IF THERE BE THORNS
By Maggie Griffin
CHAPTER 14: The Rebirth
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When Jasmine arrived in the throne room, Genie was sitting next to Aladdin at the base of the throne. His blue skin looked even more pale then usual, and his eyes stared ahead hauntingly, his mouth a thin slit on his face.
"Genie? What's happened?" Jasmine asked, immediately noticing the uncomfortable distressed looked on his face. "You look like someone died!"
"Not exactly Jas…," Aladdin murmured, his face thoughtful and concerned. "But something like that."
Genie arose then, floating slowly into the air. Without another word, he floated right out of the room, hunched over; his face frozen in a look that crossed between dismay and shock. Even Jasmine's voice calling to him in worry didn't bring him back as he floated off into the courtyard and vanished behind some trees.
"Alright, what's happened? What's the matter with both of you?" Jasmine demanded, more then a little nervous of Genie's behaviour. Not to mention the unsettling look on Aladdin's face.
Aladdin sighed, and finally arose from the floor. "Come on Jasmine, we have something we have to talk about," he said to her, leading her gently by the arm to her room. "We have to get everyone else together too, they'll want to know!"
With that, he led a very confused Jasmine to her room, closing the door behind them softly.
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"You haven't told me…," Ai started, but bit her lip quickly.
"What?"
"What happened here, and to you…."
The next short while was an uncomfortable one as silence once more made its way into the conversation. Nothing was said for a while, until finally Arbutus spoke once more, though his voice was barely audible.
"You died."
More silence followed, though this time it was far more welcoming. The soft statement continued to hang in the air, and even with no words being said, there was still discomfort there.
"Everything….everything died afterward, it went dark first….I couldn't stop it, the trees enveloped out the sun, and it was dark," he spoke once more, and each word filled Aini with a small tinge of both sorrow and fear. As though the happy place she had once learned to live in and love had become one of death and sadness. Where the darkness took the place of sunlight. Arbutus shook his head suddenly, bringing his hand to his brow. "But nevermind…what happened to you?" He motioned to her wings, and Ai had no doubt that wasn't the only changes he had noticed. "You look…different!"
Aini laughed suddenly, and the sound brought an instant smile to Arbutus' face. When Aini saw it, she couldn't help but smile more, so relieved to find there was still traces of the past to be found.
"Chaos did it. I think I was dead….," she paused for a moment as she saw Arbutus shift in discomfort, but put a gentle hand on his arm. "I remember, only white everywhere, and like I was floating…then I was back, and he was there, and I looked…," she motioned to herself, "…like this!"
Tears suddenly filled her eyes, and when the loud sob escaped her lips Arbutus jumped, immediately thinking he had somehow hurt her once more. Yet she only sank to the floor, and began to cry folding her good wing over herself and letting the broken one hang limply against her side. She continued to cry like this, until it became unsettling and Arbutus succumbed to kneeling down beside her.
"My flower…what's the matter?" He asked softly, patting her head. "Does it hurt so much?" He winced suddenly, realizing that she was probably in a lot more pain then she let on.
After a stifled sob, Aini raised her tear-streaked face weakly and shook her head from side to side. "N..No…I…"
"What is it?"
Another sob escaped her, "He made me a monster!" She cried.
Arbutus blinked, startled by the sudden outburst. "What?"
"L…l…look at me, I'm not….," she stopped, interrupted by another wave of sobs.
Arbutus didn't hesitate or think as he simply wrapped his willowy arms around her, touching his own forehead to hers lightly. After a moment, his hands came up and wiped the tears from her cheeks.
"Foolish girl…" He murmured softly, stroking her face to calm her crying. "You are no monster!"
"B..But…"
He cut her off this time, reacting more on instinct then anything else. His lips found hers, silencing whatever she had been about to say. Aini's eyes widened, though she didn't pull away. At first, she stayed still, not reacting at all to the sensation but affected never the less.
Arbutus' kiss was different then she would have thought. She had to admit with a twinge of guilt that she had thought about kissing him long before he had kissed her that time while she had slept. In fact, for the longest time she had believed she had dreamed that moment, something that had apparently been real.
The kiss itself was warm, and surprisingly soft. Aini had always thought it would somehow feel…different. After all, Arbutus was….well technically sort of tree-like. His face looked somewhat like the texture and colour of a tree bark. Yet to the touch, it didn't feel as it would be expected to.
She succumbed after another moment, deepening the kiss to a newer level between them. Arbutus didn't try to protest, instead wrapping his arms around her waist tightly.
"Ai…" He murmered softly against her mouth, his tone husky and tight. When she raised her eyes to meet his, she found the spark she had missed before, and wondered briefly how it could have ever been gone. The light was so bright now, as though a fire had begun behind his sight, one that was nowhere near stopping.
Even as they lay slowly down against the thick bark of a large oak, nothing slowed. Even as sensations intestified and touch became more and more insistent, as though letting go now would only cause further darkness.
And all around them, there began a whispering. Where there had been silence, voices began to chatter in hushed, merry tones. And laughter bounced off the wind as the sun hit downward and touched the earth. Slowly, the Garden began to fill with light.
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Next, Aladdin and co are shocked when they run into Aini in a most unconventional way, Sadira refuses to leave Ai with Arbutus.