A/N: Hello lovelies ! Reread The Opal Deception, and the lyrics to Seether's Broken struck a chord in my head. Dunno quite why. Anyway, this is just after Artemis regains his memories. Y'know, where he says something about seeing Holly so broken up ? Seemed appropriate . :-D. Lyrics are in italics .
DiSCLAiMER – I own nothing. Except maybe minimal talent. Dunno though.
Artemis sat in the near-empty shuttle where he'd finally regained his memories, doing what he specialized in; thinking.
Once, as a child he'd been told by his mother that he thought too much. He hadn't ever considered thinking too much to be a realistic possibility. Yet as he stared at Holly, it became real to him that maybe, with the thoughts crossing his mind, he ought to quit thinking- and find some way to abolish it forever.
Holly was silently keeping to herself, attempting vainly to hide her face from view, but it was all too simple to realize that restrained tears were being set free in the stillness of the room. Her shoulders shook gently, and her hair's damp ends only concealed her face down to the tips of her earlobes. Bright tears shone on her coffee-colored skin, and he was thinking that he hated to see her this way. He'd always loved her playful laugh, and her smile; from what he could recollect, they'd been like something exotic- beautiful, but rare. They were even more scarce lately, and Artemis knew he'd give all he could to make her happy.
I wanted you to know
That I love the way you laugh…
I wanna hold you high, & steal your pain away .
Feelings deeper than compassion were alive & building slowly in his chest. Holly looked positively wrecked, demolished by Julius' death… and all Artemis could think about was ending her pain indefinitely. He had a desperate desire to lock away all her anguished & tormented thoughts, and to see her smile once again- to see her determined gaze set and her lips curved upward. He wanted to wreck all her doubts, and piece her resolve back together with utmost care. Helping her wasn't what he desired- he didn't want only to assist. Artemis felt the need to do this himself.
At the moment, he had the strange feeling that he was the only one who could.
A/N : Well, that was quite an exquisite piece. Now be an exquisite reviwer & review it !