Chapter 10
Disclaimer: Only the OCs are mine. The rest belong to Twentieth Century Fox.
It's been a crazy past two months for the exhibits in the Museum of Natural History. May has arrived in New York, meaning the museum no longer has to have as much- if any- heat going through the building. While seeming like such a trivial thing to Larry and a few of the exhibits, the lack of heat and more air means that Attila and the other Huns can play soccer for a long time without overheating thanks to their thick outfits design for their past lives. Teddy took about a week and a half to recover from his whiplash he received thanks to Zeus the zebra. The twenty-sixth president of the United States of America never once blamed the chariot races for a reason why he could have gotten whiplash. Teddy knows that Ahkmenrah already believes that the races and Teddy's whiplash were his fault; the young Pharaoh apologized to his father figure multiple times when he sat in silence with the president. Ahkmenrah feels his emotions towards others in the museum very deeply and more frequently than most of the others; Hannah, Teddy, and Sacagawea suspect it must have to do with the fact that he had his emotions bottled up inside for so long due to being trapped in his sarcophagus for so long in the museum. Also in this time, Larry has quit the museum as the security guard he was for a year and a half before going to become the CEO of his own company Daley Devices. That brought a lot of change for the museum, change that no one was quite ready for. Hannah, ever the busy college sophomore now, has had to make sure her classes are all on Tuesdays and Thursdays where she can come to the museum to work every night except Mondays and Wednesdays when she would do her homework for the next week and sleep in enough time for her classes the next day. On these nights, she leaves Teddy, Sacagawea, and Ahkmenrah in charge; the three mature exhibits seem to keep everyone in line on these nights, even Dexter which proves all of them possess the ability of natural leaders and peacemakers in the museum. This night is one in which Hannah is at the museum, which means she is doing her best to keep everyone occupied. Rexy is being entertained by Ahkmenrah for the evening since no one has seen Octavius or Jedediah tonight; the young Egyptian Pharaoh is currently playing fetch with Rexy with the T-Rex's rib bone and will soon play tug-of-war with the dinosaur with a giant pull rope Hannah bought from the pet store near her college.
Meanwhile, Octavius and Jedediah are having a pretty busy night. Octavius had trained his army for almost four and a half hours, meaning himself and all of his men are completely exhausted. Jedediah, on the other hand, spent two of these four and a half hours helping the women in his diorama clean up a bit; the other cowboys could be so messy some times and Jedediah hates to see the women have to spend nearly all night cleaning up after his messy men. To be honest, most of them never were around many women in the West as far as their past lives were concerned, so some of the cowboys try to take advantage of the fact that the women clean up after them. Then, for the second half of the four and a half hours, Jedediah worked some more on the railroad, making sure to keep the other men in line, particularly Marshall and some of the older man's friends nicknamed 'The Evil Posse' by both Jedediah himself and Roy. Now that they're finished working for the night, Jedediah and Octavius are now resting underneath an oak tree at the top of the mountain Jed and his men have been trying so hard to blow a hole in for their railroad construction. The blonde cowboy often goes up onto the mountain's peak when he wishes to be alone with his thoughts or when Octavius is busy training the Roman army and the other cowboys are doing "some pretty lame things" as Jedediah words it. Both the Roman general and the Western cowboy are asleep under the oak tree. Jedediah is lying on his back with his black Stetson covering his eyes as the cowboy tries to block out the artificial light shining down on him from above. Sometimes the cowboy thinks that the light on the ceiling is just as bright as the actual sun would be on the Western landscape during a hot summer day. Octavius sleeps differently than Jedediah; the general lies on his chest, his chest-plate and helmet sitting off to the right side of him. The Roman general had the sense to take off the heaviest part of his armor and his helmet, knowing very well how he sleeps when given the chance. Octavius always has and probably always will sleep on his chest, having done so since he was a mere boy of two years old. If he is in a bed, which obviously isn't now, Octavius loves to wrap his arms around the pillow, hugging the soft and plush bedding to his face and chest for comfort. Little could calm a soldier, much less a general who has all his soldiers' lives depending on his plans, in his tent during one of the nights not on the battlefield. Octavius always hugged the pillow to him, believing it was those he left back in Rome…. Those he had left and felt terrible for doing so…
"How could I have let myself leave?" Octavius muses in his head while remaining asleep under the oak tree, Jedediah about five inches away from him as the cowboy continues sleeping as well.
Though it may not seem like a lot to a full-sized human, a five-inch gap is about roughly the size of two miniatures, which gives both Jedediah and Octavius plenty of room to stretch out without having to worry about hitting one another in slumber.
"You didn't let yourself leave, Octavius. You were forced to leave. Don't you remember that?" another part of Octavius' mind starts to remark to him, sounding an awful lot like Jedediah.
The fact that his inner conscience is starting to sound a lot like Jedediah makes Octavius laugh in his sleep for a slight moment. Then, all of his mind goes downhill, flooding back memories of old both good and bad ones come and go as he continues sleeping. Octavius is none the wiser that he's starting to mumble in his sleep and that a certain cowboy is on the verge of waking up.
Jedediah awakes from his dream with a start, hearing someone start to call out in a panicked voice. The blonde cowboy instantly fixes his hat where it is no longer covering his face and eyes in order to look around. Jedediah sits upright and looks around, seeing nothing going wrong in his diorama. Roy is helping John and Casey haul some water up from the well in buckets, which meant good news and more drinking water for the cowboys and other Western settlers alike. Turning to the left, Jedediah sees Shane, Bruce, Will, and Dallas working on getting the horses back into the stables for the night; one of the younger boys aged fourteen had thought it was funny to let the horses out of the stables when Jedediah had climbed the mountain with Octavius. Jedediah would make sure the boy got an earful when he and Octavius came down from the mountain. Secretly, the blonde cowboy finds the whole ordeal amusing; his blue eyes light up in laughter as Shane accidentally kicks over the pot of stew Wyatt has been trying to make all night after working on the railroad. Turns out his efforts were all for nothing because once that pot of stew hits the ground, all the dogs in the diorama come running towards the spilled meal, barks exiting their lips as they lap up the stew.
