A/N: Well, here is chapter 4...This will be the last chapter, the chapter in which everything begins to make sense.....this is the chapter in which nothing is what it seems, not until the very end. You will see what I mean. Perhaps it even has a happy ending. I have no right to say if it does for it is all a matter of opinion. R/R!
Disclaimer: I still don't own any TP characters or any Nickelback lyrics...I'm using the song called 'Someday' for this chapter as well....its like part two of the last chapter....
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Numair was gone for no more than a few hours. He had spent this time in the royal library, reading various books. He didn't, however, remember a single work that he read, for his mind had been else where. Throughout the whole time he was out of his rooms and away from Daine, all he could think of was her and the fight they were having. He had almost wished that while out of his rooms, he would run into one of his good friends to seek advice with. Alanna or Onua especially would have been nice, for perhaps they could have talked to Daine. Numair had no such luck though, for the library had been completely empty.
Now, Numair stood outside the door that led to his and Daine's rooms. He wondered what he would find when he entered. Would it be better than before, or would ti be worse? By the great gods he hoped she had cooled down. He'd never seen her this mad or upset before, and it hurt him every bit as much as it hurt her.
"Mithros, Minos and Shakith, how I love her," he whispered to himself. He began to shiver a bit, so he pulled his black robe up closer around his shoulders. The halls of the palace were bitterly cold most of the time during the first week or so of winter, for the palace mages had not yet put heating spells in them. Perhaps Jon would call him to assist with that sometime soon.
Numair reached out a shaky hand, and turned the brass door knob. He ducked his head before entering the room, for the door frame was low for him. Once inside, he found that Daine hadn't moved at all from the arm chair, either that, or she had gotten up for a while and then came back. She was sitting in the same position she had been upon him leaving.
Numair slipped off his black mastery robe and hung it on the coat rack he had bought only two weeks before leaving and starting this whole mess. He stole a glance back at where Daine sat, only to find that she had shown no motion to indicate she even noticed his presence. Numair sighed, knowing he couldn't put any of this off any longer. The two of them had to talk.
Kit stuck her head up over the arm of the chair to look at Numair. -At least someone notices me these days,- he thought bitterly. His eyes made contact with that of the dragonet's and Kit trilled loudly to announce his presence. Daine's head snapped up immediately, and she turned and looked directly at Numair. Her face held no emotion. Her eyes were red from crying, her cheeks covered in dried tears. It was a pitiful sight.
Outside their window, rain poured down onto the palace grounds. Thunder boomed every now and then, causing Numair to jump each time. Following the booms of thunder always came a brilliant flashes of lightning that illuminated the sky. The wind was howling, and the tree branches blowing against the window.
As he approached his love, Numair reached out a hand to stroke her cheek, but then withdrew it after thinking better of it. Sighing, he said, "Daine, we can't put this off any longer," his voice was serious, but yet extremely gentle. "We need to talk about what happened." There was a silence in the room. The only move Daine made that could possibly mean she had heard him was that she shifted in her seat slightly.
***I hope that since we're here anyway
We could end up saying
Things we've always needed to say
So we could end up staying
Now the story's played out like this
Just like a paperback novel
Let's rewrite an ending that fits
Instead of Hollywood horror***
"Daine, please," his voice was pleading as it had been before he'd left that afternoon. Now, it was get into the night hours, and nothing had changed.
Suddenly the young woman spoke up, her voice filled with the grief she obviously felt. "Life's a fickle thing, Kit," Daine spoke not to Numair, but to the dragonet in her lap. Numair knew that she was saying things to Kit that she really meant to say to him, and he thought of this as a slight improvement. "One day you think you have everything you've ever wanted, friends that care for you, someone who loves you, and people who will stay by your side no matter what," Her voice choked at this last statement, a single tear rolled down her face. "Then it all goes away, and its as if you never had it to begin with."
"Oh, sweet," Numair said assuringly. He just had to make her feel better. It was killing him inside to see and hear her this way. "Please, I beg you to forgive me-"
"I never thought this would happen to us,"Daine interrupted his plees for forgiveness.
"I didn't either, Magelet," he replied to her statement, feeling heart broken already and wondering if this was the end.
"Oh, Mithros how did we get like this?!" she said frantically, tears coming faster, her voice turning into a choked sob.
"Daine, if I'd known, I would have prevented it. Please tell me you can understand that," Numair said, praying to every god he could name that what he was saying was getting through to her.
Looking at the ceiling, eyes filled with untameable emotion, Daine said, "I really loved you, you know."
"Do you still?" Numair asked, almost hesitantly. He was completely and totally afraid of what her answer might be.
"I still do, but what is the use now?" Daine choked these words out in between sobs, tears flowing freely.
"How can you say that? Of course there's a use, and that's because I love you now more than ever!" Numair's voice was frantic, hoping he could convince her. There was a long silence following his words. Numair did not speak, nor did Daine. It was an awkward silence in Numair's opinion. This had been the most he had gotten her to say to him since his arrival, and he was grateful.
