Second Chance, by lyradaemon

Disclaimer: I own NOTHING – it all belongs to Tamora Pierce.

Daine threw herself onto her bed, sobbing her heart out. What had she done? Why? The tears kept on flowing until her pillow her was soaking and her sides ached and she had no more tears left to cry. She just lay there, exhausted and heartbroken, thinking back on why things had turned out the way they had. Where had it all gone wrong?

Heaven bent to take my hand
And lead me through the fire
Be the long awaited answer
To a long and painful fight

Truth be told I've tried my best
But somewhere along the way
I got caught up in all there was to offer
And the cost was so much more than I could bear

I've fallen...
I have sunk so low
I have messed up
Better I should know
So don't come round here
And tell me I told you so...

(Sarah McLachlan, 'Fallen')

Flashback (till I say so)

She and Numair were in his room. Numair was finishing one of his mind-bogglingly complicated essays on some magic spell or other while she was playing with Kitten. When she saw that he had finished, she ran over to him and climbed into his lap, snuggling up in his warm arms.

"Did you finish then?" She mumbled into his chest.

"More or less," he sighed. "It was so complicated, but I think it makes sense."

"Good."

"Why 'good'?"

"Because now you can pay attention to me. I was feeling quite left out," she said with a winsome pout.

"I'm sure you did," Numair said with a laugh, kissing her.

Daine gave up her pretence of being annoyed and kissed him back, relishing in the feel of his warm, soft lips against hers. She turned slightly in his arms so that she could snake hers around his neck and continued to kiss him, letting her tongue dance lightly with his.

Soon their hands began to roam freely and their breath came in gasps. "Numair…" Daine moaned into his mouth. "The bed, Numair…"

Without replying Numair whisked her up in his arms and carried her into the bedroom, laying her gently on the bed. He broke off the kiss long enough to go and lock the door, then returned to the bed. Daine smiled up at him, pushing a stray curl out of her face. Over the last few months, situations similar to this had always ended up here on the bed, but had never progressed any further. Numair was still adamant that Daine was not ready for anything more intimate than the 'kissing and cuddling' stage, and Daine had reluctantly gone along with that. But now she had had enough; she wanted Numair, and there was no denying that he wanted her. So, she reasoned, what was the problem?

"I love you Numair," she whispered.

Numair's deep brown eyes glowed with passion as he whispered back, "I love you too magelet." She pulled his head down and kissed him again, shivering at the intensity of the kiss. Soon she began tugging at his clothing and, to her surprise, Numair had consented to allowing her to take his shirt off, and then hers.

The feel of Numair's hands over her body and been unlike any other, and she trembled at the feel of his fingertips stroking the underside of her breasts through her breast band. But when she slipped her hands into his breeches, Numair had breathlessly pulled away.

"Numair!" Daine gasped, sitting up. "What are you doing?"

"Daine, magelet, we should stop," he mumbled, not looking at her.

"Why? What was wrong with that?" She asked crossly.

"Nothing was wrong, it's just that…" he trailed off.

"It's just that you think I'm too young to go any further," she finished for him and he nodded lamely. "Well here's a newsflash for you Numair, I'm not too young. I'm nineteen years old and I am perfectly capable of making my own decisions. And I have decided to take our relationship further." Her stormy grey eyes burned into his.

"And I had decided that you are not ready yet magelet," he replied quietly.

"I am tired of having to wait and wait for you to realise that I am an adult now, not a child! I love being with you and 'kissing and cuddling' or whatever you want to call it, but I want more than that now. I accept that you were trying to protect me from what people would say about us, but I don't need protecting any more, I can stand up for myself!" She shouted.

"Daine, you don't understand…" Numair began to say, but Daine cut him short.

"You have to stop thinking so much about this Numair. Love is not some spell, or enchantment, or other piece of magic which has to be done in a particular way. There are no incantations for it and it is not some equation. It is love and it runs its own course like a river, whether you like it or not. I am ready, Numair, and I have been for a long time now. So either you accept that or this is over, because I am not going to be treated like a little child anymore," she said. Her heart was pounding, her face was red and there were angry tears in her eyes, but she meant all that had said. I am an adult now and deserve to be treated like one, she told herself.

