A/N: Sorry for not updating for a long time. I have been very lazy and unappreciative of your patient waiting and comments. Thank you for the reviews. Please R&R!
Disclaimer: Doesn't belong to me. All Tamora's but if she wanted to give them to me, I would happily say YES!
Recap: Yuki and Kel were left doubled over in laughter. "Thanks Yuki, that really stopped him from going far. I swear he could have talked all day non stop."
Chapter 3: When that was me
The sun was shining brightly, and the people of New Hope were doing their daily business. Families were doing the housework chores; children were laughing and playing about. Everything seemed fine and happy as usual.
Kel was walking about the fort of New Hope, watching the families and people for sudden arguments or breakouts between them. This was a usual thing for Kel to do, she did it everyday, unless their were a few skirmishes between Scanran bandits. Even though the war had ended, a few Scanrans had the guts to still come out with swords and crudely made clubs to try to knock around some Tortallan warriors.
"Hello, Kel! How are you?" A woman spoke, while hanging the laundry.
"I'm quite fine. Thank you." Kel wore a sincere smile, she was happy for the end of the war and for the happiness revealed on the faces of so many people.
She continued to walk down the dirt road, waving at familiar faces, nodding her head in acknowledgement.
"Hey, come back here. I'm not done with you. Cecelia, I'm going to kill you!" Threatening yells came from further down the road, in between two houses, and then a scream. They were quite distant, but it was quite clear to her.
Kel ran as fast as she could, ignoring all the people staring at her. She had to get to that person.
She stopped and changed her pace, when she came to the front of one of the dormitory type houses for the families. As quietly as possible, using all the stealth she had, she walked towards the sound of screams and sudden shrieks of pain. What she saw was horrifying, and she hid her emotions behind her Yamani mask. A boy about 12 or 14 years was beating a young girl of about 4 years of age. The girl was helplessly lying on the floor.
Without saying anything, Kel swiftly walked in front of the girl. The boy was about to lay a punch to Kel's abdomen, but she expertly blocked the amateur. He was so shocked and scared to death, his face visibly turned pale.
"What's your name?" Kel spoke without a hint of any emotion, which made the boy even more nervous.
"E-tha-tha-lan" The boy spoke with so much fear, his voice was shaking.
"Why are you beating this girl? What has she ever done to you?" Kel was very angry, but she couldn't show it.
"She's my younger sister, Cecelia. She was being very rude to me. She should be more respectful to her elders." The boy spoke with more authority now, for such a little boy.
Kel picked up the bloodied little form on the ground, walking towards the direction of the Infirmary, specifically to Neal.
"Ethalan, you're coming with me. I'm going have to have a talk with your parents." Without another word, Kel started to walk out from between the two family encampments.
Ethalan started to follow Kel, weighing the possibilities of escaping, but knowing he would be caught the moment he started running away.
Wasn't this me, one time…? Kel was so confused and scared at the same time, closing her eyes for a brief second.
Suddenly, the girl started to move around in the comfort of Kel's arms. "Hush, Cecelia. Everything will be alright."
All the girl gave was a slight whimper, tears started to course down her dirty face, leaving tracks of brown mud.
"Cecelia, it's ok, it's going to be alright. I'm here, don't worry." Kel whispered to the little girl in her arms, on the verge of tears herself, remembering that she was like this once, knowing that the memories of pain were reawakening again in her life. Her feet had brought her to the one place she wanted to go without even thinking about it. The wooden door to the infirmary, with no hesitation she knocked on the door hard, more like pounding on the door with a fist.
For once, Neal opened the door with the second pound of Kel's fist. His eyes looked into Kel's and he couldn't really describe what he saw. Then he slid his eyes over to her arms.
He had a shocked expression on his face, releasing a gasp.
"Kel, Come in quick. Hurry boy what are you doing lagging behind." Neal talked with a rushed voice, turning into his serious and more professional self.
Kel briskly walked to the nearest bed, gently laying the girl on the soft bed, afraid to jostle any broken bones or cause the injuries to worsen.
"Kel? What happened? Whose that boy over their?" Pointing a slender finger to the boy in the corner, sitting on a chair.
"There's no time to explain, I'll tell you once you heal her. Neal, watch over her, while I'm gone. And don't take your eyes off that boy, make sure he doesn't move." Kel had to use all her strength to restrain herself from shouting at that boy.
With a nod from Neal, Kel hurriedly ran out of the infirmary doors, hair covering her face. She ran to her rooms and retrieved her prized glaive from its rack. The blade had a glint of blue, and she saw her reflection and gazed at it. Then her mirror image suddenly morphed into a younger version of herself, bruises and bleeding cuts, covering her skin. A tear trickled down her face and dripped onto the blade, returning the image into her present self again. She rubbed her face dry of any tears, finding the calm within, no emotion was displayed on her face.
Kel hurriedly ran to the practice grounds and without a break in her step, launched into every pattern dance she knew, creating some of her own on the way. Her whole body was a blur of motion and sometimes a glint of the shining blade reflected against the sun.
Her movements started to slow and a shaky breath escaped from her lips. She sluggishly moved to the wooden fence with her glaive in hand, slipping onto the floor, with a cloud of dust. She dropped the heavy weapon onto the floor, staring at her reflection again; tears suddenly ran down her cheeks, leaving trails of dirt.
Kel looked away and sobbed into her hands, she didn't care about her emotions just now, since the training grounds were in a secluded area. She didn't expect anyone to see her in this condition. But she was wrong, as a sudden rustle in a near by brush, made her stop her tears from flowing. A glaive in her grasp again, Kel stood up, her eyes puffy and red from crying.
A man stepped forward from his hiding place…with a look of shock on his face…
A/N: I know it's a cliffie but I'll update ASAP…but not for a few days…Please review!