Disclaimer: Ahem, I don't own anything. I think… (lawyer comes and hits her over the head with a frying pan) OW! All right…I'm SURE I don't own anything.
Look, I'm updating…again! Joy to the world, the baka isn't dead!
Haldir- Baka is idiot, for those of you who have LIVES and AREN'T obsessed with all this freaky anime.
Do you want me to take away your Trigun viewing privileges?
Haldir- NO! VASH!!!!!
All right then.
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A light breeze swept through the forest, causing Akira to wrap her arms around herself. It was not only the cold, however, that caused her to make the gesture. It was the object floating in front of her that made her take a small step backwards. At first, Haldir did not notice his companion's discomfort, and began pulling the boat closer to the shore. He placed a knapsack in the back, which held food and other supplies. He glanced back, only to see the red head staring at the boat with wide eyes.
"Come," he said simply.
She blinked at him for a few moments, only to turn her attention away from him and back to the object which he was motioning to. "That's a boat," she said softly.
"Is it really?" he questioned sarcastically. "I'd no idea." Her eyes narrowed, and the elf merely stared at her emotionlessly. After a few moments he once again repeated, "Come. We've quite a journey ahead of us."
"Um…can't we just take horses or something?"
He raised an eyebrow at her, his expression becoming one of curiosity instead of slight annoyance. "And how do you purpose to ride horses through the River?"
She shrugged her shoulders, biting her lip a bit. "Well I don't know! You're the tree hugger here, not me. Do some type of…hocus pocus or whatever."
Sighing, he said, "Just get in the boat, Akira."
"Not gonna happen," she retorted firmly. She slid the duffle bag off of her shoulder and let it fall to the ground. Immediately she plopped down on top of it, her arms crossed over her chest.
Haldir stared at her with a somewhat unbelieving gaze for a few moments. With a heavy breath of annoyance, he left the boat and walked towards her. He crouched in front of her, his features set into an expression of determination. "Akira," he said calmly. She met his half-glare, keeping her gaze level with his own. "We must travel for some ways on boat. There is no other way around it; we can not take horses, nor any other type of beast, nor could we reach our destination on foot alone. So…get into the boat."
"I told you that it was NOT gonna happen," she informed him again, her eyes narrowed in anger.
"And why is that?" he questioned.
The young woman stared down, suddenly finding the ground much more interesting than the march wardens curious gaze. Minutes passed in awkward silence, Haldir still awaiting the answer which, he realized after a few more attempt at getting the young woman to speak, was not going to happen. He placed a hand underneath her chin, lifting her face. After a few moments of stubbornly staring into the forest, Akira finally looked him in the eyes.
"We do not have time for this," he spoke very softly, trying his best to be gentle; something about the water obviously made her nervous, possibly even afraid. "We must get on with this trip. Traveling by the River is the easiest way to get to Gondor; not to mention the shortest route. You must get over whatever it is you seem to fear and come quickly."
"Listen, I'm not being difficult on purpose, okay? I just…I'm not getting on that boat," she told him.
He sighed again, heavily this time as his annoyance increased and his patience began to slip. "Akira," he began, but was cut off.
"No way dude! Look at that thing! The boat on Gilagins Island was…safer looking than that thing. Even after it was wrecked. We'd probably drown if we tried to use that to get us all the way to this Gondor place," the teen reasoned, pulling away from his touch to stand.
The march warden rose moments after she did, leveling her with an icy glare. "This is one of the finest boats the city has to offer. I assure you that it is safer then any boat crafted by Man. Besides, you have me. Should anything happen, which it won't, I shall save you."
She tilted her head to the side, eyes flashing as she took a step towards him. "And just what makes think you I'll be the one who needs saving? Need I remind you that you've played the damsel in distress as much as I have, pretty boy."
"I am no damsel," he replied, keeping his voice as calm as possible.
Hazel eyes rolled in exasperation at the response. "I saved you to. Remember? Orc? Arrow? Poison? Live or death situation? Any of this ringing a bell?"
"You are the one who is afraid of the boat, not I. There will be no need for me to be saved; I can swim perfectly fine, as well as direct our boat. If it is my competence that you worry about, I can assure you, your fears are quite ungrounded."
