Regina: I've got something to say about this story. Relative to all of my others, it is the most popular of them all, with over 20 reviews for 2 chapters. So it seems you enjoy it, so keep reviewing, and make sure this gets to at least 30 reviews before I update. And here's another shameless plug: visit my two X-Men websites - my Amyro one (at ) and my X-Men movies X-Kids site (at )
Oh, and if you are wondering, all of the quotes in this chapter are real. They are the property of William Shakespeare, Theodore Roethke, and William Blake. I just thought that they would be wonderful additions to the story. And don't worry if capital letters show up part way through a sentence, as that is just where the next line begins in the play or poem. So, enjoy!
A Way With Words
Chapter Three: Fire of the Brightest Heaven
Amara was still looking around, confused, when the red sports car finally pulled up alongside her. But Scott was not in the driver's seat. Instead it was. . .
"Tabitha?"
The blonde bombshell grinned. "Hey, girl. I thought I'd pick you up."
Amara blinked, trying to figure out what was going on. "Scott leant you the car?"
Tabitha waved the comment off. "Not so much leant as I borrowed it without asking."
"You mean you stole it.""Stole, borrowed, same diff. You coming, or not, girl?" asked Tabitha, when Amara did not move.
"Coming, I guess," replied Amara, as she opened the car door and got into the seat next to Tabitha. "So why did you decide to pick me up?" she asked Tabitha, trying to distract herself from what had just happened with John.
"I thought you might want to go shopping with me," Tabitha replied, as the car began to drive off.
"That sounds like just what I need after-"
Tabitha cut her off. "Ooh, I love this song!" she almost shouted, and reached over to turn up the radio., and began bouncing around to the song.
"Never mind," Amara said quietly, watching her friend's antics.
The song eventually finished, and Tabitha said, "Sorry. What were you saying?"
"Nothing. I was just gonna ask where did you want to go shopping?"
"Who cares, so long as we're gonna have ourselves a little fun?!"
Amara couldn't help but smile at her friend. Tabitha could always make her smile.
And that was just what she needed right then.
"Hey, Amara. Is it just me or was that tree smoking? Don't tell me you got bored or something."
Amara said nothing.
X X X
Before Amara knew it, the time had come for her to go back to her writing class. She wished she did not have to go back, but a part of her secretly wished to have another encounter with John.
For some reason, he had been plaguing her thoughts even more than usual, and the night before he had entered her dreams for the first time.
Now it seemed that she was not even able to escape him when she was asleep. The thought of this caused a great battle inside of her, the two parts of her fighting to be heard.
It was just her luck that Scott had dropped her off right by the tree that John had left his mark on. Curious, Amara examined it closely for the first time.
The handprint was perfect, no errors in its making. John had not moved his hand even a fraction when he was making it. Amara slipped her hand into it, and found that his hand was larger than she had first thought. Her own hand found the plains of his one, and took them in until she thought she knew it as well as her own hand.
She closed her eyes, and was immediately transported back to the week before, to the very moment when John was burning the wood. But now Amara was the tree, feeling his power envelop her, leaving his mark on her skin, and leaving something even more amazing buried deep beneath her skin, waiting until the moment was right to surface.
She could feel him so strongly that it was almost as if he was standing right next to her.
Amara's eyes flew open at the prospect. She looked around quickly, and breathed a sigh of relief when she realised he was nowhere to be seen.
She removed her hand from the wood, and headed towards the class.
X X X
Although Amara had been steeling herself for the class, she was relieved - and secretly disappointed - that John had not been there at all. The class seemed very different without him there, and it made it difficult for her to write. For the first time the words had not been able to come to her as they had done before.
Amara hoped that this had nothing to with John's absence.
The class dragged on, until finally, it ended. Amara could not wait to get out of there. She needed time to think, and she hoped that Scott would not be his usual punctual self when he came to pick her up.
Hopefully Tabitha had 'borrowed' his car again. If she came to pick Amara up, she would have plenty of time to examine her thoughts.
"O! for a Muse of fire, that would ascend the brightest heaven of invention!" said a voice suddenly behind her.
Amara spun around, and found herself face to face with John. "Why won't you just leave me alone?!" she demanded from him.
John shrugged his shoulders, and looked kind of disappointed. "I thought you would like that I quoted something from Shakespeare," he said, sounding downcast. "Guess I was wrong."
Amara's jaw dropped. "Shakespeare?" She had completely misjudged him, if he read Shakespeare, and knew it well enough to quote from it.
"King Henry the Fifth," John replied, his mood picking up. "Surprised?"
"Very."
"Want another?" asked John, a strange smile on his face. "How about: 'One fire burns out another's burning, One pain is lessened by another's anguish.' That's from Romeo and Juliet."
Amara's voice caught in her throat, and she found she could not say anything. She was struck dumb by the smile on John's face.
"And here is the last one. This one's from Theodore Roethke's The Marrow, this time." His eyes caught Amara's, and she found herself trapped within them, burning in their flame. "'Pain wanders through my bones like a lost fire; What burns me now? Desire, desire, desire.'" The last word was almost a whisper, but Amara could hear him as clearly as if he had whispered it into her ear.
"I - I have to go," Amara stuttered, and started to run off.
"Amara!" John shouted behind her. "Wait! I'm sorry!" He took off after her.
Amara's heart pounded in her chest as she ran, hoping to put as much distance between her and John as possible. But a part of her hoped that he would catch her, as she was secretly thrilled by what he had said, even if they were the words of poets of long ago.
A hand caught hers - she was forced to stop and spin around. She found herself once again staring into John's fiery eyes.
"Amara," said John, breathing hard. "I'm sorry."
Amara managed to find her voice. "For what?"
It was his turn to blink with surprise. "For what I said."
"I liked what you said," Amara told him, surprising herself with this new boldness. She even took it a step further, and asked him, "Do you have any more? Quotes, I mean."
John was silent for a moment, then he smiled. He let go of her hand, and instead brushed it gently along her cheek, his eyes never breaking her stare. "The look of love alarms Because 'tis filled with fire; But the look of soft deceit Shall win the lover's hire."
"Well, you don't have to worry about it, John," Amara whispered, closing her eyes under John's touch. "Because you have already won."
John smiled, taking all of this in. "Good. Because do you know how long I've been trying to get your attention?" He laughed softly.
Amara laughed too. "You had a strange way of going about it, though."
"Love is a spirit all compact of fire," John whispered leaning in, "Not gross to sink, but light, and will aspire." The very last word died on Amara's lips, smothered by their kiss.
And for that moment, it was as if they had indeed ascended to the brightest heaven of invention.
