Author's Note

Pinkchick: You keep inspiring me to write more. Thanks for all the support!!!

Lil Jean: Tried to update as quickly as possible for ya…hehe.

Mark C: I know how ya feel about Duncan and Jean's mother, but sadly the bad things always happen to good people……

Lexan: Thanks for that feel good review. I like to hear that people enjoy the way I write and I love imagery……this is the chapter where you will find the most of it!!!

Black-rose91: I agree that JOTT rules, hents me writing this story…hehe. I'm glad you like the explanation of feeling which I am trying to accomplish the most, seeming this is a romance story. Sometimes romance is so hard to describe in a way where people feel it in their bones. I'm trying…… Duncan's fate will be revealed soon.

Thank you all for reviewing my ninth chapter. Hope to hear more of your comments! For those who reviewed before or are currently reading this story, I yearn reviews so please do so!!! ENJOY!!!

Recommendation to go read Pinkchick's story "Sacrifice". It's a good one.

Chapter 10

Charles knew where she was. He entered the library after nights of sleeping and days of thinking about the encounter he had had with Scott a few days back. He found Jean in a corner beneath the long, curved steps, on a wooden table. She had a book open and her eyes were searching the page, reading word for word with intensity. "Interesting book?" Charles asked lightly to his granddaughter as he took a seat across from the small table. Jean looked up with sore red eyes and a tear stained face. She nodded at his question and looked down at the book to hide her face. He could not see her like this, helpless.

"Grandfather," Jean said politely with respect towards her loving grandfather. "Did you need something?"

"I need your attention," Grandfather Charles said as she looked up at him with weak and saddened eyes. "My dear, I do not like to see you in such a state. Dry your eyes. Allow me to see that beautiful smile like always." Jean forced the tiniest smile onto her face. Then she decided to let out her thoughts to the person willing to listen. The person who would understand her.

"I thought it would go fine," Jean said then winced and shook her head with disapproval. "But, deep down inside, I knew something was wrong. Grandfather, it happened and I let it happen. I knew something was wrong from the start, yet I helped it blossom into a disaster."

"Life is not easy my dear," Grandfather Charles said softly with a caressing voice.

"I know. But I could control this situation, yet I did not. I was silent," Jean said through a choked voice. Tears began to stream down her face as her body trembled. Scott and her have gotten into many fights before. But small and meaningless fights. Situations children dealt with, small matters and details of life. Nothing ever this big. Nothing ever this hurtful. She sniffled lightly as she whispered through a beating heart, "And now I lost my best friend. I have lost my best friend."

"Jean. Everybody makes mistakes. What everybody does not do is fix them," Charles said meaningfully as he wiped the tears from Jean's eyes.

She wanted to bury herself in this book. Away from the truth, away from reality. Away from the conclusions of the cruelty of life. Away from the ground, and into the sky. She was silent, what a horrible nightmare to be silent! "Grandfather, our two worlds do not belong. Not together."

"People are people, and that is the end of that," he said.

"It is not as easy as it sounds," Jean said as she watched her Grandfather's eyes grow lost in space. He was thinking of something in another world. He shook his head in disagreement towards her words. Why would he disagree? Everything that has happened agrees with her words. Her words are the truth and he is not making it easier on her by lying. Jean shut her book and looked at the black cover with fancy lettering on it. She had not wanted to read a book she always enjoyed reading today. Utopia is a book she dreaded even thinking about. How horribly bad had Thomas Moore's life been to write a book about paradise. Something that lives in people's minds and imaginations.

"As former king of France, I object," Charles said with his mouth set in a grim line. It seemed as if he was about to open up to Jean. It seemed as if he was going to tell her something she has never heard before as he took in a deep breath. "You never knew your Grandmother."

"I wish I did," Jean said as she fiddled with the book's pages. She had seen a picture of her grandmother. She was beautiful. Jean's mother resembled her own mother very much. Jean always wanted to know about her but never had the chance to ask.

"She would be very proud of the granddaughter she has. But not in this situation," Grandfather said lightly. "Your Grandmother was from a village in Rome." Jean's eyes widened with surprise and interest. She now understood her Grandfather's words. She understood his point. Point of life and love. He was a lucky man to have married the woman he loved.

