldn't decide whether to scream or cry.

For a moment, all she could do was stare. She read the exhaustion and the exasperation all over her sister's form. Finally, after some inner debate, she decided what she had to do next. Staring determinately into the frazzled expression on her older sister's face she released three simple, yet meaningful, words in one unwavering tone; "I love her." She felt as though her whole heart had been poured into those three little words. And if she hadn't been afraid to reveal her newborn child, she would have pulled the Mord'Sith's hand back into her palm.

There was this mixture of courage and stupidity emanating from the Confessor as she made her declaration, and as she heard the words, Denna wasn't sure whether she should hit her lover on the back of the head or kiss her passionately for it.

The Mother Confessor, however, was completely and utterly dumbstruck. She moved her lips, but once again, words were much too difficult to use.

Dennee repeated herself, making sure her sister would understand that she meant every word. She didn't care what her sister – or anyone – thought of it, she was determined to spend the rest of her life with her new – no – her true family.

The Mother Confessor continued to stare for a while longer, but as she attempted to process what she had just heard, the anger began to creep back up. Her sister was no idiot. She hated the Mord'Sith more than anyone she knew, she would never fall for one, especially not this one. Denna was powerful, manipulative, and by far the most vicious Sister of the Agiel she had ever met. There could only be one explanation for her sister's behavior, that… woman had to have played with her mind – she must have managed to break Dennee, turning her into one of her precious pets. The idea made her shudder, she could imagine the Mord'Sith torturing her little sister for weeks without end, breaking her down until she was nothing but a loyal servant. It made her want to vomit. At the same time, it made her want to cry and scream – but more than anything, she wanted to ring her fingers around that disgusting creature's neck and condemn her to a slow and painful death. Her eyes darted towards the creature and she immediately lunged towards her, not even bothering to pull out her daggers; her hands were all she needed.

Kahlan's actions surprised the two other women in the room, but the shock was hardly enough to outwit Denna. The moment Kahlan's hands made contact, Denna brought her agiels from behind her back and made to attack. However, before the agiels could connect with the Confessor's flesh, she grabbed at the Mord'Sith's arms and attempted to push her back towards the wall. Denna stumbled back a bit, the vengeful Confessor's weight throwing her balance.

"What have you done to her?!" she shouted as she continued in her attempt to disarm her adversary. She then managed to hold one of Denna's arms above her head and as she pulled it down behind the Mord'Sith's back, her free hand reached for her neck.

As she saw the hatred boil in the Confessor's eyes, Denna brought up her knee, slamming it hard into her opponent's groin. Kahlan yelped in pain, causing her to loosen her grip which allowed Denna the opportunity to swing her around, effectively switching their positions.

As she watched the scene unfolding before her, Dennee didn't know what to do. Under normal circumstances, intercepting the fight would be a simple solution, but these were far from normal circumstances; the only two women she cared for in the world were fighting to the death and she could do nothing but scream, needing desperately to protect the newborn child in her arms.

"I will make you pay for this – for everything you've done." The Mother Confessor's voice dropped to a venomous tone as she began to illustrate the Mord'Sith's impending death.

They could both hear Dennee's protestant cries in the background, but the older Confessor disregarded her pleas, certain in her heart that she knew what had really happened here and that she would be the one to make it right. They continued to fight for an agonizingly long time, Dennee's heart pounding erratically as she remained seated, choosing to protect the infant rather than joining the other women (and, if she were honest, she was still in far too much pain to move even if not for the child in her arms). For their part, the battling women managed to drown out the new mother's cries, one focused on her belief that she knew best, while the other simply did what must be done to avoid certain death.

Then suddenly, the newborn's frail voice cried out.

That got their attention.

The two women halted their fight. Denna reluctantly released the Mother Confessor from her grip, though she kept near in case she had to restrain her should the need for the rest of her family to flee arise. Like a magnet, Kahlan found herself drawn towards the sound, causing her to step closer to her sister, curious to find the source of the voice.

The new mother sucked in a deep breath as the other Confessor approached, her throat felt dry from overuse and the tears had halted, beginning to dry on her flesh. Dennee bit her lip as her sister reached out to the bundle in her arms, and gentle as she was, Dennee couldn't help but flinch when her sister pulled the sheet from around the child.

The Mother Confessor's fingers gently caressed the delicate creature's cheek. The corner of her lips lifted slightly.

"Dennee…" her voice was no more than that of a whisper, "why didn't you –"

"Tell you?" she finished for her, her voice hoarser and more emotionally charged than she would have liked.

Kahlan nodded, still charmed by the small child.

"Because, I knew…" Dennee answered quietly, "That you could never accept her."

"But Dennee…" her voice was quiet, eyes focused solely on the child as she looked on in wonderment, "she's my niece."

"And her father –" she turned to look at Denna briefly, "she... well, she doesn't have a father; she has a mother – two mothers."

