Tread Softly On My Dreams.
Part 3
By Arian
Kiros left after a few days to visit another friend who worked in
D-District Prison. Laguna had talked with him frequently before he left
but Raine had not been privy to a lot of their discussions, many of which
stopped the instant she entered the room.
After a week of dealing with a Laguna who was subdued and
reflective-to-the-point-of-irritation, Raine was edgy. He was up to
something. What was going on?
When he vanished after dinner one night, Raine tucked Elle into bed
and went up the hill, either to think about things or to vent her
frustration on an unoffending tree, only to find that Laguna was already
there.
He spun round and the worried look on his face made her forget her
reasons for being there.
"What's the matter?"
"I'm OK. It's nothing."
/Then why have you been acting so weird lately? Are you so naïve you
think I haven't noticed?/
She frowned as he turned away and started to walk back to the village.
/Oh no. You're not going until I get an answer./
Raine followed, reaching out to catch his arm, to make him talk to her,
when he spun to face her of his own accord and took her hand.
She watched in astonishment, completely speechless, as he slid a silver
ring onto her finger.
"Marry me, Raine?"
So /this/ was what the plotting had been about. Raine had nearly all the
explanations she needed now. She inspected the ring incredulously, tears
gathering in her eyes, and then she held up her hand. /You really mean
this? You love me!?/ She asked the question silently, already knowing the
answer, and Laguna held up his own hand, smiling almost apologetically,
and she saw the matching ring.
Still stunned, Raine flung her arms round him and smiled to herself.
/What a waste of time all those worries were. I should have known that
this is what he'd do. But there is still that one question...I'll wonder
about it forever if I don't ask.../ She leaned into him, enjoying the moment
before she destroyed it with that one fatal, highly inappropriate, question.
"Why did you never go back to Julia?" No malice in her voice, it was just
something she had to have an answer to. She was no longer jealous or
worried and, although she suspected what his answer would be, she needed
to hear him say it.
Raine felt him tense up as she voiced her question and then he pulled
away, enough to see her serene face, but without his arms moving from her
back.
"I love you." He told her, confused and trying to reassure her.
/Ah, I've hurt him. Look at the hurt in his eyes, Raine. You did that.../
she accused herself. /I never meant to.../
"I know you do and I can't question that. And I know that I love you,
too." The words came to her easier than she ever thought they would. "I'm
sorry, but it's a question I have to ask. It doesn't even mean anything
anymore but it does satisfy my curiosity. I need an answer."
He sighed and looked up at the stars, presumably for inspiration. She
reached up with one hand to brush the raven black hair back from his face,
letting her fingers glide across his cheekbone as she did so. Laguna shut
his eyes and a faint smile traced across his face.
/Now what did he go and do that for?/ Raine frowned to herself,
whimsically. /I like looking at his eyes. It's almost become a pastime of
mine./
"Sooner or later, you'll have to answer the quest -" She never finished
that sentence. Unnoticed, Laguna's hand had moved lightly up to her neck
while she had been busy being mad at him for preventing her favourite hobby.
Now, he had opened his eyes again and leaned down to kiss her before she
could say another word.
Raine entwined her arms around his neck, kissing him back and temporarily
forgetting what she had been talking about.
When her soul finally drifted back from whatever cloud it had been dancing
on, she opened her blue eyes and found Laguna's face not an inch from her
own, his forehead just touching hers. There was a smile on his face and
something in his eyes that didn't quite belong there... /He's never been
able to lie convincingly./
"You did that deliberately!" She cried, her mind jumping instantly to a
conclusion.
"Oh, it was definitely quite deliberate." He grinned at her.
"You know what I mean! You did that to stop me talking! To make me
forget!"
"Not /entirely/..." he raised one eyebrow, making her smile.
"You have to tell me." She laughed, tightening her arms round his neck.
"I'm not letting you go until you do."
"Who says I want to go anywhere?"
"Quit trying to change the subject. You know I can be /far/ more stubborn
than you." Raine twisted her way out of his arms and sat down on the
hillside, tugging at his hand to make him sit next to her.
She leaned back on her hands, one leg stretched out in front of her, the
other curled up to her chest, watching the starlight play on the flowers.
