AN: Thanks for the warm response to that short first part. I'm glad that
you are curious about this.
Part 2
Where there is love and joy, your home cannot be far. Gabe Sullivan would say that to his daughter as the little girl curled into a ball late at night, sniffling, pitying herself because of the loss of a mother who, if judged by that one last act, did not love her daughter enough to matter. In her young life, Chloe proved that this simple thesis worked. She was at home in high school even when she was not a resident of the town, because her best friends had shown her the love and care. Even after her mother had left, Chloe lost nothing of home as her father quickly filled in the void that yawned then. Pity to be back in what used to be a home and find that there is no love, no joy, no father to wrap your arms around. Her chest was a cavity that constricted with the feeling that she could do nothing about it, merely come and watch Gabe Sullivan laid to rest. "Do the dreams still bother you?" Chloe turned around to acknowledge the newcomer, and noted that Lana Lang, whose slight body had half deranged her friend for many years, was now full with child. She had not heard this, even from Pete who had become her sole confidante these many years. It was only logic that his wife would know. Chloe nodded and approached the young wife. "It never leaves anymore. Sometimes I wonder if it's part of me, and I will never be rid of it." Lana smiled and accepted the embrace that the blonde initiated. She patted her friend's back.. "If the dreams are terrible then they will leave. They can never be part of you, Chloe." "I've seen bad images, Lana, and they have stayed. How can you say the dreams aren't products of the horror I cover every day?" "It's a simple thing, Chloe. The memories of the events you've seen are in your brain. What you dream about, those come from the heart," Lana explained. "And the dreams are the reality of who you are." "That's such a large stock we place on dreams, Lana, when they can be figments of the imagination." "And isn't imagination a fruit of your heart?" Chloe smiled. "It's what your father would have said." Chloe mulled over the idea for a while. Lana had since left a glass of milk on the table beside her bed. Chloe picked it up and looked deep into the liquid. It was thick and opaque. Chloe could get lost in visions within its depths. There were ways to find out what those dreams really meant. Her psychiatrist introduced the idea of hypnotherapy to her, so that she could go deep inside herself and rediscover memories of past lives that were resurfacing. Chloe had seen amazing things in her lifetime and knew that a past life was not something to be discounted. She closed her eyes and sighed in relief. The burning sensation had been getting heavier each second, and it was all she could do to think of different things. Anything that would take her thoughts away from the coming morning, she wanted to grab hold of. It was never easy to bury a loved one. To Chloe, it would be the most painful trial to bury the only person you truly loved. Her eyelids trembled. This was why she needed to think of new things. Even while reading the humor section of Readers' Digest, Chloe could not keep the tears at bay. Her relationship with Gabe Sullivan had been one that would make all fathers and daughters green with envy. No other father would tell a heartbroken sixteen year-old that she was the type of girl that a young man settled with, if not the type to be chased young. She was more than any girl in Smallville, Metropolis, the States, even the Universe. It was something that only a parent would say. Chloe would thank her father forever for giving her that voice in her head that kept her chin up during the lowest moments of her life. She laid back on the soft sheets and relished the feeling of being engulfed, as if the bed would eat her up and suffocate her. She would not need to go to an interment that she still could not believe would happen. Chloe would perhaps open her eyes and see bright light and then a shadow, then finally the face of her father, who would smile and tell her to take his hand and come with him. There was no need to fear because with her daddy she would always be safe. Heaven would be their playground. Chloe closed her eyes and faded with sleep, pulled deeper and deeper, and then slowly she broke through the surface and sucked in her breath. Before her was a towering city carved into mountains. She was so small, smaller even than how she would seem when faced with the giant walls. She teetered to the side and looked down, finding kid slippers hanging way above the ground. Chloe found herself on a horse, held by a steady arm that seemed to have forgotten her presence. "Meilo," came a sharp burst of command. "Steady the girl!" At once, the arm had pulled her against a chest and she was once again secure. Chloe looked down at her kid slippers. Her gaze was caught instead by the silvery glass that was broken by the horses' hooves. They were running through a very shallow pond. She caught her reflection once before the calm was destroyed. She was a child. She looked back up to the man who urged his horse to run beside the one she was on. It was the man who told the arm to hold her tightly. Chloe tried to smile up at him, but the man with the dark hair whipping in the wind did not flick his eyes towards her. It put her off and she wiggled in her seat. Once again, Chloe almost slipped off the horse and into the path of the hooves. "Meilo!" the man bit again. "King Aragorn, the girl is intractable!" The man Aragorn held his arms out. "One unruly girl brings you to your knees, man? What are we supposed to do with you should a war begin?" Chloe felt herself hauled from one horse to the king's, her arms slipped from the tight clutch she had on her precious burden. The ride was bumpy then, because the king seemed bent on outrunning everyone else. She began to sniffle and cry. "Legolas!" Aragorn called to the front. Chloe's tears slipped down her cheeks and were licked away by the wind. She looked ahead and witnessed the most beautiful thing she had ever beheld. A man with straight golden hair, of slight frame and the most striking features that she could liken to nothing else on earth, turned around at King Aragorn's demanding hail. "What concerns you, Aragorn?" "I have a sniffling load."
