Love does not begin and end the same way we seem to think it does. Love is a battle; love is a war; love is a growing up
Chapter 15
"Remember the oath you took before you became my master?"
"Yes, I do."
"I encourage you to keep pursuing it. You have many powerful allies with the same mind set. Use it to your advantage."
"Yes, I will."
Danni's vision blurred for a bit before clearing up. She couldn't move her hands and her legs and there was a burning pain in her abdomen. She couldn't even lift her head. The wound in her abdomen was healed though. From her side vision, she could see Sinbad slumped in a chair near her bed. He looked like the drunkard he was. The tears she believed to be none existent welled in her eyes as she remembered what had happened. The memories came crashing in like unforgiving waves against the sea shore. She had never thought this was possible; to experience true love. She had finally found someone who could make her feel this way and now; she wanted to run away from it. Run as far as she could so that this happiness wouldn't be ruined by her mistakes. The memories of the burning boy and his mother were ever present and seared in her mind. Every time she closed her eyes, it plagued her. What if that happened with Sinbad? The tears kept on coming. She couldn't stop them. She used her lips to muffle any oncoming sound she would make. She had to get away.
Why dost thou run, coward? Face reality courageously. This indeed makes a true warrior. You cannot run from love, for there is no remedy for love but to love more.
A tremendous, terrible voice chided her. It spoke nothing but the truth. She knew she couldn't run from it. Sinbad wouldn't let her go. A soft sound escaped her lips and this woke the King of Sindria. His eyes were filled with sadness. He was torn at the sight of her. He rose and looked into her eyes.
"Sinbad, don't be sad. It was my choice," she said softly and slow. Said man couldn't bring himself to speak so Danni continued. "If you were to get injured, Sindria wouldn't have a King. There are many people out there who depend on and look up to you. I can't have you die on them."
Sinbad silently found truth in her words. He couldn't chastise her for her logic, for indeed, if he were to die, many would lose hope.
"So, King of Sindria," Danni's lips curled upwards, "Are you going to continue to sulk over a mere servant or are you going to man up and get back to Sindria?"
"Do you love me?" he asked. Danni didn't have to lie anymore. The answer laid in her actions.
"Yes, I do," she breathed and looked into his golden eyes, "Which is quite surprising to me."
"Danielle Diem," his tone was soft and serious. Never before had he called her by both names, "Marry me."
Those two words were so small, but had the impact of a thousand bombs. Danni's breath hitched and she closed her eyes. It took some time for her to regain her ability to talk. Sinbad really took her breath away. She wished she could pass out right about now, so she could escape answering him.
"I'm sorry, Sinbad," these words were said with a heavy heart, "But I guess I'm just not ready for marriage. Please give me some time to think."
"I understand," he slowly rose after making sure her wounds were healed properly. "My proposition still stands."
Before leaving the room, he turned to smile at her.
The voyage took a span of two days. It would have taken longer but Sinbad was an excellent navigator. When he returned, he was warmly welcomed by all of Sindria. They shouted for their King. Danni couldn't walk very well, so Sinbad carried her. Through the streets, everyone gushed and gasped. The younger women pouted and some even wailed. The older women smiled sweetly and the men cheered. Their King was growing up and they were proud of him. Some even made whistling sounds.
After making sure Danielle was safe and sound, he asked Yamraiha to take care of the rest. He was still a bit shaken and all his generals realized this.
"So what happened?" Jafar questioned his king who sat behind his desk. There wasn't any paper work, for Jafar had taken care of them in his absence. After Sinbad enlightened his trusted generals of the situation and all that happened, all mouths hung open. Everyone awaited the next sentence with an anxiousness that could kill.
"She said she isn't ready," he said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.
"Don't beat yourself up about it," Hinahoho patted his King on the back.
"Hinahoho is right," Drakon reassured, "When I asked my wife for her hand, it took her weeks to reply."
"That was encouraging," Yamraiha sarcastically commented. She turned to her king. Never had she thought she would live to see the day Sinbad would be interested in one woman. "She will definitely come around."
Sinbad looked up gratefully at her.
"One-san are you alright now?" Aladdin sat on Danni's lap and looked up at her.
"Yeah, I am," she answered. She was now sitting up and the pain slowly went away with every passing day. Additionally, she hadn't seen Sinbad all week and that bothered her slightly.
"You scared us back there," Alibaba said and Morgiana nodded in agreement.
"Sorry about that," Danni scratched the back of her head sheepishly.
"What happened back there anyway?" Alibaba probed.
"You should ask the purple haired King," she avoided answering the question.
Aladdin looked at Danni and could tell she wasn't comfortable talking about the previous happenings. He gave her a reassuring smile.