After a while she turned back to Laguna, waiting expectantly for an answer.
He sighed. "Raine, I don't know what I can say. I don't /have/ an answer,
or an explanation. I don't /know/ why I didn't go back to Deling City."
"Just tell me as much as you know. Tell me what you thought. You must
have /thought/ about going back. Tell me whatever you can."
He watched her for a while, then nodded slowly.
"Where to start... well, when I got here, I suppose. I always thought that
I'd get better and go back to Deling. I had to get well and go and see
Julia, that was the plan. I don't know when it changed, but it did. I
found I couldn't think about leaving Elle behind. She'd be so upset and I
couldn't bear that."
"What about Julia, didn't you think she'd be upset?" Raine interrupted
softly.
"Julia? Well, yeah, I guess... but Elle's just a little girl and then
I... I started to... I fell in love with you, Raine. I don't know when or
how or why, but once it happened, well, there's no going back."
"That isn't one of the more romantic things you've ever said..." Raine
said archly.
"Hey, you said you wanted an answer, not poetry."
"And that's as good an answer as I'm going to get?"
Laguna nodded.
"Why did you make all that fuss about it, then? If that's it?"
"Well, it /is/ kinda awkward."
Raine acceded that and looked up at the stars. /Masses of them tonight. A
great chalky smudge across the heavens./ She sighed happily to herself,
content, then she noticed the miserable look on Laguna's face.
"What?"
"You've ruined it now." He said, mournfully. "It was perfect. The stars,
the flowers... and then you completely shattered the atmosphere. That's the
sort of thing /I/ normally do."
"I suppose I did mess it up a bit..."
"A /bit/!?" Laguna objected. Raine smiled at his mildly outraged face for
a moment.
"But, you know, the stars and the flowers are still here and the rest of
Winhill is probably asleep... I think we might be able to piece together
some of that shattered atmosphere." The ring on her finger caught the
moonlight.
"Oh?" he turned towards her as she edged a bit closer.
"Mmm."
***************
Raine lay in bed, staring vacantly up at the ceiling. Laguna had left a
while ago, before Ellone woke up, to avoid the kinds of embarrassing
questions a six year old might ask. The small woman chuckled quietly to
herself, remembering the conversation of the previous night.
They had scurried back down to the square at what might have been very
late at night , or early in the morning, Raine wasn't sure. She /did/ know
that she had bits of grass stuck in her hair and she didn't give a damn.
She was constantly on the verge of laughing out loud at nothing in
particular and she knew from the look on his face that Laguna was, too.
He stopped on the doorstep, kissed Raine goodnight and started to walk
back to his own house. He managed about five steps before she darted
forward and grabbed his arm.
"Don't go home. You don't... you shouldn't have to leave."
"What about Elle?"
"She'll be asleep. She sleeps like a rock, but I think I'll get a lock for
her door tomorrow, all the same."
"You can't do that!" Laguna exclaimed in a whisper. "Poor Elle, what if
she has a nightmare or something and she needs you?"
"Nightmares? No nightmares in this house. I don't get them anymore, and
Ellone never did." Raine murmured, remembering another conversation about
the same subject. Then she considered what he had said and nodded. "Alright,
but if she..., well,... /you/ answer any awkward questions, got that?" she
felt her cheeks begin to burn in the darkness and suppressed the urge to
cover them with her hands.
"/Me/!? Wouldn't it be better if you..."
"/You/ don't want a lock on her door, /you/ answer questions. You're part
of this unconventional little family now." She paused and reached down for
his hand. "When I asked you to stay here... I didn't just mean tonight, you
do know that, don't you? I don't need a ceremony to tell me what I already
know. If you're with us then no little priest in his crumbling church is
going to make a difference. I do want to marry you," she added quickly,
seeing the look of panic on Laguna's face, "but you belong here with us
/now./" Raine struggled to convey what she felt and was relieved when she
saw he understood what she had been trying to tell him.
"You're getting nearly as bad at explaining things as me." Laguna laughed
as she opened the door.
"Quiet." She warned "Or do you want to explain to Ellone what you're
doing here?"
"Ahh... no. I don't think so."