"I'm not afraid of the damn boat!" she yelled at him, her own anger rising.
"Then get on it!" Haldir found himself shouting back at her, unable to mask his growing annoyance. She said she was not afraid, so why was she standing there yelling at him? Was she trying to make him a nervous break down?
Akira's fists clenched at her sides, tightening until her knuckles became white. She did not have to get on the boat; she wouldn't. Her past experiences on boats and in the water were rather…unpleasant. It was not as if she didn't trust the march warden to get them both safely to the next shore; she knew he was capable of that, or else he wouldn't be so insistent on taking the thing. It just seemed to come naturally, worrying about him, as well as herself.
Sighing, she tried to calm herself enough to explain to him that there was just no way she was getting on that thing. He may have referred to it as a boat; a nice, safe form of transportation, but when she looked at it, the only thing she saw was some sort of death trap. Memories flooded her mind and she suppressed a shudder. There was no way of getting around it really; she was going to just have to calmly, rationally tell him her reasons for not wanting to get in.
"I'm not going and you can't make me!"
Haldir mirrored the young woman's exasperated, irritated expression with one of his own. She was doing this just to annoy him, he was sure if it. She hadn't tormented him enough lately, and this was all just some twisted plot to slowly drive him insane. The march warden shook his head, blinking slightly. Not only were his inner monologs juvenile, but they were starting to become very paranoid as well.
Mentally giving a heavy sigh, he realized that he was going to have to attempt to reason with her once again. Though it hadn't worked well the first time, perhaps it would this time. He needed to make her understand how important this was; he needed to make her feel safe and protected, so that she would be able to go through this journey. That was the least he could do, after all. He wasn't as heartless as to just force her to get into the boat without at least attempting to quell some of her fears.
"I can and I shall!"
Chocolate eyes went wide as two strong arms wrapped around her waist, lifting her up and hoisting her nonchalantly over the shoulder of a rather irritated march warden. Angered, the teen hit the elf's shoulder blade with her fist, a few mumbled cursed becoming smothered by the fabric. Ignoring the struggling woman he held, Haldir bent down and picked up her bag. He turned and began heading over to the boat. Akira continued thrashing, trying her best to kick or hit him, anything to make him put her down, but to no avail.
After many minutes of struggling and dodging a few hits, Haldir had finally managed to get the teen and her belongings into the boat. He'd entered quickly afterwards and grabbed an ore, immediately rowing them away from the shore. He really did hate such rash actions; they reminded him too much of those earlier times with Akira, before they were…uh…whatever it was they were. Absently continuing to row, he began searching his mind, attempting to find the correct term for the relationship he had with the young woman. Were they friends? Even…lovers? Wincing as he was kicked half-heartedly in the back, he decided that this was probably not the right time to have that particular discussion with the young woman.
She couldn't believe he actually did that. He picked her up and put her in the boat like she was some type of child. Stupid, arrogant, insensitive pretty boy. She felt like pummeling him, she truly did, and she would have, too, had she not been to tense to move. Her hands gripped the side of the boat as she pulled her knees to her chest, curling herself up protectively. She took in deep breaths, closing her eyes and chanting to herself that this would all be over soon. She could get through this. She kind of had to get through this, actually.
"I hate you," she growled, eyes still squeezed shut.
"Do you really?" he questioned idly, continuing to row now at a more mild pace.
"With a passion," she added.
"You've no idea how your words wound me so."
"Do they really?" she asked, mocking his earlier question.
"Truly. My heart weeps at the tragedy."
"Your not funny, I hope you know that."
"Nor do I intend to be. I am completely serious. I only hope that one day I could change such feelings about me, or else I should truly die at such heartache."
"…jerk."
Akira continued to drill holes into the back of his neck with her eyes for the new few minutes. Haldir seemed completely unaffected by the notion as he continued moving along, his thoughts drifting idly from one subject to another as he rowed through the waters.