"No! No! NO!" Octavius shouts out in his sleep, making Jedediah wheel around to see tears flowing down Octavius' cheeks as the Roman continues to dream about his past life. "Atia! No, Atia! I don't want to go!" the general continues shouting, whimpering a bit as flashes from Rome continue to hit him in spurts.
Jedediah can't take it anymore. He can't take seeing his best friend and honorary brother plagued by whatever is bothering him. He can't take the screams coming from Octavius' lips. They remind him of….. They remind him of the shouts that awoke him the night Austin was killed in his past life.
"Ockie, ya gotta wake up," Jedediah softly remarks, gently shaking the Roman's shoulder in an attempt to rouse Octavius from whatever dream is haunting him.
"No," Octavius barely mumbles out the one word, his face scrunching up into one of sheer horror as he jerks away from Jedediah's hand, obviously having something similar to that happening in his memory.
"Octavius, I ain't kiddin', partner! Ya gotta get up!" Jedediah now all but yells, jerking Octavius up by the Roman's shoulder before thumping the general in the back.
"Jedediah?" Octavius sleepily inquires, his dark brown eyes still wet from tears and his voice cracks just a bit as he leaves his dream turned nightmare.
"Yeah. It's me, Ockie. It's ol' Jedediah, all right," Jedediah comforts, patting Octavius' back in an attempt to comfort the Roman man who is sitting up trembling like a leaf. "Ya wanna tell me what happened while you were sleepin'? I woke up to ya yellin' like a wounded dog," the blonde cowboy remarks with a small bit of humor but more concern present in his voice than anything else.
"I- I frankly have no idea why I would have been yelling in my sleep, Jedediah," Octavius tries to cover his display in a confident voice, but Jedediah can tell the difference in the Roman's tone of voice.
Anyone else would have passed it off like the general was fine, but not Jedediah. In the year and a half that they've been friends, Jedediah and Octavius have gotten to know each other very well, better than even some of their own men know one another. To most, Octavius' voice would sound perfectly normal, just like he was giving someone orders and that he was perfectly fine. Jedediah knows otherwise. He knows something is bothering the Roman. Jedediah knows that he is the only one who would be able to get it out of Octavius. That Roman can be a stubborn secret keeper when he wants to be…..
"You must have heard someone else yelling, my friend. You do have some pretty loud people under your command," Octavius sheepishly replies, wanting his friend to stop questioning him on the subject.
"Octavius, when you were asleep, you called out a woman's name," Jedediah deadpans, not wasting any more time on dodging the subject.
"I did?" Octavius inquires, his eyes widening and his voice cracking as he thinks back to his flood of memories he experienced while dreaming. "I must apologize for my abrupt behavior," the Roman quickly says before standing up and beginning to strap his chest-plate back on.
"Now hang on just one second there, kemosabe! I hear ya shoutin' out a woman's name an' you're just gonna blow it off like it's nothin' important!" Jedediah rages, his teeth gritting in frustration, wondering why Octavius insists on keeping everything to himself. "Who in the heck does that to their best amigo? Huh?" Jedediah demands, giving Octavius an angered look that the Roman has never seen come from the cowboy before.
Quite frankly, it scares Octavius. The pure anger laced with concern expressed in Jedediah's eyes is almost enough to make Octavius fear the blonde cowboy. Almost. Octavius never wanted to make Jedediah angry, but the fact that the cowboy is yelling at him makes the general get defensive over his choice of words.
"It's nothing you can change, Jedediah! What's done is done!" Octavius shouts back, his voice returning to its usual strength as he yells at Jedediah. "Now, it is getting close to sunrise and your people are still running after your horses. I suggest you go and help them," Octavius gruffly remarks, practically throwing his helmet on his head before swishing his cape on and beginning to head down the mountain. "I must go and make sure my men are all in line for when morning breaks."
"Who in the heck made ya this dang stubborn an' closed off, Octavius?! Huh?" Jedediah demands, following after the Roman as Octavius continues to walk down the mountain.
Paying no attention to the cowboy, Octavius continues walking, his head filling with images from his past and clouding his judgement.
"Ya don't walk away from me like that, Toga Boy!" Jedediah shouts, not being able to take it anymore.
"Well, I just did! I kindly ask that you leave me alone, Jedediah!" Octavius harshly shouts before walking through the tunnel leading to the Roman diorama, which makes Jedediah slam the opening to the tunnel closed after his friend walks through.
"Fine, be that way, ya stubborn Roman! I don't need ya anyway!"
"Nor do I need you and your cowboy ways!"
Everyone else in both dioramas stares slack-jawed and completely shocked at the two leaders' argument. Ever since that night they teamed up to save the Tablet of Ahkmenrah from Cecil, Jedediah and Octavius have not fought once. Not once. The two men have been inseparable since the night the crash in the Hummer nearly killed both of them. You never had to look far from where one miniature man was; the other was almost always close behind. Octavius would be training his army, and Jedediah would not be far behind, watching the army and laughing at some of the men if they fell out of line. Similarly, if Jedediah was working on a new project, Octavius would be there to offer his own help and advice, whether the blonde wanted it or not. Both of them could always be found in their miniature car, neither wanting to leave the other behind on a nightly excursion or exploration. That's why their current fighting and bickering is shocking to everyone in both dioramas.
Some people in both the Roman and Western dioramas alike try to get to the bottom of their leaders' conflict from not too long ago. No one is quite sure why Octavius and Jedediah would suddenly get into a fight after proclaiming to the museum that they are now honorary brothers just over two months ago.
"Jed, what happened up there with Octavius?" Shane inquires as he and Jedediah shut the last stable door to contain Jedediah's slightly temperamental paint stallion Lightning.
"He was bein' a pain in the rear, so I yelled at 'im," Jedediah answers quickly, not even bothering to think about his response.
"Uncle Jedediah, what was it that made ya think he was a pain in the rear?" Roy questions softly, not wanting to anger his uncle any more than he already is.
Everyone in the Wild West and the whole museum knows how short and fiery Jedediah's temper is, especially when the cowboy is already steaming mad about something.
"He mumbled a woman's name in his sleep an' was all yellin'. Then when I asked 'im 'bout it, he tried ta pass it off like it was nothin'!" Jedediah reveals, his normal deeply Southern accent sticking out more as he continues to yell and get more agitated about Octavius' lack of trust.
