This one starts out a little rough but it gets better I promise!
All couples fight, don't they? But this was different, wasn't it? Weren`t they different? Bracken had hoped so, believed so.
It had been something silly. Something that shouldn't have mattered, but for some reason, to him, it did.
The day had started out so good. Kendra had been visiting the fairy realm and she had been having so much fun. Bracken had taken her to one of his favorite places in the realm, a field of flowers that overlooked a shining lake. They had went swimming in the lake and had a picnic lunch his sister, Ivory had helped him prepare. Kendra looked beautiful, her eyes shining and her laugh harmonious and it made him forget everything else around him. They had spent the entire time talking and laughing and just being… together. Without anyone else to comment on them or to talk about them, and it had been so nice.
That evening after walking back to the castle they had arrived just in time for a dance that was being thrown by the dryads in honor of his sister, Mizelle`s birthday. Kendra had never been to a dryad dance before, and under the glow of the lanterns, seeing her wide eyes and bright smile had made his night. They danced together a little before they were both pulled away from each other, Kendra by his sister Ivory and Bracken by his brother-in-law, Peck, who insisted on talking to each of the old dignitaries that talked too much and only about themselves. The conversations made him miss being with Kendra. With her, it was so much easier. He didn't have to think about what he was saying and calculate his every move. With her, he wasn't afraid to be himself.
Maybe it was because he missed her, or that last old unicorn had been particularly snobbish, making comments about him and his choices that Bracken found difficult to smile through, that put him in a bad mood. He just wanted to find Kendra, and talk to her, maybe dance a little more.
But when he finally saw her again, he ground his teeth when he noticed who she was talking to. It was Darion, a unicorn that had been his rival since they were children. Darion had always gone out of his way to irritate Bracken, to bully him, just because Bracken had always been smaller than him. It had only been when Bracken finally stood up for himself that Darion left him alone. Many years later, and Darion had matured but they still never really got along.
Darion said something that made her laugh, the sound that had always warmed his heart, made it clench. Looking back on it, it was ridiculous, to get angry over something as trivial as a conversation. It had been overkill to pull her away from Darion, without even giving him an excuse, and it hadn't been his place to tell her to stay away Darion, or to imply she had been flirting with him, because it was just a conversation. And when the yelling had started, when she had called him jealous, he denied it, but she had been right. He was jealous.
"You have no right try and tell me what I can and can`t do!" Kendra had been right when she had said that. And when she had insisted that she was only talking to Darion out of civility, Bracken snapped.
"He`s using you!" He had shouted at Kendra, and for a moment, as Kendra shrunk back into herself, he realized that they`d never yelled at each other before. But then as Kendra`s hand shook at her sides, he remembered that if Kendra was anything, it was stubborn.
"You know what, maybe he was. Maybe he was talking to me just to annoy you because he wanted to get back at you, for being such an arrogant, pathetic prince who can`t handle his girlfriend talking to a guy that`s not him!" Kendra fired back, her voice thick with emotion.
It had been then when Bracken had begun to realize that he was being ridiculous, but now that he had woken up the anger in Kendra, it wasn't easy it assuage. His apologies had gone unheard and ignored, Kendra ranting about how she always respected and trusted him and how she deserved the same respect. And she was right, about it all. And none of that made him angry or upset, because she was right. It was her parting words, ones that hit hard and deep in his soul that made it ache.
"It's not my fault you`re a coward Bracken!" With that, she had backed off, perhaps realizing the weight of her words, but before anything else could be said, she walked off, claiming she was going home.
Bracken had gone home early that night. He didn't tell anyone what had happened because even he wasn't too sure about what had happened to them. They were supposed to be better than that weren't they?
All the things that Kendra had said, all the insults she had thrown at him, were all things he heard before, but maybe it was because it had been her. Kendra, who affected him so much, who he had let into his heart and soul, who was a part of him. When she said those things, it hit him differently, and perhaps that was the reason when Kendra`s broken, trembling voice reached out to him later that night in his room, as he sat in his bed, trying and failing to fall asleep, he shut her out of his mind without a second thought.
