This fic is dedicated to Gwuinny, who wouldn't leave me alone about it until I wrote it. Thank you Gwuinivyre, for the push I needed and for staying so interested in my work. You're the best!
Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne or it's characters. I do own the characters I have created and the storyline. That is all.
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Adrina's chocolate brown hair was matted to her face with sweat and her skin was deathly pale. Suddenly, another contraction gripped her already weakened body with icy talons of pain and she screamed as though she were being tortured.
"Push!" the midwife ordered but Adrina barely heard her. The contraction passed and Adrina's body went limp She looked around and saw that the darkness clouding her vision was spreading. It had started as a spec but was now large enough to block her peripheral vision. She was only able to see what was right in front of her and even that was blurry.
Another contraction started and she screamed again, although with less conviction. The pain was still there but was beginning to lessen. She knew that she was getting weaker and if she didn't have this baby soon, she was going to die.
The midwife saw it too. She spoke quickly to a servant and then hurried into the next room where Folken, Adrina, Merle, Zane and Golan were waiting. When Folken spotted the midwife, he hurried over to her anxiously.
"Did she have the baby?" Folken asked, "Is it a boy or a girl? Can I see it?"
"Listen to me," the midwife snapped in a low voice, "this delivery is not going well. It is terribly strenuous on the Queen and I don't think she's going to make it. You need to go in there and be with her."
Another scream drifted from the birthing room, this one only a thin wail. Without hesitation, Folken hurried past the midwife and into the room. When he saw Adrina, his heart felt as if it were being squeezed. She looked on the verge of death. He ran to her side.
"Rina love, I'm here." He took her hand in his. It was like a chunk of ice. "Please Rina, you must hold on."
"Fol…ken," Adrina whispered and then was hit with yet another contraction. She screamed and he squeezed her hand, but she didn't squeeze back.
"I can see the head!" the midwife shouted, "keep pushing M'lady!"
The pain didn't subside this time and Adrina felt herself drifting away. To keep from fainting, she bit her lip hard enough to draw blood.
No! her mind shouted, I can't die! I must see my baby! I must hold my baby! I must…
Suddenly, the pain stopped and there was a whoop of joy from the servants. Adrina's eyes were almost completely dark now and she couldn't move at all.
"It's a girl!" the midwife told them. The baby was quickly wrapped in a blanket and handed to her father. Folken knelt by Adrina and held the baby out to her.
"A girl," he whispered, tears running down his face, "our daughter."
From where Folken was holding her, Adrina could see the slightly blurry image of the baby. She had brown hair like Adrina's but at the front were two blue streaks the color of Folken's hair. Adrina wanted nothing more than to hold the precious child but her arms wouldn't cooperate. She smiled weakly.
"Mecale…" Adrina whispered and then darkness took her and she saw no more.