It's been what –looks at calendar– three freaking months?! Heh heh oops. Sorry about the very long wait and hope it was worth it.
Too lazy to fully check for any errors so please excuse them. I just wanted to get this out for you guys since I've already made you wait so long.
Please R&R!
Disclaimer – I do not own Mummy or its characters. I don't even own the plot. All I own is the character I stuck in so that Ardeth could have some romance in his life.
Twice In A Lifetime – He began stalking toward her with a possessive gleam in his eyes. "Life in the desert is harsh." She nervously backed up a step for each one he took, mouth dry. He stopped in front of her after her back bumped into a tree trunk and placed his hands on either side of her head. "You better not regret your choice later." He breathed against her lips as his hands tangled in her hair.
Chapter Six – Following Her Heart
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Oh crap, oh crap. Freak out time, freak out time. This is not good. Naomi pinched her cheek. When the skin protested the abuse, she knew it wasn't a dream. She really was in love with a man she had just barely met and hardly knew. What the heck was she supposed to do now? Especially since she would probably never see him again.
She idly noticed Evelyn discussing something with Jonathan in low tones, mind too busy trying (and failing) to come up with a way to meet the Medjai somehow, stomach knotting in apprehension and slight fear. Teeth biting her lower lip, she finally shook her head, only one clear thought surfacing. If, or when, he should ever appear before her again, she would latch on to him and follow him wherever he goes. The side fact that he was probably the only person who had some answers for her regarding her previous life was just a bonus – something she preferred not to mention at the moment.
A dry chuckle escaped her throat as the image of her older brother's disapproving face popped up. Oh Rick would so not be happy with her if he ever found out. The picture entertained her, distracting her from reality, so when she unexpectedly rammed into a hard wall, she fell on her butt with a surprised grunt, totally dazed.
When was there a wall…?
"It's time." Her head snapped up, not expecting to hear that deep voice again so soon. Ardeth held out a hand and, heart pounding, she took it. He kept their fingers intertwined even after she was back upright. Evy and Jonathan abruptly realized their sister in law wasn't behind them anymore and headed back to the other two once noticing them staring at each other. Ardeth faced the brother and sister, Naomi's heart skipping a beat. "It's time."
"So this is goodbye then?" It pained her to ask the necessary question. Her fingers tightened around his subconsciously. She wouldn't get to properly say goodbye to her family (including Jonathan) but she guessed this would also be her only opportunity to go with the Medjai.
Evelyn nodded in understanding, quickly grabbing her brother's arm. "I'll say goodbye for you." She looked pointedly at Naomi then stared hard at the Medjai for a few long seconds. "Take care of her Ardeth." The words were spoken more like a command as she dragged a sputtering Jonathan away.
Naomi tilted her head, thoroughly confused. What did she mean by that? A frown appeared. I can take care of myself thank you very much. She glanced at the man standing silently beside her, wondering if he knew what Evelyn had meant, only to promptly forget that train of thought as their eyes locked. A light blush spread over her cheeks before she tore her gaze away, her brain unhelpfully reminding her of what she had been thinking about earlier.
She swallowed nervously, waving a hand in front of them. "Lead on then."
"You must stay with O'Connell." He immediately countered, voice betraying no emotions. "He will need your help."
She shook her head in protest, placing her free hand on a hip. "He already has Alex so I'm going with you."
"Do you even realize what this would mean?" The question was quiet, like it had slipped out unknowingly. Naomi sighed, moving a few feet to a nearby tree trunk, leaning back against it, stubbornly crossing her arms over her chest, eyeing the Medjai standing rigidly before her. She knew exactly what he asking by that.
"Yes, I do."
He took a hesitant step forward. "You are willing to leave behind your family?"
"My only family was the ones we were traveling with – minus Izzy of course." She casually replied. Really. She had already been through this list after realizing what she wanted to do. He was only forcing her to say the answers out loud.
Another step. "Friends?"
She shrugged. "Don't really have any actually." What was this? Question her until she decided to turn back or something?
His stride quickened, a possessive gleam appearing in his dark brown orbs. "Life in the desert is harsh."
"I know that!" She scowled, back pressing harder against the tree trunk. "I was born in Egypt you know."
Her mouth went unexpectedly dry when he placed his hands on either side of her head, bending slightly since he was taller than her. "No," he breathed across her face, "you must return to your home in England." It was starting to sound like he was trying to convince himself more than her at this point.
