Woohoo!... Epilouge. o-O I can't spell that word. Epilogue. Epilouge. Whatever. Spell-check will get it. XD

Err… yeah. This is the end, ladies and gents. :O So… I'll have some random thing at the end, I guess.

Light the Flame

Epilogue

Asenath had seen many things in her dreams. But since she hadn't known her brother's wife since birth, she didn't see anything in her future that didn't have her brother in them.

So she was completely unprepared for what would await her, high in the mountains.

By the third day of her journey, Angel became fidgety and it took all of Asenath's will and strength to keep him from turning around. He could sense things that happened to his master, Atemu.

"Shush, Angel, you silly animal," Asenath said, stroking his nuzzle as she controlled him. "It'll be alright."

She continued on, holding her head high. It was nearly a week later that she finally saw the tens and people in the far mountains.

After asking through several different tribes, she finally found the path to the one where Teana was from. But the news she received wasn't good.

"Oh, you're a doctor! Thank God!"

"A horrible epidemic has plagued our families –"

"It's affecting mainly women!"

It took her three days to make it to Teana, because she was whipping up remedies for dying women. But she was barely able to save any. Whatever sickness had infected these people, it was horrible. Almost satanic. Asenath was almost afraid to reach Teana's village.

What if she fell victim to the same plague that infected these other villages…?


After two days, she finally arrived at the village where "Little Ana" had returned to. She was greeted with excitement, since this village had been one of the hardest hit. A tall, burly young man was speaking to her excitedly.

"…We received word that you were here, an Egyptian doctor, so we're glad that you were able to come to our village. I'm Kenneth," he added, bowing to her. "Please, please help us." Asenath smiled and nodded at him. He had a kind, sincere look about him. Asenath glanced around her at the village. There was an obvious lack of women; she wondered how many had died. She was ushered immediately into a broad tent, meeting with an elderly woman.

"Miss," the elderly woman said, slowly, "you have become our savior in this land. In the few short days that you have been in these mountains, stories of your medicines and healings have already infected us. We are eager to hear that you can help save our wives, daughters and mothers." Asenath bowed to the woman.

"I'm… just here, looking for someone," she said, tightening her hands into fists.

"Oh?"

"…Yes. She is one of these mountains," Asenath explained, glancing around at the men (and few women) surrounding her.

Just then, a young girl came running into the tent, her skirts flailing.

"Momma!" she gasped, falling to her knees and bowing. "I'm sorry so sorry he—"

"Don't fret, Sena," a man who looked like Kenneth, but younger, said. "He's right here." And in his arms was no one other than Zvallah.

The small boy was asleep, just over a year and a half. His short brown hair covered his eyes, and his breathing was small and low. Asenath looked up at him and smiled.

"Oh, thank God," Sena breathed. "I swear, Momma, I was watching him—"

"It's all right, child," the woman said. She nodded to Asenath. "Show her the girls."

"Yes, Momma," Sena said, standing. She wobbled a bit and coughed. "Miss, if you would come with me… We would gladly let you stay here for awhile if you would please help us…"

"Of course," Asenath said kindly. She bowed to the others in the tent, then followed the girl outside into the dusk.

"Umm, Miss Sena?" Asenath asked as they walked. Sena looked up at her.

"Yes?" she asked kindly.

"I'm looking for someone… is there a woman named 'Teana' living here?" Sena gasped, then stared at her.

"You're… looking for Teana?" she said, stopping. Asenath blinked, then nodded.

"Yes, I'm related to her husband, the—"

"I thought I was seeing something familiar about you," a voice said from behind her. Kenneth and the other man with the small child had been walking in another direction, but overheard Asenath's question. Asenath straightened up and turned to them. "You resemble Yami a lot, you know."

"I know," she said, smiling. "So, do you know this girl?"

"Yes… she's our half-sister," Kenneth said. The younger one was re-positioning the little boy. "…she was our half sister."

"Was? Why isn't she now?" Asenath asked. Kenneth looked at the other man, then at Sena.

"She… she passed away yesterday," Sena said slowly. Asenath's eyes widened, and she looked at the young girl. She was wiping her eyes, and she coughed.

"What?" Asenath gasped. "She… she died?"

"Yes," Kenneth said. "She was one of the victims of the sickness that came here. She… she must have caught it by tending to people who had it… Was that it, Sati?" he said, addressing the other man.

"Yes," he said. "She refused to let people who weren't susceptible to the disease be the only ones to help…" Asenath just stared at them.

How could…. How could this be? Everyone she was looking for… everyone she cared about… were slipping through her fingers. Asenath just shook her head.

"No, no… how…It… wasn't supposed to be this way…" She said slowly.

"No, it wasn't," Sati agreed. He handed the boy off to Kenneth and took Asenath's hand. "If you want, we can show you where she is now." He tugged Asenath across the light sand over to a tent that was far off to the side. Asenath had an eerie feeling about this tent.

They entered into a dark, solemn place.

And there, laying on the sand, were dozens of covered, lifeless bodies. Asenath placed a hand over her mouth. It was sickeningly amazing to see.

She was led past dead bodies covered with blankets and sheets, hands and feet exposed. She shivered at the thought.

They stopped at one blanket. It was a beautiful, intricately woven tapestry of sorts, that had obviously taken a long time. Sati knelt next to the body and pulled the tapestry back from her head.

It revealed a beautiful young woman. Her head lying to one side, her eyes closed. Her skin was very pale, but besides that she didn't look dead. She looked asleep. Asenath knelt next to her head and turned it gently to face her, on the other side. She touched her forehead, and her eyes and her nose and her lips. She was cold and waxy to the touch.

"…she…" was all she could muster. Sati bowed his head.

