[A/N] Plot bunny attack. types ferociously will being pelted with random objects Alright! Alright! I'm typing! I'm typing! Here you go people . . . turns to plot bunnies geez

Chapter Two – Revenge

He scowled as he stood atop the pedestal. It had been two months since that afternoon, and Drizzt was still thinking about what might be keeping Catti-brie so lost in thought. At the moment, he was being measured by the same tailor that had measured him for the banquet in Silverymoon. Catti- brie was also being measured, but by a different tailor, the master's skilled apprentice. Lady Alustriel was watching him with a smile on her face that only made the ranger's scowl deepen.

"What are you smiling about?" He asked, keeping the bitter edge out of his voice. She laughed. "It's about me, isn't it?"

"Perhaps, friend, but maybe the image of you standing there with your arms out is also quite amusing as well." The scowl on his face, if possible, deepened. Alustriel only smiled as she watched her favorite tailor go to work. The outfits were being made ahead of time, so that they would be ready for the wedding, and they wouldn't be running around like chickens with their heads cut off when they began to get every thing ready for the wedding.

"Well," he said softly, silently thanking Mielikke that he was finally able to put his arms down. "Things have been really stranger lately," his voice was quiet as he slowly pulled on his shirt and tunic, effectively hiding the deep scars from his time in captivity months ago. "Catti-brie's been rather quiet, thoughtful. Its as if she's hesitating over something, and I can't figure out what she's been so quiet about. I wish I knew."

Alustriel's brow creased in confusion. That was completely unlike the Catti-brie that she knew. The dwarven-raised woman usually wasted no time in voicing her opinions and thoughts, not to mention, was always open to Drizzt when it came to talking about something that bothered her. The Lady of Silverymoon thought for a moment quietly. Drizzt looked at her with a thoughtful look in his lavender eyes. She had a feeling that he was silently asking her for her help, since she knew he would never admit it out loud.

"I'll talk to her," she said quietly with a smile. "Maybe she'll talk to me."

Drizzt smiled, the effect of it lighting his handsome face. "Thank you, Alustriel. I just can't believe that she hasn't opened up to me about it."

"Neither can I believe it," she said softly, "neither can I."



"What did ye want to talk to me about Alustriel?" Catti-brie asked as she sat down across from the woman. Drizzt had left on patrols and Wulfgar had brought Delly, Colson, and their son back to their home, since they had been in the dwarf caves for about a month now.

Alustriel smiled at the younger woman. She had a feeling about what she was hesitating to tell Drizzt what was on her mind. The lady began to speak quietly. "Drizzt is worried. He thinks that you have been rather quiet as of late, and that alone worries him. He fears that there is something that you are afraid to tell him about."

Catti-brie sighed, closing her sapphire blue eyes. Alustriel watched the normally proud shoulders slump with something akin to resignation or something else. She could tell that the young woman was hesitating about something. Her voice was very soft when she spoke next.

"I'm not sure if I'm ready to be the sort of person that stays at home permanently yet." She looked at the woman on the other side of the table from her. "I've been livin' on the road for so long, that I'm not knowin' if I'm ready to do that yet." She added in a softer voice. "I'm not thinkin' that I'm ready to be havin' a family o' me own yet."

"And you haven't talked to Drizzt about this yet." Alustriel said quietly. Catti-brie nodded, looking down at her hands folded in her lap. "You should tell him, Catti-brie. He'll understand your hesitation." She smiled suddenly. "Besides, haven't you noticed the ring on his finger, the silver one?"

"Yes," Catti-brie turned curious eyes towards the ruler of Silverymoon. "And I've been wonderin' why he's wearin' it."

Alustriel smiled. "I gave it to him. It was enchanted so that if the two decided to . . . well . . . before the wedding, you wouldn't be filled with his seed, and come to be with child before the big. He was blushing through his black skin when I gave it to him, telling me that he had no plans to go that far before hand."

"What did you tell him?"

"That you never knew how far it would go, especially when you love someone as much as you two love each other." Alustriel smiled gently at the blushing young woman. "And don't act so embarrassed about it, Catti-brie. You know that he loves you more than anything else. Just accept it, Cat. There's nothing that he'd ever leave you for." She rested a hand on her shoulder. "He'll understand perfectly if you only tell him, Catti-brie."

