A/N Soooooooo sorry it took so long! I wasn't entirely comfortable with part of the story so I wasn't doing the very best of writing and I didn't have motivation to do it right, so I avoided it. lol. I'm so bad. lol. But anyways! Here it is! Hope you like it! Only about two more chapters to go and hopefully they won't take as long to get out. And I'm to lazy to do individual thanks so thanks to all of you who reviewed, you know who you are! And for those of you who read but didn't review, thanks for reading but review this time!
Chapter Twenty-Three:
"So basically, the Master, who is nearly two thousand years old by your calculations, has once again risen and is planning to repeat history by taking over Tortall and you are the only one who is able to stop him because of a magic that runs through your blood and is stronger then any one else ever before because you are the one thousandth descendant of the woman who started it all who happens to look exactly like you?" Burdock demanded all in one breath. Tori stopped to repeat in her head what he had told her and nodded sharply once.
"That is indeed correct," she whispered, looking down at her toes. It was hard to look at the man that was suddenly her father. A few weeks ago, when she had met the royal family from Serinda for the first time, she had been rude, defiant and not at all cooperative. And now she stood before them, there daughter.
"Well then, we have only one thing to say," Novellee whispered quietly, her voice demanding that Tori look at her. She looked at her through her lashes, a shy blush on her face. It was so hard to look at her now knowing that when they had first met Tori had hated her. Hated her more then she had hated anyone in her entire life, because she had thought that she was Lee's mother. And when she had been informed that she wasn't Lee's mother, she hadn't stopped hating her. She had simply let the hatred lie because she hadn't the strength to hate her on her own. And now she was facing this woman again, only this time it was with the knowledge that she was her mother. "Welcome back to us, my daughter."
Novellee spread her arms, and her gray eyes began to fill with tears. Even though Tori felt an almost overwhelming uncomfortable feeling in the pit of her stomach, she walked into her mother's arms, hearing Lee's words playing over in her head. "But know this Tori, your mother will greet you with open arms. Do the same."
As Novellee's arms closed around her she felt herself tense up. And the tenser she became to harder Novellee squeezed until she thought she would be crushed in her arms, leaning nearly her entire weight on Tori. It wasn't until she felt the shaking shoulders of the woman holding her that she realized she was weeping.
Panic filled her as she stared at Burdock with huge, frightened eyes, unsure of how to act or what to do. Should she soothe her? Tell her that everything was okay and fill her voice with fake sincerity? Her green eyes begged Burdock to help her, to tell her what to do. But instead he quietly motioned for the room to be emptied, leaving her alone with the weeping woman.
"Why don't you trust me?" Novellee sobbed when they were alone. "Is it because of how I treated you that day? When we were together in Pirate's Swoop? I didn't mean to be terrible to you! I just was so worried about my son! I had lost you, I couldn't lose him also!"
"No… that's… that's not why…" Tori whispered feeling terrible, and guilty and entirely unsure of herself and the situation. What did one do in a situation like this?
"Is it because you have a mother already? A good one who loves you dearly and who you love just as much? Is it because you don't have any room in your heart for me?" Novellee wailed, her voice screeching in Tori's ear. She winced and quickly shook her head.
"No… I never had a mother… or a real family. Robert was my only friend. And he's dead now. And my heart has plenty of room for you, it's just…" Tori trailed off, unable to find words that described what she felt. She didn't even believe there were words to describe this.
"Then what is it?" Novellee screeched again, her voice high pitched and nasally. Tori winced again as the sound rang through her ear. If she had known that her mother would be such a problem then she wouldn't have even bothered. But that thought made her feel even more guilty and very much in the need of a hug.
"It's me. I'm not used to having someone so close to me, touch me, show affection. Robert was never like that with me, ever. It was an unspoken affection, never demonstrated with hugs and things. And Derek… well, who knows with that. I'm just not used to it, is all," Tori finally whispered.
To her utter surprise, Novellee pulled back and smiled, her perfectly dry cheeks curving. "Well, if that's all, I'm sure we can break you of that habit. I'm sorry if I screeched to loud, but I had to do something to make you loosen up. How about a real hug this time? Promise no crying!"
Tori stared gape mouthed at Novellee. That… that… she hadn't been crying at all! Her mind stumbled over the trickery until she realized that she had been perfectly deserving. Then she laughed and opened her arms. With a tinkling laugh that sounded very much the same as Tori's Novellee swept her into her arms and kissed the top of her dark head.
"You, my dear, are a wonderful daughter and I can't wait to get to know you. Now, hurry up and go find Derek. You need to make plans for how you want to handle the situation with the Master. See you for dinner?"
Tori nodded absently, slightly shell-shocked at how easily Novellee had accepted her into the family. It was as if the past eighteen or so years had been spent together. Like they had never been apart. And because of that it made it that much easier for Tori to slip into the family, to slip into the feeling of belonging to a family.
Grinning now, Tori skipped from the room, stopping in the hall to peck Burdock on the cheek most naturally, and off down the hall to find Derek. Suddenly she had the urge to tell him all about her day. She had never been big on sharing, but something inside her wanted to share and she had a feeling that Derek would want to listen.