"Yes… she died at the foot of someone else's bed. The girl she was trying to help died as well."

"What about her son?" Asenath asked. "Is he…?"

"He's right here," Kenneth said. He motioned to the boy asleep on his shoulder. Asenath bit her lip.

"My… Gods…" she whispered. "This boy… he has no parents."


Asenath washed her hands in cold mountain water. They were covered in different powders that she mixed together to create a medicine for this dangerous disease. Wiping her hands on a cloth, she went back inside the tent that she was sleeping in that night. The bed she was given was soft and warm, refreshing after the ordeal she had been put through.

"…he needs a home, Kenneth," a voice was saying outside the tent. Asenath, pretending to be asleep, closed her eyes and listened to Kenneth and Sati argue. "He needs a mother."

"I know that," Kenneth said back. Silence fell over them. Asenath wondered if their argument had ended, but they had just fallen silent. A small voice broke the silence.

"…Kenneth?" the voice said tentatively. It was very small, and light; fragile, almost. "Kenneth, where's Mama?" Asenath gasped.

It was Zvallah.

Kenneth sighed as he sat down on his bed. Asenath could feel him looking at her as she pretended to sleep. Just to prove his point, and moaned a little and moved.

"She's deeply asleep," Kenneth breathed. "She must be exhausted."

"Kenneth!" Zvallah persisted. "I wanna see Mama!" Asenath cracked her eyes open to see Kenneth bend down and lift the child onto his lap.

"Zvallah… your mother isn't coming back," he said, tapping Zvallah's nose. Asenath stared at Zvallah. This was the first time she was getting a good look at him.

She was startled at how much he resembled Yami at that age. She was nine when Yami was around two, so she remembered well. Zvallah had the same big, tiger eyes, the same color as Yami's, and same round face and same ears. He had a thin frame and short legs, just like his father. It was remarkable.

But she could see his mother in there, too. He had rich, deep brown colored hair spilling out of his head, tied back and out of his face. His complexion wasn't as dark as Yami's, although that could also be age… Although his legs and arms were short, they were thin and graceful, like Teana. She could tell that he would grow up to be very tall.

"…why?" Zvallah asked. He tugged on Kenneth's shirt. "Why, Kenneth?"

"…She… she's with your daddy," Kenneth explained, rubbing the top of his head.

"Da?" he asked, lighting up. "She with Da?"

"Yes, Zvallah. She's with your daddy." Asenath breathed deeply, trying not to cry. "You'll see them again soon, Zve-chan. Don't worry about it, okay?"

"Kay!" Zvallah said cheerily. "Where are they?"

"…I don't know exactly… but… it's all good, Zvallah," Kenneth said, smiling at the boy. Zvallah grinned back.

Asenath was trying not to cry. She couldn't cry. Not in front of this little boy.

"He needs someone to watch over him…" Sati said slowly.

Asenath had made up her mind.

"I… can take him," she said, sitting up. Both men gasped in surprise. "Sorry, but you woke me up when you came in, and I just kind of listened."

"Oh… You?" Kenneth said, a little stunned to find the woman he had been admiring to be awake. "Watch him? I suppose… I don't know, Asenath…" Asenath stepped out of her bed and walked across to them.

"I can do it," she said. "I practically raised my brother from this age… I can do it. He needs a mother figure, and… since I can never be a mother… And I am his aunt…"

"You could do a better job of raising him, I bet," Kenneth said, smiling a kind smile to her. Asenath nodded, her black hair swaying. She knelt down before Zvallah and smiled at him.

"Hello, Zvallah," she said, putting out her hand. Zvallah stared at her with Yami's inquisitive eyes, then out his hand on hers.

"My name is Asenath," she said, holding his hand.

"Ase…Asen…Aseh…" Zvallah struggled with the name.

"You can call me As…" she trailed off as a thought hit her. It was almost horribly painful for her to suggest, but… "…Nefer-Asen."

"Nefer-Asen!"

"Come on, Nefer-Asen!"

"Aseh… Asenath?"

"Nefer-Asen!"

"No, it's Asen."

"No, Nefer-Asen! You're pretty, Nefer-Asen!"

"…Nefer-Asen," she said, smiling, tears rolling down her eyes. Images of her brothers rolled throughout her head, filling her memory.

…She won't see either of her brothers… ever again.

And with that, after that night, Asenath took Zvallah with her, up North, to the Nile Delta. Far away from her birthplace. Far away from her pain.

And lived, for years and years, waiting, just waiting, for when she would see Yami again.

Waiting.

And waiting.

And sensing.

And hoping.

And hundred, thousands of years later, while she was living in Tokyo with Zvallah, one cool night in 1980, one of her colleagues, a young, zany professor, told her that his wife was pregnant.

"Rachel's gonna have a baby, Asenath! Can you believe it?" this professor expressed, brushing his own spiky bangs out of his face. "It'll be amazing."

"Oh," Asenath said, smiling. "I can't wait."


…and there you have it. My retarded ending. 8D

Well… it's been over a year since I first started writing Dance the Forbidden Dance. It's alllll over now. This story is finally done. And so is this… saga. I think. I have no idea.

Anyway, thank you to everyone who stuck it out with me! Sorry it took me SO LONG to write this… bah. XD I'm nuts. But you all knew that.

Well, now that this is finally over, I'll prolly have some one-shots, then some other major, multi-chapter huge-ass fic will come along and consume my life for awhile. n.n; Oh well. It'll prolly have Asenath in it. I should have more fics with her… I'll try to smoosh her in somewhere. Zvallah, too. Because we all love Zve-kun!

Again, thank you, and my huge going-on-a-million cast of characters thanks you, too!

Tata!

Shibby-One :D