Hello again!
The climax is building for us now!
My birthday is coming up this Friday the 29th so I'm praying I finish the story by tomorrow or friday morning.
Lately, I've been registering for classes to college. I've been so excited I can't wait! But I need two more classes to be a full time student... but I can't decide...
Oh well... I'm 17 (almost 18) i have time to make mistakes...
Read on!
Surane mumbled in her sleep before waking up. Instead of the familiar tent she usually slept in, she saw complete darkness. Fumbling around, she found the lantern and some matches. She lit the lantern. Shady was at the foot of her bed, sleeping.
"Where am I?" she wondered.
"Notre Dame." came a sudden voice, making Surane jump.
It was Aqua, sitting across the room with her arms crossed. Surane was wearing only her loose white undershirt that threatened to reveal her chest.
"Aqua? You scared me!"
"Sorry, I'm kinda shocked myself. How did you forget where you were?"
Surane closed her eyes, trying to remember what happened last night. At first, she remembered watching Terra carved the wood. Then feeling deep attraction for him and holding his face in her hands. It went fuzzy after that.
"How did I end up here if I was..."
"I waited till both of you were asleep to drag you in here." Aqua replied, less than pleased. "I at least put a shirt on you in case the other two were watching. You're lucky I cared about your decent appearance."
"Thank you."
"Don't mention it."
Surane got up from the bed, only to plop right back down. Her stomach and lower body felt sore. Shady woke up to the bounce of the bed and crawled over to her. Whatever she and Terra did last night, it wasn't calm and quiet probably. It might explain why Aqua was looking disgusted.
"Aqua, I'm sorry if Terra and I disturbed you and Ven and Eraqus."
"Don't bother. It's not like you two wouldn't do it anyway. Next time, give a pal a warning. Okay?"
The gypsy nodded and proceeded to get dressed. Aqua helped her lace up her corset and fix her hair. It wasn't much but she did look better than she did the night before.
Terra was just waking up on the other side of Notre Dame. He rubbed his eyes and woke up to see two faces staring him down. One disgusted, the other giggling.
"Wha... what's going on?" he stammered.
"So, did you enjoy your private time?" giggled Eraqus.
Terra blushed again and proceeded to get up. His entire lower body was sore and he groaned in pain. Eraqus laughed a bit louder and tossed him clean pants and a black shirt. Ven was just puzzled.
"Terra, what was all that stuff you were doing to Surane?" Ven asked, clearly naive.
"What? What did I do to her?" he asked, scared he hurt Surane.
"You kept touching her, everywhere. She did the same thing, but you both got naked and-"Ven started, but Eraqus covered his mouth.
"Pretty much, you both had some fun last night and it was rough for both of you. Aqua took Surane to the other side of Notre Dame after you both went to sleep." Eraqus filled him in.
Terra quickly got dressed. He needed to apologize to Surane before she left. If she was hurt in anyway, he would never forgive himself. Terra ran out of his room and saw his unfinished figure on the table. Then he started to remember his responsibilities, one bye one.
"Oh crap, I forgot to ring the bells last night! The bells need cleaning, the kooisters too! And the morning mass, it hasn't been rung!" he freaked out.
Ven followed him out and sat at the bench, fingering the finished wood figures next to the mini Notre Dame.
"We did all of that for you. You never woke up so we decided to do your chores."
If the morning mass had already been rung in, and all the chores were done the last thing was Xehanort came up for breakfast. Oh crap...
"Aqua will keep Surane busy until Xehanort leaves. It's too dangerous for her to be here with you. Don't worry everything is under control." Eraqus assured him.
As soon as Eraqus said that, the familiar slow footsteps came up the stairwell. Ven and Eraqus went into hiding while Terra set up for breakfast. He tried to empty his thoughts of Surane so he could be focused on what was going on around him. Xehanort finally came up with a bag of food.
"If you don't mind, son, I'll only be here for a short while." His icy voice warned. "I have important business today."
"Like what?" Terra asked.
"Look at you! Caring about what your old man is doing! That's my boy. It's so good to see you interested in your future. One more day, you know. Oh Terra, you make me so proud."
Xehanort gave him a manly hug and patted him on the back. Terra rolled his eyes and waited patiently for the news.