Kit sat in Daine's lap, not making a sound. This was rare for the dragonet, who normally had a comment in dragon chatter for just about everything that went on between Daine and Numair. She merely sat looking from Daine to Numair, eyes intrigued. She too seemed to be at a loss for words or action.
***Nothing's wrong, just as long
As you know that someday I will...
Someday, somehow
I'm gonna make it all right, but not right now
I know you're wondering when
You're the only one who knows that
Someday, somehow
I'm gonna make it all right, but not right now
I know you're wondering when***
Numair didn't know what to say to her. He'd hoped she would have responded by now to his last statement, but she hadn't uttered a sound. Things weren't looking good for him just now, that much was obvious. Numair refused to give up hope however. If you truly loved someone, you would never truly give up hope. He loved Daine, and he would not give up on her. She had said she still loved him, and perhaps she meant it, for Daine was not one to say nonsense that she did not mean. Most everything she said in times like these had a purpose, and Numair wouldn't forget that.
He closed his tear filled eyes, and let his mind take him back to another time, another place. He went back several months, to a day that would forever be implanted in his mind. It was a day that would change his life forever.
In his memory, he lay tangled in the sheets of his bed, breathing heavily. Daine lay next to him, a smile written on her face. He turned to her and his face spread into a smile to match hers. Reaching out his arms, he pulled her to his chest. She moved into the circle of his arms willingly. He leaned in closer and kissed the side of her neck which was currently up against his shoulder. He felt the fiery passion run through him as he felt her bare back rub against his side.
To his surprise, she turned around and eased her lips over his. He smiled into their kiss, enjoying every second. Their kiss went on for quite a while, but for the two lovers it was over much too fast. Numair groaned in disappointment when she removed her lips from his for lack of air. She still had her arms wrapped firmly around his neck, his around her waste. Before either had had much time to regain their breath, he had once again captured her lips in his own, and this time not so easy to let go.
When Numair finally did pull away, it was for a much better reason in his opinion, than lack of air. "Daine, will you marry me?" he'd asked this several times before, and every time it had been the same answer. Maybe. That was what she had told him every time so far. Tonight, things felt different, though he had no idea why. He felt that tonight, she would not refuse him, but would accept.
She hesitated for a moment, but Numair's hopes did not fade in the slightest bit. What she said, made his insides jump with new found joy. "Yes," It was one simple word, a word Numair had heard uttered from her lips many times before. This time it was very different however. This time it was to a life changing question. This was a word he had been trying to achieve from her for the entirety of two full years.
"Oh gods, I love you!" was his immediate response. Before she could say anything else, his lips were on hers in a passionate kiss.
Thunder boomed from the storm outside, causing Numair to snap back to reality. He hadn't known it while he was day dreaming, but a tear had formed in his eye and it was now rolling slowly, but steadily down his face. He reached up to wipe it off, only to find that more were coming down after it. Soon he was crying uncontrollably. All of this, everything that had happened since his return, it had all been too much. He could take no more of it.
Lighting flashed soon after another boom of thunder. It lit up the room, making the tears on Daine's face much more visible. It made her eyes light up. It highlighted her grief stricken features. Numair longed to pull his eyes away from her, but he couldn't. He couldn't move a single part of his body. He knew what he had to do, though he did not by any means want to do it. He had to ask her an important question. It was a question that could either make him or break him. Once it was asked, there was no turning back.
"Daine?" his voice shook as he felt a horrible fear. She wasn't looking at him, but some how, he knew she was listening. There was a thoughtful look in her eyes that shined with tears. Thunder boomed again, and lightning flashed. Again it lit up this whole scene for Numair to see it its entirety, and again it made him know he had to ask his question. "Do you still want to marry me?"
There was a brief silence. All that could be heard were the licks of the flames in the fire place and the rain pouring outside. The wind still howled, blowing the tree branches against the window. There was another boom of thunder and another flash of lightning that followed before she acted. She didn't speak a single word, for her actions made everything quite clear. What happened next happened so fast that Numair barely had time to react.
Daine bolted up, the tears that were flowing moved faster than before. She let out a loud sob, the worst that she had so far. "No!"she screamed as she sobbed, tears flowing and eyes shining. "I can't take this anymore!"
Just as Numair felt his heart crumbling apart piece by piece, everything began happening so fast. She had jumped up out of the arm chair, Kit falling out of her lap and to the floor. She bolted towards the window, stopping when she reached it. Fearing what she was going to do, Numair dashed across the room and to her side in a few short strides. By then, she had thrust the window open. The wind began blowing in, along with the pouring rain. The noise of the storm was magnified by about ten times now.
Within an instant after opening the window, Daine had shifted into a golden eagle, what Numair knew to be one of her favorite forms. It was then that Numair realized her intent. "Daine, no!" he shouted, knowing that if she flew out the window and into the storm now, she would never come back alive. In a storm like this, she would surely be struck down by a deadly bolt of lighting, and fall a great distance to the ground. Even from this level of the palace, it was a two story drop.
Numair made a frantic attempt to grab her before she was able to fly out, but his attempts were in vain. He watched as she soared out the window and into the eye of the storm. He knew that there would surely be a night patrol outside, so he yelled at the top of his lungs. "Help, help! Stop her, she'll be killed!"