"Jed, ya know you get the same way about," Shane begins, only to be cut off by Jedediah, whose blue eyes house even more anger than they did.
"You hush yer mouth, Shane McCann! Ya don't talk 'bout that unless ya want ta do railroad work all this week an' clean out Lightning's stall!" Jedediah all but seethes with anger before going out of the stable to stand in his normal position for when the museum is open to visitors. "Sunrise, boys! Get in your positions 'fore I gotta jerk ya over to 'em!"
No one questions the famous cowboy and Western legend anymore; everyone falls into his or her respective position, not wanting to anger Jedediah and face the wrath of his temper any longer. Maybe he'd be okay by tomorrow night….
Meanwhile, a few of Octavius' closest friends in his army try and get him to talk about what happened.
"Octavius, what was all of that yelling in the Western diorama? Is Jedediah hurt or something?" Marcus inquires, being close enough with Octavius that he can call the general simply by his first name.
"No, Marcus. Jedediah is not injured," Octavius sighs before revealing the rest of what happened in the Western diorama tonight. "We got into a bit of an argument this night."
"Will we still be able to go into the Wild West diorama?" Areminus questions, his youth and curiosity coming out as he wishes to still be able to explore and make new friends since he is only a boy of sixteen years old.
Armenius basically grew up as a soldier; his father made him begin to train at an early age and then he was chosen to serve in General Gaius Octavius' legion, much to his luck and good fortune. Octavius made sure Armenius stayed alive in combat, never leaving the young soldier alone for fear the boy may be killed. Tonight, however, Octavius' nerves are in no mood to be tested with such trivial questions.
"That is not a concern right now! All of you, leave me!" Octavius shouts, heading to his pedestal where he usually stands during the day when the museum is open.
"Is there anything we can do to help, General Octavius?" Cato brings up, his blue eyes expressing worry for his commanding officer.
The seventeen-year-old has never quite seen Octavius like this in the many years they have been in the same unit. Cato served under Octavius during the time of the actual Roman Empire and throughout the fifty-two and a half years they have been in the Museum of Natural History. (The museum exhibits never age due to the Tablet's spell, but they still celebrate birthdays every year to mark the special day. It's one of the things that keeps everyone grounded in the museum; birthdays are one thing that stay constant amidst the chaos and excitement of the museum's night life. With as many inhabitants to the museum as there are, it seems like the Museum of Natural History celebrates a birthday every few days.)
"No, Cato, there is not. Now, all of you get to your posts. The sun will soon be upon us," Octavius softly replies, not wanting to hurt any of his men's feelings any more than they already probably are.
"Octavius, remember that we are here for you," Marcus comments, patting Octavius on the back before taking up his position near the barracks.
"Thank you, Marcus," Octavius smiles right when the sun starts to break over the horizon, turning all of the museum exhibits back to their daily form.
Without knowing it about the other, Octavius and Jedediah begin to silently apologize to one another internally all throughout the course of the day.
"I'm really sorry, Ockie. I was such a jerk last night. I shouldn't have pressed ya 'bout the situation. I hope ya can forgive me, partner"
"I am sorry, Jedediah. I did not wish to push you away like that. I hope you can forgive me, my friend."
The next night breaks on the horizon and both men are still thinking of their apologies when they are turned into their flesh and blood selves. Jedediah instantly runs over to the tunnel and begins to hoist the rope that holds the rock in place to open the tunnel back up. Without having any assistance, Jedediah is able to get the tunnel opened again to let the people from either diorama come and go as they please. With that, Jedediah rushes into the Roman diorama, searching everywhere for Octavius.
"Ockie!" Jedediah shouts as he looks around for the Roman general and his best friend. "Ockie, where are ya, kemosabe?" Jedediah continues to shout out, looking everywhere he can think of for Octavius.
"He's not out here, Jedediah," Marcus speaks up, halting the army's training as he has taken over for the night. "Octavius is in his quarters this evening," the second-in-command speaks up, watching as Jedediah's face switches to one of extreme concern.
Octavius never misses a night of training the army unless he's sick…. Or worse. Jedediah sure hopes that Octavius is not hurt. He would never forgive himself if the Roman came to any harm due to their fighting last night.
"What's wrong with him?" Jedediah inquires in concern, his voice catching in the back of his throat as he talks.
"He's looking for her," Marcus reveals, making Jedediah gasp.
"Who?" Jedediah asks before realizing that it must be the woman who Octavius was shouting for last night. "What was her name?" the cowboy then follows up, not catching the woman's name fully as Octavius had just mumbled it in his sleep.
"I'm not at the liberty to tell you that, I'm afraid. That's a question for Octavius, should he choose to tell you," Marcus answers before going back to training the army.
Without another word, Jedediah heads for Octavius' quarters, not knowing what state he will find his best friend in.
When Jedediah walks in, Octavius is sitting in the middle of his bed, staring out the window- more like into the middle distance- and his eyes look to be clouded over with emotion.
"Planning your next move?" Jedediah jokes, sitting on the bed beside Octavius to try and get the general to talk. "Where you figure on goin'?" he chuckles, which still does nothing to snap Octavius out of his daze.
Jedediah snaps his fingers in front of Octavius' face, which finally snaps Octavius out of the trance-like state he is currently in.
"Jedediah, I did not notice that you were there. Forgive me," Octavius apologizes, turning to face his best friend.
"For what, Ockie?"
"For the terrible way I acted last night by yelling that I didn't need you. You're my brother and best friend, Jedediah; I will always need you by my side. I do hope you know how much I appreciate the time we spend and that our friendship and brotherhood is a bond I hope we never lose."
"Aw, ya big lug," Jedediah smiles, playfully hitting Octavius' shoulder. "Why'd ya have to go an' say that for? Now I have nothin' to tell ya back 'cause ya already took all the good stuff to say," the cowboy jokes, which makes Octavius laugh. "I'm sorry I was such a major jerk to ya last night, Octavius; I really didn't mean any of that ragin' I did," Jedediah softly remarks where Octavius alone can hear him.
"Apology accepted, Jedediah. It's just, I did not feel like sharing my dream from last night," the Roman general admits, hanging his head a bit while still thinking of last night. "I have always been afraid of sharing my deeper thoughts with others."