"Here's your breakfast, lunch and dinner for the day. I will try to be back to see you before night and we can prepare for the ceremony."
"What's the important business?" Terra demanded impatiently.
"Oh right. The gypsy girl Surane has been on the run of the late. Has she left Notre Dame after bringing you back here?"
"I never saw her after I passed out." Terra lied.
"Oh no, my dear son. She could have probably cursed your mind to tell me that she's not here anymore. This is not good at all. I might have to postpone the ceremony for your sake. I promise you, Terra. When I kill that gypsy girl, the curse upon you will lift." Xehanort assured him.
Terra looked over his shoulder and saw Surane hiding behind a curtain. He tried to position his master to face the opposite direction.
"So...um... how are you gonna find her?" Terra asked.
"Easy, she will have to come to me eventually. I have captured her gypsy friends one by one. Every night she doesn't turn herself in, I kill another gypsy. It's so simple. I can't wait to see her face begging to let her friends leave unharmed."
"You would let them go after you get her, right?"
"Of course not. It's all part of the overall plan to cleanse Paris of it's sins. You need to take it a step at a time, my boy." Xehanort laughed.
Surane gave a barely audible gasp. She couldn't let Xehanort do this to her friends, her family. It didn't matter now if she was safe or not. She had to warn everyone else. They needed to go into hiding, inside the Court of Miracles, before it's too late.
Xehanort smiled at his protege and left without another word. Terra went over to Surane and saw her sitting on the floor in shock. He held her close to him. Shady whimpered on her leg.
"Terra, I have to leave." she stated.
Terra held his breath. He was afraid she would say that.
"Come with me, Terra! We help my friends and then we can leave Paris. We don't have to stay here." she said.
He was shocked. The chance to run away with her and leave a cursed life behind. But, he couldn't leave his friends behind. It's not only that he didn't want to leave them behind, it's that they can't leave. They were cursed to stay in Notre Dame by Xehanort.
"I can't." he replied sadly.
"We can bring Aqua, Ven and Eraqus with us. No one will mind." Surane reasoned.
"No, I meant they can't leave. They are cursed to stay here. We've been through the last five years together and I won't abandon them now."
Ven hugged Terra's neck, crying. Aqua was touched that Surane wanted to bring her along, even though she loathed the gypsy. Eraqus was glad he was included in the first place.
"I understand. I wouldn't leave my friends either." Surane grinned, holding back tears. "But, I still need to go. My friends need me."
Just then, a girl came running up the stairs. Her clothes resembled Surane's and sure enough this girl knew her. Shady did too,
"Iris!" Surane shrieked.
"Surane! Everyone is getting arrested! Even people accused of helping gypsies are being arrested!" Iris cried on Surane's sleeve.
Surane separated herself from Terra and took Iris to a corner of the room. Shady followed both of the girls. Terra looked on, trying to eavesdrop.
"Iris, help me get everyone to the Court of Miracles. I'm not letting everyone die because of me. I should probably give myself up and accept the consequences."
"But you can't get caught by Xehanort. You mean alot to everyone. You did nothing wrong!"
"I have to, let's at least try to help everyone before Xehanort gets them. I don't want the innocent dying for me."
Surane turned back to Terra and held his hand. She picked up a paintbrush from the table and started painting on his forearm. It looked like a map of some sort. She kissed him on the cheek.
"I'm sorry, Terra. I have to leave now. Good-bye." she whispered to him.
Iris took her arm and both girls and Shady left without another word. Terra watched the stairwell until he was sure they had gone. His future had just walked out of the door, maybe to never come back again.
He walked over to his bench and carved the rest of Surane out of the wood, while the memory was still fresh in his mind. He constructed every last piece of the figure and made the limbs poseable. Lastly, Terra painted a smile on her wooden face and set her in the center square. His own figure still held his grim expression and remained on top of Notre Dame. Just as it should be.
"I knew I'd never know, that warm and loving glow. And I have wished this with all my might. When I see her face, I almost feel Heaven's Light." he sang aloud.
Oh no... poor Terra... his love is gone!
Well that's life... but it's not the end! Or else this would be a crappy ending...
Stay tuned, and remember the lost chapter at the end of the story!