Title: Crossing Over
Theme: #8 Gateway
Rating: G
Warnings: A little angst. I'm rusty on Natalya's story and didn't get to read much of Lara's so...yeah. Kind of out of it, unfortunately. Tried to make it as close as I could get.
Pairing(s): Soren
Summary: Feeling helpless is sometimes the most painful thing in the world.
Yay! I'm on a roll here. Been doing little but preparing for graduation. Here's another oneshot staring the one and only Soren!
For those of you that don't know, Soren is one of the triplets that Rhiannon birthed. He was fathered by the evil, evil Mage and fathered Natayla and Razvan.
I wrote this as a oneshot thinking of it as Soren's "death", but before he can truly go on and die, he has one last task to complete.
The next theme I have coming is a cliche` one called "Death", and it will be staring another character whom few will know unless they have read Destiny's story.
So keep on reviewing and read! It really makes my day.
Through the gate, just beyond the largest hill and in the smallest valley, there was a gate he hadn't seen for some time. There was a garden he hadn't touched in years. There was a home that he hadn't thought of in years.
Soren gathered himself in the haze, his eyes narrowed and awkward with each staggering breath. His pain slowly lessened as he walked the familiar path his feet had almost forgotten. He counted the small rocks, he counted the growing shrubbery, and found himself almost breaking into a jog as if he knew what it all meant.
So tired was he, so worn out was he, that he dared to pray that he would be there soon. The energy filled him with each burst of speed as he took through the hill. He felt like a child again, he felt joy, he felt fear, and it all felt so wonderful as he rushed forward. Overhead he felt the warmth of the sun for the first time since he was a child and what a wonderful feeling it was! He tossed his head back and laughed, throwing his arms out as he welcomed everything the world had to offer.
"Soren..."
She was there. Right in his path, her hands lying idly upon the wooden gate that he so desperately sought.
He froze, his arms dropping as the stunned silence overcame him. "No..."
Dark haired, dark eyed, and skin as smooth as silk, Soren knew that face. He saw a mimic of that face when it was a child, when it grew, and he seeing it again. The reality of it came crashing down, knocking the wind out of his chest. "It can't be...You're..."
"Soren," She reached for him softly, her out stretched fingers barely coming within a few centimeters of his face before he pulled away. Pain lanced her face, but it didn't take the beauty of it. Her hands cradled her face as two shiny tears rolled over her cheeks. "Oh, Soren..."
"Don't cry," He breathed the words before he thought them. His hands trembled as he tried to grasp the swelling in his chest. "Please don't cry."
The woman he never knew, yet knew all too well trembled for him. Her tears fell silently, but Soren could feel each one of her stabbing breaths. If given the chance, he knew she would be sobbing right in that moment. She was always crying. That much Soren could remember. He couldn't remember her face beside pictures, but he knew the sounds of her tears any day.
"Don't cry...Mother." The word stuck to his tongue, and she jerked back, her eyes flying to her face. He smiled, though it felt awkward after so many years before taking a step forward. "Don't cry, Mother, don't."
Suddenly she blocked his path, her hands jutting out to shove him back. "No! Soren, you mustn't! Do not come any closer."
Confusion set in as he stared at her then the gate. He knew that gate and he knew what was on the other side of it. He remembered all the time he sought peace from his father. He had gotten lucky once. He had found this gate with a welcoming woman on the other side of it. A woman that he loved and was loved from though they together knew nothing of one another. She was human, and he wasn't. But somehow in between it all they had found love. She had given him children...and because of him, she was gone.
Now he wanted nothing more than to go and see her again. But she was not of the physical world.
"Mother, please," He could have begged more but he refused to. "Let me through."
"No, Soren." Her voice cracked on that note. "You have to turn back."
"You're asking too much of me."
"They need you, Soren," She was begging now. "You can't leave them now. Not with him. They need you."
"Then you do something," Soren suddenly felt annoyed. "I have earned this. I have fought, I have done all that I can."
"You can do more!"
"Then you go and do it," Soren tried to move her, but she didn't budge and the gate didn't open. He snarled and rounded on her. "Let me through! I am not going to fight this battle anymore!"
"They need you, Soren," She pleaded her hands outstretched for him. "If I could take away your pain, I would have. If I could have prevented this I would have. You don't know what it's like once you go through that gate. You'll only be able to watch."
Soren paused. "Watch what?"
"Death, pain, love, fear," Her voice trembled as she recalled everything. "Your loved ones will call for you, they will beg for you but there is nothing you will ever be able to do. You think I couldn't hear you? Couldn't feel how much you and your sisters needed me? I always knew. I could feel every bit of your pain as if it were my own."
The shame scolded him. Of course she would know better than him. She died after giving life to her kids. She was murdered, but even Soren could feel that if she had a choice, a chance, she would have chose to stay with them. His eyes shut as he felt his own bitter truth. In a way he blamed her for her selfish death, he blamed her for not being there when he needed her, when Tatijana or Branislava needed her. She had been the selfish one by dying, but now he knew.
She didn't have a choice in it.
"I can't stop him." He tried. For many years he fought and tried, but he couldn't defeat him. The Mage was growing dark with power and try as he could to force that will back, Soren was nothing compared to the Mage. "I don't have the strength."
"But only you can hinder him," Her hand touched his shoulder and he felt it grow numb. "You know what you must do, Soren."
In his mind she sent him the picture. She showed him the book, she showed him his one chance to try to make things right. "Please, Soren. If not for me, do it for your sister, for your children."
Razvan...Natalya. The names echoed in his mind and his heart skipped a beat. He had nearly forgotten about his children. The ones that the Mage whisked from him. The ones that the woman who loved him bore him. His strong-hearted son and cunning daughter. How could he had forgotten about them?
The gate suddenly seemed less profound, less important. When compared to the lives of his children they were his everything. His meaning. His hope and future.
Soren's eyes grew strong and he faced his mother once more.
"Tell me what I must do."
The gateway to the other world would always be there for him when the time came again to cross it, but the lives of his children were far too precious to gamble away.
