Disclaimer - None of them are mine all Joss.
Part 3/??
Distribution - My site and FINNatics. Do you want this? Please ask me first I will probably say yes.
SPOILERS: In The Woods
Rating: Read the books? Saw the series? So, you can read this. PG 13 - for now.
Teaser: A man dealing with the pain and his future.
Dedication: This goes to Chris, Nicole and all the people who gave me feedback. I will keep on writing as long as I am able to keep you amused. To Lisa, cause true friendship is hard to find. I hope you like it! To Marc Blucas for just being him.
Feedback: pls send to sgavino@gbl.com.br
Authors Note - Guaraná is a soft drink that only exists in Brasil. It is wonderful and I highly recommend it.
Second note: No it has not been BETA. Anyone???
Third Note: ** denotes internal thought.
*****
Lea checked the ingredients another time. She had the chicken, the wheat flour, the toasted flour and the eggs. Onions, lettuce and tomatoes. If she was going to spend some time away from her man at least she was going to cook his favorite meal tonight.
She opened the refrigerator and checked the beverages. Diet Coke, Guaraná and beer were already cooled. Lea smiled almost in a happy way, the farewell party was complete.
She sliced the tomatoes and the onions, placing them artistically on the lettuce. The chicken was ready, he called it chicken breaded, but she'd rather call it à Milanese. Riley just loved it. She set the table for two and started looking for the perfect soundtrack for the night. She was running her fingers through her cds when the doorbell rang, and Lea hurried to the door, forgetting about the music. After all these months together she still hadn't give him the key to her apartment. She didn't felt comfortable knowing that he could enter her house and discover her family origins while she was away. Riley, on the other hand, held no secrets from her, and gave her the key to his home only a few weeks after they started dating.
Lea opened the door to find Riley hiding himself behind red roses.
"Oh, Captain! You arrived just in time." She reached out for the flowers and breathed their perfume. "Lovely!"
Lea smiled and kissed him softly on the lips. Riley entered the room and held her by the waist.
"You're lovely, they are just red roses."
And he kissed her. At first, it was a gentle kiss, but Riley seemed to get hungrier and Lea could feel his hands grabbing her hips as his tongue got deeper into her mouth. She let the flowers slip to the floor and her hands found their way to his neck, pulling him closer. They kissed each other for what seemed a lifetime until Lea broke the kiss, grasping for air.
"Riley! I am starting to think that maybe I should cook your dinner more often."
She was smiling, seizing the moment, but he had a serious look in his face.
"Lea, I have something to tell you."
In the back of her mind, she heard Nira's voice blessing her in Romani. Her smile begun to fade as she knelt down to pick up the roses.
"I have something to tell you too, but it can wait. Tell me your secret first."
He smiled bitterly. Lea had always put him as her priority, in her conception, everything could wait until he was ready to face it. She always surprised him, her love for him was so pure and real that he felt deeply for her. * Happy days should never end. * Taking a deep breath he spoke:
"Mine is not a secret, just something new." He paused and followed her to the kitchen. "I just got a phone call from Graham."
Lea was putting the roses in a vase, and slowed her movements as she heard Graham's name. She had never met him but somehow today his name sounded creepy to her ears. Since childhood, Lea had these unease feelings sometimes, and she did not like them. Pretending to be okay she said:
"Graham. That's your military friend, right?" She still had her back turned to Riley as she asked, "How's been doing on Texas?"
Lea turned to face Riley. He was sitting by the kitchen table, playing with a knife that was lying there. He had a dark shadow in his eyes.
"He's not on Texas anymore."
Riley lift his sorrowful eyes to Lea and continued:
"Actually, he's back on Sunnydale and he phoned asking me to help him. He's injured, a demon stroke him really hard and he lost his legs."
Riley kept his voice steady as he looked back to the knife that he was holding and started to move it faster between his fingers, striking it heavily against the table. He was avoiding Lea's eyes, he didn't want to see her face, and it made her hurt inside.
Lea kept her eyes fixed on Riley's hands, the hands that have always sent her to heaven, hands that would stroke her hair until she was asleep. She wanted to scream out loud that she did not want him to go back to Sunnydale and lose his legs, his arms or his heart, but she did not spoke it out loud. This pain was hers to deal, and the choice was his. The sound of the knife against the wooden table was annoying and this stupid game he liked to play with the knife was getting to her nerves. She moved into his direction and took the knife away from his asking:
"So, when are you leaving?"
