Thank You for your reviews!:
Yana5, Hikory,
Seq - Thanks, I liked the fairy thing, too! :) The thing with Ron works because Ron and Viktor are Dani's mates, both of them, though, they don't know it yet. :)
cyiusblack,
BellaxEdwardfreak - Yes, Dani would have died. He would have probably gone back to the sea and been really unhappy there, probably wasting away mentally and emotionally until he either died, or found another mate, which was very unlikely to occur, which is why I made Viktor say yes. Nobody wants sweet little Dani to die, or go insane.. Not a good ending.. :( No, Viktor wouldn't necessarily have to be his mate because Ron is, but, I am going to do that, yes. :)
YinKeket - Wow! :) Thank you for all your reviews! :)
Melikalilly, ShadowXMoonlight, Luv4RobPattz
Author's Note - Okay, I'm sorry it's so short, but, I hope that it's at least interesting, and, I promise that the next chapter will be longer, okay? :) But, enjoy! :)
~Sweet-Hearted SilverEars~
Chapter 43 Meeting Grandmother Arailia
"Arailia!" Jason said, his usual reserved countenance brightening with love and brotherly affection as he made to run to his sister like an excited child.
The woman standing by the window turned at his delighted cry, the sunlight highlighting the wrinkled, but not unattractive, planes of her face, her solid silver hair sparkling where it flowed free, full and long down her back to her ankles, holding up her left hand with her lined palm facing toward him in a silent command that he keep his distance. Jason came to an abrupt, reluctant stop, a stunned look on his fallen face as he stared at her with hurt obvious in his wide eyes at her actions.
"What are you doing here, Jason?.." she asked him calmly in a soft, melodic voice. "Why have you come?.."
"To see you, of course," he replied incredulously, as though it should be obvious, looking confused as she stared back at him with emotionless eyes. "To make sure that you were okay."
"Well, now you have done so. You may go home, back to you Beloved Neptune."
"There will be no need for that," a smooth voice spoke, Neptune striding into the room now, sliding his arm around an obviously wounded Jason's shoulders. "I am here."
Arailia paled at his appearance instantly, her thin shoulders stiffening as she bit her lower lip briefly before she visibly calmed, retreating behind her invisible walls again quickly, inclining her head in his direction.
"Your Highness," she said respectfully, but her voice held a slight mocking tinge to its tones that he could not understand as she continued. "To what do I owe the honor of your presence in this home that I reside within?"
"Your brother's concern for you, as well as my own as your Sovereign Ruler. It is my duty as your king to make sure that you are well."
"And now you have. You are not my king any longer, Neptune. You have no duty to me. I left that life behind me when I conceived my child, and it was my choice to make. I could not continue to live beneath the sea, when my heart, my child's father lived on the land. I wanted us to be a family, to live as one, to raise our child together, here, in this house that his family owned. I.. wanted to be with him."
"And did you?" Neptune asked her quietly. "Is he here?"
"No, he is not. He died five years after we were married, and we had no other children together."
"I am sorry."
"Thank you."
"Arailia.." Jason spoke up almost timidly now, his lower lip quivering for a moment before he stiffened his jaw determinedly. "Why.. Why did you leave without even a word to me? And why did you not return to the sea when your child was grown?"
"I did what was necessary, what I had to do. I cannot explain any more then that. As for why I did not return, I had my reasons for that as well. I stayed, and still stay, for Harry.-" Arailia gestured with her fingers out to the other room where she knew that Harry was waiting patiently to meet her with his Mate, Draco, and his friends, Ron, Dani and Wallace. "-I knew that he would be born, I Saw it, and that, someday, he would need me, though I knew not why at the time of the vision. He is of my line, my husband's line. I must do what I can to help him with whatever he needs."
"And, when you have helped him? Will you come back to the sea, my sister?"
"No, my brother, I will not. Look at me, Jason. I am old and tired. I am no longer a daughter of the sea. I have aged, grown set in the ways of humans. Yes, the process could yet be reversed. It's not to late, I know this. I could become young and beautiful once again. But to what end? I do not want to live in the sea any longer. I would not be happy there, without my family."
