Since I couldn't get a part up in the past few days due to computer problems, here's a bonus second part for the heck of it.
Innogen: Thank you for your comments on the last chapter!
Well, guys here's the next part.
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Chapter Thirteen:
Sounds like a scene from the sliver screen
Yeah that's how it was
Love doesn't always look like a picture perfect storybook
Ah, but sometimes it does~~Rascal Flatts "Long Slow Beautiful Dance"
I awaken to the feeling of something warm and prickly on the back of my neck. I open my eyes to see an arm wrapped around my waist, a hand laying atop my hands, protectively grasping them. Somehow during the night, Harper has rolled up next to me, wrapping an arm around me while keeping his other arm against his chest and my back, seperating us. I don't know if he meant to do this but, I like it. It makes me feel protected, with his arm firmly wrapped around me.
The warm prickily feeling is Harper's breathing on the back of my neck, his unrulely hair also tickling my neck. I like this position, it gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling I haven't had in years. I look outside at the already rising sun. I know we have to get up but everything in me is telling me to stay, but deep down I know we can't. I softly call his name. He doesn't budge so I call his name a bit louder this time. He moans, actually pulling me closer to him and I can feel his legs against mine, starting to intertwine in mine, his chest now fully against my back.
"Umm, Harper...time to get up," I say. I feel his body shift as he starts to wake up and suddenly the movement stops completely as I sense that Harper has just realized his position. Suddenly the protective arm jerks away as Harper quickly scoots back and says, "Woah."
I grin, imagining the look of surprise on his face, but the smile quickly fades when I hear a loud thud and pained yelp as Harper falls off the bed. I quickly roll over and yell, "Harper!" As I pull myself to the other side of the bed the only part of Harper I can see is his leg, laying on the side of the bed, twisted in the sheets.
Harper is laying flat on the floor, unmoving as he tries to recover his senses after his head connected with the floor. I lean over the edge of the bed and ask, trying to control my giggles, "Harper, are you ok?"
He doesn't move as he says, "Ow." He then lifts his head and says, "I think I'm ok," he stops and I notice his cheeks turning red. He's blushing.
He gives me a little lopsided grin and says, sitting up and rubbing the back of his head, "Umm, sorry about, the, uh....how I was sleeping. I didn't mean to grab you...sorry."
I look at him and say, "Harper, please, don't be...." I let the sentence hang as I get up the nerve to finish, "I liked it."
Now Harper's embarrassed grin turns into a sly one as he says, "Really?" It is I who blushes this time as I smile. I can see that Harper is about to say something more, his sly smile widening as he starts, "I bet you di-." I quickly grabbed a pillow, throwing it at Harper, hitting him in the face and stopping him mid-sentence. He grabs the pillow off his face and asks, "What?"
I unwrap Harper's leg from the sheets and help him up. "Harper, seriously, is your head ok? Let me look, you hit fairly hard, you could have a concussion." I reach out to check his head but am stopped when his hand suddenly grabs mine, holding it tightly.
"No, Trance, I'm ok," he says with a smile.
I know that I need to check his head so I give him my best pout and say, "Please, Harper."
He smiles and says, "Oh, no you don't! Not the pout," he sighs and continues, "Oh, alright, check." He lets go of my hand and turns around, arms crossed over his chest. I start checking the back of his head.
He didn't break the skin, but there would definitely be a lump and the now forming bruise would make it sore for a few days. As I examined his head with one hand, I have no idea that my other was sliding down his bare back until I felt him shiver when my hand reached the small of his back. I quickly realized what I was doing and jerked back. My action would not have been so personal, if Harper had been wearing a shirt, but at the moment all he had on were his boxers.
I blush yet again and quickly say, "Um, yeah, you're ok, but you will have a small bump. You should, uh, get something to eat and get dressed. Tribunal will start soon. I believe in an hour."
Harper doesn't turn around, just turns his head toward me, sly smile returning, "Ok, Trance, will do." I quickly scurry to the bathroom.
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Thirty minutes later, I was dressed and exited. To my surprise, Harper was fully dressed. He was looking into a mirror, making sure his spikes were right. I giggle and say, "Harper, you spend more time worrying about your hair than I do."
He smiles and says, "Yes, but the Harper must always look perfect. You never know who I might meet, there could be a hot babe around any corner." He finished that last comment by giving me a little wink.
"Come on, Harper," I say with a smile.
He gives his hair one last adjustment and says, "Lead the way my Golden Goddess." I smile bigger and head out the door.
We walk to the Tribunal room without speaking both of us thinking about the night before. Everytime I think about his arm being around my waist a smile comes to me. I glance over at Harper and notice that he's smiling bigger than I am.
We get to the Tribunal room. I enter to see that the Elders are already seated and without hesitation, Harper and I take out places and I place the visor on my forehead. The screen starts to shimmer as another memory takes shape.
Once again we are in Medical and once again I see Harper lying on the medical bed. I am just about to take the visor off and tell the elders that this is a repeat of the vision before when I notice that Harper isn't wearing a medical gown like before, he's wearing a red, long sleeved shirt, this isn't the same memory.
I then see myself walking up to the bed, not my purple self, but the golden me. I see myself pull a chair up beside Harper's sleeping form. I see myself staring at him. As I watch I can still plainly remember the pure happiness I felt at seeing him alive.
In the memory the tears can plainly be seen in my eyes as I realize that Harper really is in front of me. Then I watch as Harper begins to whimper and I stand, moving closer to him. I brush away the hair on his forehead, humming his chant. As I watch myself plant a gentle kiss on Harper's lips and begin to leave, the screen begins to shimmer and the picture fade.
Once the screen is blank once more, I remove the visor and the head Elder says, "Ms. Gemini, please explain your actions."
"I was simply seeing if my plan had succeeded, if Harper was well. If he was not, then all I had done would be in vain. That was all the memory was."
I saw a slight hesitation in the head Elders answer, she was thinking but I couldn't read what about. She then wrote something down and said, "Thank you Ms. Gemini, replace the visor on your head. It is time for the final memory."
I nod and place the visor on my head. This next memory would determine my fate. I look up and the screen shimmers.
TBC
OK, there's the extra bit of story for ya! I'm so happy you guys are loving this!!! Makes me Smile...real big! Well, review and maybe I'll update a lot sooner!