"Does Mother know this?" Jean whispered intently. She had to ask and she had to find out. Grandfather shook his head. How could her mother be so cruel against those who were not like her when her own mother was not like her father? How could she be so close-minded and blind? God does work in mysterious ways. Charles got up from the table as he watched a smile curl upon Jean's face.

"Jean," he said as he leaned on his cane and turned his head to the side. "Time has no barriers. No boundaries. Neither does love."

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Jean patted Scott's brown horse as she watched the sun float on the horizon. She kissed the horse and walked away from the trees, into the open area where the sun could be seen. She looked forward to spot Scott looking up when all he had to do was turn around. A slight breeze blew past her and she shivered when she watched Scott's muscular body tremble beneath the breeze. She watched intently with squinted green eyes as he laid his face in his hands. She watched him sigh deeply and pull his knees closer to him. His legs were slightly apart as he grabbed a rock from the ground and threw it forward. Jean slowly walked up to him as he put his forehead on his lower arm that he leaned against his knees. Her shadow suddenly hovered over him. Scott looked up with starry eyes as he whispered her name with softness, "Jean."

Jean gave him a genuine smile at the sound of her name through his soothing voice. He smiled back, giving in to her magnetism. But then his thoughts and memories rushed over him again. Jean gazed at him with a welcoming heart and he allowed himself to let it be welcomed. He looked at her with a stern face to tell her he was being serious. It was hard when he looked at her face that shone with the sun's dim light and her dress blowing lightly with the slight breeze. She looked so beautiful. "Hello," was all Jean could muster from her thoughts. Her mouth was speechless and her heart was weak at the sight of him.

Jean sat on her knees, next to him, and placed her hands weakly in her lap. Scott ran his hands over his face and brushed his hair away. He sighed deeply and inhaled the feel of Jean's presence. He wanted to say so much to her. He wanted to shout. He wanted to yell at her and tell her that they should have never even pondered the thought of friendship. But what did they know? They were so young. Scott closed his eyes for a second and felt confused thoughts run through his head. He knew deep down inside that he wanted to take her in his arms and give her all of his love. "God, Jean, you………you could have had the decency to inform me that you are engaged," Scott said with an irritated voice. After everything he thought about telling her, that was all he could think of saying. His words were lost and his actions were limited. "You could have told me that you loved a man."

Jean creased her eyebrows and bit her pink lips. She wanted to tell him she was sorry. Sorry for being silent. But she could not bring herself to say that. "The subject never came up, so I never spoke of it. Why would you even care for it much?" Jean said as she saw Scott wince and look into the distance. Had she just said what she heard herself say? She knew what she was here to say. So why had she not said it?

He looked towards her and searched her eyes. He found himself melting into them and that was all he saw. Her eyes. "Eight years ago I saw you on the market's streets with your servants. I followed you to the palace, not caring who you turned out to be. I told myself that I could have a chance with her," Scott said then looked to her with gleaming eyes and paused to take a breath. "………I had never seen anything more beautiful," Scott whispered as Jean looked to him with glistening eyes. Jean's body froze as her muscles became a stoned statue. Her heart began to pound against her chest as her breathing seemed to stop. The silence overtook their presence and she could have sworn she could hear the stars twinkle and the moon cry behind the growing clouds. "But words are but words. Nothing more, nothing less," he whispered softly as the words lingered in Jean's ears.

Jean shivered beneath his words and stood up. She began to giggle. Scott looked to her with a questioning expression on his face. "Did you say that I was engaged to a man that I loved?" Jean asked as more laughing escaped her lips.

Scott creased his eyebrows with a small smile trying to escape his lips. "Jean?" Scott questioned with curiosity and hopefulness. "You don't love him?"

"How could I love such a man. The word for that is betrothal," Jean said as laughter tumbled out and Scott's heart was freed. He began to laugh with Jean. The only person who could make him laugh in such a way. They began to laugh together as Jean felt a hand grab hers and pull her down to the ground. They stumbled upon each other with laughter.

When their laughter faded into the distance, Jean opened her eyes to meet Scott's blue eyes. His eyes emanated pure light in the fading sun. His face was inches away from hers and their breathing seemed to stop.

