Earth and Fire
11
He is sitting on a low branch when she enters the clearing.
Benjamin doesn't say a word but he knows that the wolf is aware of his presence in the way that he's aware that she's near.
The grey wolf saunters past, unconcerned. Her eyes do not even flicker in his direction, but he can tell that she's painfully aware of him in the way she stiffens. He watches her for a moment, eyes strained on the way she moves, how her fur shakes with each step. It's longer than her male counterparts, he wonders if it's because of the length of her hair in human form.
Benjamin manipulates the air and lets a breeze blow through her fur, a smile curling his lips. Leah growls at him, the vampire magic making her shiver against her will.
The Egyptian vampire jumps down from his seat on the tree and tries to stop leah from getting any further. "Can we talk?"
The wolf doesn't offer any response at all. She just stares un-amusedly ahead. Her eyes dance with mirth, as if she is talking to someone else.
Benjamin suddenly remembers that she might be. Edward had told him that the shifters all have a telepathic connection with each other. Benjamin regards her interestingly before remembering the reason for wishing to see her.
"Look," Benjamin kneels to her level. Leah jumps back several feet, barring her teeth at him. She suddenly looks extremely dangerous, transforming from a beautiful docile creature to a threatening angry one.
The change should scare him, but it just makes him more interested. Despite this, he doesn't intrude on her personal space again. "Look," He repeats, "My eyes are changing."
He sees the surprised look in Leah's wolf eyes. They widen and then narrow. She moves an inch closer in order to get a better look.
True to his words, his eyes have changed. There is no drastic difference, since he's been hunting animals for only a week and a half, but the change is quicker than expected. He's found that he has to hunt more than he ever has with humans in order to keep full. He guesses that that's one of the downfalls of the 'vegetarian diet.'
His eyes are a strange, murky brown, like the gold is mixing with the red but the red still wants to be strong. He wonders if they will turn orange first and then yellow and then a blinding gold. Tia had admitted that gold would look great with his complexion and way better than the pasty Cullens.
She has always been uppity, saying that people of color make better vampires, something about how they're not pale, just…dim.
If that makes sense.
Like he often does, Benjamin has gotten lost in his thoughts and Leah is looking at him oddly.
Benjamin leans back on the balls of his feet, "I've been drinking from animals for the past couple of weeks."
Despite the fact that this is great news for him, Leah doesn't look impressed.
"It won't be hard for me to make the switch," Benjamin says, hopping that it will make a difference to her. "My eyes are changing fairly quickly."
If a wolf could shrug, Leah would be shrugging. She just licks her paw in such an unamused way Benjamin sighs.
He stands from his crouching position, "So…can we talk?"
Leah inclines her head and walks out of the clearance. Benjamin is only slightly confused about the meaning of that gesture. He goes back to his seat on the tree and just hopes that it means that she will return.
Two minutes later, Leah appears. She wears another pair of short shorts and a tank top. She shakes her hair out and grimaces at him, her mouth pulling into a frown, "You wanted something?"
Benjamin smiles at her. The look he receives back is smothering. Smiling at her only seems to piss her off even more. Ben continues to smile, "Yes, I'd like to try and get my memories back."
"And you think I can help you with that?" Leah doesn't look convinced, "I don't see how that can work."
"Last time, just coming in contact with you triggered it," Benjamin explains.
"Maybe it was a coincidence." Leah says.
"Maybe," He agrees, "But can we try it….please?"
Leah sighs deeply, her eyes closing in defeat. "Fine."
Benjamin's reply is a bright smile. Leah thrusts out her hand for him to grab. Benjamin takes her warm palm into his cold one and almost flinches as electricity runs through his torso.
Leah looks affected too, she jerks her hand out her grip. Luckily, one touch was enough for Ben.
This world and his past combine, and in one quick motion, he is pushed into the past.
.
The breeze is warm yet welcoming, the sky is indigo and the last of the sun's rays fade to black.
Eleven year old Benjamin is annoyed. He taps his foot irritably against the dirt and fumbles with the ends of his shirt. She's late.
Twenty minutes late, to be exact! She had said 'sunset' and now, the sun is gone!
What's worse is that his uncle will be furious with him! Benjamin is the main event after all! An uneasy feeling begins to enter his stomach as he waits, knowing that his uncle will surely be disappointed in him.
Leila had said earlier that day that she would meet him here at the fragrance stand at sunset, now she's no where to be seen. She had said that she wanted to see Benjamin's performance, since he claims that he can do magic with the elements.
The vendor of the fragrance stand sends him frequent looks as he closes up shop. Benjamin know that the older man worries that Ben is a thief, so he wanders away from the rendezvous place.
After five more minutes, Benjamin starts walking back towards his uncle's place. His heart feels heavy in his chest. Maybe…maybe he'd gotten his hopes up. He does that often…hoping that unlikely things will happen.
This…this Leila person was probably just playing a cruel joke on him! She didn't seem all that nice in the first place, and now she has him out here, waiting for her to never show up.
