Woo! I was struck on the head last night with inspiration, and I got the whole chapter out, plus planned the rest of the story! It always helps when you know exactly what's going to happen in the end, so you know what to work towards…
To My Reviewers:
shmo (handing me time/inspiration, eh? Good going. : ) ), Dagron, DragonSlayerMogget, FoxyFire, Ron and his Sakura (I'd just like to say, I swear to you that in the series, it looks like he's wearing a pink shirt… I wouldn't have picked it out first off either, but look at it! I swear to you it's a light shade of pink! Oh, and eventually we'll see into Celena's head… just wait…), and dreamingofflyingaway
You all rock so hard. Thanks so much!
And on with the next chapter…
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Chapter 6: Told You
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Gaddes awoke with a start. He'd apparently fallen asleep while watching Celena. Some guardian he was. Propping himself up on his elbow, he looked over at the female lying a foot and a half from him. She appeared to be sleeping peacefully, and didn't look quite so ghastly pale, though wearing a black dress did nothing to help her look healthier.
He rubbed his eyes tiredly. Hopefully he wouldn't catch a chill, either. It was bad enough with one of them sick.
She flailed out a hand in his general direction, startling him. After a moment of hesitation, he took her hand gently, caressing the back of it with his thumb. Her head moved from side to side in agitation. "No… don't!" she whimpered.
A frown appeared on his face. She was having nightmares, obviously. But of what?
Her hand tightened on his. "Jajuka!"
Who?
"I'm alone…" She whimpered. A single tear slid down her porcelain cheek. "Dallet… Gatti… Chesta… Viole… Miguel… Guimel…"
Who in the hell are these people?
She blinked her eyes open, breathing heavily. After catching sight of Gaddes beside her, she visibly calmed. "Oh," she exhaled in a raspy voice.
His eyes widened in momentary surprise when he peered into her face. "Celena… do you have a scar on your cheek?"
"What?"
"Your cheek…" He blinked, and whatever illusion he had seen wasn't there anymore. "Uh… Never mind. You were having nightmares?"
She nodded, sitting up slowly.
"What of?"
Her eyes closed. "I'm… not sure. It's all kind of hazy."
A dark eyebrow lifted. "They seemed pretty vivid to me."
Celena looked at him. "I just remember impressions. You know how that works with dreams."
"Why don't you try and remember? Maybe talking them out will calm you down."
"I am calm."
"You're still trembling."
She realized he was holding her hand, and weakly tried to pull it back, but he wouldn't relinquish his grip. "Let go."
"Not until you try and figure out what your nightmare is. Maybe once you figure it out, it'll go away." In all honesty, he didn't know that it would go away. He just wanted to know what had spooked her so badly.
Her head turned away from him. "How would you know it's a reoccurring nightmare?"
"Because…" Gaddes scratched his head with his other hand. "Well, I guess I don't know. I just assumed."
She couldn't stop her smile at that.
"Well, I've gotta say, sweetheart, I've never heard you talk so much. I need to catch you right when you wake up more often."
A faint blush stained her face.
He grinned. "Now about these dreams…"
Rolling her eyes, she wrapped her other arm around herself. "You don't let up, do you?"
"Not if I can help it."
"Stubborn ox."
"You, too."
She grimaced. "Nice."
He laughed aloud. "Will you just try and tell me something about the dreams? At the very least, you'll be distracted by trying to focus."
"You have twisted logic." The little blonde shrugged. "I just remember… these men. Boys, really. I was close with them, I guess… But all I remember is them dying… all of them… all at once… and me, left alone. And Jajuka… he died, too. He left me alone. But I don't remember who these people are! And for the life of me, I can't forget them either!"
"They're from you as Dilandau?"
"Yes!" She finally managed to yank her hand away from Gaddes. "Why did this have to happen to me? Why did I have to be the one who got screwed over by those… sorcerer-men?!"
Gaddes thought for a moment. "Sometimes, that's just how fate works, Celena," he said, knowing it was a weak explanation.
"You know nothing of fate…" she muttered bitterly.
He nodded slightly, looking off into the distance. "I suppose I don't."
She was obviously surprised that he didn't object to her statement. But it also seemed that her sudden outpouring of words had found its end.
After an odd moment of silence – which was odd, because silences between them were never odd – Gaddes said, "So! Since we're having such a cheery conversation, why don't we eat some of the bread and meat that Marabelle insisted we bring along? I'll bet it'll make you feel better, if not mentally and emotionally, then at least physically."
