A/n: I saw The Village again last night and got another plot bunny stuck in my head...:) It's quite a bit longer than the other fic, and it's probably of dubious quality since it hasn't been beta-ed. Set some time between Ivy meeting Noah and The Village. Reviews are happily accepted, but constructive critism is welcomed too.
PS. Many thanks to Elrarlia, Marianne, Siruslyr for their lovely positive reviews, and an extra huge thank you to it takes a village for his/her constructive critism. I've taken your advice and changed the ending. And I'm really glad you pointed that out, because the ending felt tacked-on to me and I had no idea how to change it...Thank you! :D
Disclaimer: I don't own them, M Night does.
Summary: Some fluff, some angst. Ivy and Noah play hide and seek, but when Ivy gets sick, Noah becomes all too aware of the presence of Lucius Hunt.
It was nearing nightfall in the village, and the sky was covered with jagged dark clouds when Ivy finally sighed dramatically and flung her cane down in an exaggerated gesture.
"Very well Noah... You have beaten me! I have no idea where you are... You win this game of hide and seek!"
She turned in his direction and sighed in mock-dismay. Ivy knew exactly where he was of course. But she had pretended not to hear his frenetic giggling that increased gradually in volume as she approached where he was hiding. Once or twice she had even playfully reached out to almost touch him, seeing his colour flashing in the darkness, his laughter muffled as he cowered just beneath her outreached hands.
It was always the same when they played hide and seek. Very rarely did actually she 'find" Noah. For her, the game was too easy to win, and so she let Noah have the novelty of winning. She knew how happy it made him, and losing a child's game was a small price to pay for her dearest friend's joy.
Now he appeared by her side, clapping in unrestrained delight. "I beat you!" he declared, giggling madly. "I beat you again!"
"Indeed you did, and it was a very fair game too."
"Yes," he mumbled, rapidly sober. "It was fair. Very fair." If he ever knew that she let him win on purpose he never said a word. He suddenly leaned and gave her a sloppy kiss on the cheek. "Thank you for playing with me."
"You are most welcome. Shall we go home then? It's getting late and I think it will rain soon."
Ivy sniffed. The air was humid, and with her heightened sense of smell she could tell the scent of the rain above without needing to see the dark clouds.
"Okay. Let's go home."
She smiled knowingly and took his hand in hers and they began the trip back to the Percy residence, Ivy chattering as they went.
"It will certainly be nice if it rains tonight won't it? You know, when it used to rain when I was little, I always used to think that the sky was crying."
"I don't like it when it rains. It's wet and muddy."
"Well yes, but the crops need water to grow. And if we don't have-" Ivy paused, her ears picking up a thundering groan in the distance. "That is odd. That sounded like thunder."
"Bright flashes." Noah muttered fearfully, clenching Ivy's hand tighter. "There's bright flashes in the sky. I don't like them..."
It must be lightning, Ivy realised with a start. The overhead rain was a thunderstorm. And Noah was utterly terrified of storms.
No matter how many times he was explained to that thunder and lightning could not hurt him, the phenomena still invoked a terror in him that even the creatures did not. The last time there had been a storm he had run in terror from his house to hers in the pouring rain, leaving his door front wide open and appearing at her doorstep sopping wet, sobbing her name.
"Come now, quickly, we need to get you home."
But before she had time to even take another step, there was a clap of deafening thunder above them, and a flash of light that even Ivy saw in her darkness. Noah fell to his knees on the ground with his hands clapped over his ears, and Ivy gasped in dismay.
"Quickly!" she hissed, trying to pull the now- terrified boy up from the ground. "I'll get you home. You'll be safe, I promise!"
There was another clap of thunder overhead, and suddenly she felt icy wetness on her hands and shoulders. The rain began to fall heavily, saturating them both in an instant.
"I'm scared Ivy! The noises are bad!" Noah wailed, clutching at her skirt hem in terror.
Ivy took hold of his hand firmly and managed to pull him up.
"I promise I will get you home, but you have to get up and not stop walking. Now come on!"
Half running, half stumbling, Ivy ran towards her home in the pouring rain, one hand extended with her cane tapping and the other hand linked tightly with Noah's, whose wailing she could hear over the thunder.
When they arrived at the Walker cottage they were dripping wet and exhausted. Kitty gasped in horror when she saw them and bustled to get them into clean dry clothes and next to the fireplace. Noah stayed by Ivy's side, gibbering in fear about the bad noises, while Ivy mutely held him, shivering from the cold. But as always, all was well eventually, and when the storm ended Mr Percy came to take Noah home. However Ivy went to bed still feeling cold and shaken.
The next day she had a fever and could not get up.
Noah reached out towards the flowers, eyes narrowed in concentration, tongue slightly poking out between his lips. He had to be very careful if he wanted to pick these flowers for Ivy without being seen, because if Mrs Crane saw him...