The young woman bit her lip as she brought her arms away from the sides of the boat, wrapping them around herself once again. She tried to pretend she was anywhere other than there. She willed herself away, forgetting the sounds of the small waves gently lapping against each other, the smell of the sea air, the feeling of the boat gliding through the water. She pictured herself back home, in Seattle. The image of her walking down one of the city streets came to mind and she found herself smiling a bit. The memory was so distinct; the people, the smells, the feel of the cool, glass, shop window as she imagined herself running her fingers over it. Her smile faltered slightly as she realized how homesick she'd become. Well not homesick for her actual home, but for the city she grew up in. The place she could really call home. She wondered if she would ever go back there. But then again, even if she was given the choice, would she?
With another soft sigh she decided that if she couldn't will herself some sort of escape while awake, perhaps she could do so in dream. The next few minutes she worked on calming herself, willing herself to sleep. She didn't realize how exhausted she was, because after around four or five minutes, she fell fast asleep.
- Flashback/Dream -
Akira couldn't help but giggle at her twin's joke. Sure, she had heard it a million times, but Alana always knew how to make her laugh. Daniel Richards turned his head, dark eyes regarded the two girls who sat, strapped in tightly to the seats in the back of the small speed boat. He turned from them and reached out, taking another sip from his beer.
Dark eyes caught her father as he gulped down his second beer, but Akira said nothing. She knew better, and she wasn't going to ruin this; not for herself, or her sister. It'd been ages since their father had taken them out on the boat. He'd announced earlier in the week that he was planning to sell it -they needed the money, since Daniel couldn't seem to find, or more to the point, keep a job since his wife's death- but that if the two girls behaved all week, he would take them out for one final ride.
Both of the twins had been, to say the least, ecstatic. They hadn't been out on the water ever since their mother died, and since the boat was about to be sold, they weren't about to let this chance slip out of their fingers.
"Alana," the red head said, leaning into her sister, trying to speak over the sound of the engine, but not so loud as to gain her fathers attention.
"Yeah?" the other twin questioned.
"Do you think it's good for dad to be drinking? You know how he gets and…well…" she trailed off unsurely. The day had started out so well, and their father had gone through one of his little episodes in almost three weeks. He hadn't even picked up a beer in four. They had both hoped that meant he was getting better.
Alana patted her shoulder, giving the slightly younger twin a reassuring smile. "I'm sure he'll be fine. Don't worry about it."
"But what if-"
"I'll make sure nothing bad happens if he's not, all right?" Akira hesitated, biting her lip nervously as she glanced back up at her father. "You trust me, don't 'ya sis?"
Slowly she nodded her head, attempting to return the smile she got. "Of course I do."
Daniel took another drink, his vision beginning to become a bit blurry. His eyes seemed to shift when he didn't want them to. He shook his head, taking another large gulp of his drink when he re-opened his eyes. The sound of giggling and raised voices reached his ears and he clenched his fists.
"Shut up, both of you!" he yelled back to them. "I can't concentrate with you two yelling back there!"
They both immediately stilled, ceasing their conversation. Alana noticed a flash of nervousness in her twins eyes. She placed her hand on top of hers, giving a comforting squeeze. Another soft smile graced her lips. The boat came to a sudden halt…and there was the sound of stumbling.
"I told 'ya to shut up!" Daniel screamed, delivering a slap across the older twins cheek. "How am I supposed to concentrate when you won't shut up?" He lifted his hand, prepared to strike the girl again.
"Don't!" Akira yelled, her hands moving to unbuckle the belt which held her. "Leave her alone!"
"Sit down!" he told her firmly when she finally managed to stand. When she didn't he placed his hands on her shoulders, pushing her painfully back into the seat. "Honestly you two are worthless! I try to take you out and the only thing you two can do is disobey me! I can't even drive the damn thing with the noise you make!"
Akira eyes flashed and she stood again, tears brimming her eyes. "Maybe you could drive if you weren't lousy drunk!"
Alana gasped as the words escaped her sister. Before she could even react, Akira had been pushed into the side of the boat. Daniel walked up to her, grabbing the thirteen-year-old by the collar with one hand and punching her across the jaw with the other.
"Don't you back talk me girl!"
"Let her go! Please!" Alana cried out.
Sneering, the man complied with the teens wishes and released the girl from his grip. He dropped her so quickly, she lost her balance. With a small scream ripping from her throat, Akira fell over the side of the boat, her small body crashing into the cold waters.