Just as he yelled this, he didn't take time to think before acting. He couldn't afford to think. Blinded by love, he shifted quickly into the form of a great black hawk. Flying in a small circle around the room, he soared out the open window, knowing full well that he may never come back. He didn't care, for he loved her and he had to get her back at all costs.
He had barely been out in the storm fo more than a second when it happened. There was a loud boom of thunder followed by a terrible flash of lightning. The entire palace grounds were lit up as the bolt flew from the clouds to hit the ground. It never made it as far as the ground, however. Instead of hitting the ground, it hit his beloved.
It was as if time stopped. The bolt made contact with the golden eagle in the blink of an eye. A terrible screach of an eagle's cry filled the air, going over the sound of the storm. Numair watched in horror as his love turned back into a human, a naked one at that, and fell to the ground, landing with a sickening thud. He flew down after her, going as fast as his wings would carry him. Once on the ground, he landed a fair distance away from her. He immediatly turned back into his human form, but instead of being without clothing, he shifed back with clothes on. It was a trick he had learned a short time ago.
Numair bolted across the space that seperated them, desperate to reach his love. The guards on night patrol had seen the whole inccident and were running to her as well. They reached her before Numair did, and huddled down on the gound beside her. Numair could no longer see the form of his love lying on the muddy ground, for the soldiers' bodies were covering her from his view. He longed to run over to her, to push the guards out of the way and to see if she was all right, but his legs would not move. He was glued in place, and there seemed to be nothing he could do about it.
He was breathing hard, fighting to draw in air. He felt his heart pumping rapidly within his chest, to the point that he was sure it would soon burst from the pressure. Another boom of thunder cut through the air, followed by lightning and again the whole scene was illuminated. Rain poured down onto Numair, soaking him, but he didn't notice. His mind was not in the weather, or anything of that sort. All he could think of was the young woman who lay across the field from him, perhaps dying. He couldn't imagine life without her.
Numair felt hot tears course down his face. He was so incredible lost just now. He felt like his world was coming to an end, that it was crashing down fast. He ran a hand nervously through his mass of hair, trying his best to hold back the tears. His attempts were in vain, for they just kept flowing uncontrollably. He looked over at the silhouette of guards that were huddled around his love. His breath caught in horror at what he saw. One of the guards was pulling off his tunic and laying over Daine, covering her completely. That could mean only one thing. Veralidaine Sarrasri, his love and fiancee, was dead.
He felt his world begin to spin at a sickening rate. He thought he might drop to his knees in a dead faint. Just as this though this, his knees did in fact buckle beneath them, for he was too weak from sudden grief to properly hold himself up.
***How the hell did we wind up like this?
Why weren't we able
To see the signs that we missed
And try and turn the tables
Now the story's played out like this
Just like a paperback novel
Let's rewrite an ending that fits
Instead of a Hollywood horror***
"Oh, gods this is all my fault!"he wailed, grief and sorrow clouding his mind. He couldn't bring himself to go and look at her, he just couldn't. He didn't want to remember her as the mangled body he knew lay just a few yards away from him. He wanted to remember her as the loving young woman with those enchanting blue gray eyes and smoky brown curls. He wanted to block this night, and this fight from his memory forever. This would never happen though, he knew. This night would probably be the most memorable night of his life, for it was the night his one true love died and left him. "Why in the name of the Graveyard Hag did I leave her!"
His heart stopped beating for a moment when he felt an icy cold hand upon his shoulder. His head jerked up and his dark eyes met a pair of enchanting blue gray ones. He jumped backward in his shock. "Daine?!" he breathed, not daring to believe what he saw. -My eyes must be decieving me- he thought quickly, but hoping he was wrong.
"Oh gods!" she voiced in barely more than a whisper. In an instant she had darted towards him, knocking him to the ground. Much to his surprise, her arms flew around his neck as she burried her face in his chest.
"Wh-what-how?" Numair struggled for words. He couldn't understand how this was possible. All he knew, was that it was very real. "Daine, you're dead!"
Her eyes grew wide, and then her features became thoughtful. She paused for a moment, as though thinking hard about something. "You-you mean you don't know?" she asked, as though thoroughly amazed. Numair was so confused by all of this. Nothing seemed to make sense about this, nothing at all.
"Don't know what?" he asked anxiously. He was longing for someone to tell him something that might just reveal this whole thing to him. Right now, just asbout everything was over his head.
"Numair, you died!" Numair gasped from the immediate shock of her words. It took a moment for them to fully sink in, and when they did, he felt a deep panic.
"I-I didn't! I can't have!" he said quickly, voice urgent. "You yourself spoke to me just this very night!"
"How could I have? You died almost a week ago!" she said, voice filled with shock that he was unaware of his own death.
"No I didn't! I returned back to the palace just last night! You locked me out of our bed chamber, and refused to speak to me until this morning! Then you tried to pack your things and leave, but I stopped you! Daine, none of what you're saying makes sense!"
Daine paused for a moment, thinking hard. "Yes, it does." she said finally, a sudden look of realization dawned upon her face. "Numair, I don't know how this happened, but some how, you died and weren't aware of it."