Celena refused to look up at Gaddes, even when he gave her the flask of water to drink.
After a little while longer, Gaddes heard a soft "I'm sorry."
He raised both eyebrows. "Sorry for what?"
"Everything." Her lashes flickered upwards to reveal her beautiful eyes.
His mouth didn't seem to be able to find any words because of the way she looked at him. "It's… fine," he finally said lamely.
She smiled slightly, questioning with her eyes again.
"I don't think we're going much further today. Just in case."
Her pretty mouth turned down in a confused frown.
"Well, you were sick, Celena. You can't be all better in two seconds."
One slim eyebrow rose.
"Okay, so two hours. Still. I don't want you getting sicker than you already were."
"I can walk a little further," she insisted verbally.
"I'm doing this for your own good, Celena. Now lay back again-"
She moved away from his touch. "I'm not a kid! Trust me."
"Celena-" he began, wanting her to know he thought of her as anything but a kid, but any explanations along that line would end up with him telling her way more than he wanted to. And that was something he was sure he would try to avoid at all costs.
"Look, Gaddes," she said with finality, "If we were walking for two hours without finding anything along the road, wouldn't it make sense that something would be close by, by now?"
He paused for a moment to consider that. "I suppose it makes sense…" he agreed reluctantly.
"Let's walk an hour, then I'll stop… just for you," she added sweetly.
"Fine," he reluctantly agreed. "I'm sick of arguing with you. Who'd have thought your silences were easier than when you spoke?"
A smug smile graced her face, and she started to fold the blanket methodically.
"But only one hour," he reminded her.-
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An hour later they were sitting in a little tavern, Celena drinking wine, Gaddes helping himself to some mead.
"Told you," she said quietly, keeping her head down.
"Shut up," he grumbled back.
The smug smile hadn't appeared to leave her face yet. Gaddes rolled up the sleeves of his now-blue shirt in a sloppy but efficient manner, having neglected to put his chest armor and vest back on once he'd changed out of his rain-soggy clothes.
She reached over and fingered his cuffs lightly. "I like this better," she said.
"You do, eh?" He smiled broadly at her, hoping to embarrass her. "Why?"
Shaking her head, she looked away. "It's a nice color for you… and the sleeves aren't as poofy."
"You got a problem with my sleeves?"
She bit her lip, trying to hold back her smile.
"Well, if my sleeves were a problem, I can't imagine what you think of your brother's."
Celena's voice lifted in a musical laugh that made Gaddes feel strangely warm and happy inside. Ridiculous…
He looked away from her face to find a scruffy wolf-man staring in their direction. Gaddes felt the hair on the back of his neck lift. Do I know him from somewhere? Somehow, he didn't feel comforted at all by the stranger's familiarity.
"You know, Celena," he began, "Maybe we shouldn't stay here for the night…"
"I thought you said-"
"Yeah, well, I'm not feeling too good about it anymore. Let's go. Get your things." He stood from the table, pulling her up with him and swinging his bag onto his shoulder with his other hand. Dropping money by their half-finished drinks, he gripped her elbow and walked swiftly out the door. A discreet glance behind them proved that the wolf-man had followed them out. He kept walking for a few more seconds before abruptly turning around to deliver a punch to the wolf-man. Unfortunately, the stranger was taller than Gaddes assumed, and his punch hit him in the shoulder instead of in the face like he'd intended to. The wolf-man, however, was in no confusion as to the relative size of his opponent, and reflexively sent a hard punch to Gaddes' eye, sending him stumbling backwards. Before he could regain his footing, Celena jumped in, punching the wolf-man in the gut – hard. The breath woofed out of the big animal-human, and Celena wasted no time in taking advantage of his bent stance. Gaddes couldn't help but watch in amazement at the way she moved, deftly and efficiently. Like a soldier.
"Wait!" a deep voice growled as the wolf-man back away. "Wait, I'm not what you think."
Celena just stared at him icily, holding back her attack.
The wolf-man looked up sheepishly at Gaddes. "I didn't mean to punch you, it was a reflex. I apologize."
Gaddes frowned in confusion. "Okay…"
He straightened. "You don't remember me, but I remember you. Your ship escorted the lady Hitomi and Lord Van, didn't it?"
"Yes…"
"I knew it. I am Ruhm, one of Lord Van's close companions. I keep the border of Fanelia safe."