What a mean joke.
Nobody likes the Turkish governor anyway, Benjamin thinks cruelly, kicking a rock. Leila's father is fat and happy, the man gleefully collects taxes without a care in the world.
With a huff, Benjamin gathers up the dignity he has left and starts down the lonely path to his house, feeling the most defeated he's ever felt.
"Wait!"
Halfway down the streets, he hears her. Benjamin turns around, eyes wide as saucers, as Leila flies down the street looking like a natural disaster, grinning like crazy. When she reaches him, she skids to a sharp halt. The back of her shoes are completely destroyed and her hair is falling out of the tight updo. She leans over an puts her hands on her…pants and tries to catch her breath.
Wait! Pants?! Benjamin stares at her loose fitting men's pants. Girls aren't supposed to wear pants! They wear dresses! No way the governor had let her leave the house in pants! Benjamin opens his mouth to say something but Leila interrupts, leaving him gapping like a fish.
"Sorry I'm late!" To his surprise, she yanks the string from her hair and lets the curls fall around her shoulders. "But look!" She takes a canvas bag from her shoulders and pulls it open, "I've got some food. I took some from our kitchen, pita bread, some type of weird meat, cheese…oooooh even chocolate!"
Leila talks on with Benjamin looks bewildered and a little scared. She's….Leila is…Just what type of girl is she? First she comes out, running through the night in pants then, she lets her hair out and around her shoulders! Most girls cover their hair with scarves, but she just goes freely, not bothering.
Leila is…she's….
Messy, Benjamin decides. She's a wreck.
"Calm down!" Benjamin finally gets out, taking her wrist. "People are looking!"
"Oops," She picks up the bag "What are you waiting for? Let's go."
Benjamin represses the urge to rip out his hair. He leads her down the street instead. "Your father just lets you roam around? In pants?"
"Not you too!" Leila growls, "Why can't I wear pants?"
"You—" Benjamin pauses to consider, "I— That's just not how it is!"
"Well, why isn't it?" Leila doesn't sound amused in the least bit but her eyes shine with mirth. "Who says?"
"T-the rules!"
"Well," Leila huffs, "If you're gonna be following someone else's rules you can't have any of my chocolate!"
"W-wait—"
"I didn't get the chocolate by following the rules," She explains, "I'm not even here 'cause I followed the rules." She states proudly…and loudly, "In fact, I am the opposite of the rules. I am anti-rules!"
Benjamin is left to gap as she takes lead, walking ahead to a place she doesn't even know the location of. For a governor's daughter, she sure is…
Wild.
And bossy, but that part makes sense.
"Well?" Leila grabs his wrist and yanks him foreword. "Let's goooooo."
"Okay," Benjamin complies. He rips his arm out of her grip, "We're almost there but you don't know where you're going."
"Fine," She argues back, "Lead the way, oh mighty monkey."
"That isn't even funny!" He complains.
. . . .
"Do you remember anything?" Leah says. She blinks at the vampire, who has frozen like a freaky statue. "Hello?"
Benjamin is just…kind of standing there. There is a glazed over look in his eyes. Leah takes a moment to look at their color, noticing that they are not, in fact, red anymore. She nods to herself, finally feeling a little bit better about her interactions with the Egyptian vamp.
Still, vampires are freaky. She'll never get over their ability to turn into complete motionless statues at the blink of an eye.
"Hello?" She waves a hand over his face, "Helloooooo. Earth to parasite." She almost pokes him, but decides against it, "What the fuck?"
Then, Benjamin blinks, more out of habit than necessity. He grins so wide Leah recoils. She looks back awkwardly, "Anything?"
"Everything," Benjamin says, sounding sure. The boyish smile is still there but his eyes dim a little, "Well, not everything. There's more but…" He struggles to find the words, "Maybe..it wears out?"
"What wears out?" Leah humors him, annoyed. "The feel of my skin?"
"Um," For once, Benjamin is at a loss for words. The memory and Leah both render him speechless, there's too much on his mind at once.
"Here," Leah rolls her eyes and thrusts out her arm again, "I hope your twisted memory comes back, maybe then you'll stop talking to me."
Somehow, he doubts that. He reaches for her again, and this time, he is forced into the past without fault.
.
For some reason, he is annoyed again. Benjamin's hands are in his pockets and he is waiting at the fragrance stand…again.
The man working there has aged eight years and doesn't even spare Benjamin a glance, used to young man's place leaning against the wall.
Seventeen year old Benjamin bites into an apple, the Egyptian sun beating against his skin, he squints into the crowd of people, wondering when an abrasive loud girl will push her way through.
After ten minutes of waiting, sixteen year old Leila flies through the crowd. Her feet are bare, as usual, but her hair is covered, unusual. Dark curls peak out of the material and there's a look of anger in her eyes. In fact, she looks downright murderous.
"Hello," Benjamin supplies.