The blue eyes turned to her. Chloe's sniffles ceased and she stared open- mouthed at the appearance of this Legolas. He had sharp pointed ears that she had never seen before. "Your ears are not normal at all!" she told him.
"Certainly not, child," Legolas responded after chuckling. "For I am not a plain human like your new guardian."
Chloe's moist eyes widened. "You're not?"
"I'm a Sindarin elf."
"You're very pretty."
This time, both Legolas and King Aragorn laughed. The elf bowed his head graciously. "I thank you. Now why do you cry?"
"Enid drowned."
Legolas glanced at Aragorn. "Enid?"
"She was a sole survivor in the fort, Legolas. There was no Enid who came with the party."
Chloe looked back and glared at the king. "Enid was with me and fell from my hands when you dragged me from Meilo's horse!" And then she pointed to the direction where they had come from. "And she's there in the water!"
"Enid is that ragged cloth bag that you were clutching?"
Chloe shook her head. The king was unlikable. How could her father have given her care to such a man? "She is my friend," she insisted, tears rising.
Her beautiful savior nodded. "I will fetch your doll. You need not worry."
"Legolas, we must make it to the city before dark."
And then the elf flashed a grin at the king that made Chloe blink. It was perhaps his specific position against the setting sun. All she knew was that Legolas appeared shrouded by light and shadow, in the perfect way that enhanced all that could be admired. "Do you not trust my celerity, king?"
"Hie then. Quickly."
Legolas nodded, and said to Chloe before he left, "Well you shall have your friend within the hour. Come dry your tears." And then he jerked his knee and prodded the horse to a fast gallop.
She craned her neck, Aragorn's vest abrasive on her cheek as she followed Legolas until he faded from her sight. She would soon have Enid back.
The sun warmed her face and danced on her forehead, her lips, and finally her arms. Chloe opened her eyes and saw that the sunlight had peeked through the curtains of Lana and Pete's guest room. She covered her mouth with her hand to stifle a yawn. It seemed like a fair day, so light and airy and so unbecoming for what she would have to face.
She rose from the bed and walked to the closet. She drew out the black dress that Lana had hung there for her to wear. Chloe's heart was too large and too heavy inside her. She closed her eyes and vowed that she would face the day with the strength and dignity that befit Gabe Sullivan's daughter. There was comfort in dreams, even if there was none in waking.
Part 2
Where there is love and joy, your home cannot be far. Gabe Sullivan would say that to his daughter as the little girl curled into a ball late at night, sniffling, pitying herself because of the loss of a mother who, if judged by that one last act, did not love her daughter enough to matter. In her young life, Chloe proved that this simple thesis worked. She was at home in high school even when she was not a resident of the town, because her best friends had shown her the love and care. Even after her mother had left, Chloe lost nothing of home as her father quickly filled in the void that yawned then. Pity to be back in what used to be a home and find that there is no love, no joy, no father to wrap your arms around. Her chest was a cavity that constricted with the feeling that she could do nothing about it, merely come and watch Gabe Sullivan laid to rest. "Do the dreams still bother you?" Chloe turned around to acknowledge the newcomer, and noted that Lana Lang, whose slight body had half deranged her friend for many years, was now full with child. She had not heard this, even from Pete who had become her sole confidante these many years. It was only logic that his wife would know. Chloe nodded and approached the young wife. "It never leaves anymore. Sometimes I wonder if it's part of me, and I will never be rid of it." Lana smiled and accepted the embrace that the blonde initiated. She patted her friend's back.. "If the dreams are terrible then they will leave. They can never be part of you, Chloe." "I've seen bad images, Lana, and they have stayed. How can you say the dreams aren't products of the horror I cover every day?" "It's a simple thing, Chloe. The memories of the events you've seen are in your brain. What you dream about, those come from the heart," Lana explained. "And the dreams are the reality of who you are." "That's such a large stock we place on dreams, Lana, when they can be figments of the imagination." "And isn't imagination a fruit of your heart?" Chloe smiled. "It's what your father would have said." Chloe mulled over the idea for a while. Lana had since left a glass of milk on the table beside her bed. Chloe picked it up and looked deep into the liquid. It was thick and opaque. Chloe could get lost in visions within its depths. There were ways to find out what those dreams really meant. Her psychiatrist introduced the idea of hypnotherapy to her, so that she could go deep inside herself and rediscover memories of past lives that were resurfacing. Chloe had seen amazing things in her lifetime and knew that a past life was not something to be discounted. She closed her eyes and sighed in relief. The burning sensation had been getting heavier each second, and it was all she could do to think of different things. Anything that would take her thoughts away from the coming morning, she wanted to grab hold of. It was never easy to bury a loved one. To Chloe, it would be the most painful trial to bury the only person you truly loved. Her eyelids trembled. This was why she needed to think of new things. Even while reading the humor section of Readers' Digest, Chloe could not keep the