Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Prince of Persia. They all belong to Ubisoft.
Only Time Knows
Chapter Eight: Greatest Gift
"There's no where else to go Kaileena," the Prince said as she backed away from him. "I never wanted to kill you, but this time you've gone too far. You were the cause of all this. I trusted you!"
"See Prince," the Empress sneered," that's your downfall: You're too trusting of people. You haven't seemed to learn that people will stab you in that back all the time, no one can be trusted but ones own self."
"Say what you will, but I've got the upper hand. You won't defeat me."
"We'll just see about that!" she said and charged at him, her swords held high.
The Prince dropped his sword and ducked when she came close. He grabbed her by the middle and threw her to the ground, causing her to drop her weapons. Then, the Empress managed to get the Prince on his back and tried to beat him but he was able to grab her by the wrists and keep her away.
Omar stumbled upon the battle and was shocked to see what he did: Kaileena straddling the Prince trying her hardest to kill him it seemed. And by the wounds on her body, he suspected the Prince attacked her as well.
"Kaileena! Cyrus! What the hell is going on here?" he asked. The sound of his voice alerted both combatants and they froze in place, turning to him.
Omar rushed as fast as his legs would allow and he pulled Kaileena off the Prince with his only hand.
"What have you done to her?" he asked.
"Done to her?" the Prince repeated flabbergasted. "She's the evil one! She caused this whole war. She's the reason you've only got one hand."
He turned to Kaileena, whose eyes were blazing red and she was grinning evilly. "Is this true?"
"Of course."
"But…why would you do this?" he asked.
The Empress pushed him away from her, as if he carried some kind of deadly disease. "Why not? People will do whatever they can to get the people they love right? I wanted Cyrus, and this was the only way. I unfortunately had to sacrifice a few lives in the process."
He was so confused. The Prince turned to Omar, "Don't you see? She has to be destroyed."
"No…" he replied. "No! I won't let you!"
"Omar…" the Prince said, "Why are you protecting her?"
"Because. Wouldn't you protect Farah, even if she was evil?" he asked.
The mention of Farah stung the Prince like a thorn. "Yes…but that's because I love her…wait…"
The Empress was confused, "What?"
"You said it yourself Kaileena, people will do whatever they can for the people they love, even protect them when they know they're dangerous."
Her mouth fell open.
"You mean…you…love me?" It was Kaileena who spoke this time, not the Empress.
He cringed when his hand suddenly began to hurt, but continued, he was making progress. She was in control now, perhaps he could save her. "Sometimes, we love someone, but they don't love us back. And then, the person who loves us is right under our nose, and we don't even know it."
"But…we just met," she said, "Love can't be based on that."
"No?" he asked, "Then why, when I first laid eyes on you, did I feel like I was complete. Why was my mind on you twenty four seven? Why did I dream about you and almost hear your laugh in my sleep. Why is it then, that, even now, when I know you are the cause of all this devastation that you killed without remorse, why do I still think you're beautiful and the most wonderful person on the face of the earth? Tell me, why that is?"
Kaileena was crying by this time. "I never knew."
No! Don't listen to him, he's trying to trick you! To turn you against me!
"I'm not listening to you anymore," she said holding her head. "You can't control me anymore!"
Kaileena fell to her knees in pain. The men knew that this was an internal battle, Kaileena was on her own.
"Fight it Kaileena!" Omar said, "You can beat her."
"You've got us here, we love you," the Prince added, "She has nothing. You are more powerful then her."
They're right! Kaileena told the Empress. You can't hurt me anymore. You can't control me. I've got my friends by my side. I have their strength as well as my own. You're finished your Highness. I'm not afraid of you anymore!
You should be! I won't go down so easily. You can't get rid of me, not without getting rid of yourself!
Then so be it. If I must die, I'm sure as hell going to take you with me.
Kaileena suddenly erupted in flames, but they didn't harm her, she couldn't even feel it. The force brewing between herself and the Empress caused it. She opened her eyes and her tears spilling from her eyes were not water, it was blood.
"I know what I must do," she said.
Omar understood and knew what he too must do. "I'm complete now. You've won Kaileena. Now, I can finally let go. But I need you to do me a favour."
He walked over to her, picking her sword up on the way.
"If you love me as I love you, you will help me. Put me out of my misery."
Kaileena took the sword from him and replied by giving him a loving, passionate kiss, and hesitating only once, drove the sword deep into his stomach.
"Thank you…" he said before dropping to the ground.
She now turned to the Prince. "I'm sorry I cause so much pain." Her voice sounded so far away. "Perhaps, this is my redemption."
"What are you going to do?" he asked.
"The only thing I can do. The Empress must be destroyed, and I must go with her."
"No! There must be another way!" he said desperately.
"My Prince. You have to learn that sometimes things must happen in their own way. You can't keep trying to be a hero and save the world. Just let time run its course."
"I can't lose you. I've lost everybody; I don't want to be alone."
She smiled, giving him almost a motherly smile. "You'll never be alone. Everyone who loves you will always be there for you, in your heart."
"Here," she held out her hand and a glowing light appeared, "This is my final gift to you. It is something that should never have been taken away to begin with." The glowing light shot away down the mountain through the forest.
"And now, I must finally do the right thing. Good bye Cyrus, and thank you. You gave me a second chance, and I can never thank you enough." She blew him a kiss, took a deep breath, and let herself fall off the cliff to the rocky shore below.
