The last two reviews I got for this were flames
::sigh::
Anyways. . . This is the first thing I wrote for FF.net and I'm kind of very attached to it. (An actual fic based on events of the Bible too!)
It upset some fundamentalists, alas, but I love it anyway.
Reviews are very much appreciated. (I know a fair amout about the times in which Jesus lived and some about the crucifixion but I'm not an expert.)
I think I'll be very quiet now. . .
They walked swiftly after the crowd, neither speaking. John's mouth was set in a clenched line. Kat could only watch up ahead, straining for a glance of Jesus's back.
"Surely Pilate won't kill an innocent man," John said after a moment, clenching and unclenching his fists anxiously. "Jesus has done nothing wrong. . . They'll release him, they have to."
Kat felt her insides knot up. An unspeakable terror rising in her chest as she remembered what day of the week it was.
Friday. Good Friday.
"Jesus," Kat whispered," not this. Please not this. . ."
John stopped abruptly. His faced contorted with fury. "Judas," he hissed.
Kat looked up and saw Iscariot walking quickly past them, a bundle of rope under his arm. His eyes were red and swollen, his hair disarrayed
"He betrayed the master," John whispered. His voice shook with barely suppressed rage and he followed the other man with his eyes.
Judas stopped abruptly. He turned slowly and looked at John. For a long moment, the two stood and stared at each other.
"Come Kat," John said finally, turning and continuing hurriedly after the quickly retreat mob," we will have nothing to do with him."
Kat stood quite still, her thoughts flashing back to what Jesus had told her the night before. About how he was hurt when he lost a child forever.
"Judas!" she cried and took off after him.
They were outside of the city before she caught up to him.
"Judas," she cried, running to keep up with his quick stride," Judas please listen. . ."
"Go away little girl," Judas said and his voice broke," this is something your eyes should not see."
"It's not worth it-"
"Not worth it!?!" Judas swung around on Kat so abruptly that she took a step back. "Do you know what I have done?" He covered his face with his hands and began to sob brokenly. "I betrayed an innocent man," he whispered, sobs shaking his body. "I betrayed the master, I betrayed the master. . ."
After a moment, Judas wiped his eyes and bent to pick up the coils of rope which had fallen to the ground. "They'll kill him," he said to Kat. "The Pharisees are mad with jealousy. I've killed the master as surely as if it were my hands which will drive the nails. I do not deserve to live, I am worthless. . ." They came to a tree. Judas began to tie the rope.
Panic overtook Kat. She grabbed the rope and tried to wrestle it away from Judas.
"Let go!!!" He yelled, shoving Kat to the ground. "I must do this!" He finished hurriedly, placing the noose around his neck and climbing up into the tree to jump.
Kat sat in the grass where he had shoved her. She couldn't help the tears that were streaming down her face and the sobs that were shaking her body.
"But you're going to hurt him," she cried.
Judas stopped and looked at her. "Haven't I hurt him enough? Betraying him to a certain and painful death?" He closed his eyes and looked away. "The master will never. .. Will never love me again. . ." A tear oozed from the corner of one eyelid and trickled slowly down his cheek. "He will not want me in his kingdom."
"But he does love you," Kat said," he will always love you. There is nothing you can do to stop him from loving you. You could drive the nails with your own hands and he would love you with every breath in his body and every fiber of his being. Don't you see, if you are not with him, you will hurt him more then your betrayal ever could."
Judas looked at her. "I do not deserve his love," and he jumped.
Kat buried her face in her hands, weeping as Judas's body swung back and forth.
"Oh Judas. . ." She whispered. "He does love you."
Perhaps. . .
Judas could feel his life leaving him. The world was drifting away. The girl's sobs were becoming fainter.
But. . . Would he really hurt the master? Could it be that the master still love him? Deep within himself, Judas knew the answer. . .
Oh Lord, forgive me. . .
* * *
His body ached fiercely from the beatings. His robes were torn and dirty. His back throbbed in time with the beat of his heart. Pain filled him like flames.
But as the guards threw him roughly to the marble floor before Pilate, there was a small smile on his face.