As the days passed him by, his anger and hurt cooled into a deep ache within him. Kendra didn't try to reach out to him again, and he didn't either. For those few days, it really did feel like they would never be able to make-up again, and that terrified him, but for some reason, Bracken couldn't bring himself to apologize, even though it had been him to incite the fight. He also didn't tell anyone else about the fight, even though he was certain that his family suspected it, they said nothing, which he was both grateful for and pained him. When a week passed, and then another one it really did seem like it was the end of their relationship. He`s lost her. Again. He lost the love of his life.
It`s fine Kendra.
It`s not fine! Whenever I try and call you, you just ignore me! Bracken had to resist the urge to snap back at her, already feeling the pressure build up in his head. Bracken put down the book he`d been trying to read, putting his head in his hands.
Kendra… just… He truly wasn't sure what to say when Kendra had called upon him, her familiar presence returning to his mind. It was like the start of so many conversations that they had had, and he could almost imagine her, sitting on her bed, his first horn in hand as she finished her homework, telling him about her day.
I`m not going to lose you over a stupid argument. The determination that came along with her thoughts only served to make the ache of pain deepen. He wanted so badly for it to never have happened, for him to have not been so idiotic, or her words to have never cut him so deeply. They were just words, said in the heat of the moment and logically, he knew that, but the way he felt because of it acted like a knife to the chest.
Because of their connection, he was sure Kendra could feel what he did, his message getting across without him even having to say anything. I can`t do this right now. He confessed. She was quiet for a moment.
You`re supposed to come visit in three weeks. Maybe we can talk then, and figure this out. Her voice inside his mind was quiet and defeated, and he could feel her shame and hurt. It practically killed him to respond, but he did.
I`ll be there. He was ready to end the conversation, shut off the connection when one last thought from Kendra drifted out to him.
I love you. Squeezing his lips together tightly, trying to ignore the way those words made him want nothing more than to run to her, he tried to focus.
I love you too.
But, unsurprisingly, because it seemed that nothing could go right for Bracken, ever, the three weeks he thought he had to prepare himself for one of the most difficult conversations he could have was cut short.
A week later, Seth reached out to him, and Bracken could feel the mild panic that bubbled under the surface of his words. There was mission, to Living Mirage which had fallen into chaos after a rebellion to help clean up the mess. Stan wanted him to come, practically begged him to when they had talked, insisting that the situation was dire.
And of course, who was he to refuse helping those who had never been anything but kind to him, and after all, the situation was dire.
Kendra was coming, because of course she was. Bracken had been nervous about seeing her again, and what the others would say, but he shouldn't have been. It was Seth who came to walk him back to the house, who tactfully didn't mention Kendra at all, though he was sure Seth knew all about what happened.
Upon arriving at the house, Tanu, Warren, Vanessa, Trask, Mara and Elise greeted him. Not friendly exactly, but polite, which told him that she hadn't told most of the others the extent of their argument. He saw Kendra from across the room, her hair tied up out of the way, dressed in sturdy combat boots, black pants and a red shirt, setting down a backpack that held her gear. She had given him a slight smile from across the room, and had spoken to him civilly enough when it came time to debrief and when they had to interact.
Then it had been onto a plane, where Kendra and Seth sat far away from everyone else, heads together as they talked quietly. If Bracken cared to, he could probably figure out what it was they were talking about, but he didn't try. It wasn't his business. He had caused Kendra enough pain already. As they began to de-plane he handed Kendra her bag as he unloaded. Their hands touched for a moment and before he could feel anything from her, she ripped her hand away, and given that she was currently checking the arrows that rested in her quiver a strapping one knife to her belt and another to her ankle, he decided to stay away.
But even the bow reminded Bracken of another moment. It was an enchanted bow, one that he had given to her, that magically transported back the arrows back into her quiver after she fired. And because he was finding it hard to look at her anymore, he turned away, readying his supplies.