"You've got to be more trusting of people," Jedediah softly tells Octavius, knowing very well of Octavius' trust issues around other people.
Someone must have done something very terrible to Octavius in the past in order to make him have this many trust issues even around his best friend in the whole world. Jedediah intends on getting to the bottom of that situation one of these nights. And if the blonde cowboy could find whoever was responsible for making Octavius hide his emotions and problems from others…. Well, Jedediah would not like to see the other person when he got through with him or her. Look at me," Jedediah softly commands Octavius, making the darker-haired man look up at the cowboy. "It's Jedediah, your best friend and partner in crime. I would never do anythin' to hurt ya, Octavius. All right?" he calmly says, wanting to let Octavius know he could be vulnerable around him.
"I know that, Jedediah. But that doesn't change the fact that I can't change the past and get her back!" Octavius cries, lying down on the bed and resting his head on his pillow.
"Don't shout," Jedediah says in a relatively calm- yet still slightly hurt- tone of voice while pushing himself off of Octavius' bed. "You need to learn how to trust people. Else, I may never know how ta help ya like you help me, Octavius," the cowboy remarks as he starts to walk out of the general's quarters. "I'll see ya around later, I guess."
"No! Stay!" Octavius shouts as Jedediah reaches for the doorknob. "Please. Jedediah, I cannot be alone tonight. I need someone to talk to me," Octavius admits, his head raising up from its hiding place on the pillow. "Would you sit with me for a moment, please?" the Roman kindly asks, patting a spot on the bed beside him which then makes Jedediah sigh before speaking up.
"You're a real piece of work, you know that, Ockie?" Jedediah jokes.
Octavius laughs in response before cracking his own joke as well.
"And you are as well, my friend," he smiles at the cowboy, making them both smile.
"What's eatin' ya?" Jedediah inquires, placing a comforting hand on Octavius' shoulder, knowing the Roman needs some comfort in a time like this.
"I'm sorry, Jedediah," Octavius begins, a soft sigh exiting his lips. "I'm sorry I yelled at you, my friend. I've been doing that quite a lot lately and I am ashamed of my behavior," the Roman continues, hanging his head in shame.
"That's okay. You're going through a really tough time right now," Jedediah responds in understanding squeezing his friend's shoulders like he did the night they talked of their memories from their fifty plus years' war.
"Thank you, Jedediah," Octavius whispers as he cries, a few tears dripping from his eyes onto Jedediah's jeans- the blonde is still holding Octavius' shoulders at this point.
The two remain silent for a few minutes, neither one having the courage to speak about the current situation. Octavius continues to cry a bit, sniffles exiting his noise when he moves to wipe his nose. The Roman then moves his head to where it is resting on Jedediah's knee, much to the cowboy's surprise. He's not really sure what to do now; Octavius has never allowed himself to act so vulnerable and so much like a child who is merely frightened of thunderstorms.
"You're startin' to freak me out, Octavius," Jedediah admits, resting his hand on Octavius' shoulder, not sure what else to do to try and comfort the general. "What's wrong? Why are ya cryin'?" the blonde tries again, wanting to try and get Octavius to confess something, anything, whether it was super simple or even if it was extremely complicated to deal with.
"This was my wife's," Octavius quietly admits, producing a small red veil from his closed hands before handing the delicate silk to Jedediah.
"What was her name? Tell me," Jedediah quietly coaxes, wanting to find out the truth behind Octavius' past; the Roman has been quite the closed book every time Jedediah makes a comment about family of any kind.
"It's Atia," Octavius admits in a bit of a forlorn voice, not quite ready to tell his full story just quite yet.
"That's a pretty name. She must have been one heck of a woman to win you over, Ockie. You're one of the hardest to please people I know," Jedediah chuckles, making Octavius hit him slightly on the arm.
"I am not!" the Roman defends with a laugh in his voice. "Atia was everything I could have asked for and more. That's why it pains me to be here without her," Octavius admits, his eyes shining as he thinks of his beautiful wife he had loved- and still does love- with all his heart and soul.
"That must be why ya've been walkin' 'round like you know a tear squeezer," Jedediah remarks, which makes Octavius look at him in confusion, not understanding the statement. "It means ya know a super sad story, Ockie," the blonde explains.
"I guess I have been kind of sulky lately," Octavius agrees, which makes Jedediah scoff at the Roman's statement.
"Sulky? That's the understatement of the year," Jedediah smirks, though he is being completely honest.
"Yes, well….. Today was—is Atia's birthday," Octavius explains the reason behind his sulking behavior and his outburst last night.
"Tell me the story, Ockie. Tell me how ya met her, fell in love, all that kinda info," Jedediah smiles as he leans forward, making Octavius' head fall off of Jedediah's knee where he is now on the blanket looking up at the cowboy's amused and slightly still concerned face.
"You want me to tell you the story? Now? That would take several nights," Octavius asks in surprise, not knowing of anyone who has ever asked for his full life story before.
"Yeah, now. We're not getting' any younger, ya know," Jedediah laughs, helping Octavius sit up where the general doesn't have all the blood rush to his head while looking at Jedediah upside down. "We're wastin' moonlight, Octavius; tell me, please," he begs, his eyes shining in curiosity.
"Well, uh…." Octavius fumbles over his words, not quite sure where to start.
There is so much he could tell, so much he remembers…
"My story can't be summed up in two or three sentences. It can't be packaged into something neat and simple that people would immediately understand," Octavius starts off, which makes Jedediah think of a narrator on some documentary Teddy or Sacagawea has put on during nights when Hannah has been at her dorm studying and going to sleep early for the next day for her classes. "This is my story; I promise to leave nothing out. First you will smile, and then you will cry, " Octavius continues, his mind speaking what his heart feels inside as he thinks of all the memories he is going to share. "Don't say you haven't been warned," the general tells Jedediah, wanting the cowboy to take the time now to decide if he wants to hear the story or not.
"I'm ready, Octavius. Tell me all about it; I promise to listen to every word," Jedediah assures, propping his back up on one of Octavius' pillows as he rests against the headboard of the general's bed.
"We first met when I was finishing up my training in Rome; I was twenty-three and she was only twenty-one," Octavius begins his story.
