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Tradition
Homecoming
Monet watched as Yvette scramble to get stuff together for in her suitcase. The suitcase was borrowed from her, but she understood that this meant alot to Yvette. As she watched, Yvette said, "Thank you for use of the suitcase, Monet. I won't lose it."
Monet just looked at the hurried form and said, "I know. I've never seen Rich like this. He seems adament about going." It was the truth. This had been the most adament Rich had been about anything.
As she watched, she had seen Sean enter the room. She only listened as Sean said, "Yvette, I'm a bit worried about ye." Monet could understand why Sean was concerned. Yvette was Sean's second chance at a daughter.
Monet watched as Yvette stopped and looked at Sean. "You don't have to worry, 'Father.' Both Rich and I know better." She knew what Yvette was refering to. Since Sean was now Yvette's father, Sean had the typical worries of a father.
She then heard a familiar voice speak in her mind. [They have no sense of fun.] She pushed her sister down, knowing that her sister would tell Emplate what Rich and Yvette were about to do.
She noticed that Sean then said, "I know it's gonna be a long way off, but there are other things I'm worried about. One is the fact it is just going to be ye and Rich. The second is, we don't know where ye two are off to. Rich didnae tell us where he was headed. Third, how is this going to affect his abilities." Monet realized what he meant by the last one.
She quickly said to Yvette, "Sean's refering to Rich's ability locking on to your's forever. Do you think that Rich is going to be able to use other abilities after this?" She noticed that Yvette seemed to be thinking about it.
Soon, Yvette broke the silence as she continued to pack. "He's told me a few times he'd rather be stuck with my ability. It means safety in his eyes."
Monet could see the logic in that thinking. Rich wouldn't have to fear about having Marius' abilites. Her sister again spoke up. [It could mean other things.] Soon her sister flooded her mind with one of the dreams her sister had been having lately. She tried to shake the image out of her head.
Monet needed to lay down. She looked at Sean and Yvette and said, "Yvette, I hope you have a safe trip. I need to lay down for a bit." With that she headed to her dorm room. She hoped that her sister would end this dream quick. As she walked back to her room, she just mentally said, [Claudette, you have a sick imagination.] She heard her sister laugh as she focused on flooding their mind with the dream.
Rich stood in the main hall, waiting for Yvette. During this whole time, Grimore, his cat, had been by his side. He finally sat down and picked the cat up. As he petted the cat he just said, "I wish you could tell me more about this, Grimore, but you're just a cat." He did have some thoughts on that, but if anyone heard him, they might think he's crazy. He felt the cat purr again. Over the time he had been at the school, he had missed the cat.
He then noticed that Grimore had stopped purring. The cat wasn't uneasy, but the cat wasn't content either. He then heard one voice speak. "This is another thing I wasn't aware of."
Rich turned to face Darrett. The boy came from a dark future, but the boy could enlighten them on somethings. Rich just faced Darrett and said, "I take it that your time lacked Grimore." Rich knew all to well that Darrett's time line featured a dark side of himself.
Darrett nodded and said, "Maybe, or the cat was hidden from many. You know, after this happened, I think I trust you more, believe what everyone says."
Rich looked at Darrett and was puzzled. He just asked, "What do you mean by that?"
Darrett just said, "In my timeline, you weren't upset about you parents death, but here, I can tell it's upsetting you. I see the similar way I felt when I lost my mother." Rich now knew what Darrett meant. Darrett's parents were killed by him in Darrett's timeline. Darrett knew the pain of losing a parent due to murder.
Rich looked at the boy and said, "I'm glad that you are finally starting to see both Yvette and myself as allies."
Darrett then said, "It's hard, but I know I can see it." Darrett stopped glanced off in another direction. He then said, "Have a safe trip." Rich turned and saw Yvette coming into the room, with a suitcase in hand. Sean was following her, and Rich figured he knew why.
He noticed that Darrett left the room, and that Grimore had run over to her. As the cat jumped up, he smiled as she caught Grimore with her free arm. He walked over and kissed her. "Grimore really likes you. I think he approves of you."
She smiled, as if she had already known that before he said that, and said, "I figured as much. I'm ready to go. You are going to need some support this week."
He nodded and said, "You're right. I'm glad that you are coming with me to England." He then turned to Sean and said, "You don't have to worry, Sean. We will be alright."
He watched as his teacher nodded and then said, "I know ye two will behave. Ye always have. I'm just worried about you in some aspects. We figure ye might come back a little different."
Rich was well aware what Sean meant. That when he returned, he'd only be like Yvette. He looked at Sean and said, "I'm aware of what will most likely happen Sean, and it doesn't worry me. The thought has crossed my mind many times. When I started dating Yvette," he looked at her and smiled, "I was aware that one day I had to make this choice. I always swore I'd rather take her ability and be happy with her for as long as we live." The way he said it, it was like a marriage vow. He was willing to sacrifice a gift he had been bestowed for happiness, and for love.