Things went wrong pretty much as soon as they stepped foot on the preserve. A group of cyclops attacked, swinging their clubs and grunting when they missed. The cyclops were only appeased after Bracken stunned them with a flash of light and were promised that their territory would be returned to them after the mess from the rebellion was cleaned up. Then, after a long hike to the main ziggurat, where Agad met them, and explained the situation, the group was split up.
And because it was just his luck, and nothing could go right, he and Kendra were paired together to go and clear out a cave in the territory of the giants that exuded a distracter spell, which only he and Kendra could resist completely. Agad had told them to expect some sort of dark or demonic creature to be in the cave and to attempt to stun the creature and relocate it, but, if it was necessary, to kill it. When Agad told them, Kendra made no sign that she had a problem with this, so if she could be professional enough to let their argument go for the sake of the mission, then so could he. Despite a few odd looks shot at them, they left the group and set off for the cave.
As they walked, Bracken glanced over at Kendra a few times, who seemed to be deep in thought. It was so strange to be with Kendra and not talking to her, but he supposed, this was the situation he put himself in. This was his fault.
"I think this is it." Kendra`s quiet voice stopped him in his tracks. She was standing in front of a cave that matched the description Agad had given him, and judging by how there were no creatures nearby at all, a distracter spell was in effect. Bracken concentrated and was able to feel how the cave exuded a distracting aura.
"This is the one." Bracken glanced at Kendra, who slung her bow off her back, and grabbing an arrow. "Stay behind me and watch my back. Hopefully we`ll be able to see it soon and get his over with." Kendra muttered her assent, stepping back to let him go first. It was distracting, to have her so close, and yet the both of them being the farthest from each other they had ever been, but Bracken tried to put his feelings aside for the sake of the mission.
The cave was dark and cold, with one main cavern that was large enough to be a small house, but as they looked around, nothing seemed to be there at all.
"This is the right cave isn't it?" Kendra asked uncertainly, and though her voice was quiet, it echoed in the silent darkness.
"I thought so." Bracken put out a hand, creating a small ball of light which he sent to hover in the middle of the cavern. The cavern appeared to be empty, rocks and branches strewn around the floor of the cave.
"Well what do we do?" Kendra spoke again, slinging her bow across her back again.
"I-I don't know." Kendra rolled her eyes at that, muttering something as she turned away from Bracken, examining the wall of the cave.
Bracken felt anger surge in his stomach at her attitude. "Have something to say Kendra?"
Kendra`s hand stilled on the wall of the cave before turning around to face Bracken slowly. "I don't know, seems like there`s a lot that needs to be said."
"Like what?" Even as he spoke the words, he regretted them. This random cave in a chaotic preserve was no place to have a relationship argument. But as he saw Kendra`s eyes harden, he knew it was too late anyway.
"Like how you got mad at me for no reason." Kendra`s voice was cool and calm, void of any emotion at all.
"I-"Bracken stopped. Fighting the issue wasn't going to change anything. There was a reason, but not a good one. He`d been jealous. Why couldn't he just admit that?
"There is a reason." Bracken replied evenly, trying to stay calm.
Kendra rolled her eyes, "What could possibly justify you accusing me of flirting with another guy and then forbidding me from talking to him?"
"I was jealous!" Bracken exploded, turning away from Kendra. Looking at her in the eyes made it all so much harder. "I was jealous that you were talking to Darion, and I missed you and I just wanted things to be like they were that day on the lake! I was wrong but…" Bracken ranted. "What you said, it hurt me. Kendra, I love you and you saying those things to me…" Bracken turned around to Kendra, who had been strangely silent. Of course it was now she wouldn't listen to him. "Are you even listening to me?" Then he saw her face. It was red and her mouth was open, gasping for air, eyes popping out, and hands clawing at her throat.
Bracken immediately ran over to Kendra, who dropped to her knees. Her face was starting to turn blue, her lips purple. Now that he was closer he could hear her weak attempts at talking to him. He fell to his knees beside her, desperate to help her. Kendra was dying!
