Nightmares
Disclaimer: Dydy mo chloddia. Ooh. Welsh.
A/N: Hi! This is not your usual authoress, this is her sister. She is supposed to be on holiday, but she couldn't be dragged away from fan fiction, so she sent me this chapter, and forced me to post it, because she doesn't have Internet access. So, without further ado, here it is.
Nynaeve:
"What are you doing in my room!"
Fury coursed through her as she stood in the doorway glowering at the two guilty looking people in front of her. The anger only intensified as she saw the file Moiraine was holding. It was fun the first time, but this was going to far.
Couldn't they just understand that I am only keeping secrets from them to protect them? I have first hand experience as to what happens if innocent bystanders get involved with this.
Maybe if you tried being nicer to them…
I am nice!
Sure, sure. You just keep on telling yourself that.
Well I'm entitled to be mean to him. And she's an Aes Sedai.
So? You can't really be angry with all of them for what only a few did.
Watch me.
"Just what do you think you're doing?"
"What is this?" Moiraine demanded, holding up the file.
"Oh no, I asked first. But I know the answer. You were looking through my stuff. New question. Why?"
"Okay, maybe we should all just calm down…" Lan's attempt at helping was cut off by Nynaeve's shriek,
"You! Don't even open your mouth, do you hear me? I am not interested in what you have to say, AT ALL!" and Moiraine's
"Lan, stay out of this." He raised his hands defensively.
"Look, Moiraine," Nynaeve cut in, "I don't know why you're looking through my things, and frankly, I don't care." I'll find out on my own. "Now if you'd just leave, I have much better tings to do." With this Nynaeve gestured pointedly towards the door, and waited for them to exit.
They didn't.
Great. Just great.
"I'm sorry, did you misunderstand me? I thought I made myself perfectly clear. Get out."
"No." Moiraine replied.
Terrific. Well, what now, genius?
Shut up.
"Fine! I don't care! If you don't leave, I will! I don't care if you look at every last thing here!" And she stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her.
"Well, that went well, don't you think?" Moiraine offered, brightly.
Anona:
She knew the minute she arrived that something was wrong. It felt different than usual. She passed an Aes Sedai in the halls muttering something about 'Disrespectful girl! To think that she would talk to an Aes Sedai like that...'. In short, it positively reeked of Nynaeve.
"Are you alright? You seem…jumpy," Kendel said, looking amused. And feeling it.
"I'm fine. It just seems…"
"Strange?" Kendel suggested, "Odd? Bizarre? Outlandish? Peculiar?"
"That's enough, Kendel. I get the point." He smiled.
"I'm sure everything is fine." He had to say it. At that moment, the two came face to face with two familiar, well, faces.
"Moiraine!" Anona exclaimed, "How are you?" Moiraine looked up.
"Oh. Hello Anona, I'm fine, thank you." Lan started, and stared at the tall Aes Sedai with blonde hair. No, surely not! Anona?
"We just arrived back from Kandor."
"Oh really? We were in Andor, and then Shinear."
"That sounds lovely. Well we must go now. It was wonderful seeing you again." Lan and Kendel nodded to each other, and then the two parties parted ways, Lan's mind reeling. Anona? That couldn't be. But she had said… But still, she hates Aes Sedai. How could…?
"Lan?" Moiraine inquired, "Are you alright?"
"Yes. Yes I'm fine. How do you know that Aes Sedai? What's her name, Aletta?"
"Anona." Moiraine gave him a sidelong glance. "She's a Green, we've spoken a few times. Why do you want to know?"
"Just curious," Lan replied thoughtfully. "Just curious."
xxx
Lan crossed the courtyard and walked briskly out into the gardens were the Warders were practicing. There were a few yelled greetings, and he nodded and yelled back, but his mind was elsewhere.
He moved further away from the practice grounds, until he was out of sight. Just then he caught sight of a familiar figure darting through the trees. Her braid was firmly grasped in one hand, and she was angrily tugging at it while muttering furiously to herself. When she found a mossy bank, she sat down and unfolded a large sheaf of paper that she had been carrying, and began to read.
So utterly consumed in the papers was she, that she failed to notice Lan softly moving up behind her. He knelt down and ran his eyes over the papers. He gave a small frown. The words didn't make any sense. They were just a jumble of random letters, and yet her eyes were travelling over them as fast as they would when she read a normal book. Suddenly Nynaeve narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the shadow on the papers. Her eyes widened suddenly, and she snapped her head around to be confronted by Lan's stony expression.
"What do you want?" She demanded.
"What is your sister's name?" He asked her. She blinked.
"Anona. I mentioned that before." Lan gave her an odd look.
"You didn't mention that she was an Aes Sedai." Nynaeve's eyes widened, and she opened and closed her mouth.
"Um…how did you…! I…Whoops?" She offered, dubiously.
"Yes. I thought so. How is it that you hate Aes Sedai, but your sister is one?"
"Well, I can't hate her! She's my sister." Lan blinked.
"That doesn't make any sense."
"Of course it does. I hate all Aes Sedai that aren't my sister. Or aunt."
"Your aunt's an Aes Sedai too!"
"Did I forget to mention that?"
"Yes."
"Whoops." Lan shook his head. Her aunt and her sister?
"Id that the big secret?" He asked.
"What big secret?"
"Well, you seem kind of secretive often. Is that the secret?" To his surprise, she threw back her head and broke out into gales of laughter. He realised that he had never heard her laugh before. It was the most beautiful sound he had ever heard.
"Is that the secret?" She asked, still laughing and wiping tears of hilarity from her eyes. "That's one of the secrets."
"There's more than one?"
"Of course. Just one secret would get so dull."
"Are you going to tell me the others?"
"Why ever would I do that? A girl needs some secrets, after all."
