If There Be Thorns

By Maggie Griffin

CHAPTER 6: Clouded Hatred

**********

Days passed rather uneventfully in the garden. Days and night came and went, until two and a half days had gone by. In the span of that time, Arbutus had reached a new sense of enlightenment with Aini, who had finally gotten over her fear of him.

Indeed, they had spent more and more time together, either alone only when the other wanted some solitude. Ai would often run off and remain by herself for long periods of time. Hours, sometimes. It worried Arbutus more and more as time crawled by. Time in the garden had no significance after all, and the last two days had seen like much longer.

Now, noon had approached, and cast the garden in a yellow-orange glow. Noon was the time when the garden bloomed at its most beautiful. The mid-day sun enveloped everything in the same wonderous glow, making everything look even more magical.

On that day, Arbutus had decided to interrupt Aini during one of her solitary moments, determined to know what had been bothering her. While she still retained her sweet, naïve demeanor, she had become strangely sad, and although she never treated him any less sweetly then the first time she had reached for his hand, the hollow look in her eyes was becoming something distressing.

Sure as he had guessed, Arbutus found Aini seated down by the waterfall. She was kneeling at its edge, her hand sliding along the cool water casually, watching the gentle fall of the droplets as they made their way down the fall.

"Arbutus?"

He seated himself next to her, and turn to look at her quizzically.

"Yes?" He asked, seeing the somewhat sad expression on her face. "What's the matter?"

"How come there are no fish in the water?" She asked, indicating with a sweep of her hand to the empty waves below. "Or animals around here? Like birds, or mice or something….," she trailed off.

"Well, I would hardly like mice roaming around here!" Arbutus chuckled, but coughed uneasily when he saw her expression fall. "Your lonely….aren't you?"

When she said nothing, and looked instead back down to the water, Arbutus sighed sadly.

"Your unhappy here!" He stated simply, his face becoming serious. At his words, Aini spun around to look at him, her eyes wide with shock.

"Oh n…no! Not at all. Please don't think that. I'm really very happy here, more then I've ever been in any other place," she said, her voice becoming softer as she finished. A small smile curved her lips, easing Arbutus' mood slightly.

"Then…what's the matter?" He asked, his voice once again gentle, and he had seen how the idea of her unhappiness around him distressed her. "Perhaps you are not unhappy about being here with…me. But, there's something wrong. Please Aini, tell me!" He implored her, now desperate to know.

There was a moment of silence, in which Aini simply looked into his eyes blankly. She stood with a tired sigh, her shoulders shrugged down as if she felt a guilt over her sadness.

"See, I never had anyone who ever cared about me! I was abandoned by my parents when I was little. They left me in an empty street in the middle of the night, and never came back….," she paused momentarily, as if remembering caused her some deep rooted pain.

"Oh my Ai….," Arbutus whispered, aware that it was the first time he had used her name instead of calling her 'little one'. "My flower…." He couldn't bring himself to continue, not knowing what to say to comfort her.

Aini shook her head, as if the memory was not to be taken as seriously as she made it sound, and continued on.

"Anyway, from then I was always by myself. I was…always so scared. The first real friends I ever met were Sadira. You met her already, the first time I saw you!" She stated gently, knowing the mention of Sadira might have angered him. However, his face remained the same, a slightly sad look present on his features. "Well, then she helped me make friends with others. Like Jasmine and Aladdin…"

"Jasmine?" The hiss in the question caught Ai off guard so badly she actually stopped breathing for a couple of seconds, and backed away a few small paces. "Did you say…Jasmine?"

Aini gulped nervously, not at all liking the expression that had come across Arbutus' face the moment she had said Jasmine's name. His eyes had narrowed dangerously, and his hands, which had hung freely at his sides moments before, had become tight fists.

"Y…y…yes!" She squeaked, her fear rising again as she saw a sneer come over Arbutus' lips, revealing the fang-like teeth hidden underneath.

"Princess….Jasmine?" Each word seemed difficult to him, as though he was trying his best to force them out but was having difficulty anyway.

Aini nodded, preferring not to talk anymore. Somehow, she knew if she tried she would not be able to speak clearly. The look on his face scared her so badly, she momentarily thought he was going to lash out at her.

Arbutus' face had darkened with shadows where there had previously been the light of a smile. He was breathing heavily, clenching and unclenching his fists. His eyes were narrowed, and seemed to almost be glowing a dark, unreal colour.

When he took a step forward, Aini couldn't help but step back away from him, a small whimper escaping her lips. She debated turning and bolting away to hide until his strange mood escaped him, but somehow she doubted she would get very far.

~Why is he so angry? Why when I said her name?~ Her thoughts screamed clearly, although her natural voice came out cracked and broken.

"A….A…Ar…Arbutus?"

She remained frozen to the floor beneath her, and watched as Arbutus turned his eyes back to her, finally noticing the terrified expression on her face. He froze, not moving for a moment, and he continued staring at her.

"Oh Gods….I am so sorry!"

In seconds, his entire dark demeanor seemed to disintegrate, as if he had simply shrugged off the hatred that had seemed to be swallowing him only seconds before. The darkness left his face and his eyes, and his body relaxed.

Instead, there appeared on his face a look of intense sorrow, and he backed away a few paces from Aini, who's own expression of fear had been replaced with one of utter confusion.

"A..Arbutus. What's the matter?" she managed to steady her face enough to ask.

When he sunk to the floor, the sudden movement caught Aini off guard, who gasped as she watched him sink down, his flowing robed covering the earth.

"Arbutus?" Ai gasped, her eyes widening in fear as she watched him tilt his face towards the earth, his hands clawing at the ground underneath them, leaving scars in the earth.

No sight had ever affected Ai as badly as the one she was looking at right then. It was almost inhumanly disturbing, seeing someone whom she had came to understand as a proud, powerful creature to simply submit to their emotions to badly. As if the grace that had held the elemental up moments before had fallen.

Not being able to watch the spectacle from the sidelines any longer, Aini ran the few short steps towards Arbutus, who continued to look downward. He only looked up when Ai's face leaned down to look upside down at him.

"What….," he started gently, seeing she had come to rest on the earth beside him.

Her eyes had tears in them, as if seeing him in such a bad state seemed to affect her worst then it affected him.


"P…please. I didn't mean to make you sad!" she whimpered, a few stray tears escaping down her cheeks. "I'm sorry….," she trailed off, and Arbutus almost gasped in shock when she threw her arms around him in a tight embrace, hiding her face in the folds of his robe.

An akward moment followed, but Arbutus found himself returning the embrace, sliding his arms around her waist and drawing her closer still.

"Don't be! It's not your fault. It was a very long time ago, and I should have controlled myself!" He spoke, the gentle tone having returned to his voice.

There was a muffled whimper from the form huddled against him, and Arbutus sighed, leaning his head down against her hair.

"Let me explain everything!"

In the long while that followed, Aini rested against Arbutus, listening intensly to every word he conveyed to her. Listening in shock, fear, and sadness as the conclusion of the nearly impossible tale came about.

"He…killed you…," she spoke softly, disbelief in her voice.

Arbutus nodded, his head still resting against hers.

"Yes, and left my garden dead!"

In the distance, the sun had set, and the third day was just over the horizon.

**********

Next, Aladdin, Jasmine, and Sadira arrive at Arbutus' garden, but a small mistake prones grounds for an all-out war….