Hello fanfic readers! I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while, but I promise to be more efficient this week! If you guys like what you read, please, review for my story! Thanks!
The crystal blue water shined as it fell from above, diving into a pool of darkness below. The lake felt like ice, and the water was endless, never seeming to have ground beneath it. Suddenly, air bubbles could be seen from the navy depths of the lake. Out popped Leora, gasping for breath. She was holding onto Damien, who was unconscious. Quickly she swam to the shore and dragged him onto the soft ground.
She knew what she needed to do to save his life, but she really really didn't want to. Making up her mind, she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and slammed her hands down onto his chest. Immediately Damien woke up, coughing water out of his mouth.
Leora sighed to herself in relief, if that hadn't of worked, she would have had to..........She put the thought from her mind, not wanting to picture it! Damien sat up and coughed some more, than looked at Leora kneeling beside him. "Leora?" He studied her curiously, not believing what had just happened. "You...you saved me?"
Not even believing it herself, she nodded slowly. Exhaling surprisingly, Damien swiftly leaned in and hugged her, whispering, "Thank you, I couldn't imagine what would have happened if you hadn't been here for me!" Leora felt awkward about the hug, Damien had never done that before, they never were exactly on good terms up until ten minutes ago! But, once he said those words to her, she couldn't help but smile to herself and accept the hug.
When the two parted, they looked around them. They both stared in complete awe. Neither of them believed the site they gazed upon now. After plunging down the waterfall, they had entered the Eighth Kingdom; and it happened to be completely covered with snow!
Everything in sight was frosted; from the leaves on the trees, to the dirt, to the flowers and the grass! And half of the lake they were just in was frozen! Leora was feeling lucky that she didn't get stuck in that water for too long.
Leora rose from the ground and gave Damien a hand-up. They began walking away from the lake, not sure where they were heading, for they had fallen off the path Wolf told Leora to keep to. Looking around, Damien saw nothing but snow. However, that wasn't what Leora saw. In the past couple of days, her eyesight has seemed sharper, and she assumed it was because of her heritage. The last pill she received from her aunt in New York had completely worn off, so she was finally growing into a wolf.
She stopped in the middle of the icy forest and smiled. Looking at her, Damien asked, "What do you see?" Walking away from him, she replied, "Our shelter for the night!" Following her, Damien spotted a cottage, which looked white to them because it was almost completely covered in snow!
Leora got a fire going in the fireplace while Damien brought over the fireplace cover. Looking at him curiously, Leora asked, "What is that for?" "Our clothes, we'll freeze to death if we don't warm them up!" Her eyes widened and she gulped with difficulty. Clothes? Leora had never been out camping before, and never had to dry off the only clothes she had in the middle of nowhere, in some cottage, alone, with a guy! Damien was finishing drying off his coat, smiling to see that it was fairly easy material to do so with.
Without hesitating, Damien unbuttoned his blue collared shirt. Leora turned her body away from him, but still seemed to move her eyes back towards him. Damien took off his shirt and placed in on the fire rack. Leora tried so hard not to gaze at him, and thought, 'Don't look at him don't look at him don't look at him! Just ignore him, like he's not even there, like he doesn't even have an amazing body!' And he did, he was pretty buff for such a slim-looking guy. But still, Leora stayed modest, "I think I'll just keep my wet, cold clothes on thank you very much!"
Damien looked over at her and told her, "You're going to get sick!" He walked over to her and said soothingly, "We can look around the cottage for something along the lines of clothes. Don't worry!" "Why are you being so cool about this?" He smiled at her and said, "I happen to be a good nurse when the time comes for it." They searched the small house for anything that could help. And then, Leora said victoriously, "AHA! I've found pants!" She turned around and saw that she wasn't the only successful one. Damien was holding a very grey peasant's dress. "Me too." They switched their items and looked at each other awkwardly, then went to separate areas of the house.
The sky grew dark that night, and the weather grew colder. Leora rubbed her hands together in front of the fire. The ragged old dress didn't help her much, it only covered half of her arms and went only to her ankles. She tied her hair up in a bun, still freezing from the climate. She looked over at Damien, who was looking back. She saw him sitting on the floor, looking perfectly comfortable on his pillow in only the pair of pants she had found and his jacket.
"Aren't you cold?" She asked him. "No, not anymore." He said mechanically. She studied him a moment, then turned back to the fire, moving closer to it for heat. Then, she felt something faintly brush her arm, then gently touching her skin. She turned and saw Damien sitting next to her, feeling her cold flesh. "Here," he said, taking off the jacket. "What? No, you need that for yourself. You'll get cold!" But he looked Leora in the eye a way he had never done before, and she couldn't help but comply. He put the coat on her and she smiled in gratitude.