tears at bay. Her relationship with Gabe Sullivan had been one that would make all fathers and daughters green with envy. No other father would tell a heartbroken sixteen year-old that she was the type of girl that a young man settled with, if not the type to be chased young. She was more than any girl in Smallville, Metropolis, the States, even the Universe. It was something that only a parent would say. Chloe would thank her father forever for giving her that voice in her head that kept her chin up during the lowest moments of her life. She laid back on the soft sheets and relished the feeling of being engulfed, as if the bed would eat her up and suffocate her. She would not need to go to an interment that she still could not believe would happen. Chloe would perhaps open her eyes and see bright light and then a shadow, then finally the face of her father, who would smile and tell her to take his hand and come with him. There was no need to fear because with her daddy she would always be safe. Heaven would be their playground. Chloe closed her eyes and faded with sleep, pulled deeper and deeper, and then slowly she broke through the surface and sucked in her breath. Before her was a towering city carved into mountains. She was so small, smaller even than how she would seem when faced with the giant walls. She teetered to the side and looked down, finding kid slippers hanging way above the ground. Chloe found herself on a horse, held by a steady arm that seemed to have forgotten her presence. "Meilo," came a sharp burst of command. "Steady the girl!" At once, the arm had pulled her against a chest and she was once again secure. Chloe looked down at her kid slippers. Her gaze was caught instead by the silvery glass that was broken by the horses' hooves. They were running through a very shallow pond. She caught her reflection once before the calm was destroyed. She was a child. She looked back up to the man who urged his horse to run beside the one she was on. It was the man who told the arm to hold her tightly. Chloe tried to smile up at him, but the man with the dark hair whipping in the wind did not flick his eyes towards her. It put her off and she wiggled in her seat. Once again, Chloe almost slipped off the horse and into the path of the hooves. "Meilo!" the man bit again. "King Aragorn, the girl is intractable!" The man Aragorn held his arms out. "One unruly girl brings you to your knees, man? What are we supposed to do with you should a war begin?" Chloe felt herself hauled from one horse to the king's, her arms slipped from the tight clutch she had on her precious burden. The ride was bumpy then, because the king seemed bent on outrunning everyone else. She began to sniffle and cry. "Legolas!" Aragorn called to the front. Chloe's tears slipped down her cheeks and were licked away by the wind. She looked ahead and witnessed the most beautiful thing she had ever beheld. A man with straight golden hair, of slight frame and the most striking features that she could liken to nothing else on earth, turned around at King Aragorn's demanding hail. "What concerns you, Aragorn?" "I have a sniffling load."
The blue eyes turned to her. Chloe's sniffles ceased and she stared open- mouthed at the appearance of this Legolas. He had sharp pointed ears that she had never seen before. "Your ears are not normal at all!" she told him.
"Certainly not, child," Legolas responded after chuckling. "For I am not a plain human like your new guardian."
Chloe's moist eyes widened. "You're not?"
"I'm a Sindarin elf."
"You're very pretty."
This time, both Legolas and King Aragorn laughed. The elf bowed his head graciously. "I thank you. Now why do you cry?"
"Enid drowned."
Legolas glanced at Aragorn. "Enid?"
"She was a sole survivor in the fort, Legolas. There was no Enid who came with the party."
Chloe looked back and glared at the king. "Enid was with me and fell from my hands when you dragged me from Meilo's horse!" And then she pointed to the direction where they had come from. "And she's there in the water!"
"Enid is that ragged cloth bag that you were clutching?"
Chloe shook her head. The king was unlikable. How could her father have given her care to such a man? "She is my friend," she insisted, tears rising.
Her beautiful savior nodded. "I will fetch your doll. You need not worry."
"Legolas, we must make it to the city before dark."
And then the elf flashed a grin at the king that made Chloe blink. It was perhaps his specific position against the setting sun. All she knew was that Legolas appeared shrouded by light and shadow, in the perfect way that enhanced all that could be admired. "Do you not trust my celerity, king?"
"Hie then. Quickly."
Legolas nodded, and said to Chloe before he left, "Well you shall have your friend within the hour. Come dry your tears." And then he jerked his knee and prodded the horse to a fast gallop.
She craned her neck, Aragorn's vest abrasive on her cheek as she followed Legolas until he faded from her sight. She would soon have Enid back.
The sun warmed her face and danced on her forehead, her lips, and finally her arms. Chloe opened her eyes and saw that the sunlight had peeked through the curtains of Lana and Pete's guest room. She covered her mouth with her hand to stifle a yawn. It seemed like a fair day, so light and airy and so unbecoming for what she would have to face.
She rose from the bed and walked to the closet. She drew out the black dress that Lana had hung there for her to wear. Chloe's heart was too large and too heavy inside her. She closed her eyes and vowed that she would face the day with the strength and dignity that befit Gabe Sullivan's daughter. There was comfort in dreams, even if there was none in waking.
