Disclaimer: I don't own any HDM stuff: the plot, characters, etc.

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A MOTHER'S INSIGHT: PART I

Tick-tock; tick-tock; tick-tock.

Will looked up at the clock, his eyes anxiously watching the seconds pass by. His right foot tapped impatiently on the tiled floor. He bit his lip as his mind registered the time before him: thirty-five minuets after ten.

"Why is it so slow?" Will mutter angrily to himself.

Beside him another sat, a series of potted plants on the kitchen table before her. She was an older woman, not ancient by any means, but well worn with worry and care in her life. She had an odd quality about her; the remains of a nervous twitch and blank stare still evident on her motherly face.

Her eyes, sensitive and deep with love, held about them a lingering emptiness. It was almost as if she were oblivious to everything around her for years in the past and only recently began to become more aware and awake.

The woman's hands worked the plants delicately, transplanting some, pruning others. They moved automatically, knowing their skill and craft without guidance from the mind. She wasn't even looking at her plants, instead relying on the feel of leaf and soil to tell her what needed to be done.

The rest of her attention was directed on the boy sitting beside her, staring at the kitchen clock, his nerves wound up tighter than springs. She watched as Will began tapping the table with the remaining fingers on his wounded hand. The wound which he refused to explain.

"Will," the woman said softly, "Will, what's gotten into you lately? Why have you been so sullen and distracted these past few months?" After a long pause, in which everything seemed to freeze, she continued. "What's going on, Will? What's got you so anxious today?"

Her words were not meant to pry, her tone of voice made that clear beyond any doubt. She was merely worried; worried about the change in this loving and compassionate boy who suddenly became the dark brooding young man before her eyes. But Will couldn't see that, his mind blinded by the anger and despair which threatened to boil out of his every pore.

"I have to meet someone," Will said shortly, his eyes and tone betraying the tumbling emotions inside of him. For a moment his eyes became colder than steel, menacing points of power that shone through his distress. But by the time the woman realized their meaning, Will had already returned his gaze to the kitchen clock on the wall.

"Who?"

The question escaped her lips before she could think better of it, her sympathy and love for him reacting in her before reason had a chance to catch up. She wanted more than anything to ease his pain, for him to pour his worries on to her, even though he would never do that again. She knew her mistake as soon as she uttered the word, she saw the pain and terrible grief written on his face turn to anger and rage in an instant. It was a rage that couldn't be contained, one that lashed out at the only thing available to it: her.

"I don't want to talk about it, Mum!" Will cried out, his voice cracked with tears of pain and undirected hate. "Why can't you just leave me alone?! Why do you have to know about everything I do?!"

The words were the same uttered by every teenager to their parents; but what made these words different was the emotion behind them. Hatred--actual hatred--burst from Will as he snapped at his mother with passionate words and a rising voice.

"Why can't you just leave me alone?" Will shouted at his mother as he ran from the room, his foot steps banging down the hall as he slammed doors behind him. A shadow seemed to follow him, a shadow that seemed to growl with pent up rage and confusion.

Still sitting at the kitchen table, Elaine Parry quivered, struggling with the pain inside her. Her hands were white, clenched in fists around the arms of her chair, as tears streamed down her cheeks and her eyes burned with pain.

"Wh...Why?" Elaine sobbed, finally breaking as she collapsed on the table, covering her head with her arms.

"...Wha...what hap...happened to him? Why won't... he...tell me?"

"Shh...don't cry my child...shh..."

The voice was calm, sure and strong. It sounded the same as how Elaine so terribly desired to sound to Will, but deeper, wiser and more ancient than Elaine's could ever be. The voice sounded like a mother.

Elaine stopped in mid sob, hardly daring to breathe. Something new was building up in her mind, something stronger than her hurt. It felt like fear, or maybe awe, but calming, too; she felt like a child again, or as if she were in John's arms once more.

A gentle, warm hand touched her chin, pulling her up to look into the woman's eyes. With that touch, all worries flooded from Elaine, as she felt loved by this woman, loved more than she had ever been loved before. As Elaine saw her, she knew what she must have been, though she couldn't have said why or how. She was looking into the eyes of Gaia, of her Mother.

"Listen to me, my child," Mother Earth said quietly, "And I will tell you what has happened to your son, and what you must do to help him."

Elaine could do nothing but trust her. She listened as understanding began to dawn upon her.

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Will slammed the front door, storming out of the house. His emotions crackling about him like thunder, struggling to escape.

Inside, two pairs of eyes watch him from the window on the second floor. One belonged to a woman, a woman of mid age caught somewhere between beautiful youth and aged wisdom. Her hair was black and shoulder length. Her eyes held a keen mind, filled with curiosity and a thirst for knowledge.

The other pair belonged to a bird whose feathers mirrored the woman's hair, blending in with the strands as it perched on her shoulder. It's had an air of height about it, as if it were meant to live high above the earth and sea. His eyes though, were more than just a bird's; they shown with the same intense curiosity and thirst as the woman's.

"He's angry," the woman said with a sigh, "too angry."

"He has a right to be angry," the bird replied, his tone sympathetic, "He gained so much, only to loose it all."

"Of coarse he did," the woman agreed as she turned toward the door, " But that's no excuse for him to act this way to his mother..."

The woman walked across the room, opening the door to the hallway as she continued.

"...especially without an explanation."

She walked down the hallway, her sneakers making little sound on the carpeted floor, as the bird continued to argue.

"It's his decision, Mary," he reminded her, "If Will can't face the pain yet, we shouldn't force him too. He'll explain everything to Elaine when he's ready."

"This is different," Mary said, striding down the stairs, "Elaine knows something's wrong, and only wants to help Will. But instead he turns his frustration on her, and with out telling her why. His mother deserves better than that."

"Of coarse," the bird gave in, knowing that Mary was right.

As he said those words, his form began to dissolve from view. Mary wasn't worried, she knew he was still there, even if she couldn't concentrate enough to see him.

And so Mary opened the door to the kitchen alone, ready to calm a shocked and disheartened mother, thinking how best to explain all that happened in a way that was believable.

What she didn't expect to see was Elaine, sitting calmly at the table, working on her plants as if nothing had happened. True, she was crying, but gently, and a soft smile played across her lips.

"Umm...Elaine?" Mary asked in an unnerved sort of voice, "Are you alright?"

Elaine looked up at Mary, her eyes shining through the tears.

"Of coarse I am," she replied with a smile, "Why wouldn't I be?"

Mary took a seat across from Elaine, seeking to steady herself.

"Well, I just heard Will yelling at you," Mary said uncertainly, "and I thought you would need some kind of help... some kind of explanation."

"Oh, there's no need for that, Mary," Elaine said warmly, completely throwing Mary off balance. "I know what happened–and I understand. Will just needs some time to pull himself together, go on with life without her. I know he'll do better than I did without John."

Elaine said it all with such perfect calm, such surety and wisdom, that Mary could only sit there, gawking at her.

"Ho...How? D-did Will tell you?!" Mary exclaimed through her shock.

"Oh, no," Elaine replied, working on her plants, "he can't even face it himself, let alone confide in me. No, I saw it. A mother's instincts are never wrong. I may have been a little lost these past years, but the Mother's Insight"–Mary could hear the capitalization, like in Dust or the Knife–"returned to me today, and it all just sort of clicked together."

Elaine looked at Mary with a warm smile as she continued. "Don't worry, Mary, you'll understand when you have children of your own. Now, if you'll excuse me."

And with that, Elaine stood, taking her plants out to the garden for planting, leaving Mary sitting at the table, completely dazed and confused.

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