It was then that it hit Numair. The dreams, the bandits, being left behind by Raoul and the Own, it was all real. All of those things truly did happen. The only thing that hadn't been real were his arguments with Daine. She hadn't been mad at him at all! She had been grief stricken because of his death! Numair couldn't believe this. It didn't seem possible. He had died, but hadn't known it! This was unheard of, but yet oh so real.
"By the gods, you're right," Was all he could find to say. At the moment, he was completely overwhelmed by sudden realization. "We're dead."
When he said this, Daine reached into her shirt pocket, and produced a crumbled, tear stained note. It was the same note he had seen her cry over in his vision. He carefully uncrumbled in and scanned it with his eyes. Some of the words were smeared and blotted out as a result of her tears, but from what he could make of it, it was a note to Daine annoucing his death. "This is....amazing...."he said after reading it.
There was a brief pause in which neither said nothing. Both still lay on the ground, Daine on top of him just as she had landed. Suddenly, Numair jerked her into a hug. Once again, tears started flowing uncontrollably. Her face was pressed against his, and he felt that she was crying as well. He crushed her body into his, holding her tighter than he'd ever held her before. "So...You still love me, then?" he questioned, voice shaky.
"More than ever," she said, her heart in every word.
"You don't know how much I thought you were leaving me all this time," he said, revealing to her all of his fears. With that said, he told her everything that had happened from his point of view. Several times, she would gasp from realization and understanding.
When he was finally finished, she said. "That's fair amazing."
"Don't I know it," was his reply. He looked down into her tear stained face, which so close to his just now. He saw happiness there, an emotion he hadn't seen in her eyes since before he left. He couldn't hold back his emotions any longer. He roughly leaned down and captured her lips in his own, kissing her with hunger and desperation. He let everything that had built up inside him since the moment he left leak out of him through that kiss. To his joy and pleasure, she kissed him back with a passion to match his own. Their breaths mingled warmly together, making them both feel so at home.
Numair reached a hand up behind her neck to support her head and bring it closer to his. He let his fingers run through her mass of smoky brown curls as he took in her wonderful scent. He felt a tingling pleasure as he realized every place their bodies touched. He gasped from passion and pleasure both as he felt her icy cold hands go up the back of his shirt to massage his muscled back. She rested her fingers against his shoulder blades, and his hands rested one on the back of her head and the other against her hip. He mirrored her actions and slid his spare hand up her shirt and let it roam her bare back. He felt so oblivious to the world just now. It was an unbelievable feeling he felt, such as he had never felt before.
For a brief moment, Numair removed his lips from hers and closed his eyes. He let the passion comsume him, but before he did so, he let himself say one last thing. "Veralidaine Sarrasri, you have no idea how much I love you."
"Gods, I love you too," her voice was barely more than a whisper, but he heard and savored every word. With that, she brought her lips back up to meet his, their kiss lingering. It went on longer, and became more passionate than the first. Just as the passion began to swamp the two lovers, reaching unbearable levels, someone cleared their throat nearby.
This was a surprise to both Daine and Numair, for since they were both dead, they had assumed no one could see them. This would be a rather embarrassing position for one of their friends at the palace to discover them in. They both jerked their mouths away from the other, and turned to look up at the intrudor. They were met by blinding sunlight, a much different scene than what they had seen before closing their eyes and jumping into passion.
"If these touching reunions are done and over?" the voice belonged to none other than the god of the hunt who stood over the two lovers. Next to him stood his lover, the Green Lady. Both Daine and Numair gasped. Looking around at their surroundings, they found that they were indeed no longer in Tortall, or even the Mortal Realms for that matter. They were in a familiar place though, that of the Divine Realms outside the cottage og Weiryn and Sarra.
"Ma!" Daine exclaimed as she disentangled herself from Numair and rose to embrace her mother. Dazed, Numair mirrored his love's actions and rose to his feet, stretching out his lanky form.
"Mage, this is where you and my daughter will be living from now on," Weiryn said, though his voice held its usual roughness as it always did when he spoke to Numair.
"The after life?" Numair questioned the god of the hunt.
"Yes," Weiryn said as he went to again stand next to Sarra. By this time Daine bad broken away from her mother and she moved back next to Numair. Numair reached down and took her hand in his, a smile stretched across his face. "Why don't you two go and see the cottage Mithros had prepared for your arrival?" Weiryn said as he pointed to a house off in the distance. Daine and Numair didn't need telling twice. The ran off into the distance towards their new home, hand in hand. When they reached the door, Numair lifted Daine into his arms and carried her through. They were both overwhelmed with joy. This was the begining of their new life, of an eternity together.
***Nothing's wrong, just as long
As you know that someday I will...
Someday, somehow
I'm gonna make it alright, but not right now
I know you're wondering when
You're the only one who knows that
Someday, somehow
I'm gonna make it alright, but not right now
I know you're wondering when
You're the only one who knows that
I know you're wondering when
You're the only one who knows that
I know you're wondering when***
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THE END
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A/N: Well? Didn't I tell you it'd end happy? And wasn't I right? Please review me and tell me what you think! I'll be sure to hurry and get an update ready for Gallan Return too, while I'm at it.....This fic was fun, but I like Gallan Return much better!