Kahlan simply stared for a moment, trying to soak it in. She just couldn't believe a word of it.

"Oh, I see." She scoffed, finally, "well played, little sister. You almost had me there, for a moment."

Dennee shook her head.

"Very funny." She said flatly, far from amused.

"It's not a joke, Kahlan."

The Mother Confessor's eyes grew wide, as the expression on her sister's face told her she was serious, "but… that's not even possible, Dennee…" She tilted her head to the side as she spoke, a conflicted smile plastered on her features.

"We don't understand it any better than you do," Dennee's eyes pleaded for understanding as she spoke, but the expression in those same eyes and the tone in her voice was tinted with sympathy at the same time. "But it is the truth."

"Surly there must be some explanation; two women simply cannot have a child on their own." Kahlan began, attempting to make some sense of this… whatever this was. "Besides, your powers would have killed her." The last word was laced with disgust as she allowed her eyes to sweep towards the Mord'Sith once more. She fought off the images that flashed through her mind, images of that... beast touching her sister. It repulsed her. None of this made any sense to her, and the only semi-rational conclusion she could bring herself to was that this was part of the leather tyrant's new plan. She must have tortured her or brainwashed her in some way, or perhaps this wasn't even her sister, perhaps she as well was an imposter…

"Dennea." Dennee's voice quietly broke through her train of thought. "Her name, your niece. Dennea Amnell. In case you were wondering."

The Mother Confessor looked up, catching her sister's eyes, her mouth hung open but before she could respond, there was a loud sound. A door, she realized, slamming shut. Followed by hurried footsteps and a shushing sound. Then there was silence. Kahlan was alarmed, but the other two women were... smiling? She tilted her head to the side, studying Dennee's expression, and then the thundering footsteps began again, the noise becoming louder as it made its way toward them. Until, at last, the door swung open again, less forcefully than when the Mother Confessor had entered, but still harsher than necessary. When finally she looked, she saw him, and he was most certainly not what she had expected. Standing there in the doorway was a little boy, no more than five or six years of age, blonde curly hair and a vibrant smile. He was clutching something in one hand as he stood there. He launched himself toward the Mord'Sith, who stood closest to the door, wrapped his arms around her torso and asked excitedly, "is she here? Is she?"

Denna, for her part, smiled down at the boy before crouching down and returning the embrace. "Yes." she answered, finally, "but you have to be very quiet. Is that understood?" He pulled away, still holding onto her shoulders and nodded. "Good." She tapped his nose, and it was an incredibly gentle, almost maternal sight to see. Kahlan was, once again, dumbstruck. Part of her wondered if perhaps, she were in some sort of strange dream.

Another woman appeared at the door then, leaning on the doorway, panting heavily as she attempted to catch her breath. "I'm so sorry, Confessor. He ran so fast, I couldn't catch up."

"It's fine, Amelia." Dennee waved her off, "he can stay now, you're free to go if you'd like." The other woman bowed gratefully, thanked the Confessor, and left.

"Come here, Edwin." Dennee spoke to the boy, and he did, slowly and a little too carefully. It was quite adorable. The Mord'Sith trailed behind him, moving closer to her family, but still keeping a safe distance, still completely prepared should she need to fight once more. Dennee whispered in his ear after he kissed her cheek and when he broke away, he looked up to the Mother Confessor in awe, that bright smile still in place.

"Hello, Aunt Kahlan!" He grinned as he waved at her. She smiled back, finally regaining some of her composure as she finally realized why he looked so familiar. He was the baby, Lucinda's baby. "Hello, Edwin." she replied and then turned to her sister, whispering, "he's grown so much..."

Dennee simply closed her eyes and nodded, offering her sister a tentative smile before turning back to the boy, "and this," she moved closer to the boy, revealing the bundle in her arms, "is your baby sister."

"Wow." he looked down at the child in wonder, hesitantly reaching out to touch her cheek. He pulled his hand away fairly quickly, afraid to harm the child in any way. Without a word he gently set the toy he had been clutching since his arrival on his mother's arm, right next to the baby. It was the doll, she recognized, that she had seen upon entering. Though it looked somewhat cleaner, and was now wearing a different dress. She couldn't help the smile that graced her lips. If she ignored the Mord'Sith - and she was, at that moment, doing precisely that - then she could appreciate how incredibly beautiful the scene before her was. Her sister was happy, really and truly happy like she'd never seen her before.

A/N: I know, I know. It's been, what, a year? Oops. No, let me actually explain that. I had all four parts nearly complete ages ago, but then my computer crashed and I lost everything. By the time I got a new computer I just couldn't bring myself to rewrite it... until now, because I recently found an old rough draft that had this part and a few notes on the last two parts. I'm not sure now if I'll be re-writing the last two parts, though. They skip ahead several months and then years, so really, I could end this here. Anyways, thank you for reading!