"Oh, wow," Jedediah sarcastically remarks. "You were so much older than her," the cowboy continues in his famous sarcastic tone.
"Silence, or I will not tell you the rest of the story," the Roman commands, using his tone of voice he reserves for his men.
Jedediah instantly shuts his mouth and awaits the rest of the story; he's intrigued to learn about his best friend's past life.
Octavius will never forget how he met Atia. At twenty-three years old, Octavius has been deemed ready to lead a legion of his own, becoming the youngest leader of a legion from where he grew up- at least during the time period. Octavius had just finished his training at the Roman soldier's "academy" so to speak, and was invited to a dinner with Julius Caesar to get his stationing orders and get his new army he would get for becoming a Roman general. Octavius was prepared for anything, or so he thought. He didn't expect to meet the woman of his dreams in Julius Caesar's house. Caesar's niece, no less. Octavius arrived at Caesar's house about an hour early, wanting to prove he is early for something important and to maybe meet some new people that may help him up his position to something above even Roman general. The young Gaius Octavius walks up to the front door before knocking, expecting to be greeted by Caesar himself. He didn't expect to find a young twenty-one-year-old young woman opening the door, a shy smile on her face as she looks at Octavius with her bright blue eyes shining. Her light brown hair falls down to the bottom of her spine and she tosses it over her shoulder by moving her head to look at the new general. Octavius nearly faints or falls down- or both- when he sees Atia for the first time. Many people say there's no such thing nowadays- it's something you only find in stories- but when these two set eyes on each other for the first time, this was honestly, no kidding, sure enough, once in a lifetime love at first sight. Their eyes lock onto one another, Octavius' dark brown eyes contrasting heavily with Atia's light blue eyes as they study one another as a first impression. Octavius feels his heart skip quite a few beats, and he can't find words right away, which makes Atia smile at him as he tries to make words come out of his mouth.
"How may I help you?" Atia inquires, her voice sweet like honey to Octavius' ears.
"Um—Hi, I'm—Uh—My name is Gaius Octavius," Octavius stumbles over his words, not ever feeling how he is right now. "And, I am here for dinner with Julius Caesar," he finishes up, mentally kicking himself for sounding so foolish in front of this attractive young woman.
"He's been expecting you," Atia smiles, her blue eyes lighting up at Octavius as she leans away from the door to let Octavius enter the house. "My name is Atia; I am Julius Caesar's niece. It is nice to meet you, Gaius Octavius," she tells him, both herself and Octavius feeling the ice breaking between them as they continue talking.
"It is nice to meet you, Atia," Octavius bows, grabbing Atia's hand softly before pressing a kiss to her hand as is customary during the time period to greet a woman as such.
Atia leads Octavius into the house and into the dining hall where Julius Caesar is waiting for him to begin dinner. All throughout dinner, Octavius sneaks glances at Atia, lowering his head back down to his dinner plate if Atia or Caesar looked over at him. Little does Octavius know that Atia is doing the same thing; she casts looks at Octavius, memorizing his face to see again when he is not around since she knows he may not be coming back any time soon. After being thanked for coming by Caesar, Octavius presses a soft kiss to Atia's hand once more before turning towards the door to head back to his own house for the evening. (He had to leave for his first stationing as Roman general in the morning and needed rest.)
"It was a pleasure to meet you, Atia," Octavius grins, tossing a glance over his shoulder at Atia to see her blushing slightly as she watches him leave.
"And it was an honor to meet you, General Gaius Octavius. I do wish you the best of luck commanding your legion," Atia smiles warmly at him, making the butterflies return to Octavius' stomach.
He almost trips on the way down the stairs as he attempts to walk backwards where he doesn't have to break Atia's gaze before it is completely necessary. That's how their first meeting unfolded; both knew right then that the other was the one they wanted to marry. However, neither knew their love at first sight would create a bond of true love between them, linking them together throughout the years, no matter how far Octavius roamed with his army.
"Wow!" Jedediah exclaims, his eyes lighting up as the first part of the story comes to a close. "That was a really good story, Ockie. It sounds like you two had love at first sight," the blonde comments, thinking about all of what Octavius said during his story.
"Indeed. Atia grabbed my heart as soon as we met. I never had met a woman quite like her before; she invoked a feeling in me that I had never experienced before," Octavius admits, his eyes lighting up as he recounts the earliest memory he has of his wife.
"Love. It was love, wasn't it, Octavius?"
"Yes, Jedediah. It was love, my friend."
With that, Octavius begins to tell the next part of his story with Atia, not yet getting to the part that would make himself and Jedediah cry.
"Our first kiss was nowhere near perfect," Octavius smiles before lightly laughing. "If they say a first kiss makes or breaks relationships, I'm surprised our love didn't break," the Roman laughs as his mind is plunged into the painful, yet at the same time beautiful, memory.
They were at the water's edge near the East Coast of Italy during one of Octavius' stationed missions while training his army. Octavius at the time was a young general of about twenty-four, just learning the ways of being an officer in command to thousands of men in his legion. Atia had come with her father and uncle to come and check in on Octavius; she pretends not to care about Octavius, making off-handed comments about him to throw her uncle and father- and even Octavius- off about her true feelings for him.
"He's an impressive young man, wouldn't you say, Atia?" Atia's father remarks, wanting to try and see if Atia has her heart set on any man since she is by far older than most Roman brides.
At the age of twenty-two, she is about seven years older than the average Roman wife; most Roman girls were forced to marry at the age of fifteen.
"Ab uno disce omnes," Atia mumbles under her breath in Latin, which means 'If you've seen one, you've seen them all'.
"Gaius Octavius is not like many of the other men I make generals," Julius Caesar comments, smiling at his niece, which makes the young woman believe that she knows her secret.
"Be that as it may, uncle, I will never like Gaius Octavius; he is too disciplined for me and would be very hard to love," Atia lies, hoping no one would catch through her lies.
"It does not matter if you do not love a man, Atia. You will marry whomever I tell you to," Atia's father harshly says before stepping off the carriage to go and talk to the soldiers.
Atia climbs down the steps of the carriage with the help of Caesar before she heads off towards Octavius' tent, making sure no one was watching her or following her.
