A/N- Okay. Here's the next installment. As always, I hope that you will enjoy it as I have enjoyed writing it. :o) This chapter is longer than usual and I hope it doesn't get to draggy. I personally do not like draggy chapters and I hope this wasn't one. There are flashbacks on this one again and I hope that you'll like it. I have to tell you this and I feel very bad for doing this but I can't help it. School starts tomorrow and I suppose life catches up and homework and all so I won't be able to update until Friday, during which I hope the teachers don't give a lot of homework. However, I have happy news! I'll be officially 15 years old tomorrow, which is the 11th of June here in Malaysia! Reviews will be the best birthday gift ever from you guys! And now that I'm going to be older, I think if you have any critisism, I'll take it better. I'm going to be mature! Lol... Okay, I'm rambling. So enjoy this chapter! And thanks to Cira for the beta!

Leaves of Autumn

By caramelapples

Chapter 6: Echoes and Avalanches

"Are you hungry, Mom?" Lorelai asked, throwing a quick sideway glance at her mother before she concentrated on the road again. "You haven't eaten anything since we left the hospital."

Emily had been looking out the window but now turned to her daughter. She wasn't particularly hungry but practicality and common sense told her that she should eat something for breakfast. "I suppose we should eat something…" she slowly said, looking down at her lap. She was wearing jeans. When did she ever wear jeans? Lorelai had gone to Hartford after she had finished the check out forms to get her some clothes, leaving her in Rory's company.

Poor Rory, she thought. Her granddaughter had been so afraid to upset her after she woke up screaming that the girl asked every five minutes if she was okay. How she loved Rory.

She had almost forgotten about the old pair of jeans until Lorelai returned, and pulled it out from a paper bag. She said it was the most practical of what she could find. Emily had been too tired to argue and she simply didn't care what she was wearing. Not now anyway.

Emily had insisted that Rory should go back to work, since she was just starting and it wouldn't be wise to not go to work. Rory had protested, but Emily had been firm, although she spoke very quietly. She didn't feel like talking to anyone.

"All right. What do you want for breakfast?"

"I-uh-" Emily started but stopped mid-sentence. Her mouth was dry and she really had no appetite whatsoever. She shrugged and forced a smile. All she wanted was to go home and go to bed. She didn't want to meet people and she didn't want to talk to people. Not even the maid, she decided. It would be a dreadful experience for herself and the other person as well.

And she wasn't accustomed to Lorelai taking care of her or being concerned like she was now.

"I tell you what. I'll take us to my place and I'll make us something to eat," Lorelai said as convincing as possible. It was only then she remembered that her mother didn't need convincing to have company. She needed company and Lorelai was going to keep her company as much as possible. If she wasn't a good enough daughter then, she would be now. She mentally laughed at her thoughts and how cliché it sounded, as though taken from a Lifetime movie.

Her mother's voice got her out of her thoughts. "Is Richard at home?"

"Yeah, I think he'd be home by now. But he wasn't when I went over to bring you your clothes."

Emily seemed to be contemplating something before turning to her. "I want to go back home," she said softly, afraid that she would be hurting her daughter's feelings, quickly adding, "If you don't mind?"

"All right," Lorelai said. "Anything you want."

The rest of the trip was made in silence as Lorelai drove through the roads, using the same route she used every Friday. The large house was empty as they entered it through the front door. The only people there were the staff and Emily felt more alone than she was already feeling. She felt sore between her legs and it hurt her to walk. How she hated it! It was a painful reminder of her assault and she was more than willing to forget about it.

"Dad's not back yet," Lorelai commented as she stood at the foot of the stairs. "I could stay…"

"You have to work…" Emily said quietly. She didn't like being weak and she didn't show it often. It was different with Richard now. He would hold her and comfort her. But it was an entirely different thing with Lorelai. She didn't like Lorelai to see her weak. And she was feeling pretty weak now.

"I am not going to work today," Lorelai said firmly. "I don't think I could even if I wanted to…" she added, thinking about the night it had happened. She was exhausted but she wouldn't tell her mother that. It would make her mother feel worse and she knew it.

Emily settled her gaze on her daughter who cocked her head and stared.

"Mom, I'm not going to leave you by yourself," she stated.

Touched by her daughter's declaration, she smiled weakly. She knew that she didn't want to be by herself. "Thank you," it wasn't more than a whisper.

Lorelai smiled.

Let me take care of you, Mommy…

"Where are we going?" Emily asked, allowing herself to be lead by her young daughter. Lorelai had insisted that she'd wear a blindfold. "It's almost dinner time and you know your grandmother wouldn't like us to be late…"

"It's a surprise, Mommy," Lorelai piped, dragging her mother along until she arrived at her room. She pushed the door open and pulled her mother inside. "Wait here," she commanded, dropping her mother's hand.