"Brack…" Kendra gasped out, her hand rising, pointing to the corner of the cave. Turning to that corner, he drew his horn from his belt, turning it into a pearlescent sword. In the corner was a snarling, human like creature, with oily, green, and mottled skin. It hand was raised in a curled position, finger closing. Bracken threw himself at the creature. He didn't know what it was at first glance, or how to beat it, but all he knew was that he had to save Kendra. As he charged the creature, it dropped its hand and Bracken heard the beautiful sound of Kendra drawing in a breath of air.
The creature darted away from Bracken`s sword, drawing a massive ax from behind a pile of rocks. As the two fought, he glimpsed Kendra kneeling on the floor of the cave, barely moving. The creature swung the ax in wide, sweeping motions, and though Bracken was the better swordsmen, he was distracted by Kendra who he was sure needed help. The ax sliced into Bracken`s leg, and he fell to the ground, his sword falling from his hand. The creature backed him up against the wall of the cave, and as he raised the ax over his head, Bracken closed his eyes. He was going to die in a cave while he was fighting with his girlfriend.
But the blow never came, and Bracken`s eyes snapped open to see Kendra, knife in hand, bow completely forgotten, wrestling with the creature who had another knife sticking out of its back. All he could do was watch as the creature kicked Kendra in the ribs, hard, throwing her against the wall of the cave. He tried to get up, but the blood flowing out his leg made him still. But Kendra didn't need him, as the creature got close again, she pulled a second knife from her belt, stabbing it in the throat. The creature stilled, falling back, gagging and snarling until it went still.
"Kendra! Are you alright?" Bracken shouted, ignoring the pounding pain in his head and how his words wanted to slur together and tried to focus on her.
"Yeah. Fine." Kendra pulled herself up, wincing as she got to her feet. She began to head over to him, moving slowly.
"Kendra?" Bracken asked again, hating how weak his voice sounded, but he was afraid. His vision was going black around the edges and his head swam.
"Hey, hey, you need to stay awake." Suddenly, Kendra was at his side, sliding his horn into his hand. He felt a surge of energy through him, enough to let him open his eyes to watch Kendra slice his pants off his leg with a knife, wrapping it with gauze she must have gotten from her bag and taping it in place as best as she could. The gauze was already wet with more blood, but his horn was healing him now, the blood flow slowing, and as Kendra collapsed into the wall of the cave beside him, sliding down the wall, he felt almost coherent.
Kendra hissed in pain as she settled against the wall, clutching her stomach. The skin around her neck was already bruising, purple, blue and yellow mottling her usually perfect skin.
For several long moments, they simply sat next to each other, trying to control their frantic breathing. Across the cave, the creature lay still and Bracken tried to focus on Kendra. Her hands and clothes were covered in his blood, the silver mixing with her own red blood from the cuts that bled freely on her hands. Without thinking, he slid his hand into Kendra`s and she stiffened for a moment before relaxing, scooting over to lay her head on his shoulder. He put an arm around her and they sat together for a while longer before Bracken spoke.
"I`m so sorry Kendra. I was wrong to mistrust you like that and to have started all of this. I`m so, so sorry." Bracken dropped his head against Kendra`s eyes closing.
"I`m sorry too. What I said… it wasn't true. None of it."
And for the first time since they had had their fight, Bracken felt himself truly relax, and despite the pain in his leg, he knew for the first time in weeks, they were going to be okay.
"Kendra?" Bracken knocked on the frame of the attic doorway, asking for permission to come in.
Kendra looked up from the book she had been reading and smiled. "Hey. Come on in." Her voice was hushed but sincere. Bracken took her invitation, approaching her bed and sitting down on its edge. After the incident in the cave, Kendra and Bracken had finally been able to get back to the ziggurat, leaning on each other. A day later and Bracken, Kendra and Seth were on their way home. Bracken had healed completely even before he got on the plane, but Kendra was still healing. During the fight with the creature Kendra had broken several ribs and got a mild concussion, not to mention severe bruising to her esophagus, resulting in her having to whisper when she spoke.
