Standard Disclaimer: Escaflowne and it's characters don't belong to me. I'm merely borrowing them. Any other characters are from my own imagination. I only write this stuff for fun, I don't make any money off of it, so please don't sue me.
AN: This is the third side story to Finding Her Roots. Like the others, it can stand alone, but it also ties into the timelines of the other fics.
Awakenings
She felt as if she had slept for years, and in a way she had. At first Celena was very confused, but after a couple of weeks, she was almost feeling normal…whatever that was. At least she no longer needed to rest as much, and her body had regained most of its strength.
She didn't really remember anything that had happened while she had been 'asleep'. Sometimes she would get a strange feeling in her mind, almost as if she were on the verge of remembering something important, but then it would go away as suddenly as it had come. It was an uncomfortable feeling. Sometimes she felt if she were living in some kind of dream; everything felt numb and surreal to her. Most of her days were spent reading in the library or in the garden when Allen finally allowed her out of doors.
Sometimes Princess Eries, a good friend of her brother's, would come and visit with her. Celena liked Eries very much; she was always so very kind to her. The truth was the princess was pretty much the only company Celena had other than the servants and the crew of her brother's ship, the Crusade; Allen apparently didn't care much for visitors. Also, he was often occupied with work which kept him away from home a good deal. The relationship between her brother and herself was somewhat strained. Allen seemed to be deliberately avoiding her, which was odd in Celena's opinion for he had seemed so happy to have found her again after such a long absence. He had explained to her that she had been stolen away from her home as a young girl; she had vague memories of crying in a darkened cell and of a beastman that had been her only friend. But the time between then and now remained a blank in her mind. Whenever she would ask Allen, he would look uncomfortable and then tell her that it was for the best that she focus on the future and forget the past.
It was on a morning very much like any other when Celena found out the horrible truth of the matter. She was just opening the door to the library when hushed voices caught her attention causing her to pause. Princess Eries and her brother seemed to be having an argument of some sort, but that was nothing new. They often disagreed on things.
"She doesn't remember, Eries. Why should I tell her? It could destroy her; she's still so fragile."
The princess sighed in exasperation. "Honestly, Allen, you can't keep it from her forever. She'll find out one way or another; don't you think it would be better for her to find out from you than from some careless servant?"
Allen was about to answer when he noticed the object of their discussion standing in the doorway to the library.
A slightly panicked expression crossed her face as she realized her brother had seen her. "I'm sorry, I should have knocked. I didn't hear anything; I wasn't listening, I swear!" Celena knew how much the princess detested eavesdropping, as she was often reprimanding her brother for that very thing. And, in truth, she had just arrived a moment before Allen had spotted her, so the few things she had heard she hadn't understood anyway. That didn't really qualify as eavesdropping in her mind.
Allen and Princess Eries shared a look. The princess seemed to be silently trying to convey some message to her brother through her eyes. Finally Allen sighed and told Celena to come in and have a seat next to Eries on the couch. Celena was puzzled by their behavior, but she did as Allen asked. When she was settled Allen sighed deeply and began to tell her a story of a terrible war that had occurred while she had been 'away'. She sat and listened to the awful tale, all the while wondering what it had to do with her. Then Allen told her about the children, and the sorcerers that had experimented on them and she felt the floor fall out from underneath her as realization dawned.
~*~
Celena watched the children of the staff play in the gardens as she sat comfortably in the shade of an old tree. The book she had been reading lay open beside her, forgotten for the moment. It had been over a month since the princess had come for a visit and Celena missed her friend dearly. She wondered what had kept Eries away for so long. Self consciously, she thought back to that day in the library. It hadn't been too long after that day that Eries had stopped coming around. Perhaps she was the cause; although, at the time the princess hadn't seemed overly repulsed by the truth. In fact, Eries had been most concerned about Celena's reaction and had done her best to try to comfort her. Still, the thought worried her.
The weather was beginning to turn cold and winter would soon be upon them; she pulled her shawl more tightly about her as a chill breeze swept through the area causing leaves from the tree above to break away and fall haphazardly to the earth. She picked one up and twirled it idly in her delicate fingers.
Someone sat down next to her and she glanced up to see who the newcomer was. She wasn't surprised to see Allen's sergeant, Gaddes. Lately it seemed as if everywhere she went, he turned up. It hadn't taken her long to come the conclusion that her brother must have appointed the man to be her guard or something along those lines.
