Weeping Willow
Revised version

"Everyone told me to be strong
Hold on and don't shed a tear "
~"A New Day Has Come", Celine Dion

Chapter 8: Hideout among the fronds
A week later Willow was feeling better. Folken had babied her the entire time and she was rather sick of it, not to mention the fact that she had suffered from an acute case of PMS and general discomfort. Folken had insisted on carrying her any where she wanted to go, and getting her everything she wanted, everything but a chance to do something for herself. Needless to say, it was extremely irritating; heck even getting a few moments alone to take a shower was difficult. Eventually she managed to wear him out and he fell asleep while he watched over her as she sketched from the pictures she had taken of him.

She sighed and turned around to see him sleeping there. 'At last!' A warm fuzzy feeling filled her heart for a moment, but right now her mind was set on escape. "YES!" she whispered in excitement. She got up quietly and grabbed her camera. She snapped a couple pictures of him sleeping on the couch and then went up on the roof.
Willow giggled involuntarily and sucked in a deep breath of the warm afternoon air. It was starting to warm up and spring was coming. She couldn't help but feel exhilarated. She glanced around the neighborhood and noticed her next-door neighbor walking his dog down the street. He waved to her and she waved back. She continued rotating and looked out over her own back yard. Beyond the fence were a small field and a forest that cut off the rest of her view. She continued to turn until she saw the weeping willow next to the house, in the front yard. It was the same one that shaded her bedroom in the summer. Now it was covered in small greenish – white flowers.
She remembered the fort like hiding place that her and Zara had built in it while Zara was still living in the house. Willow ignored the tear that spilled over her cheek as she climbed into the tree like they had so many years ago. She jumped down through the leaves blindly until she landed on the hidden platform. She smiled and looked out through the drooping fronds…

::::"Willow, what do you think you're really going to do when you get out of college?" Zara asked.
"Huh? Uh… I don't know… sorry I was kind of zoning out there." Willow was daydreaming, once again. She'd do anything to get her mind off the anniversary that was coming up. The anniversary of… that.
"Well, I just hope I get a couple books published soon… then it won't be problem." Zara looked out through the branches. She saw Michael walking up the walkway to her door, she giggled lightly and pointed down at him.
"He has no idea." Willow smiled, he rang to doorbell.
Zara couldn't help herself she snickered rather loudly. And when he turned to look at the tree with raised eyebrow, she fell back on the platform and laughed so hard she couldn't breath.
"Victory!" Michael was standing under their hide out now; he had gone under the dense branches to find them high above him.
"Aw, drat, no one's supposed to know about this." Zara complained.
"Sorry, now I know about it." Michael shrugged. "How'd you get up there anyway?"
"From the r…mph."
"What are you doing? We don't want him to know!" Zara held Willow in a headlock and covered her mouth with her hand.
"Oh, okay that makes sense."
Both girls laughed hysterically as he tried to climb the tree. Eventually he managed to get a grip on the edge of the platform and he scrambled up next to them
"This is pretty cool." He smiled and looked around.
"Yeah, it was cooler when it was our secret." Zara acted annoyed
"Well, now its still our secret, I'm just part of it."
The entire group laughed for quiet some time…::::

They had spent a lot of their time together under the gentle green fronds. Willow remembered how Zara had told her about Michael proposing to her amongst the cool green shadows. 'That must have been so very romantic.' She sighed.
Willow stared up through the leaves, as she lay sprawled out on the dark wood. She couldn't help but hear the echoing sounds of laughter and all the quiet conversations they had had in this tree…