That thought gave her some much needed courage to continue the ongoing battle. Wetting her lips, she whispered, "I want to go with you Ardeth." She shook her head to clear the slowly creeping haze in her mind. "Besides, that wasn't my home anyway." It shocked her to admit it but the truth was finally out. "I was only staying there to finish my studies – which I don't mind giving up." She had hurriedly added the last part when his mouth opened.
"You are willing to give up everything – including your older brother – to come with me?" The hope was buried but she still caught it.
You are my home now. She didn't notice the sentence being muttered out loud as the thought came forth. He chuckled, fingers gently tangling in her dark hair. "You better not regret your choice later Naomi." Her jaw dropped to object that she never would, miffed he would even think such a thing but was silenced by his mouth. A painful jab hit her head at the moment of contact, hands reaching up to grip his arms to steady herself, eyes squeezing shut against the uncomfortable sensation as dozens of familiar images rapidly flashed through her mind.
One particular scene was clearer than the rest. She swiftly recognized the black haired woman within a pair of tanned arms. When the priestess leaned back to lovingly gaze up into the face of who was holding her, Naomi got the biggest shock of her life. Though in a way she shouldn't have been that surprised – she had kinda guessed it before during the flying trip.
The name Amun slipped out after Ardeth pulled away. All the scattered pieces finally clicked together, confirming the reason why she had felt so drawn to him right from the very beginning. She hurriedly buried her face in his chest, hiding the moisture gathered at the corners of her emerald eyes, arms fully wrapping around him. He didn't say anything as he rested his chin on the top of her head.
"Why didn't you say anything?" Her voice held a hint of an accusing tone, muffled slightly because of his dark robes.
"I didn't want it to influence you."
Naomi snorted then lightly rubbed her cheek on the smooth cloth. Good old Amun – or rather Ardeth. "Somehow I don't think it would've mattered much." They stayed silent for a little while longer before a more disturbing question made itself known. She leaned back to gaze up at him. "Did you know?"
A soft smile curved his lips. "I knew from the first moment I met you that you were Naeemah." She frowned at the new information.
"Jerk," the blow was softened by the twinkle in her eyes, "You hid it pretty well."
He shrugged, looking totally innocent. Twin chuckles escaped their throats, Naomi reaching up to playfully tug a lock of his thick hair, Ardeth brushing back some wayward strands off her forehead. The moment stretched out after their laughter died off and Naomi wondered what would happen now. She knew the Medjai commanders needed to be informed of the latest development but since Horus had been shot (probably by someone from Alex's kidnappers was her guess) the only way now to accomplished that was by someone from her party. Ardeth had only promised to stick around until her nephew was rescued – done – so he would be heading back.
And she absolutely refused to be left behind now.
"Let's go." The sound of his voice brought her back to reality. She absentmindedly nodded, hand automatically slipping down into his, gut churning. There was this sinking feeling that something was about to happen, something big, and she wasn't sure if it was good or bad. Her skin prickled – it felt like someone was watching them.
"Naeemah?" The accented voice made her accidently let out a terrified squeak. They whirled around toward the sound, Ardeth ripping out his scimitar, positioning himself in front of Naomi. She groaned out loud at their lousy luck when her gaze landed on two figures stepping away from the tall shrubs. The surprised expression on Imhotep's face dropped when he spotted just who was shielding her, the menacing curling of his lips accompanied by blazing hatred in his eyes.
"Amun." The name was spat out in the silence between the four. Naomi swallowed, torn between wanting to be scared and hide behind the Medjai or sliding around him to peer closer at who apparently knew their previous lives. Her legs made the decision for her, moving sideways while wide eyes flickered between the mummy and the woman standing next to him clutching a black metal book (the Book of the Dead her mind supplied).
He seems awfully familiar… "Brother?" The word slipped out without any conscious thought. Naomi immediately slapped a hand over her mouth, startled eyes flickering over to the man beside her, horrified she had actually placed him so quickly. Ardeth didn't look at her, knuckles white around the hilt of his weapon.
The woman with the High Priest tilted her head, dark eyes narrowed. "Priestess Naeemah."
A shiver slithered down Naomi's spine at the sheer amount of contempt in the voice. There had only been one person who had hated her in her previous life – and it wasn't the pharaoh. She faced the other party with a condescending sheer, a little bit of Naeemah's bad attitude leaking through. "Anck-su-amun."