"Somethin' wrong, kid?"
She sighed. He had probably been watching her for some time before deciding to approach her. "Don't you have more important things to do than follow me around?"
He laughed. "Not really. Why, do I bother you?"
She gave him an assessing look. "No. But surely you must be bored of such a chore."
"Nah, you're not borin'."
She rolled her eyes. "That's not what I meant." She could tell by the grin on his face that he had probably known that and had chosen to misunderstand her on purpose. Nonetheless, his grin proved to be infectious and she found herself smiling back.
"You look pretty when you smile," he commented. She felt her cheeks flush in embarrassment.
"Thanks. You do too. I mean you look nice and um, masculine or something…er…oh bother." She hid her face in her hands. Beside her she could hear him chuckling.
He laughed for a good five minutes as she continued to hide.
"Are you finished laughing at me yet?" she asked, her voice slightly muffled by her hands.
"Guess so," he answered. She peeked out from between her fingers to look up at him; he was grinning down at her. He looked as if he wanted to laugh again, but he didn't. Slowly she removed her hands altogether.
"Now, how about telling me why you were sittin' over here lookin' like you've lost your best friend."
She sighed dramatically. "It's because I have lost my best friend. Princess Eries hasn't come to visit in ages and she's really the only friend I have."
"Do you want to go up to the palace and visit her?"
Her eyes lit up. "Oh, could we really?"
He shrugged. "I don't see why not."
"Could we go today? Right now?" she cried, tugging on his vest a bit in her excitement.
He laughed at her enthusiasm. "Sure. I'll go see about saddling a horse, ok?"
He got up to leave but she stopped him by pulling on his sleeve. "But, what if she doesn't want to see me? What if I'm the reason she stopped visiting?"
He laughed again and ruffled her hair playfully. "You worry too much, kid. Everything'll be fine. You'll see." Besides, he had a pretty good idea that Allen was the reason the princess was keeping to herself lately.
Celena smiled a bit uncertainly. "I hope you're right."
A short while later they were on their way up to the palace. Celena rode in front of Gaddes because she was afraid of falling off of the horse. She was bundled in a heavy cloak that he had lent her. "You all right up there, kid?"
She nodded causing her head to bump his chin. "Why do you call me that?"
"Sorry, does it offend you? If it does, I'll stop."
"No. It doesn't bother me. I was just wondering why."
He grinned. "It's a nickname I always called my youngest sister when she was real little."
"You have sisters?" She was suddenly curious. The man had been following her around for the past few months, but she knew almost nothing about him.
"Oh, I have a whole passel of them; two older and three younger. The youngest is around your age, actually. I'm the only boy out of the bunch."
She smiled secretly to herself. "That must be why you get along with girls so well. Could I meet them some time?"
"I suppose, if it's alright with your brother, I could take you there for a visit some time. The three youngest still live at home, but my older sisters are both married and have families of their own. I'm an uncle, ya know."
Celena giggled. "No, I didn't know." She sighed. "Sometimes I wish my brother were more like you are."
"How do ya mean?"
"He doesn't talk to me very much. I mean, he makes sure I'm healthy, and that I have enough to eat and beautiful dresses to wear…but we never really talk. Not like you and I are talking now. And sometimes I catch him looking at me funny. I don't want to be a burden to him, and I feel like I am."
He smiled. Celena Schezar was very different from her brother; she was open and honest with her feelings unlike Allen who seemed to spend most of his time running away from them. "Your brother has never been very…social, Celena. He's always kept to himself, at least as long as I've known him." He was quiet for a minute before asking, "What sorts of things do you wanna talk with him about?"
"Things," she replied so quietly that he had to lean closer to hear what she was saying. "He's keeping things from me because he thinks he's trying to protect me. He's told me about the horrible things that happened while I was sleeping in my mind. I know about….him. And I think that people must hate me very much for the things he did. I've heard some of the servants whispering, you know. But, excepting that one time, Allen never talks about it, like he wants to pretend that nothing ever happened. I think that's why he avoids me."
Gaddes sighed. He didn't know what to say to the girl. Perhaps she was right and Allen was deliberately avoiding her, but who was he to nose about in the Boss's affairs? Not like he hadn't planned on doing just that when visiting Eries; it was high time the princess admitted to herself she had a thing for Allen. But that was a different matter altogether. And besides, he wasn't going to be meddling in Allen's affairs; technically he was going to be meddling in Eries'.
