Part 18
He no longer knew what was worse, being separated from Dani and his thoughts being consumed by her, or being with her and she having no idea who the hell he was.
Harper felt her touch on his arm, as she led him through the gardens of the palace, so rich in different aromas, but he had no idea of the detailed beauty around him, he saw only lightness and a blurred mess of colour. Harper had hoped that by spending some time with him, Dani might remember, but so far his theory was falling flat. Deep down however, Harper had realised that he was happy to just be with her, as they walked at a slow pace, arm in arm.
"So, Dani, is this your usual kind of assignment?" Harper asked by way of idle conversation, but finding it difficult to talk to her like she was a stranger. "And you can talk to me, Dani; I'm not going to treat you like a slave."
Dani took a moment before responding. "No, this isn't my usual assignment," she admitted in a low voice, it was obvious that she was cautious of anyone hearing her talk to her assigned master as an equal, and she was uncomfortable talking to him.
"Do you have any idea why you've been assigned to me?" Harper asked casually, hating the fact she wasn't at ease with him.
"Because you are from Earth, like me," Dani responded, her voice lacking the warmth he fondly remembered.
"Is that the only reason?"
"Right now, we need to stick together, after what happened," Dani stated.
"What do you mean?" Harper asked with hope. "After what happened?" Harper questioned her, and was suddenly confused. Her words of 'after what happened' conjured up only the past for him, and he could only think it related to the previous time they had spent together.
"Earth," Dani prompted, and Harper was at a complete loss as to what she meant now, and feeling a little disappointed.
"What about Earth?" He then asked curiously, and with less enthusiasm.
"Where have you been for the past week? It's all this sector has been talking about, and it's why I was removed from my other duties, I was so upset that I didn't leave my quarters for a whole day," Dani offered with surprise. "Earth has been destroyed, it is not more."
"What?" Harper stopped walking, and tried to remember to breath. "I don't, it couldn't, but," Harper panicked trying to understand the news, and Dani got a firmer grip on his arm to prevent him from falling.
"You didn't know," Dani realised and she quickly escorted Harper to the nearby seat. "Earth exploded, completely destroyed, it's gone," she stated.
"It's really gone?" Harper asked with a hollow disbelieving voice. "Why would you lie or joke about it, I just don't," Harper paused mid-sentence, trying to gather his thoughts, and his head moved into his hands as he sat on the bench, Dani sat next to him. "But I never got the chance, my friends, my home," he stressed, trying hard to keep a hold on his suddenly flurry of emotions. "All gone?" he shook his head, not wanting to believe it.
He felt her hand on his back, as tender as he remembered, as she attempted to comfort him. "I wish I had had the chance to get to know Earth better," Dani spoke softly.
Harper now brought his arm around Dani, and they both took comfort from the hold for a few moments. It felt so natural, and Harper was quickly reminded of those thoughts that had plagued him for so long, that he had wanted this so badly, Dani was in his arms again and he didn't want to let go, in a very dark moment, he had found all that he really wanted right there in his arms.
His hand came up and felt Dani's jaw line, as he gently encouraged her to face him, and he traced her cheek and then brushed her hair from her face. Bringing his face closer, he could almost see her now, and all of his emotions and feelings collided as he partially saw and recognised with blurred vision the face that had been the only constant in his mind since losing his sight.
"Dani, I've missed you so much," Harper spoke in barely a whisper with hesitant distraction, his earlier held back emotions threatening to surface now.
"I feel as though I should remember you," Dani could only respond, without reacting to Harper's actions, only accepting his touch. "We've known each other before?"
"Correct," Harper couldn't help the sad smile he now wore. "Dani, I wish we could share this like before, I truly do, but being here with you, it is bringing it all back, our first kiss on the Andromeda, everything."
"Andromeda," Dani repeated. "I remember the Andromeda," she offered.
"What? What do you remember?" Harper asked with renewed hope.
"A room, I was in a room with no air," Dani remembered, and concentrated on her memories, as Harper continued to absently brush her hair back. "Someone saved me," she then looked more closely at Harper and he brought his hand back to his side, as her hand now brushed the side of his face. "You saved me, but I hurt you," Dani struggled with her thoughts. "That's all I remember, that was you, right?"
Harper couldn't hide his beaming smile now, the fact she had remembered something, that she remembered that they had known each other at least, was more than he could have expected, and he embraced her tightly with joy. His thoughts wandered back to Earth, and he suddenly felt guilty for finding some joy after learning he had lost even more now.
"That was me," Harper finally agreed, after a moment of distraction.
"You could see then," Dani then stated, and she suddenly moved her hand away from his face.
"I could, yeah," Harper shrugged, without further explanation but he sensed Dani's sudden anxiety.
"We should return, I can't be seen sitting on the same bench as my master," Dani stated, getting to her feet. "Not like this," she hastily added.
"Wait," Harper stopped her moving any further away, and he felt for both of her hands so he could hold them. "I don't expect you to remember everything, Dani, I'm cool like this, but I won't treat you like a slave," Harper stressed with care. "Dani, we're friends, friends that were forced apart because of our own situations but we have a chance now, and no one will split us up again, even if you don't remember, I do, I have not forgotten a moment, and if Yussuf has a problem with that then he shouldn't have assigned you to me, he knew about our friendship."
"He did?" Dani checked with surprise. "Yussuf doesn't approve of me having friends, especially male friends, but if he knew then you're suggesting that he purposely put us together, and I can't believe that," she stated with concern.