Then, she began rubbing her hands together again, still feeling like an ice cube. But it stopped, and she felt a rush of warmth flow through her delicate hands. She looked up into Damien's deep blue eyes as he warmed her hands. After a few moments, he asked her, "Where did you go last night? What happened to make you feel so ill today?" Leora wanted to ignore the question completely, and simply said, "I don't remember." Looking into the fire. He realized she didn't want to talk about it, so he declined from talking. That was until he saw Leora's gold locket, dangling around her neck.
"Your necklace," He leaned in and picked up the locket. Leora watched him as he admired the locket. "It's..." "Old." Leora finished for him. But he corrected her, "No...it's-" "Faded? Filthy? Dull?" Looking gently into her face, he said, "No...beautiful." Leora flushed and looked down at the ground, avoiding his gaze. "Would you mind if I opened it?" "What?" Leora wondered. "The locket. Would you mind if I could look inside of it?" She laughed and told him, "You don't want to do that, trust me!"
"Well, I do trust you, and I do want to see what's inside." "I don't think that's a good idea, I just don't-" "Trust me? Leora, you saved my life, there is no doubt that I trust you. Why can't you trust me? Is it because you're ashamed of what's inside? If you trust me, than you don't need to be ashamed at all." Leora thought about it for a minute, not exactly sure about what she should do. But then, she looked into his eyes, and she knew, she knew she could trust him, somehow. So, she sighed, and leaned over to the fireplace and reached inside of her shoe.
Out she pulled her key, her key to the locket. She handed it to him, and leaned forward so her could reach her necklace. Gently, he put the key into the hole, and turned the lock. The locket opened, however, there was no white light, as a matter of fact, and nothing had changed. Damien was still leaning close to Leora, gazing into her locket. Then, he gasped and his eyes went wide.
Suddenly realizing that she had never looked inside of her actual locket, Leora picked it up and held it in her hand. Inside, was a small painted portrait. Leora couldn't believe it, it was so beautiful, and immediately she knew who it was. It was her mother, Harmony Cranston.
"Queen Harmony, granddaughter of the Sleeping Queen! It's wonderful!" Damien exclaimed and they smiled together. But then, curiously wondering, he asked, "Why do you have this?" Leora was suddenly frightened, she hadn't told Damien about her past and who she really was! She had no clue what to do. She looked around the room, anywhere but Damien's sweet face.
"Well, it's hard to say I-" Before she could say anything else, Damien put his hands delicately on her face, forcing her to look at him. "Leora, please, I know there are things in our lives that force us to keep secrets. But keeping secrets only weakens us, and it keeps us alone. Tell me Leora, tell me everything."
So, she did. She told Damien everything. Who her parents were, where she grew up, her newly discovered brother, and her heritage as both a princess and a werewolf. She talked for more than an hour, going late into the night.
"That's who I am, Damien. Now listen, I know that one thing about me; I am no princess. I am not royalty! It may be in my blood, but wolf's blood is also in me! I can't be some queen, don't you see? I'm a freak, and I'll always be a freak!" Leora felt a tear run down her face, and with hesitating, she left the room. She ran up the stairs of the cottage and away from Damien.
Finding a small bedroom, Leora went inside and collapsed on the bed, sobbing. She couldn't stand it, she just didn't want this. She was a freak, she knew that a prince like Damien wouldn't look once at her now that he knows who she truly is. 'I'm so stupid! I can't believe I even said anything in the first place! I should've never gone this journey in the first place!' Her thoughts filled her mind, and she was ready to explode.
That was until she felt big, strong arms wrap around her. Leora opened her eyes, and found Damien holding her as she lay on the bed. They were so close, nearly inches away from each other's faces. A smile grew across his lips, and he carefully wiped the tears from her face. "Wh...what are you do-" She tried to talk to him but she was too choked up, and he hushed he sweetly. "No more tears. There's nothing you should be ashamed of. You're beautiful just the way you are. Never have I met any girl that's as unique as you, as intelligent and strong-minded as you. You're perfect in my eyes."
Leora couldn't help but smile at him. She cried in both relief and happiness and wrapped her arms around his bare shoulders. Damien couldn't believe himself, he had never said anything like that before. He had never even opened up to someone before, not in that sort of way. He closed his eyes as he held her tight, never once letting her go. And so it happened, they held each other all night, even as they slept. Through all of their fighting and bickering at each other, they managed to stay through it all together, finally finding peace in each other.