The earth seemed to stop. The breeze seemed to stop. But their hearts seemed to blossom, pounding against each other loudly.

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The clouds floated ever so slightly across the dim sunlight. Orange and pink tendrils painted their colors on the horizon. The extraordinary light seemed to reflect the color green in Jean's eyes as if it were a glistening symbol of Heaven. Pure light emanated from them, causing Scott to falter and freeze. He looked upon her with a light he has seen her in from day one. But when had she become so tempting? He was beaming over her, steadying himself with his hands pressed lightly upon the earth.

The slightest breeze floated past them, causing a piece of Jean's loose red hair to tickle her forehead. Scott leaned on his lower arm that was pressed on the Earth as he slowly moved the other one towards Jean's face. He moved the strand of red hair across her forehead, caressing the skin slightly with his shaking fingertips, and softly tucked it behind her ear.

Goose bumps covered Jean's body as she gazed at Scott's blue eyes. Their immense color and beauty captivated her and she felt as if she was melting slowly into the heated soil. She blinked once or twice in the frozen moment as she noticed something in his eyes. Something she would see when she watched him sleep. When he was sleeping his eyelids would be closed, but she could feel the warmth in them. She knew his soul. She could feel the tenderness, love, and desire that twinkled in them right now, in the shadow of the fading sun.

Their bodies were as still as the trees. The Earth was calm but their hearts were trembling. The sky seemed not to move, the trees stood peaceful and still, and the air was moist and calm.

Jean locked his eyes with hers as if they were melting into each other, slowly. Her fingers brushed a piece of his fallen strand back with the rest of his hair. The color of chestnut was entangled between her fingers as she brushed her hand through. When her hand came to the end of his short hair it moved downwards. Her fingers were vibrating down the side of his eye and ear, until she made a stop in the middle of his cheek. He was truly beautiful. More unique than a piece of art. She lightly cupped his cheek tenderly and painted her thumb across his strong, edged, and heated jaw line. This drove Scott's heart and mind towards insanity full of desire as he leaned into her palm just to feel her soft skin. He made sure to take in the senses that washed over him at that moment. The smell of the soil, the feel of the calm air, the flowery scent of Jean's hair that he made sure to inhale slowly, and the face of an angel.

A heavy raindrop fell upon her pale neck as the air became damp and the smell of the soil beneath them felt so natural. No sound of life lurked in the air. No insects buzzing, no animals howling or crying. No sound of thunder, no sight of lightening. Nothing in the air but the sound of their soft breathing lingered.

Jean tilted her head back to feel the water falling from the sky. She did not move to wipe the drops that lingered, but allowed them to pour down her face and into her hair. She felt a raindrop splash lightly across the soft and heated skin of her neck, followed by another. She felt one single, somewhat different raindrop fall on her shoulder. It felt like fire. Enticement flowed over her mind, heart, soul, and body. It overtook the physical functions of everything.

Still. Very still, but warm. A still, but warm raindrop slipped up the middle of her neck without movement. The raindrops of Scott's lips felt like the raindrop feels when it touches the sea. When the tip rests upon the sky. She felt his love like the rainbow loves the light.

His lips brushed themselves up her neck and rested a kiss right before her chin. He moved his lips slowly from her neck and over her chin, centimeters away from touching her skin. Jean tilted her face up and Scott gazed upon it with love, noticing her eyes closed.

He brought one hand towards her quivering lips and barely touched them. When he touched them, he felt lightening flash through his body in a heartbeat. One hand was in her long red hair, feeling the softness of it against his fingers and savoring every second. His breathing fell heavy against her face and she silently breathed his air into her nostrils.

It was like a dance. An everlasting dance. A song inside her soul pounding against her heart, mind, and mouth to escape. It was almost like a fairytale was happening to her. Or was she dreaming again?

His lips brushed away her thoughts as he touched her parted mouth with softness. Their lips trembled beneath each other. Their lips finally met as they began to move against each other's skin at a slow pace, quivering silently. His lips began to sink into hers with rising passion. He held her face with one hand to be certain that this was reality and not a dream. The rain became heavier and showered upon them with intensity.

She was definitely not dreaming.