"No!" Alana undid her own restraints and stood up, quickly rushing over to see her twin thrashing about in the water. She too was about to jump over when strong arms were wrapped around her waist. "Let go! Get your hands off of me!" she yelled, angrily trying to strike out at the man who held her. "Dad…God…she can't even swim!"
"Let her drown then! It's her own fault!" he said harshly, throwing the girl onto the ground.
With some unknown type of force rushing through her, Alana pushed herself up and delivered a kick to the mans groin. Jumping up quickly, she managed to dodge him and jump over the boat, sinking underneath the freezing water.
Her eyes opened, searching the dark water for any signs of the red head who'd fallen in only moments before. She spotted her twin and felt fear wrench her heart at the sight of Akira lying lifeless. Pushing her body with as much strength as she could, Alana reached the other girl and wrapped her arms around her waist. Thanking God that she had actually stayed in her martial arts classes, helping her gain a little more strength than her twin, she began pulling the girl up to the surface.
When they finally reached the top Alana gasped for air. She swam to the back of the boat, awkwardly pulling her sister with her. Somehow she managed to get both her and Akira back into the boat. Ignoring the murderous glare she was receiving from her father, Alana placed her ear over her twins heart, thankful to hear it's faint beating. She put her hands on the girls abdomen, pressing down roughly a few times. Moments later Akira began coughing up water, her eyes opening slightly as she stared up at her twin.
"A…Al…an…" She choked, unable to finish the thanks.
Tears falling down her cheeks, the slight older girl wrapped her arms around her twin, trying to calm her. "It's all right, your safe now. It's okay. Shh Akira, I've got you."
"Stupid girls…" Daniel murmured, glaring at the two as he began advancing on him. "Your going to wish you both drowned."
- End Flashback/Dream -
Cold water surrounded her, seeming to freeze her to her very core. Her lungs burned with the lack of oxygen. Her mind was screaming as every limb thrashed out, trying to find some way back to the surface. But the water seemed to weigh her down, pull her to the bottom. No, not again…this couldn't be happening…she had to be…
Her eyes snapped open. Akira would have screamed, but unfortunately she couldn't. She found herself a bit to pre-occupied with drowning to panic. What was going on? Hadn't she just been dreaming? Where was she? Why was she here again?
Suddenly a strong hand wrapped around her arm, pulling her upwards. She gasped for air when the chance came to her, thankful to be able to breath again. She was pulled back over the boat, coughing loudly.
"Akira? Akira? Are you all right? Akira?"
A concerned voice reached her ears, almost frantic. A few more coughs escaped her and she looked up, blinking as she Haldir's worried face.
"Wha…? What happened?"
The elf stared at her, worry etched on his features. "I do not know. I was rowing when all of a sudden you began thrashing in your sleep. I tried waking you, but you managed to push me away. By the time I was able to retrieve my balance…you were in the water." She was silent for a few moments, her body going complete tense. Haldir waited a little while before speaking again. "Are you all right?"
"N-no, I'm not all right. I'm tired, upset, angry, freezing, h-hungry and I…I want to go home!" Unable to suppress the sob that escaped her, Akira buried her face into her hands.
Without a moments hesitation the elf wrapped his arms around the girl, pulling her closer to him. He ran a hand through her wet hair, attempting to calm her. "Akira…I am…sorry. I didn't mean for you to…I am sorry."
They stayed like that for many minutes. Akira, not really crying, but still not quite out of her shaken state, pulled back to look up into Haldir's eyes, sighing softly when she found the cold blue swimming with confusion and concern that she had somehow gotten used to.
"It's your fault, y-y-you know. Should've listened to me when I told you th-this was a bad idea."
"I am-"
Without even thinking she pressed her lips to his own, kissing him urgently. Shocked, Haldir didn't respond until he felt her arms wrap around his neck, pulling him closer, urging him to deepen it. Unsurely he kissed back, and soon found himself pulling the soaked teenager even closer to him. Akira didn't pull back, finding relief in the warmth of his body heat. The two pulled back, gasping a bit.
"You s-should be," she murmured, shaking a bit from the cold.