"It's alright. You don't have to tell us," he smiled.
"I know. I don't," Danni deadpanned and mercilessly shot down Alibaba's hopes.
"I see you haven't lost that ability," he sweat dropped.
"What ability?" Danni feigned ignorance.
At that moment, Sinbad walked in. The air around her felt suffocating.
"Good afternoon," he greeted everyone before his eyes settled on Danielle. His eyes then twitched with comical annoyance at the sight of Aladdin sitting on Danni's lap and his head resting on her chest. He started to imagine all the things Aladdin was capable of.
"Are you alright?" Danni asked, breaking Sinbad out of his death glare.
"I should be asking you that," he neared her.
Alibaba and Morgiana took this as their cue to leave. Aladdin, however, still sat on Danni's lap. He was a dense little fellow. Alibaba took Aladdin by the collar and dragged him out of the room. He then closed the door after mumbling something about Aladdin being a little pervert.
"So, are you?" Sinbad questioned.
"Yeah, the pain has lessened considerably," Danni answered while putting a hand on her stomach.
"Really now," he smiled.
"And you? She questioned.
"Paper work is piling up again," he scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
This caused Danni to knick him on his forehead. "Lazy prick," she mumbled as Sinbad rubbed the spot that was just hit.
"Are you okay otherwise?" he asked.
Danni took some time before answering. "N-no, I'm actually not."
Sinbad knelt before her to get a better look at her.
"What is it?"
"Just some bad dreams, is all," Danni waved it off.
"Would you care to enlighten me?"
Danni sighed before answering. "It's just about my village."
Sinbad then did the unexpected. Pulling her face close to his, he let both their foreheads touch. Both of their eyes automatically closed. At first, Danni was tempted to pull away, but she let him do as pleased.
"It's alright," he assured her. She could feel his breath hot on her face. It smelled of meat.
"Your breath smells like meat," she nonchalantly pointed out which made Sinbad sweat drop. Recovering, he smirked. And yours smell like lemons."
"My breath is sour?" she questioned, trying to get a whiff of it.
"No, it's sweet like lemonade," he countered.
"Not every serving of lemonade is sweet," Danni said.
"You're right, but that's what sweeteners are for," he replied.
"Oh?" Danni's intonation rose, "So you think of yourself as a sweetener?"
"As a matter of fact," he neared her again, "I do."
This time he allowed his lips to glide over hers. It wasn't as awkward as the first time. His tongue traced her lips sensually, as if asking for the invitation to treat. When she agreed, she took the initiative and playfully nipped at his tongue with her teeth. She could tell her face was fully flushed. His hands brought her closer as he pulled on her waist. Her heartbeat beat a thousand miles a minute as Sinbad groaned. Their bodies felt as if they were on fire.
Danni was now ready to be on her feet again. She had waited for this moment as if from the beginning of time. Stretching, she located Meow and the two were off. The other day, Sinbad made her feel like she didn't have a care in the world; like everything was okay; like she could just forget everything else. However, she knew that wasn't possible. The memories of that day plagued her and she needed to get it off her mind by going back to apologize. Back in the village, the woman she had burned had a husband. She needed to get this aspect off her mind so that she could earnestly deal with Sinbad. That was why she was on her way to her old village.
"You sure you wanna come with me?" she asked Meow.
"Meow," the cat replied and Danni knew that was a yes.
"Alright," and the two set off without Sinbad's knowing. She knew he'd go berserk.
The journey wasn't too long. She used her dijin equip which allowed her to fly part of the way. The other half, she walked. On the way, she met an interesting character. Her name was Reira and she was also a traveler. There was a mysterious air around her, but Danni didn't sense anything too dangerous about her. She had asked Danni for directions on how to get to Sindria, to which Danni gave her. While giving Reira the information, both females heard a scream. It was a little boy about to be pummeled by an older man. The boy's feet dangled in the air as he was held up. Danni was about to intervene but was stopped by Reira.
"I'll deal with this," she walked forward. The man towered over her, but this didn't intimidate her.
Reira cleared her throat, directing the attention to her.
"What are you doing here, half pint?" the man thundered.
"I couldn't help but notice you taking advantage of the little boy," Reira spoke, her grammar perfect and she had a playful smirk on her face. Her tanzanite eyes were glowing with mischief.
"Piss off short stack!" the man shouted.
"That's quite alright," Reira still maintained her smirk, "Because it's statistically proven that tall people die younger than short people. I feel very happy I have something to look forward to."
"What did you-
The man was cut off in one swift movement. Reira jabbed him in the neck which caused him to fall.
Danni and Meow just watched on.
"That was pretty good," Danni praised.