Leila doesn't respond. Her skirts are dirty at the bottom and she fusses with her hair. She looks like she is about to tear the cloth away from her head, something Benjamin would not advise she do. She steams silently.
Rolling his eyes, Benjamin reaches in his back pocket, pulling out something wrapped carefully in paper. "Chocolate?"
Leila's frown quickly becomes a smile, "Of course," She grabs the candy from his hands, her eyes glowing the way they always do. She breaks off a rather large piece and gives the rest back to him.
"What's got you all upset?" Benjamin pushes himself off the wall and he and Leila quickly go down the street, trying to escape public eye. There is nothing easy about a relationship between male and female in this time. It's highly frowned upon. It usually never ends well. It would be easier if they were engaged but…
"Father keeps trying to get me to talk to Adelet." She rips through the chocolate and takes the package back from Benjamin's waiting hands, wanting more. They duck into Benjamin's house. "Like I want to talk to that pompous, smirking, Turkish asshole!"
"You are part Turk," Benjamin likes to remind her. They sit on the floor and Leila begins to dump the insides of her bag out on the table, as she always does.
"But I'm Egyptian first," She argues. "Like you." She falls back on the floor, her brown skin contrasting the white, "I wish my life were simple, like yours."
Benjamin tries to ignore the fact that she's just called him 'Simple,' "I don't think your father would agree with that," He says. "If anything, you're Turkish first."
"I look nothing like him," She complains loudly. "I'm my mother's daughter, and I act just like her—and he keeps asking me to follow the rules." She covers her face in anguish, "How boring."
"Well you are the governor's daughter…" Benjamin leafs through the newly formed mess on his floor and grabs the bag of peanuts. "He's the rule enforcer, what did you expect?"
"Why are you so calm about this?" She demands.
"I'm always calm," He puts all his energy until manipulating the air, ruffling the curls that had fallen out of her headscarf.
She laughs and shoves his shoulder, "Yes you are." She closes her eyes and imagines that they both get a different outcome, "But I think you should feel at least a little angry. I mean…your…your…"
"Lover," Benjamin supplies, grinning boyishly at her.
"Your lover," She says, "Is engaged to some random asshole."
"It's always been like this," He tries to shrug but his shoulders feel heavy all of a sudden. "Its our culture."
This time, Leila is angry. She moves to sit by him, glaring fiercely, "Stop pretending like you don't care, Benjamin!" She grips his chin with her hands and electricity shoots up his spine, "Stop pretending, it hurts more if you pretend."
"It hurts if I don't," He says quietly. "It hurts if I do."
"We can do something about it," By this point Leila is draped over his torso, her smile wild.
"Like what?" Benjamin just prays that his uncle doesn't walk in and see them. Despite this thought, he tucks a curl back under her scarf. He gets distracted by her eyes, glistening as she looks at him. Warmth feels his stomach.
"We could run," She says.
"We can't run," He sighs.
"Why not?"
"We would get caught." Benjamin sighs and collapses on the floor like she had minutes earlier. "We have to face the facts, Leila, you do not belong to me."
Leila frowns, and suddenly, her face is inches from his in the most dangerous of positions. Her curls spill out of the scarf again, and they tickle his nose. "Of course I do. Don't say such stupid things, Ben." She cups his face like she always does, her thumb caressing his cheek. "Don't you know? We're soul mates."
"Soul mates," Benjamin repeats idly, too mesmerized to disagree. Her eyes have him trapped and he's not sure if he wants to ever escape.
"Yes," Leila leans down closer, "Forget Adelet. We belong with each other. You belong with me, forever and ever. In this life and the next one."
"Forever," Benjamin says.
"Yes," Leila says, she leans her head down and kisses him.
Electricity shoots from his lips to his spine. Forever.
.
Benjamin opens his eyes, back in the clearing in Forks. He feels like he's just been awakened from a dream.
"From the looks of it, that worked." Leah says, getting up from her sitting position. "Fucking weird."
"Yeah," Benjamin says, distractedly. He runs a hand through his hair, "How…how could I forget something so important?"
Leah shrugs, "Maybe it's not as important as you think."
Benjamin shakes his head, standing. Leah reflexively moves back. "You don't understand," He mutters.
Leah shrugs again, "True." She doesn't particularly want to either.
Benjamin seems to shake himself a little. He walks back over to Leah, intending to thank her, but when she looks up her eyes hit the sun and they glow.
They are gold and brown at the very same time, they are copper mixed with honey, the perfect shade of brown.
And they are hers— Leila's.
Benjamin turns to Leah, startling her again. His eyes are steel determination, and for the third time that day, he grabs her arms, "Leah." His voice comes out strong, "Do you believe in reincarnation?"
Leah blanches and knocks his hands away. She finds herself across the clearing, practically spitting fire, "What the fuck is your problem?"
AN. I like the flashbacks, writing a younger less wise Ben is fun.
Plus I like Plots within Plots.
Review!