***************
Raine was making Ellone's breakfast when Laguna returned.
"Uncle Laguna!" Ellone yelled, waving at him from her place at the table.
Laguna dropped the bundle he'd been carrying into an armchair and sat next
to Elle at the table.
"Morning, Elle."
"What're you doing?" the girl asked, trying to peer at what he had dumped
in the chair without moving from her seat.
"Raine, didn't you tell her yet?" he asked as Raine set a dish down in
front of Elle.
"Tell me what!?" she leapt about in her chair, nearly sending her bowl
flying. Raine sat the other side of her and looked placidly across at
Laguna.
"I was waiting for you before I said anything." Ellone was going berserk
by this time and Raine simply held her left hand out to the girl, without
saying a word. Elle looked bewildered at the hand she was offered, grasping
it with her tiny hands, and then she saw the ring. Even a child as young as
she was knew what that meant and she looked up at Raine, then turned her
angelic face to Laguna.
"Yeah!!" she squealed with delight, leaping onto Raine's lap and hugging
her. "You're getting married! Really?"
"Yes, we really are, Elle." Raine smiled as the girl scrambled back
across her chair to throw her arms round Laguna.
"Can I be bridesmaid? Pleeease?" Laguna looked up at Raine before he
answered and she nodded, amused. /Why did he bother? He should know my
mind as far as Elle's concerned. It's much the same as his own./
After he had answered her, Laguna eventually untangled Elle's arms and
lifted her back to her own chair.
"I bought some stuff over from next door." He said to Raine, indicating
the pile in the chair. "I didn't think there was much point in leaving it
there."
"Why?" Ellone asked, trying to peer at the bundle again. "What is it?"
"It's just my stuff, Elle. I'm living with you guys now. I'm gonna stay
here and take care of you and Raine."
"I'm six years old! I don't need looking after!" she told him indignantly.
"Yeah, I know, but I think Raine needs looking after, don't you?"
The little girl nodded and they both grinned at Raine who sighed and
rolled her eyes heavenward.
"Well, I'm gonna go and hunt some more monsters, before they come and eat
Elle." Laguna joked.
"Wouldn't /that/ be a shame." Raine commented, smiling at Elle so that she
knew Raine didn't mean it.
"I'll see you two later." He waved and headed for the door.
"I don't think I should let you." Raine retorted coolly, in revenge for
that earlier remark about needing to be looked after. "Prospective husbands
run off when they realise what they've let themselves in for."
"Hmmm. Maybe I should start running now, then. And maybe I should leave
before you throw something at me." He added, seeing the look on her face
and ducking quickly out of the doorway.
***************
"Hey, what's this?" Laguna reached out to pick up the bundle of white
cloth that lay on the table.
"Don't touch that!" Raine and Ellone yelled in unison and laughed as he
jerked his hands away quickly, as if he'd been burnt.
"Why?"
"It's Raine's wedding dress. You're not supposed to see it yet." Ellone
informed him gravely.
"Why not?"
"Because it's unlucky, Laguna. Honestly, sometimes you can be worse than
Elle with all your questions."
"C'mon Raine, lemme see! Where did you get it from, anyway?"
She rolled her eyes. "I've been making it for the past week. I thought
you'd have noticed before now."
"Been busy." He winked at Elle, who giggled.
"Ah yes. You and Kiros. What the hell are you up to this time?"
"Just stuff. You'll see." He paused, glancing back to the cloth on the
table. "You're /really/ making your dress?"
"Well where do you think it'd come from?"
"Dunno. Most people in Deling buy 'em in shops, I guess."
"Not too many of those around here, if you'd stop plotting with Kiros
long enough to notice your surroundings."
"I could -" he started, but Raine interrupted, already guessing what he
was going to say.
"No. I /want/ to do this." She smiled. "When's Ward going to show up?"
"He'll be here in a few days." Laguna said confidently.
"The /wedding's/ in a few days."
"Relax, Raine. Everything will work out fine. Hey, Elle, where's your
dress? You can't be bridesmaid if you don't have a bridesmaid dress."
"Millie's makin' it. Can I show him, Raine? Can I?" Ellone ran to the
door, dragging Laguna behind her, waiting for Raine's answer.