Emily was frustrated and amused at the same time at her daughter's actions but she stayed still, before she felt small hands leading her toward somewhere. "Sit down here," Lorelai's voice said and tugged on her hand.

"Where are we?" Emily asked, curious. She made the motion to sit and was momentarily shocked when she realized that whatever she was sitting on was very low and had a small backrest. She felt something on her head and instinctively shrunk, furrowing her brow. "Lorelai?"

"Don't move, Mommy." Emily stilled and felt nimble fingers untying her blindfold. She gasped when the slippery silk blindfold was pulled away, her jaw dropping as she took in her surroundings. She was in Lorelai's room. She knew it by the fireplace and the placing of the furniture. Apart from that, everything came as a surprise for her. She was sitting on a small child-size chair and she looked around the room to see a winter wonderland, matching the real snow outside.

True, it wasn't equipped with the best props but she knew it the moment she saw it. Snowflakes made of white shimmering paper and cotton wool were everywhere, covering the shelves and tables. Even Lorelai's bed sheets were snowy white with snowflake designs. She brought a hand to the top of her head and realized she was wearing a tiara, a plastic one, no doubt, but still a very beautiful tiara. The lamps in the room where all turned on and covered with light blue cloth, illuminating the room, creating a magical ambience.

"Oh my…"

"Do you like it, Mommy?"

Emily felt tears prickle her eyes. "You did this for me?"

"Yep!" Her daughter grinned broadly, "Priscilla helped of course and you can't, absolutely can't fire her Mommy! You said you won't!"

"I won't fire her, Lorelai," Emily whispered. "I love it. It's beautiful…"

Lorelai beamed and threw her arms around her mother's neck. "Happy Birthday, Mommy!" she squealed and kissed Emily on the cheek. "You can be Princess today!"

Emily gasped, mentally checking her calendar. She had been so busy with trying to get everything in order and the way Trix liked things to be that she had forgotten about her own birthday. And Lorelai had remembered it! She hugged her little girl and kissed the top of her forehead. "Oh Lorelai…"

Lorelai stood up and ran to her desk opened a drawer and took out a big box. She proudly gave it to Emily and looked on as she unwrapped it.

"Chocolates!" Emily gasped and looked up at Lorelai. She smiled knowingly. "So this is what that form of yours was for…Well, then what has playing outside got to do with this?"

Lorelai jumped onto her bed and bounced. "Well, we must take a given opportunity before we lose out on a good deal!"

Emily laughed. "Where did you learn that, young lady?"

"I heard Daddy say it once when he was talking on the phone…" she replied, sitting down on the bed, looking at her mother. "Do we really have to go down for dinner?"

"Yes," Emily said, sighing. Looking down at the box of chocolates she was still holding she wondered if Richard remembered her birthday. Probably not, since even she had forgotten about it. "I think we have to, baby."

"But, Mommy, I don't like her…" Lorelai pouted. They both knew who she was referring to as 'her.' "She makes me answer all her questions and they're really weird…"

"What does she ask you?" Emily asked, curious. She stood up and joined Lorelai on the bed, absentmindedly bringing the chocolates with her.

"She asked me if I eat vegetables and fruits every day, if I know how to tie my own shoelaces, if I had a tutor to teach me proper English and if Daddy was happy. I don't know how to answer them. She stares at me with her big scary eyes," Lorelai complained.

"She asked you if Daddy was happy?" Emily questioned, putting the box of chocolate down next to her on the bed. The fact that her ability to make Richard happy was being questioned causing her distress. But she should have expected it.

"Always," Lorelai nodded. Emily fought the urge to scream. "But I know that Daddy's very happy and I told her so."

"My little girl," Emily smiled, hugging her daughter. She pulled her close and smelled the sweet fruity scent of Lorelai's dark hair. "Fine. We'll stay up here and…"

"We'll celebrate your birthday!" Lorelai said excitedly, fingering the big box of chocolates. "We'll have chocolates for dinner, Princess Em'ly!"

Emily laughed at the pleading look in her daughter's eyes. "Only this once," Emily said, opened the box and took a piece, biting into it.

She had never felt better.

Richard came home to a silent house and went upstairs to see if Emily had come home. He opened the bedroom door to see her sleeping soundly on the bed, in jeans. Sprawled out beside his lovely wife was his very grown up daughter, her handbag obviously kicked on the floor, snoring softly. They both looked adorable as they slept, oblivious to his presence. From her position on the bed, he could tell that Lorelai had not meant to fall asleep and that she had dozed off while keeping Emily company.