Octavius is surprised to see Atia when she walks into his tent with that same soft smile on her lips. Actually, surprised is a complete understatement. The young general is absolutely thrilled to see the girl who has filled his dreams for the past year since he first laid his dark brown eyes on her.
"Atia," he barely whispers, knocking over the small table that rests beside his bed. "What are you doing here?" Octavius inquires, righting the table the best he can without drawing too much attention to the fact that he knocked it over.
"My father and uncle brought me along to observe the army. Frankly, I think that they are trying to find me a husband," Atia sighs, her blue eyes watching as Octavius begins to make his way closer to her.
"Well, that is just an awful development, Lady Atia," Octavius says in a very disappointed tone, stopping directly in front of her with a small frown on his lips.
"And why is that, General Gaius Octavius?" she inquires, leaning forward towards his face as he continues to talk.
"Please. Just call me Octavius," he whispers, closing the gap between them where they are face to face and almost nose to nose.
"I shall do what you ask. Why do you call it an awful development, Octavius?"
"Because, Lady Atia, I had rather hoped that would be my position."
With that, Octavius shyly closes the gap completely between them, lightly pressing his lips to Atia's and starts to slowly kiss her. Having never kissed a girl before, Octavius is not quite sure what to do other than have his lips against hers. Octavius' hands hang limply and awkwardly by his side instead of one around her waist and one behind her head like many men in the Roman Empire kiss women. He pulls back rather suddenly, a deep red blush on his face as if someone had splattered tomatoes on the young general's face.
"I am rather sorry, Lady Atia," Octavius apologizes profusely, stepping back from Atia as he attempts to make up for unexpectedly kissing her. "I don't know where that uncivilized and unprofessional behavior came from. I, uh—" he continues before being cut off.
"Octavius, I did not mind. It was quite all right for you to kiss me," Atia grins, thinking his awkward apology is overall adorable and makes him even more loveable. (Her feelings would be described today as thinking that Octavius is adorkable with his attempts at apologizing.) "In fact, I would like for you to kiss me again," she grins before pressing her lips against his, making Octavius blush even more if that is even possible.
Octavius ends the second part of his story there, which makes Jedediah elbow Octavius in the ribs as the Roman finishes.
"Well, Mr. Casanova! It seems like to me that you were head over heels for this girl, kemosabe," Jedediah comments with a smile, thinking of just how much Octavius must have really loved Atia to go against honor and tradition, two things Octavius holds above everything else.
"Yes, Jedediah. I was 'head over heels' for her as you put it. I still am," Octavius agrees, running his hand across the red silk of Atia's veil he only saw her wear on one occasion: their wedding.
"And, Ockie, if she wanted a second kiss from ya, the first couldn't have been as bad as you're lettin' on," Jedediah teases, making Octavius blush that fierce red again.
"Yes, well, I guess it must have been an adequate kiss," Octavius remarks, not believing he is having this conversation with Jedediah.
That's when Jedediah asks Octavius a question the general is not sure he is ready for.
"What happened to her?" Jedediah suddenly asks, handing Octavius a pillow as the Roman general lies down on his back in the bed.
"Pardon?" Octavius inquires, not quite sure what Jedediah is meaning.
Well, in all actuality, Octavius is quite aware of what Jedediah is asking. The Roman general is just not ready to travel down that road again.
"What happened to Atia?" Jedediah asks once again, hoping the question is clear enough for Octavius now. "I have to know. I have to," the blonde haired, blue-eyed cowboy insists, looking over at Octavius with hope in his eyes. "It's the only way I'll know why you're so upset."
Octavius takes a deep breath before beginning the rest of his tale, the part he told Jedediah would make the two of them cry.
"When it was her birthday three months after our kiss, I came back due to a break I had from commanding my army. I proposed to Atia on her birthday and we were married two months later," Octavius begins the third part of his story before Jedediah interjects a comment.
"You worked fast, Ockie. I had ya figured as the kind of guy who would take like two years of courtin' 'fore marrying a girl," Jedediah admits, his eyes looking away from Octavius as he knows the Roman's ways of doing everything with a plan.
The cowboy had assumed the same thing would have been true about Octavius' love life.
"Yes, well….. I had learned three months prior that her father and uncle were busy trying to find her a husband. So, you see, Jedediah, I could not take my relationship with her slow. If I had waited one more day, she would have been married to someone else," Octavius explains.
"Really? How come?" Jedediah asks, propping up on one elbow and leaning closer to Octavius to get the older man to tell him the rest of the story.
"Some other man came the very next day to ask for her hand in marriage."
"Ha-ha! But he got rejected 'cause ya had already asked her! That's mighty good of ya, Ockie. Turnin' down suitors and such."
"Yes. Well, as I said, we were married two months later. Atia and I lived a splendid and happy life with one another. Throughout our years together as husband and wife, we had three children together," Octavius starts to go into the saddest part of his tale before trailing off.
"Girls or boys, Octavius?" Jedediah asks, his face slightly falling for a reason unknown to Octavius.
"We had two girls that were two years apart; their names were Octavia and Olivia. Then, several years after they were born, Atia and I had a son, whom we named Augustus."
"Sounds like ya had the perfect family, Octavius," Jedediah compliments. "And I bet ya were an amazing father to all of 'em. Prolly taught 'em so many values and skills for life," the cowboy continues, his blue eyes starting to tear up.
"Thank you, Jedediah. Yes, I did educate my children myself when I was at home from the army; all three of them were growing up splendidly. Then came the day that changed my life forever."
"What happened, Octavius?"
"I was sent to fight Rome's sworn enemy: Carthage. Octavia and Olivia were fourteen and twelve; Augustus was just a mere boy of two. Atia was so worried I would never come back, but I murmured the words 'Carthago delenda est!' to her," Octavius reveals, tears starting to prick his eyes as he thinks back to the memory.
"What does that mean, Ockie?" Jedediah inquires, tears flowing from his blue eyes, making the cowboy try to wipe them off his face.
"It means 'Carthage must be destroyed!'" Octavius explains, which does nothing to soothe neither him nor Jedediah.
"But, your kids were so young. 'Specially Augustus. Did they not care you had kids, Octavius?" Jedediah demands, wondering who in their right mind would have sent Octavius off to battle with three kids of that age at home.
