Sorry for the long wait guys. Finals has been keeping me busy for the past couple of weeks and I've been juggling this story and my other one. Hopefully this chapter is nice and long enough. Just as a reminder I do not own anything except for my OC's. Everything belongs to Don Bluth.
Chapter Seven
Flashback Starts
"Elizabeth, I um… I have something I need to ask you." He wouldn't look at me and fiddled with his vest. "Okay?" I answered him wanting to know what he had to ask me. He stuck his arm out and gently took my hand. "Follow me please." He lead me to the spot by the pond we always meet up at. He let go and walked into the water. I watched him just stand there muttering something to himself. "Jonathan? Is everything alright?" I asked him concerned. He seemed a little off. "Yes, I um…." He sighed and slapped his forehead. "Ohhhhhh why is this so difficult?" He said aloud. He kept his back facing me as he continued to contemplate. "What is?" I asked yet again but more concerned. "I mean no one said it was going to be easy, but no one told me that it was going to be this hard." He began to pace a little, causing the water to make several ripples from his mental war. He stopped himself suddenly and turned towards me. He walked up to me and stopped in front of me. Our eyes met and he looked into me. He got down on one knee and sighed. "Elizabeth, I love you." He said as he reached inside his vest. I placed my hands on my cheeks as I started piecing everything together. My heart raced as he pulled out a little ring made of a single flower and it's stem. "I hope you love me too because I want you to be with me. So, will you marry me?" My vision clouded and a few tears slipped from my eyes. He had never said 'I love you' before and here he is now, proposing. "Yes! I-I will Jonathan!" I answered as I jumped onto him. We both fell into the water but neither of us cared because we then kissed.
Flashback Ends
I suddenly woke up and sat up. Everything started to come to me again and I remembered where exactly I was. The rats and I finally made it to Thorn Valley, it wasn't as long as I thought. We had arrived in the early hours of the morning and decided it was best to sleep until we could continue on with what we had to do. The room I was staying in was nice and small. The bed was comfortable and smelled of flowers. I clutched onto the stone that still hung around my neck. I looked down at it and stared. "What exactly are you capable of?" I asked it. I then moved my legs off the edge of the bed and stepped onto the floor. Daylight had entered my room and I could hear the birds chirping away. It made me feel homesick and want to be with my children. Today would be a good day to play outside and maybe even go swimming. There was a knock on my door and I quickly grabbed my little cape and put it on. "Mrs. Brisby? Are you up madame?" I heard Mr. Ages ask. "Yes sir, I am," I answered as I opened the door. "Come with me. We're having a meeting and we need you there." He said as he began to walk. I closed the door behind me and followed him.
"A meeting?" I asked him curiously. "Yes. Justin requested you be there because you're an important factor of this mission." I shook my head remembering everything that Justin had told me in my house. "Is this where we determine whether or not I'm needed in the mission and how we're going to plan it?" I asked as I still followed. "That is correct my dear. But before we can go we'll have to see how you control the stone and what exactly we can do to help you understand it better." I looked around the hallway we were in. From what I saw, it looked very similar to the rose bush back home, only bigger. If this was their place to go when the rose bush was being attacked, did this place have more electricity than the rose bush? "Mrs. Brisby." Mr. Ages said sternly. "Yes?" I asked trying to focus. I must have lost focus and remained in my thoughts too long. "Good gracious, please try to focus. You aren't here to daydream Brisby. You're here to make a difference for the sake of us!" I nodded my head and apologized to him.
He then lead to a set of large doors that were closed. He opened them and stepped aside to let me walk in first. As I walked in all heads turned towards me and stared. Whispering commenced throughout the court of rats and my heart began to race. Deja vu was what I was feeling, only this time I wouldn't be turned down….hopefully. Justin was in the center of the room and turned to look towards me. I don't know why, but my heart had sped up even more when we made eye contact. "Oh-uh-good morning Captain." I stuttered out. Oh, how embarrassing. He gave me a small smile and stepped towards me. "Good morning Mrs. Brisby. Did you sleep well?" He asked me. I nodded my head and looked down at the ground suddenly feeling very insecure. "Alright enough chit chat." Mr. Ages interrupted. "Let's get straight to the point, Justin." I looked back in between the both of them not knowing what to do other than to be quiet. "Very well. Mrs. Brisby, could you please show us all the stone?" I nodded my head and fumbled with grabbing the stone and raising it into the air. Justin gestured to it and walked away from me. "We have very little knowledge about the stone that Jonathan Brisby left behind. Not even Nicodemus fully understood it. But, from our knowledge, Mrs. Brisby is the only one able to wield it and somewhat understand it." He then looked back at and asked, "Am I correct Mrs. Brisby?" I nodded my head while saying, "Yes, Captain."
"What exactly does she know that we don't?" Someone asked from the court. Justin looked at me and nodded his head for me to answer. I lowered the stone down and gazed at it. "It speaks to me." Whispering then began and I had to think fast in order to explain it better. "When I was in need for my house to be lifted from the mud, it told me to grab it. When I did it burst into flames but gave me some sort of power." It shined brightly from the daylight entering the room. "It was using the courage I was giving off from my heart to lift the house. I'm not sure how exactly, but it worked." Whispering still continued as someone else shouted, "So it can lift things, that's it?" Justin began to answer, "Well so far yes but-It shows me visions!" I interrupted quickly. I couldn't help it but I had to include it in. I still wasn't quite sure of what I saw but it has to be important in some way. I don't believe it would show me something for no reason behind it. The court then suddenly became silent and Justin looked at me with wide eyes. Oh, now you've done it, Lizzie. I took a deep breath and finished what I had to say. "On our way back the stone had shown me something, I'm not sure what it is but it seemed like it was a vision. It happened so fast that I couldn't process everything but I do remember what I saw."