He looked puzzled:
"There is no *I* here Lea. The right question is when do WE leave."
He touched her face, so beautiful and so sweet, and went on speaking:
"Once I told you that if the wind ever started to blow again, I would take you with me. Time has come for us to leave, Lea."
She had her eyes closed, feeling his warm fingers playing with the locks of her hair, and wondered why did it have to happen now. Why did everything have to happen at the same time? Somehow she knew that this was supposed to happen this way, and there was nothing she could do this time but surrender to her destiny. She moaned:
"I can't go, Riley."
Her words hit him hard, but before he could argue she continued:
"I received a phone call, too. My grandmother is having some problems and I must go and stay with her for a while." She walked to the refrigerator and held the door open, hoping to low down the heat inside her body. "I was going to tell you about the whole story tonight, but you as faster than me."
Lea couldn't find the strength to face him, cause she knew he was disappointed with her, and she could not stand this.
"Your grandmother, Lea? Do you actually have a grandmother? How come I never heard anything about her or about any of your relatives?"
Riley felt a wave of anger rising inside him but controlled himself. He was disappointed with the fact she had never mentioned her family to him. They were not supposed to have any secrets between them and now she comes up with a grandmother needing her help just when he mostly need her by his side. With two large steps he covered the space that separated them, slammed the refrigerator's door and stared Lea.
Lea was already expecting this kind of reaction. She could see he was trembling in anger and the only thing she could do was answer him:
"Yes, I do have a grandmother. And uncles, aunts and cousins. And I do also have a reason for not having mentioned them before. Will you calm down and listen to me?"
Riley didn't move, his eyes locked in hers, as he answered coldly:
"Go on, I am listening."
* This is going to be hard.* Lea thought. She walked away from him, and seated by the table. Still holding the knife Riley was playing earlier, she grabbed an apple that was laying on the table and started peeling it as she spoke.
"Have you ever been a victim of prejudice, Riley? Have people thrown rocks and things at you and your family when you walked the streets? Have you ever had to steal to survive?"
Lea kept her eyes fixed on the apple as she spoke. Riley was not understanding what she was talking about, but feeling calmer now, he just let her speak. She dropped both the apple and the knife on the table, and stood up, pacing restlessly around the kitchen, as if she was afraid to tell him the story of her family. She continued:
"I doubt it. You grew in a pacific place, surrounded by beauty and love, you could never been able to tell me about hatred, lies and vengeance." She stopped and faced him, her eyes full of pain and regret. Riley lifted his hand and touched her lips feeling awful for being the one responsible for all that suffering in Lea's face. But still, he remained in silence, what was begun should be finished, so he let Lea speak her mind. Her voice was husky:
"No, not you. You're the golden boy, the righteous one. The man that never lived in the shadows." She reached for his arm, touching his scars and whispered, "Well, maybe I am not totally right." She gave him the saddest smile he had ever seen in her face. Riley reached out and pulled her close to him, holding her softly against his chest. He could feel her heartbeat, wild and fast, and he wished he could turn back the time. But he couldn't.
"Lea, we really don't have to talk about it. I am sorry, I was disappointed and"
She was shaking her head:
"No I think time has come for me to tell you the truth." Lea buried her face into his chest, breathing his scent, and spoke:
"Prejudice hurts, Riley. And gypsies have always been victims of prejudice." She paused and took a deep breath before continuing, "I don't know how you American people feel about gypsies, but my experience in Europe and even here in Brasil is not one of the best. I've seen my father suffer because of this. My mother was forced to change her demeanor in order to keep us from hearing bad words in school. Things smoothed a little when we came back to Brasil, but it was not perfect. For us, it never is perfect. That's why I never talked to you about my family. I didn't want you to judge me because of legends that tell the gypsies as burglars and dishonest people."
She stopped and expected him to push her away from his embrace at any moment. But she was surprised by his gentle kisses on the top of her head, while he murmured:
"Never gonna let you go, Lea. You shouldn't had denied your heritage because of me. I would love you even if you were a burglar." He pushed her away to look into her eyes. "In fact you are a burglar, cause since I met you I've lost the possession of my heart."
Riley smiled lovingly at Lea, expecting to clear the shadow from her face, but still she looked sad and worried. She kissed his lips and pleaded:
"Captain, please let me finish my tale."
TBC