Disclaimer: I still don't own any TP characters or any Nickelback lyrics...I'm using the song called 'Someday' for this chapter as well....its like part two of the last chapter....
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Numair was gone for no more than a few hours. He had spent this time in the royal library, reading various books. He didn't, however, remember a single work that he read, for his mind had been else where. Throughout the whole time he was out of his rooms and away from Daine, all he could think of was her and the fight they were having. He had almost wished that while out of his rooms, he would run into one of his good friends to seek advice with. Alanna or Onua especially would have been nice, for perhaps they could have talked to Daine. Numair had no such luck though, for the library had been completely empty.
Now, Numair stood outside the door that led to his and Daine's rooms. He wondered what he would find when he entered. Would it be better than before, or would ti be worse? By the great gods he hoped she had cooled down. He'd never seen her this mad or upset before, and it hurt him every bit as much as it hurt her.
"Mithros, Minos and Shakith, how I love her," he whispered to himself. He began to shiver a bit, so he pulled his black robe up closer around his shoulders. The halls of the palace were bitterly cold most of the time during the first week or so of winter, for the palace mages had not yet put heating spells in them. Perhaps Jon would call him to assist with that sometime soon.
Numair reached out a shaky hand, and turned the brass door knob. He ducked his head before entering the room, for the door frame was low for him. Once inside, he found that Daine hadn't moved at all from the arm chair, either that, or she had gotten up for a while and then came back. She was sitting in the same position she had been upon him leaving.
Numair slipped off his black mastery robe and hung it on the coat rack he had bought only two weeks before leaving and starting this whole mess. He stole a glance back at where Daine sat, only to find that she had shown no motion to indicate she even noticed his presence. Numair sighed, knowing he couldn't put any of this off any longer. The two of them had to talk.
Kit stuck her head up over the arm of the chair to look at Numair. -At least someone notices me these days,- he thought bitterly. His eyes made contact with that of the dragonet's and Kit trilled loudly to announce his presence. Daine's head snapped up immediately, and she turned and looked directly at Numair. Her face held no emotion. Her eyes were red from crying, her cheeks covered in dried tears. It was a pitiful sight.
Outside their window, rain poured down onto the palace grounds. Thunder boomed every now and then, causing Numair to jump each time. Following the booms of thunder always came a brilliant flashes of lightning that illuminated the sky. The wind was howling, and the tree branches blowing against the window.
As he approached his love, Numair reached out a hand to stroke her cheek, but then withdrew it after thinking better of it. Sighing, he said, "Daine, we can't put this off any longer," his voice was serious, but yet extremely gentle. "We need to talk about what happened." There was a silence in the room. The only move Daine made that could possibly mean she had heard him was that she shifted in her seat slightly.
***I hope that since we're here anyway
We could end up saying
Things we've always needed to say
So we could end up staying
Now the story's played out like this
Just like a paperback novel
Let's rewrite an ending that fits
Instead of Hollywood horror***
"Daine, please," his voice was pleading as it had been before he'd left that afternoon. Now, it was get into the night hours, and nothing had changed.
Suddenly the young woman spoke up, her voice filled with the grief she obviously felt. "Life's a fickle thing, Kit," Daine spoke not to Numair, but to the dragonet in her lap. Numair knew that she was saying things to Kit that she really meant to say to him, and he thought of this as a slight improvement. "One day you think you have everything you've ever wanted, friends that care for you, someone who loves you, and people who will stay by your side no matter what," Her voice choked at this last statement, a single tear rolled down her face. "Then it all goes away, and its as if you never had it to begin with."
"Oh, sweet," Numair said assuringly. He just had to make her feel better. It was killing him inside to see and hear her this way. "Please, I beg you to forgive me-"
"I never thought this would happen to us,"Daine interrupted his plees for forgiveness.
"I didn't either, Magelet," he replied to her statement, feeling heart broken already and wondering if this was the end.
"Oh, Mithros how did we get like this?!" she said frantically, tears coming faster, her voice turning into a choked sob.
"Daine, if I'd known, I would have prevented it. Please tell me you can understand that," Numair said, praying to every god he could name that what he was saying was getting through to her.
Looking at the ceiling, eyes filled with untameable emotion, Daine said, "I really loved you, you know."
"Do you still?" Numair asked, almost hesitantly. He was completely and totally afraid of what her answer might be.
"I still do, but what is the use now?" Daine choked these words out in between sobs, tears flowing freely.
"How can you say that? Of course there's a use, and that's because I love you now more than ever!" Numair's voice was frantic, hoping he could convince her. There was a long silence following his words. Numair did not speak, nor did Daine. It was an awkward silence in Numair's opinion. This had been the most he had gotten her to say to him since his arrival, and he was grateful.
Kit sat in Daine's lap, not making a sound. This was rare for the dragonet, who normally had a comment in dragon chatter for just about everything that went on between Daine and Numair. She merely sat looking from Daine to Numair, eyes intrigued. She too seemed to be at a loss for words or action.