Mr. Ages groaned a bit while shaking his head. "You expect us to believe that the stone can predict the future?" Someone questioned. "Well, yes," I answered back. I found him and watched him chuckle while he rolled his eyes. "Does that seem reasonable to you? Or did the stone tell you to say that?" He asked me. There was a light wave of chuckles heard across the room. I could feel my face start to heat up as my hands started to lightly shake. "I mean come on Justin! You brought her here because the stone has conversations with her?" I couldn't help it but my blood was boiling and I wanted to get things straight. "What makes this so hard to believe? This is coming from a rat that was injected with chemicals who suddenly became aware of everything and used to borrow electricity from a farmer who tore down your hideaway." I could feel the tension in the room along with the feeling of anxiety swell up in my belly. "Honestly, what is so hard to believe? It raised my house from sinking into the mud and there are several witnesses who saw this." Mr. Ages groaned and rubbed his face while shaking his head. I think I was speaking out of term at this point. I should probably stop talking.
"She's right, all of you know she's right. Don't make it seem like this is coming from lies when you know that this is coming straight from the mouth of someone who spoke with the Great Owl." Justin had said defending me. I was completely in disbelief. I gawked at him as he stood in front of me and continued to defend me as the rats began to discuss. "Order! Order!" The judge at the end of the room yelled out as things became a little out of hand. I grabbed my face in shock as the yelling continued. This was because I lost my temper and couldn't hold my tongue. Oh, now you've really done it, Lizzie.
-Later On-
I paced as I waited outside the doors which were shut tightly because I was asked to leave for a little bit before the final answer. Mr. Ages watched me and shook his head in disapproval. "Quite worrying child, Justin will make sure you're on this mission whether he has the approval or not." He told me. I nodded my head as I continued to pace. "That's a bit risky, don't you think? Oh, what a mess I've made. I don't think Jonathan would have wanted this to happen." I admitted to him. "What if I have just ruined everything? What if NIMH gets to us and it's because of me? Oh, my children will be in danger along with everyone else!" I worried on. "Goodness gracious madame!" Mr. Ages yelled out snapping me back into reality. "You're so worried about what might happen in the future when you should be focused on the present. Justin won't allow you to be sent home due to the paranoid minds of you or the council. Now, please do us all a favor and calm down." I sighed and nodded my head because I knew he was right. I had let myself get all worked up too fast. "I'm sorry. I guess I've been thinking a bit too much." The doors opened up and I held my breath. Justin stepped out and motioned for us to come back in. I walked into the court with trouble since it was dead silent. I stood in the center of the room and watched as all faces stared at me.
"Mrs. Jonathan Brisby," The judge called out to me. "The council has decided that you will assist for the upcoming mission." I sighed in relief and folded my shaking hands together. "However," He continued on. "For the next week, you will be working with Mr. Ages on figuring out how exactly to wield the stone. At the end of the week, the mission will be launched. So, during this week you will be working hard, if you fail to show any improvement then you will be escorted back home. Do I make myself clear?" He asked me as his eyes pierced into me. "Yes." I squeaked out. Everyone stood up and started to head out of the room. I brushed back my hair and sighed allowed. What exactly just happened? It became incredibly hot in the room and I wanted nothing more than to step outside for some fresh air. "See now? Everything is going to be just fine." Justin said behind me. "I wouldn't say we're out of the clear yet. We still have to work on channeling the stone." Mr. Ages replied back. I turned around and faced them. I had a million questions going through my mind, but I had to ask only one. "When do I start?" Mr. Ages grabbed the bridge of his nose and sighed. "As soon as possible." I nodded my head. I had to get to work immediately.
"Mrs. Brisby, if you may please come with me," Justin asked me. "Of course," I responded. I followed him outside and oh gosh the air felt so good. I exhaled as the sun hit my face and the breeze swept up behind me. "I hope you don't mind. I wanted to give both you and Mr. Ages a bit of a break." I nodded my head and smiled. "Thank you, I needed this," I admitted. I then felt a little guilty for what had happened in there. If I hadn't lost my temper there wouldn't have been such a commotion. "Justin….I would like to apologize. I'm sorry for being short tempered in there. I'm not exactly sure what came over me, but whatever it was I'm sorry." I looked down at the ground and folded my hands together. Justin got in front of me and knelt down on one knee. He lifted my chin and grabbed both of my hands. "You were not in the wrong Mrs. Brisby. Don't feel like you need to apologize because you were exactly right in there." His eyes looked into me and I became speechless. "Us rats tend to forget what we were before NIMH and feel like we are somehow better than others. I also tend to do that as well. This was a good reminder to put us back in our place. Don't apologize for being right." He smiled at me and I could feel my face heat up and my heart pound. I smiled back at him and felt like a ton of weight was taken off my shoulders.
