A/N: Major yikes on being MIA for such a long time. I went into more description in the author's note of my other current story, Sugar Rush, but I am back! I made a promise to finish everything I start and I have very high hopes for this little tale! So here I am.. I hope y'all dont think too down on me for being gone such a long time.

Okay so, you may notice the time jump! This will happen for the next few chapters. It's more of a reflection time between the present and looking back over the previous days so dw, you won't miss anything!


Chapter 8: More Than You Know

August 10th, 79 AD

A soulmate was a description of a person with whom one has a feeling of deep or natural affinity. It was just one of the many things that Brittany had heard about in passing, and asked questions about, but had yet to make her own judgement. She saw the way her parents loved one another, and how the friends she had grown up with had loved their siblings so deeply and protectively, but had never had that special quality to share with another.

Until she met Santana.

At first, she was a vision; a picture of untouchable beauty. A vibrant rose among a field of wildflowers that were never to be touched by human hands. She was poised, exquisite and full of an erotic, absorbing mystery that sucked Brittany in like a fly to a flame. Painters and philosophers would travel the Earth to see such beauty. Watching her was more of a gift than her current position as a house slave should have allowed.

If her outward appearance wasn't enough, Brittany now knew that being close to Santana was even more of a blessing from the Gods.

For the past week, the daughter of the house master had been helping Brittany out with various chores. When Brittany had to sit and use a rock to beat out wine stains from fabric, Santana had been right beside her, learning how to do the work and using her soft, inexperienced hands to beat the material. It was something the young woman had people to do for her from the instant she was born, but she wanted to get down on her knees beside Brittany.

Not only did she do the work, but she did it with a sweet smile on her face that made Brittany's heart thunder against her rib cage. It was nothing in comparison, but having Santana by her side, enjoying the time they spent working together, Brittany felt as though it was no chore at all.

There was definitely a stark difference between doing work with Santana, and having to do it alone when Master Loukas was home.

"Tell me again what it was like growing up in Oplontis." Santana asked, her eyes sparkling.

For the life of her, Brittany couldn't imagine why she would want to know about her upbringing in such a small, insignificant town. If Brittany had grown up in Pompeii, she doubted she would have cared about anywhere else.

Santana wasn't at all as she expected her to be. After the single time she had seen her scold Gaius, Brittany and been weary to see if she was quick to anger again, but she hadn't seen anything of the sort. Santana was as soft and kind as she looked at first glance.

Maybe she wasn't to everyone, but she was to Brittany.

Perhaps that was how a soulmate worked.

"My father is a goat herder, and my mother was an occasional launder for those who needed her service. We weren't rich in gold, but we loved one another so dearly. I grew up always knowing how smart I was for the things that I picked up while overhearing conversations as I delivered my mother's' laundry back to their owners throughout Oplontis. I love them both very much,"

The smile that teased at the corner of Santana's full lips armed Brittany's heart from the core.

"Are you upset that they sent you away?" She asked, her face speaking to let Brittany know that she was genuinely curious about my opinions on the matter. The blonde knew she had probably seen a lot of house slaves come and go through her lifetime, never knowing what their true feelings on the matter really were.

And why should she?

"Of course not," Brittany shook her head, "They wanted the best life for me, away from the poverty. I get more than one meal a day here, and I have a warm place to sleep as long as I do my work. That was more than my father could have promised me as he starts to age and lose his vitality,"

Santana cocked her head to the side in an adorable manner, lush hair spilling over her shoulder. It was certainly very obviously a thing that she hadn't been in the position to think about before.

Brittany wondered just how much she had exposed to and taught Santana during their short time together.

"I suppose I never thought of those hardships," Santana admitted, confirming what Brittany had been suspecting. The blonde didn't think ill of her for that. More, the exact opposite. She admired someone born with her silver spoon to have the ability to mull it over.

Scooping a pile of cleaned, sodden sheets into her arms, Brittany moved to stand up. As soon as she did, her knees buckled out from underneath her, almost sending her hurtling to the ground like a fallen framework.

Quick as a bow from an arrow, Santana shot onto her own feet, gently reaching out to steady her companion. Her hands, though soft and sympathetic, were strong as they held Brittany erect,

"I have you steady, no need to worry," Santana uttered quietly, waiting for Brittany to find her balance before taking the wet fabric from her grasp and setting it to the side.

Although she had been so intuitive when it came to studying Santana for the past week of their time together, she had been neglecting watching how she was changing herself. Thinning and getting frail in her movements, Brittany had found it harder and harder to stomach the food she ate in the mornings, or in the evenings when she knew that the master would shortly be coming to take her and have his way with her.

Truthfully, the only meals she had been able to get in and take down were the ones in the afternoon that she shared alongside her beautiful friend. When she was with her, all thoughts of the way Master Loukas had been getting rougher and more degrading with her just slipped away, like running water from a trickling river.

"Brittany.."

Santana's sweet voice pulled a low sigh from Brittany's lungs as she moved to sit on the edge of the stone well, guided by Santana's grasp. Though her innermost thoughts were screaming for her to stop Santana from pulling up the bottom of her tunica, she trusted her friend. Somewhere along the past week where Santana had known that Master Loukas was doing the unspeakable things that he was, the girls never seemed to mention of the father - daughter relationship that they shared.

"Have you had these treated?" Santana asked quietly, pulling up Brittany's tunica just enough to reveal the dark purple bruises on her thighs, serving as just a horrible memory of the hands that were once grasping at the delicate flesh.

"Aelia coated them with oils early this morning," Brittany nodded, a small tear of shame leaking down her face as she turned her head away.

Santana was too wonderful to have to see such ugly with her eyes.

The blonde felt a movement as Santana let the tunica fall back down over her legs and move beside her. The warm touch of finger tips against her cheek came as a welcome shock as the other woman turned her face to gaze upon her with such caring, sugar sweet eyes.

"I have, never in my life, been so glad of Aelia than I am now," Santana whispered, blessing the midday air that lingered between them with her sweet words. "You deserve people who care about you, Brittany."

The blonde felt her heart swell within the cavity of her chest, her hand moving of it's own accord to fall against the dark skinned one that still rested against her cheek. Parting her lips, she let her fingers brush against smooth flesh.

"Do you care about me, Santana?"

It was an odd question, but the way that the masters' daughters' eyes shone in such admiration and wonder, it wasn't one that would fall along with the many unanswered questions of the universe that they found themselves in.

"More than you know."


A/N: It's a little short, but this isn't an easy story to get back into! Bear with me, and please read & review!