***Nothing's wrong, just as long
As you know that someday I will...
Someday, somehow
I'm gonna make it all right, but not right now
I know you're wondering when
You're the only one who knows that
Someday, somehow
I'm gonna make it all right, but not right now
I know you're wondering when***
Numair didn't know what to say to her. He'd hoped she would have responded by now to his last statement, but she hadn't uttered a sound. Things weren't looking good for him just now, that much was obvious. Numair refused to give up hope however. If you truly loved someone, you would never truly give up hope. He loved Daine, and he would not give up on her. She had said she still loved him, and perhaps she meant it, for Daine was not one to say nonsense that she did not mean. Most everything she said in times like these had a purpose, and Numair wouldn't forget that.
He closed his tear filled eyes, and let his mind take him back to another time, another place. He went back several months, to a day that would forever be implanted in his mind. It was a day that would change his life forever.
In his memory, he lay tangled in the sheets of his bed, breathing heavily. Daine lay next to him, a smile written on her face. He turned to her and his face spread into a smile to match hers. Reaching out his arms, he pulled her to his chest. She moved into the circle of his arms willingly. He leaned in closer and kissed the side of her neck which was currently up against his shoulder. He felt the fiery passion run through him as he felt her bare back rub against his side.
To his surprise, she turned around and eased her lips over his. He smiled into their kiss, enjoying every second. Their kiss went on for quite a while, but for the two lovers it was over much too fast. Numair groaned in disappointment when she removed her lips from his for lack of air. She still had her arms wrapped firmly around his neck, his around her waste. Before either had had much time to regain their breath, he had once again captured her lips in his own, and this time not so easy to let go.
When Numair finally did pull away, it was for a much better reason in his opinion, than lack of air. "Daine, will you marry me?" he'd asked this several times before, and every time it had been the same answer. Maybe. That was what she had told him every time so far. Tonight, things felt different, though he had no idea why. He felt that tonight, she would not refuse him, but would accept.
She hesitated for a moment, but Numair's hopes did not fade in the slightest bit. What she said, made his insides jump with new found joy. "Yes," It was one simple word, a word Numair had heard uttered from her lips many times before. This time it was very different however. This time it was to a life changing question. This was a word he had been trying to achieve from her for the entirety of two full years.
"Oh gods, I love you!" was his immediate response. Before she could say anything else, his lips were on hers in a passionate kiss.
Thunder boomed from the storm outside, causing Numair to snap back to reality. He hadn't known it while he was day dreaming, but a tear had formed in his eye and it was now rolling slowly, but steadily down his face. He reached up to wipe it off, only to find that more were coming down after it. Soon he was crying uncontrollably. All of this, everything that had happened since his return, it had all been too much. He could take no more of it.
Lighting flashed soon after another boom of thunder. It lit up the room, making the tears on Daine's face much more visible. It made her eyes light up. It highlighted her grief stricken features. Numair longed to pull his eyes away from her, but he couldn't. He couldn't move a single part of his body. He knew what he had to do, though he did not by any means want to do it. He had to ask her an important question. It was a question that could either make him or break him. Once it was asked, there was no turning back.
"Daine?" his voice shook as he felt a horrible fear. She wasn't looking at him, but some how, he knew she was listening. There was a thoughtful look in her eyes that shined with tears. Thunder boomed again, and lightning flashed. Again it lit up this whole scene for Numair to see it its entirety, and again it made him know he had to ask his question. "Do you still want to marry me?"
There was a brief silence. All that could be heard were the licks of the flames in the fire place and the rain pouring outside. The wind still howled, blowing the tree branches against the window. There was another boom of thunder and another flash of lightning that followed before she acted. She didn't speak a single word, for her actions made everything quite clear. What happened next happened so fast that Numair barely had time to react.
Daine bolted up, the tears that were flowing moved faster than before. She let out a loud sob, the worst that she had so far. "No!"she screamed as she sobbed, tears flowing and eyes shining. "I can't take this anymore!"
Just as Numair felt his heart crumbling apart piece by piece, everything began happening so fast. She had jumped up out of the arm chair, Kit falling out of her lap and to the floor. She bolted towards the window, stopping when she reached it. Fearing what she was going to do, Numair dashed across the room and to her side in a few short strides. By then, she had thrust the window open. The wind began blowing in, along with the pouring rain. The noise of the storm was magnified by about ten times now.
Within an instant after opening the window, Daine had shifted into a golden eagle, what Numair knew to be one of her favorite forms. It was then that Numair realized her intent. "Daine, no!" he shouted, knowing that if she flew out the window and into the storm now, she would never come back alive. In a storm like this, she would surely be struck down by a deadly bolt of lighting, and fall a great distance to the ground. Even from this level of the palace, it was a two story drop.
Numair made a frantic attempt to grab her before she was able to fly out, but his attempts were in vain. He watched as she soared out the window and into the eye of the storm. He knew that there would surely be a night patrol outside, so he yelled at the top of his lungs. "Help, help! Stop her, she'll be killed!"