Numair looked away for a minute as if thinking, then turned back to her. "I understand what you are saying Daine, I really do. But you are still only nineteen, and while you think you have experienced the world, you haven't – not as much as you think."

"I thought you respected me Numair," she whispered. "You said you respected and trusted what I wanted in this, and I believed you. I guess I was wrong," she turned and walked quietly out the wrong, closing the door carefully behind her.

Numair just stood there looking after her with a stunned look on his face. Where had it all gone so wrong, he wondered?

End of Flashback

Daine woke to the sound of someone tapping lightly on her door. She quickly scrubbed at her face then ran her hands through her dishevelled hair. She rolled off the bed and went to open the door.

"Numair!" She gasped. He was the last person she was expecting.

"Hello magelet," he said with an unsure smile. "I came to see how you were."

"Wonderful, how do you think?" She snapped.

"Daine, please can I come in? I need to talk to you."

Daine hesitated a moment, then nodded wordlessly, standing back to let him enter. Numair got right to the point.

"Daine, sweetheart, I've though a lot about what you said. Most of it was completely true and it's taken me until now to actually accept it. The fact of the matter is, I was too scared of what you would think of me."

"Me?"

"Daine, you're so young! I'm over twice as old as you. Look at it from where I'm standing. You're so beautiful and amazing, why would you want someone old like me? I'm so scared that you'll wake up one morning and realise that you don't want me anymore – you'll want someone young and interesting."

"Numair, you know that'll never happen!"

"But how could I be sure? So I was scared that if we deepened our relationship, you'd find that it wasn't as exciting and wonderful as you had always hoped it would be, and would get cold feet and leave me."

"But you never even gave me the chance Numair! I want to be your lover. You're the only person I've ever truly loved and I know you love me in return. You respect me and accept me who I am and you trust me. How could I not want to be in a relationship with you?" Daine asked him.

Numair looked at her intently for a minute, then turned away with a sigh. "I've come to a decision Daine." He paused there, and Daine didn't dare move, in case his decision was the wrong one. "I realise now that you are an adult and a responsible one – most of the time. I love you and you love me, and our relationship is built on mutual trust and respect. I love every minute you're with me and I wouldn't change it for the world. So I've decided that I want to take this a step further, if you're willing to go with me." At this he finally looked up into her eyes. They shone with so much love and happiness that he didn't even need a reply.

He got one anyway. "I love you Numair!" She cried as she threw herself into his arms. Numair laughed as he held her, and felt tears of relief run down his cheeks, soaking her unruly curls. She pulled away, grabbed his face and kissed him with such passion that Numair felt like he was losing himself in her.

Their embrace quickly deepened until they found themselves lying naked together on Daine's bed. "Are you sure magelet?" Numair whispered, stroking her face.

"I'm sure Numair. I love you," Daine trembled slightly in anticipation of what was to come. They had already passed what she knew and was familiar with – this was all new to her and she was scared, but she wanted it more.

"I love you too," he whispered, and with that, it was sealed.

Hours later they lay entwined under the sheets as their bodies cooled and their heartbeats slowed. Daine's head rested on Numair's chest so that she could hear his heart beating.

"No regrets Numair," she whispered, then looked up at him.

"No regrets magelet," he replied. "Thank you." She smiled in reply.

Wrapping his arms around his Daine, he turned over so that she was snuggled up against him. "Good night sweetheart," he murmured into her hair, then kissed her.

"Good night Numair," she sighed. "Love you…"

And the two lovers fell asleep, content in each others arms, thankful that they had been given a second chance.

A/N: This is my first go at a Numair/Daine fic, so apologise for it! Please tell me what you think and I'd appreciate any criticism and help from all you guys. Thanks, please R&R! Love, lyradaemon