Their tongues slowly slipped into each other's mouths and became one. It was as if they were tasting the earth and rain itself. It was so natural, so right.

The enticement flowed through their bones as their passion aroused increasingly. The rain poured upon their limp bodies and stained their clothes intensely. Scott could not stop his hands from moving towards her waist and stomach. He could almost feel her skin through the wet baby blue dress. His mind was dizzy with desire and it drove him crazy.

His shadow entered hers as he rested his chest lightly on her upper body. His right leg was between her wet dress and legs. He felt her face beneath one hand and the earth beneath his other. Her body under his felt warm and overwhelming. He felt as if he could protect her from anything in this world.

Jean felt him pressed so tenderly atop of her. She felt as if she were touching the skin of an angel and looking at the face of God. Their breaths became heavier very calmly. Jean ran her hand up his muscular upper arm and then up to his soaked, stringy hair. She felt Scott shiver beneath her fingers and increase the warm taste of his kisses. Sweet kisses were seasoned upon her lips and showered upon her body. She could not decipher between the heavy rain pounding against them or their hearts pounding against each other.

Forever was a word that allowed itself to enter their minds at the moment. They could not think of anything. All they heard was each other's hearts. All they smelled was each other's scents. All they felt was each other's desires. After their lips felt numb against each other's for what seemed like forever, Scott lightly broke away as Jean slipped down from his lips. Her body leaned into his as he lightly pressed his hand against the edge of her back. His fingers lightly massaged her scalp and caressed the pieces of hair entangled in his fingers. His kisses washed away the raindrops upon her collarbone, shoulders, and neck. He was overwhelmed with his desires as he savored every touch and feel of the everlasting moments.

She felt so comfortable beneath his kisses. She leaned into his body that held her firmly. His face made it's way into her hair. He buried his nose into it as Jean welcomed him. He wanted to stay in there forever. Forever.

Jean ran the back of her hands down the left and right side of his broad back, through his wet shirt. She felt Scott lean against her and she felt his arousal. They held each other's faces once again and their lips met. They felt each other's skin, tongue and water falling from the sky.

Scott's hands ran up and down her stomach as Jean's stringy hair began to sprout water from the rising wind. The wind made them both shiver against each other. Scott placed a slight kiss on Jean's frozen lips as lightening flashed across the sky and his horse cried in the distance. They both gasped at the sound of the horse's cries. Jean and Scott looked solidly into each other's eyes as Scott placed a hand beneath Jean's wet head and another hand around the bottom of her back. He lifted them both up to be seated upright. She had her arms around his neck as she tilted her head to sink her lips into his once again. It was so natural to her, like feeling the rain against her heated skin.

They both got up gracefully as Scott firmly, yet tenderly held her hand to lead her to the horse. He placed his hands around her wet dress around her waist and lifted her to the horse, lightly brushing against him. He climbed onto the horse as she put her arms around his muscular chest. Scott's body temperature was increasingly high and he was afraid that feeling would vanish when she let go. The horse raced across the wet ground and crunched the leaves beneath its feet. Lightening raced across the sky as thunder rumbled loudly beneath the earth. But Jean and Scott did not tremble beneath the cold, for they had each other.

Scott hopped off the horse and reached his hands towards her waist to lightly bring her down. Her back was against the horse as Scott held her close to him. He brushed the wet strands of her hair away from her face and looked upon her with worship. The gleam in her eyes seemed to light up the earth before the thunder had. Scott had forgotten all things. Duncan, her mother, his parents, even the fact that they lived on earth. All he saw was Jean. Jean kept this gaze on him that made him shiver and falter.

"I am sorry that I do not have something to keep you warm," Scott said as he felt her shiver. He hinted his ensemble with his eyes. He was wearing a blouse, tights, and worn boots, nothing more. Jean did not gesture anything but a face that owned eyes which were gleaming brightly at the moment. Without any words, she kissed his lips tenderly.

Jean looked at the back of the palace and turned her head to him as her hand was slipping away from his. When it did slip out, Scott's arm was still outstretched. Jean walked forward and then stopped to look back and whisper, "Tomorrow, after the storm, there will be a rainbow."

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Author's Note REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!!