She wiped at her eyes subconsciously, not realizing that she was really wiping tears away.
"Willow?" Folken had apparently woken up.
"Willow?!" He was wandering around the house looking for her, he checked on the roof and she had to stifle her laughter.
"Willow! Where are you?" He checked the back yard and then the front porch. He stood there a moment with both of his hands on his hips, looking rather vexed.
He walked under the branches of the tree on a hunch and Willow did the best she could to stay hidden. It didn't work very well and the fact that she was laughing into her hands didn't help.
"Willow? What are you doing up there? He looked up at her quizzically and she peered over the edge of the platform, grinning her face off.
"Nothing" she said innocently, but couldn't hide the huge Cheshire cat smiled she had.
"Sure how'd you get up there?" 'She so cute when she's happy' he grinned happily
"I'm not telling you." She sing-songed like a child, he wanted to hold her, to play in this "tree house" like they were still children, untainted by the world, still distant from the cruel hands of fate.
"Fine, I get up there my way." His wings burst from his shoulder blades and he flew up through the soft branches. He landed next to her softly and sat with his feet dangling over the edge.
Willow sighed and rolled back over onto her back again. Only this time Folken's wings blocked her view of the blue sky above.
"When did you find this little hiding spot?" He asked, staring out of the branches. He like how they hid everything from the outside in but you could see clearly from inside out. The feeling that came to his mind was one of secluded security.
"Zara and I built it." She sighed, still looking up through the branches, remembering their debates over the color to paint it and what decorative touches that should use, eventually it had ended up a pale green to remain hidden, with a vine pattern that snaked its way over the boards.

Folken looked at her soft face and noticed the tears that were falling freely over her cheeks, even though she ignored them as if they weren't even there.
"Willow, I'm sorry, I've been doting on you lately."
"You were just concerned… and too kind."
"I'm still sorry."
"No, I'm sorry… I shouldn't be so selfish."
"What do you mean selfish?! You're one of the humblest people I've ever known." Folken laid on his side next to her and gently wiped her tears away.
"I'm selfish, Folken. Don't you understand? I cry for my pain, work to give myself something to do and keep myself comfortable, I write to distract myself. Everything I do is for myself, but where is that going to get me? Hmm? Nothing that's what." She said rather resolutely.

He was Shocked at her words, surely this wasn't the same woman who had taken him into her home and helped him so selflessly. "Willow! I can't believe I hear those words coming out of your mouth. You have everything, a family, a comfortable place to live, job that allows you to live well and enjoy your hobbies, and you have someone who loves you more that life itself. You have everything." Folken scolded but then drew her into his arms.
"No Folken, It amounts to nothing, it doesn't mean anything. I can't explain it any clearer, it all just doesn't make sense." She mumbled bitterly into his chest as he draped his wing over her.
"Oh, Willow it makes perfect sense." The stories he had deleted nagged at the back of his mind, but that was for her to bring up. "You have so many things I would have given almost everything for." Folken buried his face in her soft blonde hair and kissed the crook of her neck, sending a waking chill down her spine.
"Folken, I didn't mean to seem ungrateful, and it just.. I just don't' know. It's not fulfilling, and I don't see how you can love me." Willow whispered.
Folken put his lips against hers and stifled the tears that finally ceased falling. He drew back to see a small smile playing on her lips.