"Thanks," Reira smiled. "Also, thanks for the directions. Good bye, Danielle."
"Bye," Danni waved and continued her journey, but not before poking the man with her foot.
Approaching her village, her breath hitched. She couldn't bring herself to breathe. It was a bit better than how she'd left it, but still under graded. Some building sites were unfinished. It was probably because of insufficient funds to build. The Kou Empire hadn't gotten to them yet. There were half naked children sitting on the side walk begging bread. Unfortunately, no one had the resources to be benevolent. Seeing this, Danni tossed the bag of coins she was carrying to them. They looked at her with wide eyes before grabbing up it up and running off. Walking through, everyone watched her with wide eyes. She didn't mind, though. She wondered if Koto and Sharon were still here. Rocks were thrown her way, but she easily dodged them. One, though, hit her right on the cheek. It bruised as a result. A teenage boy was the culprit. Danni walked up a little closer before bowing.
'I'm sorry," she apologized before continuing on her way. The boy continued to glare angrily at her. She could do nothing but apologize.
"D-Danielle?" a voice stuttered behind her, no doubt Sharon's. If you may have forgotten, Sharon was the woman who was helped by Danni when they were in the dungeon. Danni turned around to meet the surprised eyes of Sharon. She didn't know how to react. Sharon hugged her and then took a step back to observe Danni.
"You look very beautiful," Sharon breathed. Koto came up behind Sharon and put both hands on her shoulders.
'So you're back," he said, not too excited to see Danni here.
"Dear," Sharon chided. She and Koto were married a couple years after the incident.
"You're a fool to think everyone here would just forget," he continued.
"I know," Danni knew Koto was only trying to protect her, "But I need to get this thing off my chest. It has been plaguing me both night and day ever since."
Koto understood, and so he said nothing else.
She made her way to the household of the deceased. A few of the newcomers in the village directed her to where she could find him. He was outside on his verandah, as if waiting for her arrival.
"I've been expecting you," his voice was gruff and sounded like a crazed man. He twitched like a mental patient. "I've been waiting for you. Every day, as a matter of fact." He got up and neared her. The black ruhk surrounded him with every step he took. Danni wasn't intimidated though. "I've been waiting for the perfect opportunity to beat your face in and feed you to the crows!"
"Listen, I cam-
Danni was cut off by the horrible sight of him transforming. She had heard stories of occurrences like this, but never had she witnessed it. He transformed into an ugly black dijin. It roared terribly and all the people in the village shook with fear. Danni shielded herself from the impact which blew her hair back. Despite all this, she couldn't bring herself to raise her scythe at him. She understood he was a grieving man. To lose your wife and only son in a situation like that is heart wrenching.
"I came to apologize!" she shouted. She hadn't shouted in a long while.
The dijin roared and readied its weapon attack her. Danni sunk to her knees. She just couldn't.
Closing her eyes, she waited for the impact of the massive weapon. It never came, though and the sound of two metals clashing was heard. Opening her eyes, she saw Sinbad in his Baal form, his sword clashed with the black dijin's weapon. Danni looked down.
"How'd you know I was here?" she said quietly, but above the noise, Sinbad heard her.
"I had Jafar follow you," he shamelessly admitted. Danni was quite surprised, as she didn't sense Jafar's presence at all.
Sinbad used his lighting power to blast the dijin away. All the fearful people were amazed. Sinbad turned to Danni and looked down at her kneeling form. She didn't look up.
"Why did you hesitate?" he asked. "Why didn't you defend yourself?"
Danni continued to look down. "I couldn't kill him. It would have been similar to heaping coals of fire on my already burning conscience."
"I see," he transformed into his human form and knelt in front of her.
"Why did you come here?" she asked, frowning.
"I believe it's only fair that I see where you grew up," he smiled, "Since you saw mine."
There were murmurings and whispers around them. The young women blushed at the sight of Sinbad, but unbeknownst to them, Sinbad now only had eyes for one woman, and that was Danielle Diem.
"Excuse me, miss," a little girl Danni recognized to be one of the children on the street, "Thank you."
Danni gave her a small smile.
"It was no problem," Danni said.
Sinbad smiled as the girl took off again.
"Are you ready to go?" he offered her his hand. Danni didn't take it. Instead, she stood on her own. Sometimes, it was best to be independent and stand on your own. Sinbad knew this, and so he left her.
"Let's get going," she said.
Did you notice someone new?! YASS! Her name is Reira! I am currently working on a new KouenXOC story. She is the main character for it. I hope that you find her interesting. Oh, and this is the second to last chapter. I wanna wrap this up verrryyy quickly. My exams are closing in on meh!