Rose ran into the hallway, her eyes filled with hot tears as she quickly tried to wipe them away with the back of her hand. She darted down the hallway, desperate for some fresh air as she twisted down another walkway until she saw doors leading outside to a balcony.

Quickly she opened the doors and the fresh rain that fell from the sky hit her face. She breathed deeply, soaking in the mist and hiding the streaks of tears on her cheeks with pure rainfall.

"That ass" she said to herself "He has no clue..."

She had confessed that she had been lonely, and in a way it was true. Ever since she came to the Abarat, she felt a sense of belonging. Nothing seemed that strange here, even if it seemed unreal. Talking cats, sea skippers, islands that were hours of the day and night, all of it was just fantasy. But it was hers and hers alone, and it's pieces fit in the small holes and cracks of her soul. But Christopher, he withheld some of that from her, he made her wonder and keep wondering about crucial things about herself and this place that was apparently her home. It wasn't fair and it was cruel. Now she began to see some of the things Hannibal had said about him were probably true...

"You should step inside" she heard his voice behind her.

"Why? It's not like you care about me" Rose said harshly even if she really didn't mean it "Your just going to get rid of me soon, what's a cold going to do from our time here to Yebba Dim Day?"

She heard him sigh behind her and a quiet rustling was heard before Carrion draped his long jacket over Rose's head, shielding her from the rain and letting himself be soaked in it.

Rose stood there dumfounded for a moment before turning around and facing him.

"I apologize" he said quietly "I did not realize what withholding my past and yours would do to you."

"I just want to understand" she said a little weakly "I just want to know why all of this is happening. There's so much I don't know, and so much that you do."

"Some things shouldn't be brought up, the past can hurt without meaning to" Carrion said staring at this girl who's eyes sunk down at his words.

"Yes, the past can hurt" she said before looking back up at him with sparkling sienna eyes "But you need the past to change the future. Or else you'll just keep making the same mistakes over and over again. I won't judge you Christopher, that wouldn't be fair."

Christopher stood there soaking wet as Rose's words took hold of him. She was right, in all the ways a person could be right, and to him it sent a fear creeping in his belly that made him want to run back to the room and shut her out for the rest of their time at the tavern. Instead, he willed his body to stand still as Rose's eyes softened to a deep blue that reminded him of the seas of Midnight.

"Whatever happened" Rose began "It happened, and nobody can change that. But that was then and I'm a firm believer in the presence of now."

Christopher looked away for a moment, his dark thoughts fighting against the voice inside his chest before Rose suddenly came forward and wrapped her arms around his chest, sending any voice he heard silent in the awe of her action. He had never truly been hugged before, and although to Rose the act was innocent, to him it was an act of pure monument.

"You can trust me" Rose said "Because I trust you."

Christopher felt something crack, whether it was his bones, his flesh, or his soul, but the crack sent something warm flooding through his veins and his arms moving to hold Rose closer to himself.

"Alright" he said quietly.

Rose looked up then at Christopher, her eyes a bright dancing blue that made Christopher's throat swallow hard as she smiled at him gently. How could this creature of goodness look at him like that?

"Let's get out of the rain?" she said as she moved away from him, breaking the embrace that made Carrion's arms long for them to be back around her once more. He stopped himself just then, knowing those kinds of feelings were not only dangerous, but catastrophic for him personally. It would not due to become addicted the feeling of her touch, even if he was starved for affection for the last few centuries. He could not...no, he would not even think the word that these feelings suggested. But he would follow this girl back inside, if only to get away from the cold of the rain.

They walked back to the room as Rose pushed open the wooden door only to find Hannibal feasting on the food that Captain Sampson had brought them.

"I hope there's some left for us" Rose grimaced at the sight of the cat boy gorging himself of delicious food.

"Sorry" Hannibal said guiltily as he shoved a fish roll in his face "But I couldn't help myself."

"That's alright" Rose said shaking her head as Carrion gave the boy a sharp look before it softened at Rose's arched eyebrow to him "We will manage I'm sure."

The three of them ate as Rose helped herself to tasty dishes that she couldn't pronounce while Carrion ate little and said little as Hannibal jabbered on between stuffing his face and blabbering about where each food came from. Rose listened patiently, her head nodding but her eyes stealing glances towards Carrion in curiosity. She wondered why he had hardly touched his food, but then figured he was already a brooding type of person, he must eat when he feels like it. His gaze was focused though, so Rose wouldn't interrupt whatever thoughts he was having.

Soon though, as all good meals that fill you up go, Hannibal began yawning and curling himself at the edge of the bed, his eyes droopy from the hot meal and soft blankets they had been given. Rose braided her hair carefully, knowing that all the sea water and rain would make her hair completely unmanageable if she let it go wild for too long. After she was successful her cream blonde hair was braided nicely down her shoulder as she looked in her backpack for some kind of night dress to sleep in.

"Um" she said realizing now that there was only one bed in the room, and Hannibal was already taking up half of it "Christopher do you want the bed?"

Carrion turned to her from the window he had been staring out of with confusion as he looked to her and then back to the bed. If Rose had ever seen the slightest of blushes on Carrion, it was now as he cleared his throat and shook his head.

"No, you and the boy can have the bed. I am perfectly fine sleeping on the floor" he said as he quickly turned back to the window.

"Alright" she said hesitantly "I don't mind sharing if you get uncomfortable, it's just going to be a tight squeeze."

"I am fine I assure you" he said without looking at her.