The memory clicked. Gaddes vaguely recalled the large wolf-man while they had briefly been near Fanelia on one of their several sojourns over in that area. "Ah. Yes, I do remember you."
Celena glanced back at Gaddes, wilting slightly. She apparently wasn't entirely healthy yet, and the impressive fighting – unnecessary though it was – had taken a lot out of her.
"This is Celena, Allen Schezar's sister," Gaddes explained belatedly.
"My apologies, milady, if I harmed you in any way."
"No harm done," she finally said, shrinking back towards Gaddes as if she needed protection.
He scoffed at himself. Like she needs protection…
Ruhm regarded the two questioningly. "What are you doing here, anyway, if I may ask?"
She was now standing pretty close to Gaddes, practically inviting him to put his arm around her in comfort, though he didn't know why she'd need it so bad. Resisting the urge, he concentrated on Ruhm's question. "Well, I was picking up Celena from the Palas in Asturia, planning to meet Allen and the rest of the crew in Fanelia, but we were… accosted by some people who don't feel too favorable towards Celena's past, even though she wasn't to blame for her actions. So we set off on foot, trying to keep away from most people so that we wouldn't have any more problems."
"Ah. And that would explain why you were so jumpy when you saw me."
"Yeah…"
Ruhm's eyes lit up. "You need safe transportation? I will gladly give you a ride to Fanelia. I need to see the king, anyway."
"Really?" Celena was leaning against him, making it nearly impossible not to put his arm around her. Sighing to himself, he pulled her close, letting her rest against him. "That would be great."
He grinned wolfishly. "We can leave tonight, if you'd like to get to Fanelia sooner."
"You sure that's fine with you?"
"As I said, I have business of my own there as well." He turned to go, but paused a moment. "Is she alright?"
Gaddes glanced down at the girl under his arm, looking decidedly under the weather as well. "She was just a little sick earlier. A chill from the thunderstorm."
"Ah." He nodded understandingly. "Well, I will be right back with the horse and cart."
He left the two standing there, almost leaning on each other. Gaddes smiled softly at Celena and chucked her chin lightly. "That's what you get for swimming in freezing water, little one," he chuckled.
She grumbled slightly, though not coherently.
In almost no time Ruhm appeared with the cart and horse, and Gaddes lifted a tired Celena onto the hay. He climbed up beside her, and they set off.
She wasn't looking well again. Gaddes shook his head, and pulled out the blanket again. "You really need to learn when to rest," he said teasingly.
"I wasn't thinking," she said quietly.
He smiled. "I know." Gently, he brushed the hair back from her forehead again. "You know, you've got some pretty good moves there."
She looked up at him, wearing the innocent-little-girl face. "I don't remember knowing how to do that." Her forehead creased in concern as she spotted something. "Gaddes, your eye…" Her fingertips gingerly touched the swelling around his eye, and he winced.
"Oh yeah, forgot about that…"
Her lips curved slightly, and she rested her hand on his cheek for a moment. "I think you need a shave…"
His stomach was doing strange things inside of him. Not normal feelings either. It was the tangled-up-in-knots, trying-to-win-a-gymnastics-competition sort of feeling. With an effort, he forced his normal lopsided grin. "Nah."
She sighed. "I know the sun is just now setting, but I'm kinda tired…"
"There's nothing to stop you from sleeping, sweetheart."
Her hand dropped back down, and Gaddes keenly felt its absence. "I guess you're right…"
Once again, he found himself watching her as she fell asleep. What does this make me, some kind of weird stalker? But he couldn't resist. Her hair had dried in soft curls around her face after the thunderstorm, and it was begging for his touch. This time, though, he kept his hands to himself. Unfortunately, his eyes were not so easily controlled. Her lips puckered slightly as her chest rose and fell in quiet breaths. Looking at her, he couldn't help but reflect in the sleepy silence on what had happened during the day. She'd opened up to him with more than just her actions this time, and for some reason, he felt as if the world was suddenly spinning the wrong way on its axis. In a rather short time things were changing, just as discreetly and yet as intensely as the thunderstorm that had snuck upon them earlier that day. Though he couldn't quite hear or understand whatever was going on inside him, it was clear that there were definitely undercurrents moving beneath the surface… like a silent storm…
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And there we are. Soon (hopefully) I'll finish, since I have it all planned out mostly… Oh, and if I messed up the Dragon Slayers' names, I apologize profusely, and would ask that you feel free to correct me in a kind and positive manner, please. Though none of you are mean at all… but just in case…
Til the next chapter!
-wink