"Pleeease?"
"Oh, alright." She gave in and smiled as Laguna managed to wave to her
before being pulled out the door by an impatient Ellone.
***************
Raine stood in front of the large wooden doors of the church.
/This is it./ She told herself, but no matter how she tried, she couldn't
see how this day would change anything in her life. She was already happy
and had everything she needed. Although this was an important day, Raine
just couldn't see any necessity for it. That didn't mean she wasn't going
to enjoy it, or that she wasn't nervous.
She looked down at Ellone, who stood next to her in a dark blue dress.
/Always blue with Elle, she'd always be wearing something blue./ The girl
fidgeted with the circlet of flowers on her head, impatient to be inside.
The door finally cracked open, and Millie slipped out.
"You can go in now, Raine."
Raine smoothed down the front of her white dress and looked up at her
friend.
"Do I look alright?" she asked, worried.
"You look stunning. They're all waiting for you." Millie straightened the
white flowers in the wreath on Raine's head and gestured to the door.
"Ready, Elle?" Raine looked down at the tiny girl at her side. Ellone
nodded eagerly.
Raine stepped into the doorway and paused for a moment, gripping Ellone's
hand. She glanced around at the faces, to see who had turned up, and as she
had expected, Joe, the doctor and the rest of the anti-outsider group were
not present.
She released Elle's hand, so that the girl could walk in front of her, but
instead the child half ran to the front of the church, where Laguna stood
with Kiros and his bulky friend, Ward.
/That wasn't quite supposed to be like that, Elle. You were supposed to
walk, like the young lady that you are. That you /sometimes/ are./ She
corrected herself.
Raine watched in mild astonishment as Laguna turned and crouched next to
Elle, talking with her about something, then pointing around the church.
She glanced about her and saw that the whole room was bedecked with white
flowers. How could she have not noticed their fragrance?
Looking back to Elle and Laguna, she smiled to herself. /If that had been
anyone else stood there, talking animatedly like that, the whole thing
would be a farce. But with those two... it seems normal. Like no one would
ever expect them to do this any differently./
As she started to walk forwards, Laguna stood and half-turned to face
her. Then he froze.
/How interesting./ Raine was silently amused. /I've never seen anyone's
jaw actually drop before. I didn't think it really happened. And he's
wearing a suit. /That's/ something I never thought I'd see. Wonder how that
happened? He's not really a suit sort of person. Ward and Kiros probably
had something to do with it. Hmmm... I think I kinda like it./
She was about to look around, when she saw a hint of green and her eyes
were drawn to Laguna's.
/No, no, NO!/ she mentally half-screamed at herself as her eyes moved
automatically without any input from her brain. /I don't want to, I want
to look around the church and see the flowers! I won't be able to see
anything once I look at him. Damn! Too late.../
She didn't get to see anything else, just those emerald eyes that she
wouldn't even try to look away from.
"So you like the dress?" she whispered as she reached him. When he didn't
say a word, Kiros leaned over.
"I think he's still stunned. You look great, Raine."
All through the rest of the ceremony, Raine found that all she could see
was wall-to-wall green and she was only just conscious enough of her
surroundings to stammer out her words.
Everything blurred and she didn't remember much more until daylight hit
her face and she realised they were stood outside the church. She felt the
familiar feel of her ring on her finger and was pleased to have it back.
Today was the only day she had removed it and her finger felt empty without
it.
"Did you see, Raine?" she heard Laguna whisper to her, having found his
voice again. She turned to look at him, to see those eyes that were both
a curse and a blessing to her, that shined now with exhilaration.
"See what?" she was still in a daze. /A child, Raine, you married an
eternal child. He'll never grow up. But then, what's so bad about that?
It's part of what you fell in love with, isn't it? And maybe if he can
stay that young, then I can too. Why should either of us have to grow up?
I guess none of that matters, though. He is who he is and you know you
wouldn't change him./
"The flowers. Me and Kiros and Ward decorated the whole place with them.
White flowers, the ones you like best. Couldn't you smell them?"
"Yes. They were beautiful. Is that what you were up to?"
"Yeah. I thought it'd be nice."