"Alright, well" she said looking around for a place to change but only found the corner least likely for anyone to peek at her body "Just don't turn around okay?"

"As you wish" Carrion said quickly, his eyes making sure to dart down less he saw her reflection in the glass. Carrion realized he was holding his breath as he heard Rose's clothes drop to the floor and the shuffle of her nightdress falling down her body. He imagined her exposed skin, the pinkness and the flush of her cheeks if she looked over at him-

"Stop" he commanded himself "Do not even think of it. She is a Princess, and you..."

"You are just a monster."

"You are not worthy to look upon her like that" he said to himself calmly, wishing the darkness away from his mind.

"Alright you are good" he heard her say behind him. Christopher turned, almost a little too eagerly to gaze upon her and blind out the darkness that seemed to want to creep in.

She was...angelic.

Her thick braided hair that hung over her exposed shoulder accented the nightdress's straps that held up the sweetheart chest of the long pale skirt. She was beautiful in the way the moon was beautiful, and his eyes greedily stared at her before turning away for her modesty.

"Very well" he said as he took a few pillows from the bed and laid down on the wooden floor that creaked underneath him.

"Well wait" Rose said coming and sitting beside him, her face hanging above his with a gentle smile "I thought now would be a good time to talk."

"Talk?" he muttered, a bit amused at her behavior.

"Mhhm" she said "Maybe get to know one another? I mean, we met up so fast and have been through a lot in a short amount of time, but I don't know hardly anything about you except what Hannibal has told me."

"Why would you want to know anything about me if Hannibal has told you what everyone else knows about myself?" he asked curious of her intentions.

"Well" she said shrugging "People only know what they hear, I'd rather find out who you are from yourself."

Carrion couldn't help it, he smiled. A big proper smile of amusement that left his cheeks feeling strange from the unfamiliar movement.

"Very well" he said as he sat up and leaned against the bed "I will answer anything that you desire."

"Well Sampson mentioned a Princess-" Rose began.

"Anything, except that" Carrion said sternly.

"Ohhkay" Rose said rolling her eyes as she huffed "Okay, here's one that's been bothering me, how old are you really?"

"Truly?" Carrion said with a laugh "I would supposed I am almost eighty."

"Eighty!" Rose said with a gasp "But you barely look over twenty-five!"

Christopher laughed again "That was your mother's doing. I supposed she wanted me to look a little less scary than what I had looked like."

"What do you mean?" Rose said getting comfortable as she laid down in front of him, her arm propping up her head as she stared at him.

"It's a long story" he said shaking his head.

"Well, at least start it for me" Rose said.

Christopher sighed before he began, knowing it was probably futile to try and persuade her from asking otherwise as he begun "When I was younger, before your mother came to the Abarat, I was once the most feared person in all the Islands."

"That's what Hannibal said" Rose nodded.

"Right" he said "But, your mother changed that. She was...bright. Bright and formidable, and more clever than anyone I had come across. She made an excellent enemy, but after she defeated me, she became something more. I think she felt the shift in our relationship too" he said seeming to stare off into space.

"You became friends?" Rose asked intrigued.

"I would suppose so yes" he said smiling a little to himself "She sought me out, but not to claim my life, but to help me rebuild it and fight against my grandmother. I did willingly, for I felt that if I could not beat her, then I would join her. It was a strange time for me then."

"Hmm" Rose said as she laid her head down but still looked up at him "So what happened after she came back?"

"After she came back" he said as his voice shifted "She became Queen. There was a lot she didn't understand, she probably was a lot like you are now. But the only difference is she carried a child within her."

"Who was my father?" Rose asked.

"A boy named Gazza" Carrion said shaking his head "Their love seemed fleeting and forced, but your mother later explained that it was because they needed to create you. I still don't understand that, but that's what she said and I believed her."

"So you really didn't know him?" Rose said, her voice getting softer.

"No, I did not" he said shaking his head "He was merely an acquaintance. He died shortly after your mother escaped Motley and sent you away."

"Why did she do it?" Rose asked, her eyes going heavy as she tried to stay awake to listen to Carrion.

"You must understand" he said gently "Your mother loved you more than anything, more than her own life. To lose you was her greatest and only sorrow. She sent you away with that necklace around your neck and hoped one day you would return to restore the Abarat to the way it once was. She possessed a power Rose, a great and unspeakable power, and she used it to open the portal to our world to the Hereafter, to send you away and close the gates. Then, she released the rest of her power, sending her body and spirit into the world to defeat the darkness that Motley wanted the world trapped in."

"A power?" Rose asked, her eyes closed now as her hand reached for her necklace.

"Yes" he said staring at her "A great and unspeakable power. The same one that was given to you."

"Christopher?" Rose said quietly.

"Yes?" he said softly back as not to wake her.

"Thank you for telling me" she said before finally succumbing to sleep.

Christopher stared down at her sleeping form, her body's curve like the waves of the sea beside him. That hair, the blonde curls that swept around her face left his mind quiet as he studied her. She truly was incredible, her big moon eyes, those long lashes that peacefully lay against her soft skin. Her nose, straight yet childlike just as her mother's was, and those lips that were full and pink which breathed out gently as she slept.

He would give anything to sleep beside her, to wake and see those eyes gaze upon him first above all other things. To see her smile...

Silently, he closed his eyes on that vision, and swept it away from his mind. It would never happen, for he couldn't let himself feel what had broken him into the monster he was in the first place.

The dreaded feeling, the word that had gotten his lips sewn together that the mere thought of it still made them hurt.

He could not, and would not love.