Imhotep held out a hand expectantly. "Come with me little sister." The authoritative Arabic sentence made both the Medjai and O'Connell bristle. Oh hell no. Naomi gritted her teeth against saying it out loud, not wanting to upset the very old and powerful dead turned resurrected guy. Just because she was the reincarnation of his younger sister didn't mean she would go with him. Naeemah was only a part of her – not all of her.
"Naeemah…" The mummy growled with his eyes shifting to the Medjai holding a scimitar. She shook her head; her name was Naomi, not Naeemah and she would not answer to it.
As the silence stretched on, Imhotep grew visibly annoyed and angry. His other hand started rising, Naomi's heart stuttered from a sudden feeling of dread, just as a pillar of weak sunlight broke through the thick tree tops. He glanced up, sighed, then began guiding his lover around the other two. Ardeth and Naomi followed their line of movement, not wanting to let them out of their sight just quite yet. As the mummy swept passed her, he whispered seven words that had a bucket of ice water pouring over her.
The Medjai didn't move a muscle even after they disappeared once again into the dense greenery. Naomi couldn't move, frozen in terror from what Imhotep had told her. She didn't know which was scarier – her recognizing him as Naeemah's older brother or him recognizing her as Naeemah at first glance.
It was the Medjai's hand resting gently on her shoulder that brought her back to reality. She shook her whole body, plastered a bright smile on her face, bounced after him while talking excitedly. The whole act was to force the chilling words out of her mind but they refused to wither away.
"I will come for you later Naeemah."
\/\/\/\/
"Mom!" The blonde boy exclaimed happily when she pulled him straight off her husband's shoulder and into her arms. She hugged him tightly to her, sinking down to her knees.
Rick put his hands on his hips as he panted harshly. Jonathan stopped in front of the father with a single rifle and white backpack. His eyes swept the area behind his brother in law for his younger sister. When she didn't appear a few seconds later, he turned to his wife with an alarmed expression. "Where's Naomi?"
Evy stood up with Alex's hand in her own. "She decided to stay with Ardeth." The father breathed a sigh of relief, Jonathan leaning on his rifle.
"She's in love with him you know." Jonathan piped up in the following silence. Evy laid her other hand on her husband's arm.
Rick glanced at her. "I already knew that. And as long as he takes care of her…" The threat went unfinished. Everyone knew what the male O'Connell would do if someone hurt his sister.
Alex suddenly began tugging on his mother's hand. "Come on, Mom! Come on! Come on, Dad!" He took a few steps back once she let go. "We have to get to the pyramid. I have to get the bracelet off now!"
"Oh, leave it on, Alex. Looks good on you." Jonathan said, waving away the thought of him taking it off.
"No, you guys!" Now the boy was beginning to look panicked. "You don't understand! He told me the bracelet will kill me if I don't get inside the pyramid before the sun hits it!" He paused for a breath then let loose the final bombshell. "Today!"
"Oh my God." Evy mumbled.
\/\/\/\/\/
Time flowed in one endless stream to her during their journey. Somewhere along the route, Ardeth procured horses to speed up travel, lending Naomi a piece of black fabric to cover most of her face and protecting it from the moving sand grains and hot sun. There was never much silence between the two – mostly due to him just listening to her blabbering. However, every once in awhile, she did managed to wrangle something useful from the surprisingly closed mouth Medjai.
Like the fact of how he had never married. It wasn't due to lack of trying on the commanders' part (he had accidently let that bit of information slip, making Naomi giggle hysterically for several minutes) but his excuse was being too busy to even care. She merely poked fun at the fact that there were people playing matchmaker for him.
Their – her – conversation ended when a mass of dark shapes lined the horizon. Naomi's face lost her smile (she had been chuckling over the matchmaker tidbit again) and gulped, fingers tightening around the reigns. Ardeth gestured at the growing line, bright sunbeams outlining the traveling bodies. Dust littered the air behind the Medjai warriors, twelve horses in the fore front, the rest following along in waves. Naomi watched them with apprehension.
The two of them eventually reached the twelve horses carrying the commanders, Naomi staying at Ardeth's right flank. The commanders all held up a single hand and every rider halted his horse. Arabic questions flew between the thirteen of them, Naomi smiling politely in the direction of all the suspicious stares she was receiving. Her ears randomly picked up words she could translate from her somewhat limited knowledge of the language but her attention was diverted when her name came up with the words 'safe' and 'behind'. Without even thinking about it, she kicked her horse to join the conversing group, all talk dying once beside Ardeth.
"You are not leaving me behind Ardeth." She glared at him, voice hard.