"They did not care, Jedediah. It was my duty to fight in the army for Rome; I had signed up for life with becoming a general. I had to leave my wife and children behind to fight in the war against Hannibal and the rest of Carthage; I never returned home to them," Octavius sniffs, tears flowing down his cheeks as he finishes his sentence.
"Were you—Were you-?" Jedediah starts to ask, not being able to finish his sentence, just thinking of the horror Octavius must have faced.
"Killed?" Octavius whispers, not being able to bring his voice up any louder. "Not instantly, no. I was able to survive for quite a few years before I died. But, I was never able to return back home due to the fact that Hannibal or his men could have followed me back to my house. Back to my family….."
"That really bites! I hate the Roman army!" Jedediah yells, burying his face in Octavius' pillow to try and hide his tears.
"Surely you do not mean that, Jedediah," Octavius softly says, rubbing soothing circles on Jedediah's back to try and calm the cowboy down. "After all, I am a part of the Roman army and you and I get along quite well," he reminds Jedediah with a small smile.
"Yeah," Jed sniffs, wiping his nose and eyes on his sleeve before talking again. "But, those meanie other Romans took away your family. They had no right doin' that to ya, Octavius," the blonde continues, his blue eyes clouding with tears.
Octavius had warned him he would cry during the story…..
"I lost the woman I love most," Octavius admits, his head hanging as he turns his head down to face the bed.
"Not just the woman, Ockie. Ya loved her more than any man ever loved before," Jedediah softly adds in, which makes Octavius look up to look at him in confusion.
"I'm not quite sure I follow you, my friend," the Roman speaks up, not really understanding his friend's statement.
"Ya didn't just lose Atia, Octavius. You lost a piece of yourself," the cowboy quietly admits the meaning of his statement to the general.
"I did. And, I'll never regain that sense of what I used to be when I had Atia and our children."
"I got a story for ya, too, Octavius."
That statement throws Octavius for a loop; he hadn't expected Jedediah to say such a thing on a depressing night like this.
Jedediah hands Octavius a small frame with a faded painting inside of it. Octavius gasps upon seeing the painting and who it is depicting.
"Is that-?" Octavius starts off before trailing off, not quite able to finish his statement.
"I keep that to remind me to never go back," Jedediah sniffs, looking down at the painting with love expressed in his light blue eyes.
"You had a wife and child, Jedediah?" Octavius inquires in shock, never knowing about this part of Jedediah's life before.
Usually Jedediah was the one that was an open book; Octavius had thought he knew everything about Jedediah that there was to know. Apparently not.
"I did. Her name was Grace and I named our son Owen," Jedediah whispers, rubbing his hand over the smooth glass of the frame.
"What happened to them?" Octavius gently asks, not wanting to overstep his boundaries with the cowboy.
"Both of 'em contracted tuberculosis," Jedediah brings himself to admit, staring at the baby in the painting as a single tear drips down onto the frame from his eyes. "She died with her boots on, that's the main thing," the cowboy quietly murmurs, thinking back to that dreadful day when he lost both his wife and only child.
"What were they like, Jedediah? If that's not being too bold of me to ask….." Octavius softly questions, not wanting Jed's temper to flare up like it did when he didn't want to talk about something.
"Grace was beautiful, Ockie. She had hair as blonde as the corn out in the fields and the most chocolate colored eyes I had ever seen. She was a feisty little angelica when we first met," Jedediah starts to describe his wife, his eyes and voice filled with love and respect.
"What does that mean, Jedediah? What is an angelica?" Octavius inquires, still not quite sure about what all the cowboy slang Jedediah uses means.
"An angelica is a young unmarried woman in the West," Jedediah explains.
"Oh, okay. Continue on then, my friend," the Roman coaxes, wanting to hear the rest of the story of Jedediah's family.
"I first met Grace when I was at a cattle drive in Utah. She was on a buckskin stallion chasin' after a calf that had gotten away," Jedediah smiles at the memory. "That girl could move, too! I counted to four seconds; in that time, she had ridden from the paddock and roped the calf its head," the blonde cowboy says with a certain fondness in his voice. "Whoo-wee," he breathes, just thinking about the day was enough to make him start to love her all over again.
The hooves of the buckskin stallion pound on the rough ground of the prairie as Grace runs back to the paddock with the calf at her side.
"Grace! What in the heck do ya think you're doin'?" Grace's brother yells at her before grabbing the calf and putting it back in the pen.
"I was chasin' after the calf, Tyrone. Nobody else was gonna do it," Grace answers matter-of-factly.
"Girls shouldn't be chasin' after nothin' on horseback," Tyrone grumbles, taking the horse's reins and bridle from Grace before tying the stallion to a post.
"Leave her alone, Tyrone!" Jedediah shouts at Tyrone while walking his loyal paint stallion over towards the men and Grace.
Jedediah had worked with Tyrone for about two years prior to meeting Grace; Jed hadn't even known Tyrone had a younger sister. Much less a sister the blonde cowboy finds attractive….
"An' why would I want to do that, Jed?" Tyrone sneers, getting in the younger cowboy's face.
" 'Cause if ya don't, you an' me are gonna have a problem, amigo," Jedediah practically spits in the black-haired man's face, getting up close to Tyrone as he attempts to threaten the older man.
Jedediah didn't expect what would come next. Someone slaps his cheek. Hard. Jedediah raises a hand to his cheek, the area already getting red and starting to sting.
"Who in the heck did that an' why?!" Jedediah growls, turning to face the circle of men around him. "Anyone who hits ol' Jedediah has to pay!" the blonde continues as his temper keeps flaring higher and higher.
"I hit you," a woman's voice remarks and the men disperse to show the culprit to Jedediah. "I don't need any man to defend me, especially not you, Jedediah Smith," Grace remarks with her temper coming out as well.
"I beg your pardon, ma'am," Jed apologizes in a mumbling tone of voice, tipping his Stetson towards her to try and apologize. "Ya won't catch me tryin' to defend ya against anyone again," the cowboy softly remarks before continuing to walk his paint stallion to the paddock before going into the cow pen to feed the cows their dinner for the night.
Octavius' questioning stops Jedediah's story abruptly.