"Now, that's more like it." He chuckled lightly. He held her gently for a moment and then took a deep breath before beginning again. "Willow?" She nodded lightly and mumbled something like "yes love?" 'I hope she doesn't kill me for this…' "Last week, you said something about having a huge world opened to you, and it becoming an addiction…"
She tensed and would have pulled away were it not for his arms locked tightly around her. A twinge of panic ran through her veins but she forced herself to remain calm. "Folken, could we talk about something else?" She shifted uncomfortably in his embrace. 'gods, why did I even say that last week? I was probably too much of a wreck to realize what I was doing!'
Folken frowned and brought his hand gently to her cheek. "Willow, explain it to me, I have to know what you meant, exactly… I know it hurts, but I want to share this burden with you, you can't carry it by yourself for the rest of your life."
Willow grumbled, obviously irritated "Not even Rose knows as much about me as you do and you still don't give up?" She harrumphed and took an invaded feeling breath, as if the air tasted bitter in her mouth. "Are you sure you want to know?"
Folken was fighting back a mix of anger, distress and sorrow "Yes." 'I want to know everything about this girl, to hold her forever and never let go I want to protect her and make her believe that she can be loved…' "Tell me everything."
"Maybe I should actually tell you what happened that night…" She looked up at him and he nodded.
She went on, telling him the gruesome details. They were words that she had never spoken to anyone; that she had thought she would never reveal. How he had touched her, how he had hurt her and forced her to kiss him, how it had demoralized her when he forced her to kiss him back. How in a sick way her body had betrayed her and reveled in the sensations while she had retreated into her mind.
No one knew what to do with a rape victim. when her parents had found out they had been in shock and then denial, no one ever spoke of it and slowly but surely it passed from their reality into a warped place where her nightmares taunted her. Not even the so-called therapist that she had only one appointment with could understand, and she had "experience" in assault victims. What a load of crap that had been. Willow swallowed the lump that was gathering in her throat, constricting her voice.
"And from there I retreated into my word of writing and drawing and anything to get my mind off of the nightmares that slowly but surely turned into haunting day dreams. It was a terrifying world to live in, and none of the people around me walked there. Hell Folken, you don't even walk here!" The thought had been nagging at her and she knew he still couldn't comprehend, she didn't comprehend it herself.
Folken was aghast at the concept. "Then show me how to walk there." He said softly. "But answer my question first, what did you mean about an addiction?" She had to say it, she had to bring it up and then he would tell her about the file.
She looked up at him "Okay," her face went red and then drained of all color. "In my writing and reading, I came across some very… detailed romance stories." She went on to tell him about getting wrapped up in the concept of an "ideal ending" the sort of happily ever after coupled with impassioned sex. It satisfied something in her that had been opened up way too early, but left her feeling sick and even more alone. "I've never told anyone about it but I've been writing those same stories for several years now… they're on my computer…"
"Not any more." She looked up at him incredulously. "They are gone."
"But how?"
"I deleted them last week." She glared at him.
"Folken you had no right, did you even read them? They're works of art! They were private!"
"Willow I scanned over them, they were pointless opportunities to describe sex in vidid detail, my god Willow! I knew I couldn't let you destroy yourself like that." He had to hold her firmly now or she would either fall apart or runaway. At the moment she was trying to do both.
"You had no right! How could you? You don't know the world I live in!" She sobbed and then her head fell to her chest in surrender.
"Willow, You can write more I won't stop you from writing anything I promise you that. But so long as I can I will find every single one and delete it, if it takes whipping out your entire hard drive I will do it! I love you too much to let you fantasize like that, its sick Willow, just look what it's making you do!" She looked at his hands, holding her arms gently but with strength, and at her own hands, her nails were digging into his forearms.
She lessened her grip, seeing the purple crescents in his left arm. "Damn Folken, I'm so sorry." She let go and then wrapped her arms around his waist, leaning into his strength. "Thank you for deleting them."
Folken couldn't help but stare at her. "Seconds ago you were ready to kill me for it and now you act as if I've liberated you from hell."
She nodded, "You have no idea what you've taken away. But thank you, though I think I might have to take you up on deleting my hard drive..." Folken gazed at her, she really wanted this…
"I want to get away from this, you're right it's killing me, slowly but surely…" She sighed deeply, beginning to relax after an emotional roller coaster to hell.
Folken on the other hand had little if any idea of what the hell was going on, she's confessed to him and then allowed him to become an accountability source. A strange feeling filled him. "I won't let it." He rested his chin gently on her head, holding her as close to him as possible. He felt so confused and conflicted, yet strangely at peace.
"Just promise me you won't ignore any of this, or act like it doesn't exist." She whispered softly.
"I promise." Both lovers relaxed in each other's arms.
A small white blossom landed on her cheek. He picked it up and examined it carefully. It wasn't quite opened fully and it gave him an idea. He sat up and pulled her into his lap; she leaned against his chest and he held the flower in front of her.
"Willow, I have an analogy for you. See this flower?" She nodded. "Well, you see its not quite finished opening but it was knocked down by the wind right?" Again, she nodded lightly. "Okay, though it wasn't finished opening before it was knocked down doesn't mean it can't be opened all the way."
Folken gently forced the petals open so it looked as if it had bloomed completely.
"Sure, it took a little work and if it could feel it would have been a little painful but does that make it any less beautiful and captivating?"
"No, it's still a pretty little flower."
"And you're still the beautiful woman that I love Willow. Even though the winds of your life knocked you down before you were ready to land in my palm you're still the only person I love."
Folken looked into her eyes, almost demanding she meet his gaze with her own.
"Do you understand Willow?" He asked. She smiled and felt him gently running his fingertips over her jaw line, then down her neck, and over her collarbone. She shivered involuntarily and wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Folken?"
"Willow."
"I'm glad you caught me."
"I'm glad I fell into your life."