It was quite early in the morning and Richard knew how tired Lorelai would be since she had not slept a wink last night. He went over to the king sized bed and gave Lorelai a kiss to her forehead. His daughter wrinkled her nose and mumbled something, still fast asleep. Richard smiled. When was the last time he had done that? He could barely remember kissing Lorelai before she went to bed when she was a child. That had always been Emily's job. No, it was not a job to kiss his own daughter. It was something done out of love. He walked to the other side of the bed where Emily was sleeping, lying slightly on her side, facing him. He kneeled down beside her and brushed a stray hair from her face. Even in her sleep she looked troubled. He wondered if she was having a nightmare, wishing he could be the one fighting off all of them and whatever she was afraid of but he knew that he couldn't. Not until she talked to him. Richard placed a gentle kiss on her forehead and sighed. He knew that she wouldn't want the contact if she was awake. She had told him that herself. Brushing her cheek with the back of his hand he quietly stood up and left the room.

Richard went downstairs into his study and sat on his chair. He had said he would protect her when he married her. And he had failed so terribly it was killing him.

Richard sat on the bed rocking Emily the whole night. It had been raining heavily when he awoke to her whimpers. He had switched on the lamp and saw that Emily was curled up in a fetal position and mumbling something incoherent. She had been dreaming and it had troubled her so he did what he could to chase away her bad dream. He had woken her up and asked what the matter was. She had told him that she had a nightmare but refused to tell him what it was about. They had been married for roughly four months and Richard had discovered that Emily was prone to nightmares although she would never tell him what she dreamt of. And what was worse, Richard thought, was that Emily seemed to always be fine. He knew that she wasn't fine. He knew she hated to be weak. She was a proud woman and he loved her for it. However, he felt that Emily sometimes was too proud for her own good. This was the first time his new wife seemed to be frightened and shaken. It would mean that whatever she dreamt of was becoming worse. It worried him.

Emily clung onto him, not letting go, trying not to break down in tears and found herself failing. It had been so real. He had been there again; she had been there again. It frightened her. It was that very same nightmare again. But this time, it was more real than all the other times. She had always been able to keep everything inside, hidden. This time, she was trembling and she wanted nothing more than Richard to assure her that she had been dreaming.

"Shh… Emily. It's okay. I'm here," Richard soothed, stroking her hair.

She buried her face in his chest.

"I won't let anything happen to you," he told her, kissing her hair. "Don't worry, Emily. I'm here."

"I'm sorry," she whispered, looking up at him.

"It's all right. You're safe now." He wrapped his arms around her tighter and felt her calm down a little. "I think I'll be able to take a break from work soon. Let's go somewhere for a week or so."

She pulled away slightly, "Where?"

Cupping her cheek he brushed her tears away with his thumb. "Anywhere you want." He smiled at her and rested his forehead against hers, their noses touching. "Anywhere at all," he said, loving the eyes that gazed back at him.

Richard snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Lorelai's voice sailing downstairs.

"Dad! Hurry and come up!" Her voice sounded frantic and panicked.

Richard burst out of his study and rushed upstairs to the bedroom he shared with his wife. His eyes darted to Lorelai who was trying to calm a hysterical Emily. One moment, she was silent, refusing to talk and then suddenly she was frightened like a child. Her moods were fluctuating and she was emotionally charged.

"Dad… She was-I don't know what happened…" Lorelai stammered. "She woke up screaming…"

"Emily, calm down," Richard said as calmly as he could, walking towards the bed. Emily's cheeks were flushed and her eyes were pools of flame. He was taken aback at how different she looked and immediately pulled her into his arms, not caring if she fought him. To his relief, she settled into his embrace, trembling. Emily was not crying although she wished she could. It would be so much easier to cry but she couldn't, the whirlpool of emotions locked up inside of her.

Lorelai looked on, pale and scared. She had no idea what to do so she just stood there, next to the bed, as her father comforted her mother. Emily buried her face in his chest, breathing deeply, taking comfort in Richard's scent. He smelled like he had always smelled, good and strong.

She felt as though an avalanche had happened, burying her alive. The attack was the echoes that had triggered the avalanche, the memories that she had buried deep inside. She was suffocating and she didn't know what to do, not able to claw her way out, waiting for someone to rescue her before the air ran out. But nobody knew the avalanche had happened and that she was under its thick snow. She felt her heart pounding in her chest, grabbing on to her husbands shirt she tried hard to calm down, praying that he would find her in time.

To be continued…

A/N- I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I swear that I will try to update as soon as I can! Really! And remember my birthday! ;o) Thanks for reading!