"I am your family!" Jason cried out, unable to restrain his pain at her words any longer. "Do I count for nothing in your heart?"
"Of course you do, Jason.." she said softly, truthfully. "You know you do. You're my brother, and I love you. I always will. But the family I speak of now is Harry. He will need my help with the child. This I know for certain."
"But, Arailia.." Jason said piteously, his eyes filling with tears. "You will die.. I just found you.. I don't want to lose you now, so soon after.. I don't want to ever lose you.."
"Jason.. Please. You must understand, I love Harry, and he needs me. I could not leave him, even if I wanted to. Yes, eventually, I will die, as does every human, whether they be man, woman or child. It is how it is, the way that it must be. To make room for new life, some must die and give up that life. There is not as much land as you have water in which to have endless amounts of merbabes. That's just the way that it is. Some things cannot be changed, should not be changed. I will be happy for whatever time that I have left to spend with Harry and his family. I know that death is, for the most part, a foreign concept to your people, but it will be alright. I could live for a very long time yet, but even if I don't, I will be okay with that. Now, please, send in Harry and his mate for me on your way out. I wish to see him."
Jason clearly wished to speak more, even opening his mouth, but Neptune shook his head slightly, leading his devastated lover from the room gently by his arm.
"Grandmother Arailia!" Harry said, a wide smile on his face as she opened her arms to hug him gently, careful of the babe that he carried within him.
Harry buried his face against her shoulder with a happy sigh, inhaling her scent, surprised to find that she smelled of cinnamon and nutmeg, as well as a faint, fading wisp of salt that told of her Mer status, or what was left of it, anyway. She smelled, in his opinion, very Grandmotherly, exactly as she should smell. Arailia smiled, her right hand carding gently through Harry's hair, stroking the raven black strands tenderly as she held him close under Draco's soft, watchful gray eyes.
"Harry.. I am so happy to meet you."
"Why did you wait so long?.." Harry asked quietly. "Why didn't you let me know about you? I could have lived here, with you, instead of with the Dursleys. Didn't you care about me?.."
"Oh, Harry.." Arailia gasped softly. "Sweetheart, of course I cared about you. I do care about you, very much. But you couldn't have lived here with me all this time. That wasn't how it was meant to be. I know. I'm a Seer. Your time with the Dursleys was a necessary evil. Being witness to the taint of their poison for all these years was what made you into the compassionate, loving man that I know you are. It was the catalyst for many of the important choices that you have made in your life, including your choice to love Draco Malfoy. He is strong, loving, and noble, all the things that the Dursleys, with the possible exception of Dudley, are not. And he is male. Which, considering the fact that the Dursleys despise homosexuals, may have been a choice, conscious or unconscious, on your part, to defy everything that they had wrongly tried to teach you with their cruel methods. I very much wanted to meet you, Harry, and to have you stay here with me, but not at the risk of altering the path that your life was meant to take. Not only do you need Draco Malfoy in your life, but he needs you, just as much, if not more then you need him. Do you understand now, Grandson? I stayed away in order to make sure that Fate gave you the life that you deserved. The one that would make you the most happy, in the end. Regardless of how you arrived here, this is the way things should be, the way that they were meant to be. All I did was give Fate a little nudge out of the door."
"Really? You did all this.. for me?.."
"Yes, Harry. All that I have done was for you. Come with me, all of you,-" she said quietly, gesturing to Draco, Ron, Dani, Wallace, and, of course, Harry. "-There is a fire burning in the hearth in the living room. We can all have tea and biscuits, milk for Harry because of the baby, while we talk."
"Will you tell me everything, Grandmother?.." Harry asked her as they went. "Even what you didn't tell Neptune and Jason?.."
"Yes, Harry," Arailia replied, surprised that he had picked up on her anxiousness when her brother and his Mate had been here earlier. "I will tell you everything.."