Just as he yelled this, he didn't take time to think before acting. He couldn't afford to think. Blinded by love, he shifted quickly into the form of a great black hawk. Flying in a small circle around the room, he soared out the open window, knowing full well that he may never come back. He didn't care, for he loved her and he had to get her back at all costs.
He had barely been out in the storm fo more than a second when it happened. There was a loud boom of thunder followed by a terrible flash of lightning. The entire palace grounds were lit up as the bolt flew from the clouds to hit the ground. It never made it as far as the ground, however. Instead of hitting the ground, it hit his beloved.
It was as if time stopped. The bolt made contact with the golden eagle in the blink of an eye. A terrible screach of an eagle's cry filled the air, going over the sound of the storm. Numair watched in horror as his love turned back into a human, a naked one at that, and fell to the ground, landing with a sickening thud. He flew down after her, going as fast as his wings would carry him. Once on the ground, he landed a fair distance away from her. He immediatly turned back into his human form, but instead of being without clothing, he shifed back with clothes on. It was a trick he had learned a short time ago.
Numair bolted across the space that seperated them, desperate to reach his love. The guards on night patrol had seen the whole inccident and were running to her as well. They reached her before Numair did, and huddled down on the gound beside her. Numair could no longer see the form of his love lying on the muddy ground, for the soldiers' bodies were covering her from his view. He longed to run over to her, to push the guards out of the way and to see if she was all right, but his legs would not move. He was glued in place, and there seemed to be nothing he could do about it.
He was breathing hard, fighting to draw in air. He felt his heart pumping rapidly within his chest, to the point that he was sure it would soon burst from the pressure. Another boom of thunder cut through the air, followed by lightning and again the whole scene was illuminated. Rain poured down onto Numair, soaking him, but he didn't notice. His mind was not in the weather, or anything of that sort. All he could think of was the young woman who lay across the field from him, perhaps dying. He couldn't imagine life without her.
Numair felt hot tears course down his face. He was so incredible lost just now. He felt like his world was coming to an end, that it was crashing down fast. He ran a hand nervously through his mass of hair, trying his best to hold back the tears. His attempts were in vain, for they just kept flowing uncontrollably. He looked over at the silhouette of guards that were huddled around his love. His breath caught in horror at what he saw. One of the guards was pulling off his tunic and laying over Daine, covering her completely. That could mean only one thing. Veralidaine Sarrasri, his love and fiancee, was dead.
He felt his world begin to spin at a sickening rate. He thought he might drop to his knees in a dead faint. Just as this though this, his knees did in fact buckle beneath them, for he was too weak from sudden grief to properly hold himself up.
***How the hell did we wind up like this?
Why weren't we able
To see the signs that we missed
And try and turn the tables
Now the story's played out like this
Just like a paperback novel
Let's rewrite an ending that fits
Instead of a Hollywood horror***
"Oh, gods this is all my fault!"he wailed, grief and sorrow clouding his mind. He couldn't bring himself to go and look at her, he just couldn't. He didn't want to remember her as the mangled body he knew lay just a few yards away from him. He wanted to remember her as the loving young woman with those enchanting blue gray eyes and smoky brown curls. He wanted to block this night, and this fight from his memory forever. This would never happen though, he knew. This night would probably be the most memorable night of his life, for it was the night his one true love died and left him. "Why in the name of the Graveyard Hag did I leave her!"
His heart stopped beating for a moment when he felt an icy cold hand upon his shoulder. His head jerked up and his dark eyes met a pair of enchanting blue gray ones. He jumped backward in his shock. "Daine?!" he breathed, not daring to believe what he saw. -My eyes must be decieving me- he thought quickly, but hoping he was wrong.
"Oh gods!" she voiced in barely more than a whisper. In an instant she had darted towards him, knocking him to the ground. Much to his surprise, her arms flew around his neck as she burried her face in his chest.
"Wh-what-how?" Numair struggled for words. He couldn't understand how this was possible. All he knew, was that it was very real. "Daine, you're dead!"
Her eyes grew wide, and then her features became thoughtful. She paused for a moment, as though thinking hard about something. "You-you mean you don't know?" she asked, as though thoroughly amazed. Numair was so confused by all of this. Nothing seemed to make sense about this, nothing at all.
"Don't know what?" he asked anxiously. He was longing for someone to tell him something that might just reveal this whole thing to him. Right now, just asbout everything was over his head.
"Numair, you died!" Numair gasped from the immediate shock of her words. It took a moment for them to fully sink in, and when they did, he felt a deep panic.
"I-I didn't! I can't have!" he said quickly, voice urgent. "You yourself spoke to me just this very night!"
"How could I have? You died almost a week ago!" she said, voice filled with shock that he was unaware of his own death.
"No I didn't! I returned back to the palace just last night! You locked me out of our bed chamber, and refused to speak to me until this morning! Then you tried to pack your things and leave, but I stopped you! Daine, none of what you're saying makes sense!"
Daine paused for a moment, thinking hard. "Yes, it does." she said finally, a sudden look of realization dawned upon her face. "Numair, I don't know how this happened, but some how, you died and weren't aware of it."