Derek held onto Tori's hand as she practiced her magic. It was quite fascinating the way everything worked. Just a simple word and she could have nearly anything she wanted. With a bit more teaching it was likely that she could have anything she wanted.
And when he was touching her hand as she spoke those words of power, he felt the power surge through him, like a tidal wave, gathering power as it swept all down his body and then back out through there joined hands. He wondered if Tori could feel it too, and from the expression on her face the first time she had tried it, he guessed that she had. But maybe she was used to it by now, for nothing but concentration showed on her face. But to him, he still felt it every time.
Currently Tori was calling forth different weapons and saying the words to make her weapons do different things. They hadn't attempted to rock travel yet because Derek was afraid it would make him sick. But he realized that no matter what he would do it. It was quickly becoming clear to him that if Tori asked, he would do it. He would do anything at all for her. Because he loved her.
As a sister of course! He rushed to remind himself. He loved her only as a sister. And if, at odd times he found himself thinking of her beautiful face it was only because he wanted to remember how healthy she looked to make sure to know if she was ever feeling sick.
And if his heart raced just a little bit faster when he was touching her hand, it was only because it was filling with the love he felt towards the girl he considered his sister. And if his pulse jumped every time she smiled at him it was only because he wanted her to be happy, not because he knew that it was him making her smile and he wanted to be the reason she smiled. And if he stayed up at night dreaming of her, thinking of their life together, he was never imaging him holding her close as there children played around the yard with wooden sticks, or of him teaching their fierce green-eyed sons to wield swords while she taught their soft brown angel-haired girls to bake. No, he never dreamed of that, because he loved her as a sister and it was inappropriate for him to want to love her any other way.
"What are you thinking about?" Tori's voice startled him from his thoughts. He knew it was Tori, he had memorized her voice, memorized every tone, every pitch, every sound that left her throat so he could always know what she was feeling. But only because he had a brotherly concern for her happiness.
"Nothing important, Tori," He told her with a soft smile and gently squeezed her hand. Her smile widened at that and as always he felt that little jump in his pulse as he noticed how her smile seemed to light up her face and make her ten times more beautiful.
"Are you ready to try the rocks out? I've set up a base rock not far away," she gave him a sweet smile, she always seemed to be smiling at him lately. She had changed so much since the secret that she was a woman had come out. He believed it was because she wasn't feeling so guilty about lying to him. But he liked to think it was because he was healthy for her.
"If you are, then I am," Derek told her, continuing to hold her hand. Earlier, after her final vision with Lee, Tori had explained how during the final battle with Lee, Lee had let go of her husband's hand, how she had turned away from the strength he had given her.
She had soon realized that Derek was giving her his strength because he had been able to hold Lee away from her, while she by herself hadn't been able to. And in the vision, Tori had told Derek how Lee had been able to destroy the Master's body, but not his soul. She had confided in him that she believed that alone, Lee would never have been strong enough to completely destroy the Master because she had been missing, or denying, the true key to the power and, ultimately, the destruction of the Master.
What that key element was, Derek had no idea because Tori had refused to tell him. She had said quite plainly that if she had to figure it out by herself so did Derek. He had chuckled and ruffled her hair. One of the things about Tori that had changed for the better, for certainly she had changed very much during the last few days of intense training with him and her family, was that she was much more open and much more herself.
Much of her guilt had been lifted. And when she realized that no one blamed her for Robert's death even more had come away until she was nearly herself again. There was still the slight problem of destroying the Master before he repeated history and took over Tortall. But he thought she would be able to handle that stress.
"Okay, then. Here we go! Sheshmaru!" She shouted and almost immediately he felt that huge rush of power and even before it had even left him he felt as if a hook was being driven into his belly and yanking him forward.
He thought he screamed and maybe he did, but sound had deserted him, as had light as had any sense of feeling at all. It was like he was dead, senseless floating in a void and in the time it took to blink his eyes his feet were hitting the ground. His balance fled and with a grunt he knocked into Tori who collapsed under his unexpected weight.
They crashed into the ground with Derek lying on top of a thoroughly winded Tori. He rested his head against he shoulder, panting as the world spun around him and the feeling of power rushing through him dwindled to a stop.
"Next time…" he huffed, still resting against her, to comfortable to care that it was improper. "Warn me." He was quite shocked when he heard, or more accurately felt, Tori giggle. "It isn't funny." He insisted but Tori only laugh all the harder. "Why you!"
With a squeal, Tori tried to escape Derek's suddenly tickling hands. She laughed and squirmed and Derek forgot for just a moment that he was supposed to love her only as a sister, and not as the woman that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. With warm, sparkling eyes, he looked up into her dazzling green and felt his heart stop. She looked perfect in that moment and he knew, then, without a doubt that he didn't just love her. He was in love with her.
But then he heard a cough and Tori looked to the source, breaking the moment and the feelings inside him were pushed away, the love he felt for her was altered and he made himself believe once more that she was only a sister to him.
