Chapter 30
She's
all that he wants, she's all that he needs
She's everything he
just won't believe
Take away his doubt, turn him inside out
Then
she can see what he's been dying to say
But things don't
always turn out that way - The Calling: "Things Don't Always Turn
Out That Way"
Once more I find myself surrounded by darkness. It's beginning to become an annoying trend, for once the darkness is peaceful not smothering. After everything that's happened in the past week, I just want to stay in this tranquil darkness because finally I feel some safety. As I'm about to fall deeper into the black abyss, I hear a distant voice. It sounds so far away but it soon rises to a whisper. Still, I can't make out the words. I turn away from the darkness for a moment and head closer to the voice. Finally, I understand it.
"Trance, c'mon, wake up."
That voice, it's so familiar; soothing even. My mind is too clouded to place it. The closer I get to the voice, the brighter my surroundings become but still the voice remains; calling out to me from beyond the blinding light. As the light surrounds me, my senses are awoken by a touch on my arm. Like the voice, I know this touch; find comfort in it. The touch moves from my arm to my cheek. It's so full of warmth. The touch begins to stroke my cheek finally pausing and gently embracing my face. Slowly I open my eyes, the light completely filling my sight but the voice sounding beside of me.
"That's it, open those brown eyes, my Golden Goddess."
Golden Goddess? I think to myself as the light is blocked by a now blurred shape. Slowly the blur takes on a more defined shape as a pair of sparkling ocean blue eyes come into focus. I know those eyes; could never forget them.
"H-Harper," I question as my mind begins to clear.
"Thank the Divine," the voice exclaims as finally the owner of the eyes comes into full focus. Leaning over me is Harper; grinning lop-sidedly at me.
"Harper," I exclaim as I bolt upright and wrap my arms around him. I pull him into a tight embrace as I soak in the warmth he's radiating.
"Woah, babe! Glad to see you too," a clearly surprised Harper says as he returns my hug.
I pull away from him, smiling. My hands are still gripping his shoulder as I try to look him over him to see if he's all right, but I find that I can't pull myself away from his eyes. There's a difference in them, and like a knife to the heart it hits me. The love he once had in his eyes is gone and I remember. He doesn't remember anything about the past week. He doesn't remember us. My smile falters.
"Trance?" he questions, his eyes filled with worry.
My hands fall to the floor again as I reply sadly, "Nothing , Harper. Just glad to see that you are ok." I try to smile at him again with as much happiness as before, but at the moment I just don't have it in me. I remember it all now, amazed that I could even forget it for a brief moment. I had Harper's love but not anymore. I sigh, whether out of exhaustion or defeat I'm not quite sure, but either way, my sacrifices are worth it. Harper's alive, that's why I did this. He's crouching in front of me as alive as ever; I should be thrilled, and I am. It's just that a part of me wishes I could have it all, Harper alive and Harper in love with me. I scold myself for thinking so selfishly. All that matters now is that I was able to bring back the one person I've ever loved.
That is enough. Harper's alive and well. I reassure myself.
Harper helps me to my feet, a slight grimace on his face, as he says, "Well I wouldn't have been had it not been for you." I pause and look at him in shock. For a moment I think he's somehow heard my inner thoughts, but then he continues, "Who knew there was an Anti-Commonwealth rebel group on Morrighan's planet."
Once finally to my feet, I feel suddenly faint as I weakly reply, "Yeah, right."
Harper's brow furrows as his worry deepens. "Trance, you ok? You took a pretty hard hit back there." He reaches out a hand towards my right temple but I beat him there. I place my fingertips to my head, hissing in pain from the contact. I pull my fingers away to see that they are tinged with blue. I'm bleeding.
Ok, so I guess they had to make this version of reality as real as possible, I think as I wipe my hand on my clothes. Oddly enough, I'm still wearing the same clothes as in the temple. I pause for a moment and try to lose the swimming sensation in my head. When I'm steady once more I sigh and say, "No, I'm fine." Now I get my first glimpse at the newly revived Harper. He looks exactly as he did before, maroon sweater and all. Obviously only the timeline was altered. He looks perfectly healthy, save for the arm he has tightly wrapped around his left side.
I don't have the same memories as he does so I don't know how he got injured. Without sounding completely clueless I ask, "Are you ok, Seamus?" He removes his arm to show a rather nasty blaster wound right under his ribcage. The fabric around it is singed and what blood isn't already dried is slowly seeping down the fabric of the sweater making the already red material a darker shade.
"Harper!" I exclaim as I step forward and go into doctor mode. I tear away a piece of my shirt, long enough to wrap around Harper's chest, and cover the wound. I bend to inspect the wound first. I just got him back and I am not about to let him die from infection. "It's ok, Trance. They just grazed me." I straighten up and look at him surprised.
"They shot you? Why would they shoot you?"
"Don't you remember Trance?" he asks with a quizzical tone to his voice.
I point to my still bleeding head, "Head wound."
Harper nods and continues, "Right, head wound. Well, it wasn't me they were shooting at, well at least not at first."