It was then that it hit Numair. The dreams, the bandits, being left behind by Raoul and the Own, it was all real. All of those things truly did happen. The only thing that hadn't been real were his arguments with Daine. She hadn't been mad at him at all! She had been grief stricken because of his death! Numair couldn't believe this. It didn't seem possible. He had died, but hadn't known it! This was unheard of, but yet oh so real.
"By the gods, you're right," Was all he could find to say. At the moment, he was completely overwhelmed by sudden realization. "We're dead."
When he said this, Daine reached into her shirt pocket, and produced a crumbled, tear stained note. It was the same note he had seen her cry over in his vision. He carefully uncrumbled in and scanned it with his eyes. Some of the words were smeared and blotted out as a result of her tears, but from what he could make of it, it was a note to Daine annoucing his death. "This is....amazing...."he said after reading it.
There was a brief pause in which neither said nothing. Both still lay on the ground, Daine on top of him just as she had landed. Suddenly, Numair jerked her into a hug. Once again, tears started flowing uncontrollably. Her face was pressed against his, and he felt that she was crying as well. He crushed her body into his, holding her tighter than he'd ever held her before. "So...You still love me, then?" he questioned, voice shaky.
"More than ever," she said, her heart in every word.
"You don't know how much I thought you were leaving me all this time," he said, revealing to her all of his fears. With that said, he told her everything that had happened from his point of view. Several times, she would gasp from realization and understanding.
When he was finally finished, she said. "That's fair amazing."
"Don't I know it," was his reply. He looked down into her tear stained face, which so close to his just now. He saw happiness there, an emotion he hadn't seen in her eyes since before he left. He couldn't hold back his emotions any longer. He roughly leaned down and captured her lips in his own, kissing her with hunger and desperation. He let everything that had built up inside him since the moment he left leak out of him through that kiss. To his joy and pleasure, she kissed him back with a passion to match his own. Their breaths mingled warmly together, making them both feel so at home.
Numair reached a hand up behind her neck to support her head and bring it closer to his. He let his fingers run through her mass of smoky brown curls as he took in her wonderful scent. He felt a tingling pleasure as he realized every place their bodies touched. He gasped from passion and pleasure both as he felt her icy cold hands go up the back of his shirt to massage his muscled back. She rested her fingers against his shoulder blades, and his hands rested one on the back of her head and the other against her hip. He mirrored her actions and slid his spare hand up her shirt and let it roam her bare back. He felt so oblivious to the world just now. It was an unbelievable feeling he felt, such as he had never felt before.
For a brief moment, Numair removed his lips from hers and closed his eyes. He let the passion comsume him, but before he did so, he let himself say one last thing. "Veralidaine Sarrasri, you have no idea how much I love you."
"Gods, I love you too," her voice was barely more than a whisper, but he heard and savored every word. With that, she brought her lips back up to meet his, their kiss lingering. It went on longer, and became more passionate than the first. Just as the passion began to swamp the two lovers, reaching unbearable levels, someone cleared their throat nearby.
This was a surprise to both Daine and Numair, for since they were both dead, they had assumed no one could see them. This would be a rather embarrassing position for one of their friends at the palace to discover them in. They both jerked their mouths away from the other, and turned to look up at the intrudor. They were met by blinding sunlight, a much different scene than what they had seen before closing their eyes and jumping into passion.
"If these touching reunions are done and over?" the voice belonged to none other than the god of the hunt who stood over the two lovers. Next to him stood his lover, the Green Lady. Both Daine and Numair gasped. Looking around at their surroundings, they found that they were indeed no longer in Tortall, or even the Mortal Realms for that matter. They were in a familiar place though, that of the Divine Realms outside the cottage og Weiryn and Sarra.
"Ma!" Daine exclaimed as she disentangled herself from Numair and rose to embrace her mother. Dazed, Numair mirrored his love's actions and rose to his feet, stretching out his lanky form.
"Mage, this is where you and my daughter will be living from now on," Weiryn said, though his voice held its usual roughness as it always did when he spoke to Numair.
"The after life?" Numair questioned the god of the hunt.
"Yes," Weiryn said as he went to again stand next to Sarra. By this time Daine bad broken away from her mother and she moved back next to Numair. Numair reached down and took her hand in his, a smile stretched across his face. "Why don't you two go and see the cottage Mithros had prepared for your arrival?" Weiryn said as he pointed to a house off in the distance. Daine and Numair didn't need telling twice. The ran off into the distance towards their new home, hand in hand. When they reached the door, Numair lifted Daine into his arms and carried her through. They were both overwhelmed with joy. This was the begining of their new life, of an eternity together.
***Nothing's wrong, just as long
As you know that someday I will...
Someday, somehow
I'm gonna make it alright, but not right now
I know you're wondering when
You're the only one who knows that
Someday, somehow
I'm gonna make it alright, but not right now
I know you're wondering when
You're the only one who knows that
I know you're wondering when
You're the only one who knows that
I know you're wondering when***
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
THE END
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A/N: Well? Didn't I tell you it'd end happy? And wasn't I right? Please review me and tell me what you think! I'll be sure to hurry and get an update ready for Gallan Return too, while I'm at it.....This fic was fun, but I like Gallan Return much better!