The Prince ran over to the cliff and looked over. Far down below, looking like she was sleeping peacefully was Kaileena, the Empress of Time. Slowly, her body turned to sand and blew off into the ocean breeze.
He sank to his knees and hung his head low, and just sat in silence. It was over. Everything was finally over.
Some time passed, he didn't bother to keep track, and soon the storm settled in. There were flashed of lighting and rumbles of thunder, and the rain came down in buckets, soaking the Prince to his very bones. He finally got up and dragged his feet down the mountain, through the forest. He'd return to the palace and have some men come up here and fetch the bodies for a proper burial.
He came back to the clearing and untied the horses from the trees. They'd both been scared to death from the storm and one even ran away. He fixed the saddle on the remaining horse and prepared to pull himself up. But he paused when he heard the sound of moaning.
He listened again, and realized it was coming from behind him. He turned and saw Farah's once dead body, stretching as if she'd just woken up from a nap.
His heart almost stopped when it registered that she was alive. She sat up, a hand to her head and she looked around, "What happened?" she asked. But she suddenly found herself flat on her back again. She realized the Prince, in his excitement, had ran to her and hugged her so hard he pushed her over.
"You're alive!" he said. But his face was buried in her shirt so it sounded more like, "Mer awive!"
"I hope that's a good thing," she said.
He pulled away slightly and said, "Are you kidding? This is the best thing ever!" and hugged her again. "Oh…I thought I'd lost you forever."
She ran her fingers through his hair and said, "How many times do I have to tell you you'll never lose me?"
He wondered how she could be alive when he'd watched her die right before his very eyes. But then it came to him. Kaileena… She'd done this. She'd given Farah back her life.
He held her tight and closed his eyes, enjoying this peaceful moment…
Two years later
The Prince was in his bedroom, standing in front of the mirror, making the final adjustments to his hair. In two years, he'd finally gone back to a princely appearance. His hair was once more short and its natural color, brown. He'd gone for a more adult look and gotten rid of the beard. He'd continued serving in the army but began to participate in fewer battles.
He was going to become king soon, or so his father said. Things were defiantly changing. He'd never forgotten Kaileena, and knew he never would. She'd been an important part in his life. It was thanks to her that he'd realized what he was missing in his life.
Suddenly, a page came rushing into the room, flinging the door open. The poor boy was exhausted and sweating; he'd probably been running.
"Your Highness," the page gasped, "Come quickly, she'd been rushed to the hospital wing!"
"Now?" he asked stunned. The page nodded.
He dropped everything he was doing and followed the page across the palace to the hospital wing. He had been expecting this to happen, but so soon? This wasn't expected to happen for about a week.
His father and the Maharajah, who'd arrived from India a few days ago, waited anxiously outside the emergency room.
King Sharaman said when his son arrived, "She asked for you, you'd better go in there."
Without hesitation, the Prince rushed into the room where the sound of screaming and crying was almost deafening. But not because it was loud or anything, but because it was coming from the woman he loved and it killed him to see her in so much pain.
"Oh thank God you're here," Farah said, her face wet with tears and clutched his hand.
He turned to the doctor who was working on her. "Is she going to be okay?" he asked.
"Yes, there's nothing to worry about. I've handled plenty of cases like this before. She's undergoing a lot of pain, but most people do, she'll be just fine," the doctor replied. He turned to his nurses and ordered them to bring him the necessary supplies. Then he turned to them again. "Okay, now, this is the important part. It is going to hurt but you've got to work with me okay?"
She nodded worriedly.
"It's alright," the Prince said soothingly to her. "It's almost over."
"Alright…now!" And that was the cue for a major wave of uncontrollable pain. Farah did as she was told but that didn't stop her from crying out in pain.
"This hurts," she said through clenched teeth.
"I know," the doctor said, "You're almost there. Come on, just a bit more…"
And as the pain suddenly ceased, the room was filled with another one's crying. Farah fell back against the soft pillows of the bed she laid on, her chest heaving from the strain.
"What is it?" she managed to ask.
"Congratulations, it's a girl," the doctor announced.
The Prince smiled at the news and hugged Farah. "You did it!" he said laughing happily. A part of him never though this day would come. She tried to laugh with him, but she was much too tired.
"Would you like to see her?" the doctor asked. Both parents nodded and he handed the Prince his new baby daughter.
She was crying like mad due to the cold and all this light. He smiled and felt tears come to his eyes. She was so small.
He bent down; low enough to let Farah gently stroke the baby's forehead with his finger.
"Hey there," she said quietly.
"Thank you," the Prince said.
She looked at him, puzzled, "For what?"
"For giving me the greatest gift anyone could ever ask for," he replied.
"Well, if you remember," she said mischievously, "it wasn't all me. You helped a bit too. So…thanks for making me a mommy."
He kissed her on the forehead and asked, "What do you think we should name her?"
Farah thought about it for a moment. She smiled and replied, "I want to name her…Kaileena."
"Really?" he asked.
She nodded, "Mmhm. I think she would've liked us to."
The Prince turned and saw her standing in the corner. Kaileena's spirit, softly glowing blue, was smiling at them. She didn't say anything, and didn't need to.
He turned back to Farah. "You know what? I think she would have loved it."
THE END