Sean looked at them both and said, "Alright Rich, but also remember that you might make it more difficult if anything happens." Rich understood what Sean meant, but he couldn't picture life without Yvette, and he saw that in Yvette's eyes, she couldn't picture life without him.
Rich then looked at his watch and said, "We better get going. It will be a long flight, and then a bit of a drive to the place in England." He noticed that Yvette nodded and picked up her suitcase and headed for the door. She was still carring Grimore. Rich turned to Sean and said, "I wish I could tell you where we were going, but for right now, I can't. It's part of the tradition."
He felt Sean put a hand on his shoulder and said, "It's alright lad. Besides, if Emplate found out from anyone here where ye were going, ye'd be in deep trouble. Rich nodded and then made for the car.
When he got into the car, he started it and headed out of the school grounds. As he made his way to the airport, he reached for a cellular phone his parents had got for him. He never used it, but now it was about to come in handy. As he started to dial, he heard Yvette say, "Who are you calling?"
He looked at her and smiled. "First the airport for an emergency flight out, then the current person in charge of the caretaking of my ancestrial home." The first call would be local, and he had the funds to pay for the tickets. The second was long, long distance, to England itself. He just hoped that the person he had to call was awake.
Yvette glanced out the window as the plane made its oversea, and overnight, flight. Although they had travelled on Emma's jet, she had nevered flew on a flight and sitting in first class. It was nice in the special section of the plane. She turned away from the window to look at her love. She took his hand and said, "Grimore's alright. I know your worried about him."
He shook his head. "It's not just that. It's that image I saw." She knew what he meant. He had told her what image he saw in Monet's memories. She knew it was real. She just didn't want to tell him. She had a feeling he would know better after this week.
She squeezed his hand slightly and said, "I'm gonna be with you all through this. You've pulled me out of the roughest times in my life, I'm gonna help you with your roughest times."
She felt him squeeze her hand in responce as he said, "Thank you, my love. You don't know how much that means to me." She had a good idea how much it meant.
She looked back out the window for a moment then turned back to Rich. She didn't want to speak aloud right now, so she said in their mental link, {Where are we going?}
She felt Rich grip her hand tighter as he said, {To my family's ancestral home. It's a castle in England. During most of the time, people are allowed to tour it, but when the family returns to it, it's closed to the public. Have you ever been in a castle before?}
She looked him in the eyes and said, {Yes. It was way before you came to the school, and 'Father' took us to his home. It turned into quite an adventure.}
She saw the surprise in his eyes, and then he smiled. {Well, this time you'll get to see a bit of a romantic side to it.} He smiled and then kissed her. She didn't let the kiss stop. Her life had felt so complete with Rich. She sometimes wished that they could announce that they were going to get married so that they could be together for always. As she thought that, she heard him say, {I wish for that time, too.} She smiled inwardly.
She looked at him and said, {Maybe we should rest. You did say it would be a bit of a long flight.} He nodded and soon they were both off in dreamland.
Rich was in the middle of the weirdest dream in his life. The image he saw was of three people standing infront of him. He couldn't tell two of the people, but the one in the center was his father. He watched as his father turned and walked to the back. He then saw all the people that was behind the three. He recognized the figure now behind his father. It was his grandfather. He then looked down to see Grimore standing where his father stood. He looked at the cat, and was somewhat started when it appeared that his cat said, "It's time. Take your place."
As he started to move forward, he heard a voice behind him that he recognized. "Did Grimore just speak?" It was Yvette. She must have joined him in the dreamworld.
As he stepped forward, she stepped to his side, as if drawn, as he said, "It appears that way, my love." When they joined the other two figures, they turned around. Rich then saw many more people in front of all three of the figures. There were countless figures all standing in front of him. Rich wondered if these would be his descendants. Soon there was firey flash, and everyone was gone. In front of him, and Yvette, was a sword that was blazing. He felt that this weapon belonged to him as he grabbed it. Soon he felt an urge to kneel. He took Yvette's hand and said, "Kneel." He watched as she kneeled with him in the way one would kneel if being knighted.
When he openned his eyes, Rich felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see the stewardess as she said, "Sir, we will be landing in Hethrow in a few minutes." He watched as the woman continued onward.
He turned to face Yvette as she said, "That was weird. What does it mean?" He knew what she was referring to. She was referring to the weird dream.
He took her hand and said, "I wish I understood it, but I'm not sure, but I think it had something to do with us together and our future." He felt sure about that much.
She looked at him quizzically and said, "How do you figure?"