"How did you ever get Grace to like you, let alone love you?" the Roman inquires in a truly curious tone, wondering how if they hated each other at first why Jedediah and Grace ever got married and had a child.
"Well, that was a long process, kemosabe. I tried talkin' to her, but to acknowledge the corn, she would never give me the time of day," Jedediah admits, a light chuckle escaping his lips as he thinks of just how long it took him to win Grace over.
"Acknowledge the corn?"
"It means to tell the truth, Ockie."
"Oh. I don't know why you and other cowboys on making things so complicated," Octavius smiles, making Jedediah throw a pillow softly at Octavius' head.
"Says the man who gives his soldiers commands in Latin but talks to them in English any other time," Jedediah grins, earning him the same pillow to the face as Octavius throws it back at the blonde.
"So, how did you manage to make Grace talk to you and then fall in love with you?" the Roman asks, wanting to know how his best friend's story plays out.
"Well, one day when we were movin' the herd through the desert, a mountain lion pops outta nowhere an' scares Grace's horse somethin' fierce. The horse bucks her off and Grace is lyin' right in front of the wild cat," Jedediah starts off, pausing for dramatic effect. "So, I kicked Lightning's sides and rushed over to her side. Lightning managed to scare off the mountain lion by whinnying and pounding his hooves; I helped by yellin' at the lion which frightened it before I swept Grace off the ground and onto the saddle in front of me," the cowboy ends that part of his tale, puffing up his chest in pride as he recounts the dashing heroics he performed for a woman who- at the time- didn't care if he was alive or dead.
"I take it your heroics were what won her over?" Octavius grins, guessing at how Jedediah's tale will unfold.
"You betcha! We were in love a good two years after that 'fore I proposed to her. Finally worked up enough courage to ask her," Jedediah replies, a sad smile forming on his face.
Octavius notices the extremely sad look on Jedediah's face so the general decides to change the topic of conversation.
The general clears his throat before holding the painting in his hands before handing it back to Jedediah with emotion clouded in his eyes.
"What was your son like, Jedediah? You don't have to answer if you don't want to, my friend," Octavius softly says, not wanting Jedediah to break down like the night before.
"No, Ockie. I have to tell ya. You told me your story, and it was pretty emotional on ya, too," Jedediah answers in a shaky tone.
He takes a shaky, uneven breath before beginning to speak of Owen in a similar way that Octavius spoke of his children earlier in the night.
"Owen was a strong-willed baby," Jedediah smiles, thinking of his infant son before he died of tuberculosis at an extremely young age.
"Just like his father," Octavius jokes, which makes both men laugh quietly.
"Yeah. He was a spirited baby, that's for sure. Kept me an' Grace up all night more nights than I can count," the blonde cowboy admits, thinking back to the bouncing baby that would cry the night away, "testing the strength of his lungs" as Jedediah used to joke.
But, much to Jedediah's surprise and humor, Owen would always stop crying whenever Jed would pick him up from his crib, making the cowboy smile widely at his adorable son. Owen fell asleep against Jedediah's chest and Jedediah would often find himself sleeping in a chair in Owen's bedroom just to watch over his infant child as he slept soundly.
"He had my blonde hair and got his chocolate eyes from his Mama," Jedediah smiles, thinking of the bouncing baby boy with his mop of blonde hair- looking much like Jedediah's own hair.
While finishing this statement, Jedediah starts to cry harshly, tears staining his cheeks and running down onto Octavius' bed.
"Jedediah?" Octavius whispers, moving over to rub circles on the cowboy's back to try and comfort him.
"He died so young, Octavius! Why'd both of 'em have to leave me?! And on the same day, too!" Jedediah shouts out in anger and defeat, hitting his hand against the headboard of Octavius' bed as the men continue to share stories while sitting up- or slumping over in Jedediah's case.
"I do not know, Jedediah. But, I do believe we have worked up quite enough tears for tonight. We both need some rest to calm down and try to think of happier memories before the sun rises in the morning," Octavius whispers in an attempt to comfort the blonde cowboy.
"Yeah. Yeah," Jedediah nods, beginning to push himself off of the bed as Octavius does the same. "Prollly would be for the best. I'm glad ya finally opened up to me, Octavius. I'm glad you trust me enough to talk to me about something as tragic as that that happened to you," Jedediah remarks, clapping Octavius on the back before wrapping his arms around the Roman general in a hug, which surprises Octavius as the cowboy squeezes his shoulder.
"Yes, Jedediah. I absolutely trust you, my friend. I am glad we could converse tonight, even if the memories we spoke of were not the most pleasant. I feel so much better telling you my life story and why I was so upset yesterday and tonight," Octavius reveals, hugging Jedediah as well while the blonde continues to hug the general for support.
"Are ya gonna be okay?" Jedediah inquires in concern for his best friend as he pulls out of the hug, not wanting anyone from Octavius' army to walk in and see him crying and hugging the general while tears racked through both of their bodies.
"I shall do my best," Octavius answers in all honesty, wiping his eyes as he looks at Jedediah. "What about you, Jedediah? How are you holding up?" the Roman then proceeds to ask, wanting to check in on his best friend and honorary brother.
"I'll try an' get better by the end o' tonight. 'Sides, it'll just be worse in December when it marks the anniversary of their passin'."
"Well, then I will be there to comfort you on that night and will not let you suffer alone, Jedediah. We have shared our tales of sorrow and will never have to be alone with our fears and sorrow again."
Author's Note: And there's Chapter 10! Today was my first day of school, so I didn't have much homework, which means I was able to post this tonight. I know this was quite the depressing chapter, but I thought it was necessary for you to know Octavius' backstory and my version of Jedediah's story. In actual history, Octavius was married to two women- at different times, of course- and had a daughter Octavia Major with his first wife. Atia was Octavius' second wife in actual history and they had a daughter named Octavia Minor and Augustus- birth name of Octavius/Octavian- who would become the first emperor of Rome. In real life, it is not known whether Jedediah had a wife or children, so I gave him one in order to make more of a connection between Octavius and Jedediah than they already have. (Also, my version will have some meaning later on in this story.) So, that's enough information for you tonight. I'm going to end the chapter here where I can watch the Olympics with my family. (I'm listening to them now while typing, but not actually watching anything.) Until Chapter 11, my dear readers!