"You there! Noah Percy! Out of my garden now!"
He stumbled back, a flush spreading over his face. Mrs Crane had indeed seen him, and now the formidable looking woman was barging out of her kitchen with a less-than-pleased expression on her face.
"What on earth are you doing in my garden?" she demanded, her hands on her hips in anger.
"Are you trying to steal my flowers again? Do you want me to call your mother and tell her that you are undertaking vandalism? Well? Explain yourself this instant!"
Noah blinked as he clambered to his feet. He was unsure of what vandalism meant exactly, but it sounded bad. And he knew where he ended up every time he did something bad... The quiet room.
"I'm...I'm sorry Mrs Crane," he mumbled. "I was picking flowers. For Ivy... Because she's sick."
Her expression suddenly softened as she realised his intentions. "Oh, I see." She looked the gangly youth up and down as he trembled in fear waiting to see what she would do next. The poor boy was so odd, she thought to herself. The only friend he had in the entire village was Ivy Walker, and now the girl was sick with influenza. She would not die, but she was certainly very ill, and ever since that previous disease had stricken her blind, every time she sickened was a time of worry. Her family was very concerned for her, as was the whole village. It was only natural that Noah would want to pick her flowers.
Mrs Crane sighed and leaned down to her garden, selecting some flowers that she thought would look nicest together. None were red of course, and she knew that the girl would never see them, but she supposed she could pick some that would look aesthetically pleasing.
"Here you go Mr Percy. I'm sure she will love these." She handed him the bunch as he gazed at her in bewilderment.
"But next time you would like some flowers...Simply ask of me. I would rather you ask me than enter my garden unbidden. Understand?"
He nodded dumbly, clutching the flowers in his hand. "Th...thank you Mrs Crane."
She gestured with her hands. "Then go, and take her the flowers. They will wilt if you do not put them in water soon."
Noah nodded again and then bolted for Ivy's house, a smile on his face. He had flowers for his Ivy. She adored flowers, even though she couldn't see their pretty colours. When she had them she would be so happy she would hug him and forgive him for getting her caught in the rain. He did not entirely understand why he always felt such joy at the thought of Ivy hugging him and being pleased with him, but he knew that that was what he wanted.
When he arrived at her house, he paused on the porch to smooth his shirt. He wanted to look "presentable", as his mother always said, for the moment when he gave Ivy her flowers. But when he looked through the window of her bedroom he saw that there was already flowers in a jug on her bedside table. And she was sitting up, talking and laughing animatedly. And in his place next to her bed, sitting on a chair, looking rather uncomfortable, was Lucius Hunt.
He knew that Ivy talked with Lucius sometimes, and on some level was even aware that Lucius thought Ivy was nice...And because Lucius was kind to him, he never had minded him. The concept of Ivy liking Lucius back never had bothered him before, because he was comfortable with the simple knowledge that Ivy was his. Ivy talked to him, protected him from the mean boys and comforted him when he was frightened. She played hide and seek with him. She never played hide and seek with Lucius. She even let him kiss her on the cheek, and no other boy in the village was allowed to do that.
So why was she suddenly feeling better when Lucius was there? Why had he brought her flowers? Before today, no one except for Noah had brought her flowers. For a moment, Noah felt an unsettling bitter pang at the sight of them talking, and he clenched the flowers in his hand so tightly that a few growing buds fell to the porch floor, unnoticed. He watched as she laughed, her red curls sweeping as she did so as Lucius smiled slightly in his chair. He had never seen her laugh like that before, not even when they played. And for a moment, only for the briefest moment, he felt an urge to hurt Lucius. He wanted to take Lucius and hurt him so Ivy would never talk to him again. He wanted to push Lucius away so Ivy would see him and him only. Lucius wasn't Ivy's special friend. Only Noah was.
But suddenly he felt shame at his thoughts. Ivy was always telling him not to hurt people, no matter how angry he was. What would she say if she knew he wanted to hurt Lucius? She wouldn't be happy with him, Noah realised. She would be disappointed with him, and there was no worse feeling for him than Ivy being disappointed. He must never tell her of his anger. He bit his lip for a moment, and then looked down at the now crushed blooms. Gently, he touched them, trying to restore them to their previous state, and then stopped bothering. Noah knew that she would like them, no matter what they looked like. Just as she liked him.
He sighed, the unsettling feeling of anger and jealousy going away slowly. Ivy would like his flowers. Lucius was just there because his mother must have sent him. Yes. That made sense. After all, Ivy was his best friend. And surely she would have another jug for his flowers.
"Noah?"
He looked up, startled. Ivy was gazing out through the window, waving from her bed. She turned to Lucius, as if asking him a question. Then she looked up, waved again and her face broke into a smile.
She was happy to see him. Just as quickly as all the doubts had entered his mind, they scattered away, and grinning, he bounded to the front door to give Ivy her present.