"Right now, Yussuf is one big mind trip, I don't know why he's doing this but I do know he has a reason, and I will find that out, Dani, and it won't be at our expense," Harper stated with confidence. "Take me to see him, please, I want to speak to him."
"No, no way, bad idea," Dani encouraged Harper to move, and she took his hand, making him stand up to follow but he soon forced her to stop.
"Dani, maybe you don't remember me, or what we had together, but I do," Harper stressed once more, knowing his emotions were all over the place, so he took a deep breath, taking a firm hold on Dani to ensure she was focused on him. "I love you, Dani, and I haven't stopped loving you since the day I left this place, and I don't know what mind trip Yussuf has me on, but I won't let him mess with me like this, he won't mess with us again," Harper declared. "Please believe me," he added.
Harper could vaguely see the shape of Dani now, the sun had reappeared in the sky and the light made her easier to see. "Look, sir, you're my mission right now, ok?" Dani told him with an even tone, and she sounded scared in his hold. "Just lately, I've done nothing right, I used to be Yussuf's favourite and now I'm his piece of dirt, and that's if I'm lucky," she stated. "I can't afford to do anything that gets his attention, so if you really do," Dani paused before continuing. "If you really do love me, then don't make me take you to see him, ok?"
"He's been messing with you?" Harper tried to understand, his voice clipped as he tried to control a growing anger.
"He's always has," Dani sighed, and Harper sensed her fear even more now. "Just lately, more so and maybe it's your fault, if we did have this thing between us that he was aware of that I no longer remember, it makes sense now," Dani sighed, as Harper finally let his hold on her go. "Or maybe you're just making this all up so you can claim me too, maybe it's you messing with my head, you wouldn't be the first."
"I wouldn't do that, Dani," Harper insisted softly. "I just want to know why he's brought me here, and why he's put you with me, he hates my kind and now he's giving me all that that I want?" Harper frowned with concern. "Yussuf isn't known for his generosity towards kludges."
"I don't know either, and I barely remember you, I just know that I have a job to do," Dani's voice became colder as she spoke. "Personally I just think Yussuf is humiliating me further by assigning me to serve a kludge, so please let me get this assignment over with, because you're not going to ruin my day, ok?" Dani stressed. "So stop playing these games and getting me mixed up in your flights of fancy."
"Dani, you're talking to me in a way that's not appropriate for a slave to talk to their master," Harper mentioned softly, and before Dani could respond he continued. "And you're talking to me in this way because subconsciously you do know me, and you trust me enough to be comfortable talking to me like this knowing I won't report you, that hug was natural, not forced, and the way you felt compelled to comfort me, that was the Dani I knew," Harper stressed, hiding the hurt he had felt with her words.
"I show some compassion and now I'm supposedly yours?" Dani questioned harshly, then in frustration Harper could hear her calm herself down, and he knew she was stopping herself saying more, to revert back to her training as a conditioned slave. "Follow me, sir," she then spoke with the control of a slave again, as she began to lead Harper back to his quarters.
"Dani, I'm not messing with you," Harper spoke again sincerely, but this time following her as she had requested. "All I've wanted in the past three months is to be by your side again, and I have that, I'm the happiest man alive."
"Sir, I will ensure the cook serves dinner within the hour so you can retire to bed," Dani spoke evenly, and without reaction.
"Dani!" Harper partially snapped at her refusal to acknowledge him, then sighed when she didn't respond. "Ok, fine, I'll do this your way, as I said, I'm just happy to be here with you, so I can wait."
"Wait for what, sir?" Dani asked.
"Wait forever, if that's what it takes," Harper stressed, as she continued to walk him back to his quarters.
They'd walked another few meters when Harper suddenly brought his hand to his head, as a sharp pain hit him. "Argh," he exclaimed as he stopped for a moment.
"Are you ok, sir?" Dani asked, and she took some of Harper's weight, as he began to look a little unsteady. "Sir?"
Harper tensed for a moment, and then took some deep breaths. "I'm good," he offered finally, and took a moment to get his bearings.
"Sir," Dani spoke with urgency. "Your nose, it's bleeding," she said and Harper felt a tissue being put to his nose. "Are you sure you're ok?"
"Actually," Harper grimaced, feeling dizzy suddenly, and he stumbled in Dani's hold. "Attack of the killer headache now playing inside my head," he complained.
"Sit down for a moment," Dani encouraged him down to the ground, and he didn't object as the world felt as though it was spinning now, without sight the feeling was more a nauseous one. "Wait here," she said and soon left his side.
Harper took some deep breaths, panicked now by the sudden onslaught of the headache that now partially crippled him with pain. Then he saw something, his eyes suddenly focused and for a split second he saw the paved ground he was sitting on. The shock caused Harper to stop breathing for a moment, and he brought his hand to his eyes to cover them, before shakily he removed them and again he caught sight for a split second of his surroundings. This time the gardens, and the bright sunshine that hurt his eyes in the flash he saw, and the shock caused him to feel dizzy again, falling backwards becoming light headed and he felt his body relax, as his upper body fell ungracefully upon the paved ground.
He remained awake, but unmoving as he lay on the ground and rolled onto his back. Both hands now covered his face, and he felt the tears that had escaped his sore eyes. Harper was trying to determine the problem, he had a killer headache, his eyes stung and he felt sick and light headed.
"Sir, I have help, they will take you back to your quarters," Dani's voice spoke hurriedly upon her return.
Harper felt himself being lifted and then placed on a trolley, and with some urgency he was taken back to his quarters.
TBC