He glared right back. "We are not discussing this." Speechless, she opened and closed her mouth several times, no coherent sentences to fire at him coming out. Ardeth calmly dismounted, the twelve commanders coping, Naomi refusing to comply. She wasn't very happy that he was totally ignoring her wishes – in a very tiny part of her mind she understood his reasons why but still… She could fight, the knowledge and skill from Naeemah would help greatly plus Rick had taught quite a few techniques himself. There shouldn't be a problem with her heading into battle with him, riding at his side, where she belonged.
But noooooooooooo.
While she sat silently seething, Ardeth finished whatever their earlier discussion she had interrupted with the commanders, swinging up on his saddle, nodding at the rest of the Medjai. She huffed, blew some dark strands of hair out of her eyes and waited for his next actions, just knowing he had ordered someone to take her back to his homeland. True to her predictions, two young looking warriors rode up beside her.
"We are to take you home."
The sentence made her gut clench in fear. For a single awful moment she thought they meant the one in England and panicked. But when they faced the back of the mass of Medjai, she realized it was Ardeth's home in Egypt, strong relief washing through her body. She shot a pleading glance to Ardeth, wanting so badly to go with him, as the little group of three started their own journey. At the edge of the warriors, Naomi grimaced at herself, disgusted by her actions.
It just wasn't in her nature to blindly follow orders. Naeemah hadn't even done that. She never did once finding her older brother and his family. Why should she start now?
Making the decision was easy. Getting away from her armed guards was the harder part. Naomi watched the two out of the corners of her eyes, knowing she would have only a few moments to dive into the moving block of Medjai. The tentative plan was to get lost within the dark mass, bypassing the guards and coming up beside Ardeth. If it succeeded, she hoped he would get the hint through his surprisingly thick skull that she was not leaving him. If not… well she at least tried then.
Her opportunity showed up later than she wanted. One of the young Medjai was fiddling with his robes, the other looking in the opposite direction of her. Grinning, she jerked her horse around, squeezing its flank hard, the horse's loud protesting whine alerting the guards Ardeth had sent to escort her. By the time they could whip around to follow her, she was already halfway back to the traveling warrior mass. She ducked low in the saddle, plunging straight between the first couple rows before slowing down, looking back over her shoulder, catching sight of the two young Medjai's despairing expressions, feeling very triumph.
Naomi knew she had to stay hidden for quite awhile before surprising Ardeth. She kept watch on the sun's position in the blue sky, grateful none of the other Medjai warriors alerting any the twelve commanders to her prescience within, milling about to pass time, steadily heading toward the front. After the sun had moved a good distance beyond when her first watch started, she broke through the last row, slipping between the twelve commanders, eyes focused entirely on the back of Ardeth's head. It wasn't until he glanced sideways and spotted her, a look of shocked anger on his face, that she came to another conclusion.
She was not looking forward to the coming argument.
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One, maybe two, more chapters then this story is finished. Thank you soooooo much to the people who not so gently nudged me to write this chapter. I really appreciated that.
Lightning Mistress
Sneak preview of the next chapter – Saying Goodbye
She sucked in a sharp breath, readying herself for the fast approaching hard fight. Then suddenly, the huge army was dusted, the black particles rushing over them. Throwing an arm over her face to protect it, body bending sideways, she waited until after the grains cleared, slowly looking up and seeing nothing but golden brown sand. Glancing at the Medjai to her side only confirmed what she had already been thinking.
The Army of Anubis had been vanquished. Rick must have killed the Scorpion King, thereby saving them all. Naomi squealed in joy, clapping her hands together.
It was finally over.
Ardeth lifted his arms to the sky and shouted, the warriors behind him copying his actions. Naomi rolled her eyes at the typical male behavior for victory. There were other, more pleasant ways, to celebrate victory in her opinion. The loud noise continued for several seconds and she finally got tired of it. Swiftly reaching up to grab the collar of his robes, she yanked him down to her level, cutting off his shout by pressing a kiss to his still opened mouth. She merely smirked after releasing him at the look on his face.
"What?" She shrugged, keeping a light hold on the dark material. "You weren't stopping."
Also a major major thank you to these people for their reviews – Lady Minuialwen, rukoitalian65, CeffylGwyn, watergoddesskasey,leafygreen16, guest, silversimon, Abyss Prime, ZabuzasGirl, Mrs. Shawn, ShezzaBoo0233, Kate101, katiebug700, MummyStudy17, SNOstorm and Purelight97.