"Sergeant Gaddes?" The sound of Celena's voice brought him out of his thoughts.
He grinned. Damn, but the girl was polite. "Just Gaddes is fine, Celena."
"Gaddes…I was just thinking…"
Again her voiced dropped almost to a whisper, once more causing him to lean forward. She turned unexpectedly and he suddenly found himself almost nose to nose with her. Her delicate skin was flushed, although whether from her own embarrassment or from the wind was hard to tell. He stared into her eyes marveling at the shade of blue. Watching her from a distance she had seemed merely pretty, but upon closer examination he decided that she really was beautiful. He blinked rapidly, more than a bit disconcerted at the direction his thoughts were headed he backed up leaving a comfortable amount of space between them.
He glanced back down at her and caught her shy smile. "I should very much like it if we could be friends."
Gaddes returned her smile. "I thought we already were, kid."
Later that night at dinner Celena told Allen about her trip to the palace. Allen nodded at appropriate intervals, all the while making a mental note to have a little talk with his sergeant about taking his sister on impromptu trips up to the palace.
"So, can I, Allen?"
He blinked. "Hmm?"
Celena sighed. "You weren't even listening to me, were you?"
"Of course I was." Gods' truth, he was trying to do right by her and see her raised well but sometimes his sister refused to cooperate with his plans.
"Then what was I talking about?"
He ignored her question and asked one of his own. "Why don't you want to go to parties and meet ladies of your own class?"
She frowned. "Because I don't know them."
Allen let out an exasperated sigh. "Don't be ridiculous. You don't know Gaddes' sisters either, might I remind you."
"Yes but, I know Gaddes and he's told me all about his sisters…it's almost as if I do know them." Her protest was weak and she knew it, but she refused to give in to Allen this time. She was tired of obeying his every command. Celena mirrored her brother's stubborn gaze and they found themselves in a staring match that lasted for several minutes.
Finally Allen relented. "Alright, I'll make you a deal." He watched his sister's eyes alight with hope and he suddenly felt guilty for trying to deny her what she wanted. It was, after all, such small things she asked for. But, he was just so afraid of losing her again that he didn't want to take any chances. "We've been invited by the queen to a party up at the palace to celebrate the completion of the restoration of the housing areas that were destroyed during the war. If you go with me to that event, then you may visit Gaddes' family, provided you can obtain a proper chaperone to go along with you."
Her emotions warred between her delight at Allen conceding and the disappointment of being able to meet his conditions. He knew very well that Eries was her only friend and she found it highly unlikely that the princess would be able to accompany her on such a venture. "Couldn't you come with us, Allen?"
"Celena, you know how busy I am; I have no time for such matters."
She felt her heart sink at the realization that she would probably not be able to go after all.
Two days later found Celena at the palace, once again visiting with Princess Eries. She had asked Gaddes to bring her the day before, but he had said he would have to ask her brother first if it would be alright. Apparently his wish to accommodate her the other day had caused him to receive some sort of reprimand from Allen. She couldn't help but feel guilty as she had been the cause of the trouble, so she had disappointedly agreed to wait.
Upon arriving in the princess' quarters for afternoon meal, she lost no time in coming to the point of her visit and immediately launched into the tale. Her distress was clear from the wrinkle in her brow.
"Can we go, Eries? Please say you'll come with us. Allen won't let me go otherwise. I'd ask someone else…but you and Gaddes are my only friends."
Eries' heart went out to the girl. She thought it was a great idea for Celena to be getting out and making new friends. "Alright, I agree to come along. We're only staying one night though. Despite what you may think, there are things that I have to get done at the palace every now and then."
Celena laughed and hugged Eries, who was caught a little off guard by the normally shy girl's show of affection. Celena pulled back with a worried expression. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that."
Eries smiled gently at the girl. "Nonsense; I was just surprised."
She returned the princess' smile in response. Eries was glad to see the girl happy. She hoped that things would turn out well for her, as much as for Celena's sake as for Allen's. They both deserved some happiness in their lives.
AN: I was originally going to make this fic a one-shot, but due to the fact that it is growing in mammoth proportions (at least for me) I've decided to break it up into a couple of parts. Reviews would very much be appreciated.
Serena B