My eyes go wide as I realize what he means. "Me? They were shooting at me?"
Harper hisses as my prodding fingers graze a tender area. I quickly tie the makeshift bandage not wanting to cause him any more pain. "Thanks," he says through clenched teeth. He pauses a moment, waiting for the pain in his side to subside; once it does, he continues. "The rebels thought it would send one hell of a message to Dylan if his senior medical and engineering officers were executed and the recording aired for him and all the other Commonwealth members to see. They hoped our deaths would show the other members the consequences of joining the Commonwealth. They weren't too pleased that we thought otherwise."
"You got shot...for me," I ask, still shocked at how much his actions mirrored the other timeline. I smile nonetheless to know that even in this timeline he'd risk his life for me even though I was no longer his purple pixie.
Harper smiles and places a hand on my arm. "Well, I wasn't about to let them hurt my best friend."
Best Friend These two words strike me like sword.
I hold my smile although my "heart" is breaking. Once more the selfish feelings return. I'm no longer his love. I'm once again the best friend. "Right. Thank you."
"It was nothing."
Now my brow is furrowed with worry. How could he think it was nothing? "Harper, it wasn't nothing, you could have died."
"Would have been worth it," he replies in a serious tone.
I gasp, "Harper! Don't say that!"
"It's the truth, Trance. It would have been worth it because at least you would have been safe and that's all that matters to me."
There's a moment of awkward silence. There are so many emotions running through me and I can see just as many being displayed through Harper's eyes. His words strike home for the both of us. He may not love me but he still cared for me, like he did in the other timelime. Maybe, there is still hope. Harper breaks the silence by reaching his hand towards my head wound, fingers hovering over it as he says, "Sorry about this. It happened when I pushed you out of the way." I grab his hand, bringing it down and holding it as I say, "It's ok, Seamus."
I hold his hand a moment longer but let go when I see that it's making Harper slightly uncomfortable. I've held his hand countless times before and never has it made him uncomfortable. Something's changed.
I quickly change the subject, "So, where are all the bad guy?"
"I can answer that," a familiar voice from behind us replies.
I turn to see Morrighan. Like Harper and I, she's dressed in the same clothing as when I last left her.
"When I discovered that the rebels had kidnapped you, I gathered my forces and came for you. I got here as they were making their second attempt to kill you and Harper. You're lucky, a few minutes more and you would have been dead. My security team has taken all the rebels and I assure you they will be handled with appropriately. Now, let's get the two of you back. I'm sure your Captain is quite worried." With that she turns around and heads towards the door.
Harper begins to follow her. I pause and give my surroundings one final look and discover that I'm no longer in the temple. Instead, I'm in a warehouse setting; there are boxes strewn about everywhere. Dark shadows consume the deepest corners. Suddenly, one of the shadows moves. I take a step forward. It's Azealia.
Good luck, my old friend. My time on this plane is over, my task complete, but yours has just begun. Be strong, Trance. Dark times lie ahead, but if you stay true to your light and those creating it, darkness will never find you.
I go to reply but am stopped by a touch on my arm. I turn to see Harper, smiling and looking more alive than ever. I look back towards Azealia to see that she has vanished. Harper gives my arm a gentle squeeze as he takes his place at my side. I look into his eyes and realize what Azealia's words mean. I know what my light is and who's creating it. If ever I need reassurance of that light all I have to do is look into Harper's blue eyes. Harper snakes an arm around my waist and I do the same to him, careful not to agitate his wound. He pulls me towards the door and within minutes we're at Morrighan's ship. I look at the open hatch and smile.
"Let's go home, Harper."
Morrighan leads us to a recreation area.
"Harper, Trance, rest. You two have been through enough for one day. I'll contact you when we arrive at my planet. When we get there, my security team will make sure you arrive safely to the Maru, but for now, rest. She exits with a smile.
In the room there's a couch and Harper and I basically collapse onto it. I lay my head on his shoulder, suddenly exhausted. Harper begins to hum to himself. I raise my head as I realize what exactly he's humming.
"Harper?"
"Yes, babe?"
"What are you humming?"
"I really don't know. I heard it in a dream once. Remember that dream I was telling Beka I had the week you arrived, the one where I smelled lilacs, that's where I heard it. I haven't been able to get it out of my head since."
I smile as my spirit rises. He may not remember the love we once shared but I know that with time, he will. I have no doubts now that no matter how long it takes, he'll remember the love and he'll thrive in the light like I do. I put my head back on his shoulder, snuggling up to place my head against the side of his neck.
I smile, "Will you keep humming it?"
Harper smiles, puts his arm back around my waist and pulls me closer to him, laying his head on top of mine. "Anything for my Golden Goddess."
I close my eyes and listen to him hum the chant that kept him with me. Just as sleep begins to take me I feel a hand take mine, fingers intertwining with my own, and I know that with or without my powers Harper and I will have a perfect possible future.
The End
A/N: Thank you all for reading this story and sticking with me through the LONG wait. I hope this didn't disappoint.