With a quiet sigh he turned and smiled up at Ciem, grabbing Tori's hand as had become his habit. He couldn't protect her if he wasn't touching her, so Tori had told him. And he would use that excuse for as long as possible, so he could touch her and continue to lie to himself about his reasons for wanting to.
"Mother wants you, Tori. She wants to discuss the plans for getting into the Master's quarters. Need me to walk you?" Tori let out a little sigh and started to shake her head no. She enjoyed having a family, now that she had become used to the easy affection between everyone and they way that it was so openly expressed.
But she hated the way everyone hovered over her. She knew that it was because she was in a continuously dangerous situation with the Master, but still it irked her. She was capable of taking care of herself, wasn't she? She had been capable of it for many years, hadn't she? A woman who disguised herself as a man and withstood the challenges of being a man of the Own was obviously capable of taking care of herself. So why did they feel the need to hover over her so closely?
Immediately she felt guilty again, an emotion that she was quickly becoming used to. It seemed that she was always feeling guilt for her thoughts because she was always thinking like an ungrateful git. Here she had just been given back her family and already she was sick of their hovering ways. But what else could she feel? She knew that she wasn't in any danger at the moment. She knew that no one would be coming for her, that the Master would wait for her to come to him.
Not that any one else would understand that. It wasn't like the Master had come right out and told her this. It was just a feeling that she had deep down in her gut, a feeling that she knew was right. But how to make them understand? There wasn't a way to make them understand. So instead, Tori suffered through it and allowed her family to hover.
"That's not necessary Ciem. I'll take Tori," Derek called softly from beside her. She felt his hand squeeze hers, once, reassuringly, and she turned to him and smiled gratefully.
Ciem nodded and moved away, glancing over his shoulder at them more then once. Tori giggled again. Another thing that she had noticed was that Ciem had taken his brotherly protection duties very seriously. He had been friends with Derek before, but now that he realized something was going on between them, he was watching them both extra carefully, and glaring at Derek like he had done something wrong.
Tori sighed and climbed to her feet. Not that anything other then holding hands was going on. As far as Tori could tell Derek thought of her as his sister. He smiled at her, sure, but it was just a smile that he would give a friend. And yes he was holding her hand, but that was simply because he was protecting her.
Her heart gave a pained pull and she tugged her hand out of Derek's for a second to push her hair out of her face. But she was just using that as an excuse to not touch him, afraid that somehow her feelings would be betrayed through their connection.
A gust of wind blew suddenly, whipping her hair back from her face, screaming as it rushed past her ears. Her nostrils filled with the burning smell of ashes and, oddly, vanilla. It clogged up her senses forcing their way through her head into her brain.
A vision of a thrown room dimly lit with flickering torches forced its way into her mind. She saw a man, a man dark as night sitting on the thrown, the only feature she could make out the whites of his eyes as he stared at her, straight at her, seeing her, actually seeing her.
Spread around him on the floor were people, hundreds upon hundreds of people, down on their knees before him. Bowing. Bowing to him. Him. The Master.
"Come to me, Torianna. Come to me now," he hissed, his voice shivering over her skin. She trembled and tried to force the vision away, tried to reach for the strength that Derek gave her. But Derek wasn't there.
She felt a sob catch in her throat cutting off her air and she tried to scream but no sound came out just as no air came in. She was caught, suffocating, her last image would be of this horrible creature staring at her. Seeing her!
"Come to me. Come to me. COME TO ME!" He screamed the last, his voice thundering over her, so loud she thought her ears would bleed. He rose from this thrown, running for her, running right at her. He would hit her and she would burst because he was poison to her.
She tried to scream tried to speak out! He was coming, so close. So close! Right there, shouting, screaming her name! He reached out, reached out to touch her skin and surely it would burn, burn like nothing before, and she was terrified, trying to sob if only she could catch her breath, if only she could breathe!
His hand, his hand so close, nearly touching her. Time for only one last though. Derek.
"TORI!" the trance broke as Derek's arms folded around her, dragging her to his body. She sucked in a breath and let it back out in a wrenching sob. So close, she shuddered as she though, so close to dying. What would have happened if he had touched her? Would she have died? Or would it have only been a dream? But it hadn't felt like a dream. It had felt real, all to real. With another sob she wrapped her arms around Derek's waist and buried close to him, pressing herself against him, wanting to be as close to him as possible, if only to make him chase away that evil man. He made her safe and she wanted desperately in that moment to be safe.
"Oh Derek," she whispered as the tears stopped but she continued to shudder. She hadn't realized before but she was shaking, so badly she knew that if she were to let go of Derek she would fall.
"Shh…" Derek soothed, running a hand down her hair and kissing the top of her head. "It's alright. I'm here. You're safe."
She knew that, knew that what he said was true. And simply being able to believe in what he said helped her calm down enough to relax the death grip she had had on him. But she didn't pull away from him. She didn't want to.
She lifted her head to stare up into his eyes and whispered to him, "He wants me to go to him. The Master. I have to go to him. Today. Please, Derek. Please come with me."
Looking down into her green eyes, his own unreadable he whispered back. "I will. I'll go with you always."
A/N There you are! Hope you enjoyed! Review me!
Nubia