He took her hand and looked into her eyes. "Because, all those people infront of us seemed to be our descendants." He saw the surprised look in her eyes, and then joy in her eyes. He was happy with what the dream meant as well. In the future, they would be married, and they would have a family.
Yvette then looked at him and said, "What about that sword, and the kneeling?" He shrugged because he didn't understand that part. She then said something that might have been true to what it meant. "Do you think it has anything to do with this trip?" He started wondering about that as the plane started to make it's descent.
Yvette stood by waiting for the luggage to arrive. She had seen Rich go to get Grimore. She was worried about Rich, especially after that dream. She didn't understand it. Who were all those people behind them, and in front of them, and who were the people to their sides. As she was lost in this thought, she almost missed the suitcase she borrowed from Monet. She grabbed it quick and watched for Rich's suitcase. As it finally shown up, she reached for it, but was cut off when another hand grabbed. She followed the hand to a familiar face. "Did we find our luggage?" It was Rich.
She smiled and said, "Yes, but what are we going to do to get to the castle?" This had been worrying her, since Rich didn't rent a vehicle at all. She watched Rich motion his head in a direction. She glanced over in the direction and saw a man holding up a sign. It had Rich's last name on it.
They began walking in the man's direction as Rich said, "That's how. We have a ride." When they neared the man, Rich looked at the man and said, "If I'm right, you must be Emmet."
The man just nodded and said, "Yes, and I hate to sound like I'm enjoying this, but I do appreciate this happening." She was surprised at what the man said. Just as she was about to ask why he said that, he said, "I happen to live next door to rather unpleasent neighbor."
She looked at him quizzically, but Rich just said, "Why does this sound like a British Comedy show?" She was more puzzled by this question.
The man just said, "Cause the show was based off our lives, in a way." She noticed that Rich seemed to have a vague understanding of what he meant. The man smiled and said, "Now, if you both are ready, my sister and I will take you to your castle." As the man lead them out of the airport, she could sense that her boyfriend's mind was going a mile a minute.
She noticed that the man was leading them to a blue car. As they approached, Yvette noticed a woman was sitting in the driver's seat. As they approached, she heard Rich say, "Let me guess. That's your sister Elizabeth." When the man nodded, Rich then said, "And you must live nextdoor to Hyacinth. She noticed how tensed up the two got. Apparently the woman Rich mentioned struck a cord of fear in the two. Rich noticed it as well and said, "Sorry, just my curious nature."
The man just smiled at them and said, "It's alright. It's not like we'll run into her."
The woman, who Rich had pegged as Elizabeth, then said, "Although, you'd like Richard. He is a dear." Yvette heard this and was amazed that the woman they feared was married. "Makes you wonder how he deals with it."
Yvette found herself asking the question. "How did she ever get married?" She didn't mean to ask it out loud, but it just came out.
Rich, who had closed his eyes, said, "I think we better not think about that. It might keep all of us awake for a fortnight." She heard everybody chuckle at that remark She then listened as Rich asked, "How long until we reach the castle?"
She watched as the woman looked at her speedometer and said, "About an hour. If your tired, we'll wake the two of you when we are about ten minutes away."
Yvette noticed that Rich was already asleep as she said, "It'll be ok. It was a long flight. Besides it still early morning in the states." She closed her eyes and soon she was with her love, in their dreams.
Monet had woken up at the odd hour of 3AM. She couldn't believe she was awake, but she understood when she heard his sister speak up. [You know, it bothers me to be alone at a time like this. I should have told our dear brother where the two lovebirds flew off to.]
Monet almost rolled her eyes, then said, "Claudette, you know that would have failed even if I hadn't stopped you. Rich didn't tell any of us where he was off to. In fact, Sean said that we wouldn't hear from them until after they would return." She smiled triumphantly at the fact that Claudette's scheme would fail.
She heard Claudette grumble at that fact. [I hate it when you're right. However, I do have this to admit, Darrett is something else. I wonder if he could help with this feeling of loneliness.] She knew what Claudette was thinking.
Instantly, Monet started to repress her sister. "No, Claudette. I know what your thinking, and I definately won't let you do anything like that." Monet and Claudette were opposites in almost every sense of the word. While Monet was calm and dignified, her sister usually showed signs of a wild, uncontroled person.
Soon, Claudette said, [Oh please, I know how you thought about Everett. I bet if he wasn't dating Jubilee, you'd be following him.] Monet almost started to think about that, but stopped herself. If she did, Claudette might gain control.
Monet strengthed herself against the mind games her sister was pulling and said, "I won't look at a friend like that Claudette, now go to sleep." She felt Claudette finally give in. She sighed and closed her eyes. She didn't want to ask Emma for help, but it was starting to get harder and harder to control Claudette. She feared that one day, she wouldn't be able to stop Claudette anymore, and if Claudette managed to manipulate Marius again, it might mean the worse could happen.