Clayton

(A/N: Tooops! Sorry about all the delays. I've been away, but now I'm back! This is probably the last time you'll see an update on this story, because this is the end. Man, it's taken me a while to get this one done, too. But I've had fun writing it anyhow. There will be a short epilogue and trailer preview uploaded along with this chapter. Thanks for reading along if you have. Goodies on you:p)

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"Wah!"

Jane let out a cry as her husband hung from the rafters, dangling from his ankles in front of her. He had a habit of startling people at the worst times, she remembered. Sighing, she pulled herself away and looked out of the window.

"So, it wasn't a ferocious jackal that made that noise then," she said, with a clumsy smile of relief. She rubbed her arm up and down.

Tarzan grinned. "No. It was me." He sounded pleased with himself.

Jane tried to laugh. Tarzan knew his impressions well. He could trick her into believing the sound of any animal, for the resonance was highly identical. Though his version of the mating bird was very sweet, Jane thought to herself. She settled herself against the wall.

The stars shone brightly tonight. At her house in England, Jane would watch them with enchanted eyes and make wishes on them. Now she couldn't concentrate. Her thoughts kept reverting back to...other things...

He shared his pain with me. We promised at our wedding there would be no secrets.

No secrets...

I'm afraid this will bring pain on him.

Will his feelings change?

Will he still care?

"Jane?" His voice again, deep and soft.

This is so dark...such a retched thought to carry.

If I tell him...

"Jane, what's wrong?"

Will he still love me?

"Nothing, Tarzan," Jane quickly gulped. "I was just..."

"Thinking?" he finished.

Jane found a smile creeping across her face. "Yes, love. I was. That's right." She busied herself again by cleaning, which Tarzan knew by now that it was not a good sign for her. It was a distraction, in her namesake. Something confused him.

Falling from the rafters, he landed on his feet, watching her. Slowly he walked over to her side and placed his hand on her shoulder. She leapt up at the touch.

"Jane...you're so jumpy..." he sighed.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said, apologetically, and in a hurry tried to pick up the rag. Tarzan's hand fell over hers, squeezing it gently. Jane, in a fumble (and muttering feeble excuses) gathered herself on her knees and looked unafraid in his eyes.

"I can't take it anymore," she whispered.

Tarzan felt that confused feeling again. "What do you mean?"

There was a pause. Jane thought things over again in her mind. Was this really the final secret, before these painful nights would be over? Tarzan had poured his heart out to her earlier. Such torment for one so young... she thought. Thinking of what she was going to say to him made her feel sick.

"Tarzan, there's something I need to tell you."

"Is it another story?" he asked, hoping that it was nothing too serious. "Is it about Beatrice again?"

Jane shook her head, her heart thundering in her chest. "No."

My God...please...

What will he say?

"Is it your mother?" Tarzan picked his words carefully. He hated finding truths out like this – he couldn't understand why Jane didn't tell him. Had he upset her too much with the last story he told? She seemed fine about it before.

Then again, she had been up a lot in the night. Perhaps she couldn't sleep?

"Clayton – it's about Clayton," Jane sniffed. Her senses were screaming now; she couldn't stand any more of Tarzan's questions. As the word rolled off her lips, she felt him stiffen; a peculiar sound appeared in the air (like steam from a kettle).

"Clayton?" he asked.

Jane didn't like the way he was speaking. She moved, fidgeting in her seat and said: "Yes."

Tarzan looked down at his fists and noticed that they were clenching. He felt a burning sensation inside of his stomach and frowned. He didn't even know what Jane was about to tell him yet, but for some reason he just wanted to...

"What happened?" he asked.

Jane stood up and paced the room. "Nothing...happened..."

Tarzan, who had felt so calm before, felt his mind spin with questions. Why was Jane being so clumsy with him? Did something serious happen...

"Why won't Jane tell?" he said, quietly.

"I-I will, Tarzan...just give me a minute..."

"Did he hurt you?"

There fell a silence. Jane spun around on her heel, defiantly. "Of course not."

Protectiveness fell over Tarzan like a curtain. Those days when he was not there with her at the camp...Clayton could have said things...hurtful things... he could do things to people to mess themselves up.

Jane sighed, and held her breath. "There was this...agreement between us, Tarzan. An engagement, if you will." She stared at his watchful eyes.

He stared back. He looked as if he were thinking hard.

"You don't understand," she said.

"No," he replied. "I'm sorry."

"It's all right!" Jane laughed uneasily. "Let me explain, um – two people, that is...Clayton and I, make a promise – no! That's the wrong word to use. Well, Daddy and Clayton decided to arrange a bond between us, for marriage in the future."

Tarzan nearly fainted. "Marry...Clayton?"

Jane saw the horror in his eyes and quickly rushed to him. "Tarzan, it's nothing like a promise I have to keep – I told you it is very different from a promise! Daddy had made his mind up a long time ago, before I even shook Clayton's hand! We thought it was for the best, after all...no one had chosen me - "

"I did," Tarzan said. "I chose Jane."

Jane smiled at him. "This engagement was made long before I met you."

Tarzan couldn't help thinking where Jane would be if he hadn't met her. In the arms of Clayton. Clayton would never have treated Jane properly. He thought about him, and a bitter taste came into his mouth that he perhaps had wanted Jane in secret. Jealousy burst through his veins.

"What if you had got married?" he asked.

"It doesn't matter, we didn't - "

"But if you had, there would be nothing I could do. I could never take you back. You would be in love with him."

Jane nearly choked on her words. "No, never, I...Tarzan, I could never love Clayton. If I had gone through with the engagement, and had visited here, I don't know...I would always feel like you would be filling something empty – and it would only be a matter of time before I realised that it was you I wanted instead."

Her words were spoken from the heart. Her eyes were sincere.

"I had to tell you," she said, softly. "Otherwise you might have heard it from another source, namely Daddy. Then you would hate me."

"Tarzan could never hate Jane," Tarzan whispered.

Jane smiled. He says that all the time.

"We said at our wedding that there would be no secrets between us," she explained. "What I have just told you is one of the hardest things I've ever had to say. It felt like it was the only thing keeping us apart. I was afraid that if I told you, it would change how you felt about me completely. You would always be thinking "

"No," Tarzan interrupted. "I won't. I promise, Jane."

She sat down on the chair, and folded her hands in her lap, looking up at him. "I just want to forget it. I would never agree to belong to the likes of Clayton."

Tarzan lowered himself to stare into her eyes, and brushed a lock of hair away from them. Such a beautiful creature...

"It's you," she whispered in a gentle voice. "You, Tarzan. All I want...is you."

A smile broke across his face. Why torture himself of Clayton any longer? He was gone, and he couldn't take Jane away from him when he was gone. He would make sure that nobody touched her. He didn't want anyone else to have her as much as she didn't.

"Are there any more secrets?" he asked.

"To affect us? No."

"Good."

Tarzan brought his wife into his arms, and there they lay for moments. Jane's heart suddenly felt free again; Clayton was no longer haunting her.

It was there she thought to herself: Tarzan, it is you I need. It is you that I love.

The moon hid itself behind a cloud. Their pain was over for tonight.

: To be concluded :

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No, your eyes aren't deceiving you, to be concluded it says... : evil laugh :