She nodded silently, not trusting her voice at the moment. She knew that she had to talk to him. He had the right to know about her hesitation at having a child. Alustriel left the young woman to her own thoughts. She knew that Catti-brie would make the right decision.



He lay back against his headboard. His thoughtful lavender eyes stared hard at the ceiling – at the many cracks in the ceiling. He had come back from his patrols late that evening and he had hesitated at going into Catti- brie's room. Drizzt wondered what was making her so quiet lately; why she was always thinking and staring into space. Catti-brie was normally quick and alert pretty much at every turn, hardly ever caught unawares, even by him; though normally she could only find him when he let her.

The drow visibly jumped when there was a soft, familiar knock at his bedroom door.

"Come in," he called softly, not looking at the door, still staring up at his ceiling. "The door's unlocked."

Catti-brie opened and closed the door behind her quietly, blue eyes taking in the site of the drow before her. She knew that he was getting ready for bed; he had already removed his shirt, tunic, weapons, armor, cloak, and boots, and was wearing a loose pair of leggings (a/n: think of men's pajama bottoms) that had been made of a black silk, with a drawstring bottom that hung low on his slender waist. (a/n: that was the hormones talking, not me) His waist length white hair had been pulled back in a long, thick braid that ran down his spine, tied back with a leather thong. Catti-brie took this opportunity while he was looking up to look at him. His upper body was slender, muscles tight. Even though he seemed delicate on the outside, you could see the muscles playing beneath his skin whenever he moved.

Sighing, Catti-brie tore her eyes from him, knowing that she had to tell him sooner or later. "Drizzt, there's somethin' that I be wantin' t' talk t' ye about."

He turned his eyes to her. Smiling, he swung his legs over the side of the bed, walking over to her, wrapping his arms loosely around her shoulders. "I'm listening Cat."

Looking for a place to start, she rested her head on his shoulder, blue eyes going over the scars left there. "Did ye ever think that we would have children together, after we got married?"

He seemed to think about it for a while. "I don't know. All I wanted was to love you for whatever time we have together. I haven't really thought about children at all Cat. Though, now that you mentioned it, I don't think that I ever really imagined the two of us living together in a large home, little boys and girls running all over the place. Didn't seem right, looking at the two of us." He looked down at her, lavender eyes curious. "Why do you ask?"

Now it was her turn to think. She had never really thought of it either, come to think of it. She had thought that he would want her to bear his children, but apparently he had never thought of it. Catti-brie smiled as she wrapped her arms around his waist, shivering as her hands came in contact with his bare skin; against some of the scars. "I had been thinking; that ye would be wantin' t' settle down and have children, but I'm not ready to have a babe, t' be a mother yet. I was afraid that yer reaction would be different from this."

Drizzt smiled, rubbing her back slowly as he pulled back enough to look into her sapphire eyes. "I don't think that we'll have to worry about that happening, even after the wedding." He held up the ring. Catti-brie noticed that there were little etchings on the band that she hadn't seen before. They were done in brilliant green and violet; symbols that she couldn't understand. "If you were talking to Alustriel, she probably told you about this."

Catti-brie smiled, lightly touching a thin and jagged scar on the side of his face. "She did. She be the one tellin' me that I should be talkin' t' ye."

Drizzt had the grace to look embarrassed; heat rushing up his face and neck; clearly visible to Catti-brie, even through his ebon skin. "That was probably because I asked her to, when we were talking." He said quietly. "I was worried, because you've been so quiet and in another place for such a long time, and that's just not like you at all, to be like that. If I could've gotten you to open up any other way, I would've, but, well, you seem to talk better around other, well," – the blush deepened – "females."

She laughed; it sounded like something that he would do. Catti-brie lightly kissed his cheek, still smiling. "Well, ye were right. It helped a lot, talkin' t' her." She pressed a gentle kiss to his lips. "Thank ye."

Smiling, Drizzt kissed her forehead, running his fingers slowly through her hair and pulling her head forward until their foreheads touched. "You very welcome, my lady love."

With one last kiss goodnight, they separated and Catti-brie left to go to her own room, leaving the drow's thoughts again calmed, thankful that she had finally come to talk to him about what was eating at her.

[A/N] I hope that you guys like this chapter! Possible next chapter; wedding! That is, unless a different plot bunny bites my ass. Wicked grin. We'll have to see in future chapters . . .