Raine couldn't get another word in before people started to pile out of
the church, congratulating them on their way, and she suppressed a cynical
laugh at the niceties. /Half of you are only here because it's something to
do. Something to break up the monotony of days./ But half of them were there
for genuine reasons.
Kiros, Ward, Millie and Ellone were soon the only people left. Elle
darted forward to clutch at Raine's hand, a grubby angel, her dress already
dusty in places. Elle could find dirt anywhere, she was like a magnet for
it.
"Millie says I can stay at her house tonight! She says she's going to
make a chocolate cake an' I can help and she's gonna tell me lots of
stories! Can I, Raine? Please?" The little girl leapt around, clutching
at the wreath on her head to stop it from slipping.
Raine looked questioningly at Millie and her friend stepped closer.
"Go on, Elle. I'll get Raine to agree, don't worry about that."
The girl nodded and ran off in the direction of the square.
"What's this about?"
"It's my present to you, Raine. I'm sure you'd rather not have her
around for a while, however adorable she is." Millie smiled as Raine
began to turn a faint pink colour.
/Dammit! I /hate/ it when this happens! Why the hell am I blushing?/ She
continued to mentally yell abuse at herself until the colour faded from
her face and she composed herself to speak to her friend.
"Thanks, Millie." She knew she didn't have to say anything else and
Millie nodded and walked after Ellone.
Raine glanced to Laguna at her side. He might not have turned the same
pink colour as Raine but he was looking distinctly uncomfortable.
/Oh good. If I'm not the only one then I don't feel so bad./ She snickered
quietly at the look on his face, then Kiros interrupted her silent
conversation.
"Well, I never thought this'd actually /happen/. I'm amazed you found
someone to put up with you. Personally, I think that if Raine has an ounce
of sense left, she'll get a divorce as soon as she can."
"When you've quite finished trying to wreck my marriage before it's even
begun, Kiros, perhaps you'd like to congratulate us and tell Raine how
captivating she looks." Laguna told his friend, dryly. Ward smiled and
chuckled silently at the endless banter between the two.
"My, that /was/ a long word! Swallow a dictionary, did we?" Kiros ignored
the sour look Laguna shot him and kept talking. "Anyway, I already told
Raine she looks great when you were struck dumb in there, doing a great
impression of Ward."
Ward gestured to Kiros, and Kiros translated for him.
"Except that Ward says he's not as dumb as you and would've married Raine
months ago. But all joking aside, congratulations my friend. And Raine?
Commiserations are in order I think..." He laughed as they strolled away,
leaving Laguna and Raine alone on the steps of the church.
"That's it?" Raine asked. "What happens now?"
"Well, I think there's something about being carried over the doorstep,
so..." his voice trailed off as he lifted Raine up. Raine was caught
completely unawares and yelped, clinging to his neck.
"No! Put me down! You'll drop me!"
"Nah, I wouldn't do that."
"Well, try and find a soft bit of ground when you do drop me, OK?" she
said nervously.
"Raine, I wouldn't drop you. What's the matter, don't you trust me?"
Laguna laughed, somehow managing to saunter up to the square, while carrying
Raine.
"Oh no. I trust you. I trust you implicitly. But I /know/ you and your
concentration span isn't going to win prizes."
"You /really/ liked the flowers?" he asked, looking for her approval.
"See?" she chuckled.
"But did you?" he insisted.
"Yes. You know I did. I never thought you'd come up with something like
that. You surprise me sometimes."
"Is that good, or bad?"
Raine thought for a moment.
"Good." She decided finally. "But only if they're nice surprises."
"Only nice surprises. I'll try to remember that." He paused. "A bad
surprise...that would be...being dropped...?"
"Don't you dare!" Raine gasped, but Laguna just smiled and kept walking.
"Ah, I thought you said you trusted me?" he said, his voice amused.
"If you drop me Laguna, I'll make your life a living hell, and don't
think that I can't." she thought for a moment. "And you'll find yourself
sleeping in Elle's old house again." She threatened.
"For the thousandth time, I'm /not/ going to drop you." He sighed.
"Good. Because I would really /hate/ to have to carry out that threat."
***************