They sat in silence, the teen still shivering. Haldir maneuvered himself so that he could reach the knapsack he had placed in the back of the boat. He pulled out a blanket, which wasn't much really, and wrapped it around the teens shoulders. He unhooked his own cape, adding it over the blanket for extra warmth. Looking around, he decided they should pull into shore or something, to at least allow Akira to get changed into some dry clothes. He began removing his arms from around her, only to have her cuddle up to even closer.
"C-cold," she whispered.
"I know," he told her. "We are going to pull up to shore for a bit, you need to get out of those before you fall ill."
She nodded, reluctantly allowing him to pull away from her in order to row to shore. Her teeth began chattering, not that she could help it. God, that water had been freezing. She glanced up, seeing Haldir's questioning and worried eyes on her. Pulling the blankets around herself even more, she wondered if she should tell him. It was obvious he wanted to ask, and she knew he was going to, so why not just get it over with? A shiver ran down her spine and she snuggled even more into the blanket and cape. She would tell him…as soon as she got into some dry clothes.
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I didn't know where to end it!
Haldir- Did that chapter have a point?
No. I just wanted to make my OC suffer some more, and I needed an excuse for more cuddlies.
Haldir- Ah. Well of course. (rolls eyes)
Um…this chapter wasn't beta'd either. I don't know where she is. Heh. I'll find her, somewhere. In the mean time, you guys are going to have to put up with me braving it on my own! So…uh…reviews!
Mrs. Fleton- See, I put cuddlies up there! And the next chapter we'll get even more! Thanks for reminding me that I had this in romance for a reason. Heh. Thanks for reviewing.
Strider Girl- See?! I'm not waiting a month. It hasn't even been a week. I'm getting back into my grove…yo.
Neoinean- No I'm not dead. (places hand over heart) Oh…err…I'm supposed to feel something beating there…right?
Haldir- I dunno.
(anime sweat drop)
Crecy- Will you check and see if Mine has an extra Sing the Sorrow cd? I can't quite find mine. Bad Haldir, teaching your clone to steal.
Haldir- But…I learned it from you!
….pretend you didn't hear that!
In the Depp End- Ah yes. Johnny…Orli…sooo pretty…
Fanfictiongeek36- (pokes Too Far Gone) Is it dead? If I can get over my block, I know you can too! We have faith in you! Don't we Hally-san?
Haldir- Have faith in what?
(twitch)
Haldir- What?!
Haldir's Heart and Soul- Were you traumatized by seening Pitt's arse? I hope not. Don't wanna lose a reviewer! Heh.
Commodores R Ppl 2- Aww! I'm loved. I feel special. (looks down at name tag) Oh wait. I AM special. La la la! (twirls around happily) I'm glad you found that chapter amusing.
Haldir- I am not fat! I'm just big boned.
Oh God…he's gotten into the South Park again. Oh yes, AFI rocks my socks! It is soo cool that my reviews like 'em too! The Leaving Song and This Time Imperfect are two of my favorite songs on Sing the Sorrow! I'm even using them in another ficlet that I have. Hally-san!
Haldir- Yeah yeah, I KNOW!
Walked away
Heard them say
Posioned hearts will never change
Walked away again
Hung my head in disgrace
Felt the chill upon my face
Cooling from within
(sighs dreamily) You sing SO good Hally-san. Hey you know what! We should invite Davey Havock to sing This Time Imperfect.
Haldir- COOL!
(Davey magically poofs out of nowhere) Davey- Um…hi.
(squeals) ooooooooooooo!
Davey- Uh…could you stop looking at me like you're going to do something inappropriate to me? Uh hey…stop. Don't try to touch me there!
Haldir- Stop molesting him and let him sing!
Your no fun.
Davey- There are no flowers no not this time
They'll be no angels gracing the lines
Just these stark words I find
I'd show a smile but I'm too weak
I'd share with you could I only speak
Just how much this hurts me
Sooooooo pretty. (twitch) Can I please molest you? Just this once?
Davey- Well…ok.
YAY! Haldir…take over the review responses.
Haldir- (blinks) UH-KAY! Hey wait, that was it! She didn't update so long she lost half her reviewers. Stupid perverted meanie head. (notices readers staring at him) Um…review please! It's great appreciated and helps get chapters out faster. You guys rock!