They sat in the tree for quite some time until Willow got an idea.
"Hey, since you seem to be able to let me do things on my own how about I fix a shirt for you and we go out for dinner?" She suggested.
"All right." Folken shrugged as she jumped up in the branches until she caught hold of a hidden rope ladder. She pulled it down and climbed up onto the roof. Folken moaned as he drew back his wings and followed her. She skipped happily across the roof and hopped down the steps. He couldn't help but smile at her childish playfulness.

Willow picked out a deep crimson colored shirt that had plenty of extra fabric at the bottom, she undid the seems in the right sleeve so that it was no longer attached to the shirt and undid the hem at the bottom. Folken watched over her shoulder as she ripped open seams and made measurements. She turned around and took measurements of his right arm, making sure to leave a few extra inches for the fabric to fit loosely.
She took scissors to the bottom of the shirt and cut enough fabric to make the sleeve larger. After cutting the appropriate size and shape she took the sleeve and added the extra fabric to it. She adjusted the size of base of the sleeve and set about the rather difficult task of reattaching the sleeve and then hemmed up the bottom of the shirt again. Finally, she was finished, two hours later. She handed it to him and he put it on carefully, not sure whether it would work or not.

She smiled proudly as he looked in the mirror, enjoying the satisfied look on his face. She laughed lightly to her self as she walked into her own bedroom and closed the door behind her. She rummaged through her closet until she found a nice, but not too nice dress. She pulled out a dress that she figured was fairly close to the same crimson color of Folken's shirt. She couldn't help but grin as she looked at her childish endeavor in the mirror. She opened the door to her room and the sat down at her make up set. The dark cherry wood framed a beautiful mirror and then created a desk like surface with drawers on either side of the soft cream-colored stool she sat on. She opened drawers, pulled out make up, and accessories. She picked out Her foundation and powder, a light pink blush, silver eye shadow, a deep red lipstick, eyeliner and black mascara before setting about the task of applying it.

Folken noticed that her door was open as he walked down the hall, looking for something to do, and he sat on the edge of her bed and watched as she applied the shades to her face, creating a beautiful masterpiece he couldn't help but watch her design. He looked about the room, taking everything in more fully than he had before, taking time to notice the little things.
Every piece of furniture in the room was made of the same cherry wood, the walls, as he had already noticed, were white. The floor was covered in a deep red rug that looked as if it had been dipped in a rich wine, beneath the rug was a cream colored, tile floor. The closet doors were actually sliding mirrors that were framed in the same cherry wood. The bed had the same cream-colored fabric that was on the stool she sat on and a crimson dragon in the middle. The sheets, which were folded back, were black with crimson edges.
He noticed the photos that covered the walls more carefully now, most were black and white exposures that were framed in black frames. He recognized the platform in the tree, photos that he assumed contained Willow's best friend Zara, and her husband, there were some of the twins, and then there was one photo of a grave stone covered in flowers. He already knew what the names would be before he read them.
'Michael, Zara and Rachel Brooks.' He contemplated, 'Rachel, that must have been what they were going to name their baby.'
Willow finished with her preparations. She had put in silver stud earrings and put a silver bracelet on her wrist. Around her neck, she wore her pendant and now it was in plain view. Folken's curiosity peaked as she put on her shoes, she bent over to put them on and it dangled in front of her, drawing his attention to the area just beyond it.
He shook his head and smiled when she finally seemed finished.
"Are you ready now?" Folken teased.
She smiled and stood, nodding.
Folken took in her gorgeous form, the dress touched the floor but had splits to the middle of her thighs, it was slightly low cut and the back swooped low, around the bottom were embroidered dragons in black thread. Folken almost whistled in amazement.
"So, shall we go or are you going to just look at me all night?" Willow teased and walked from the room and he followed her like a lost puppy. He was sure that if he didn't snap out of it he would start drooling.


A/N: YAY! A new revised chapter! Wahoo! Go me! I know its shorter than the others have been. I'm leavign town tomorrow early though so I decided to be nice and post this, for everyone who's got the next week off from school (and those who are juist dying for the next chapter!).
Thanks: Harmony , Anni Lee, escape , Infinitis , LSR-7 , and Leiliiani for reviewing the last chapter! I love you guys!
Feedback: Any sort of constructive criticism is help mainly on my weaknesses. Organization, dialogue, Characterization, Stream of Consciousness, etc. Encouragement is nice as well, but really I'm seeking to grow as a writer. Any literary techniques I can learn are great.