"How are you feeling?" Kendra smiled again, nodding as she caught his hand, pulling him closer. On the plane ride home, he had sat with Kendra and Seth, like everything was back to normal. They had yet to talk more about their fight, but it seemed, for the time being, they were fine. Bracken obliged, scooting closer to her, sitting across from her, her legs slung over his.
"It only hurts when I talk… or move, or breathe." Kendra joked, sitting up a little more, wincing as she did so. She let Bracken help her, putting a pillow behind her back to support her.
"Oh so back to normal then?" Bracken teased, reaching out and touched the bruises on her neck. Kendra`s neck was mottled intense bruising, yellow and blue and black and purple, and she didn't say so, but he knew it hurt her. She rolled her eyes, playfully covering his hand with her own.
"You know I`ll be alright." Bracken nodded as he dropped his hand, leaning back against the wall her bed was set against, remembering. The way she had looked when she was being choked, the look of terror as she desperately tried to breathe, and the way she sobbed for breath after she had been released.
"I`m sorry." Bracken wasn't sure how else to start the conversation, but he knew that she would know what he was talking about.
Kendra grinned at him, "You mentioned that."
"I mean it."
"I know. I do too. Every word." Kendra`s eyes were intense, dark with emotion and he swallowed. As hard as it would be to explain his feelings, he could put aside his pride for her, always for her.
"I-"He wasn't sure how to start this, but Kendra squeezed his hands, her face calm and kind. "I was wrong to ever question you. I- I was jealous and in a bad mood and I took that out on you. That was wrong. I was wrong. I was being an idiot and I should have talked through it first without getting angry. I was wrong to do that, and I`m so, so sorry." The sad smile on Kendra`s face gave him the courage to keep going, to say everything, even if all of it wasn't nice. She deserved the truth, all of it.
"But when you said those things to me, ignored what I was saying." Bracken swallowed, not wanting to get too emotional. "I know people say that about me, but I`ve never- never taken it to heart until when you said it, I mean I- I love you and hearing you-"Bracken cut himself off, hating how tears filled his eyes.
"Hey, hey, look at me." Kendra`s voice was hard and determined, she took Bracken`s face in her hands gently, her hand on the side of his neck. "What I said about you was not true. It was something so stupid and mean I said because I felt that way. I felt pathetic and cowardly and I was hurt and I was trying so hard to not let you see that. But what I said, is so far from the truth." Bracken saw as a tear slid down her cheek, but she continued anyway. "You are amazing. You are selfless and kind and brave and one of the best things to ever have happened to me." Kendra leaned her head forward, until it touched his, foreheads against one another. "I`m so sorry I hurt you, and I`m so sorry I didn't listen."
For a long moment, neither of them moved or talked much, both regaining control of their emotions. Bracken broke the silence.
"I was afraid…" He trailed off. "I was afraid that I lost you." Kendra sniffled a little, leaning back to look him in the eyes.
"I thought I did." Her tone filled in all the things she didn't say. The shame and guilt, the hurt and the longing, all the exact same things he had been feeling. If only they had just talked, gotten over their stubborn pride, none of this would have happened. Kendra`s eyes shone with tears, and now he had run out of things to say, so as he touched his lips against hers, he tried to transmit to her what words couldn't possibly say. As her tear dripped onto his cheek, he knew that she understood. Bracken pulled back, just watching her now. She had calmed, her eyes still red, but as she settled against her pillows, pain flickered across her face and he saw her wince even more as she opened her mouth to speak.
"Why don`t we watch a movie or something? Something that doesn't involve talking… or moving?" Despite the situation, Bracken found himself chuckling, Kendra`s eyes rolling and it was like everything was back to the way it had been before. But as he fetched her laptop and settled against her pillows with her in his arms, her picking a movie he hadn't seen, but one that she promised he would love, he realized that things weren't back to the way they had been.
Not exactly. There was something else there with them as they settled back to watch the movie. It wasn't bad, not really, just different. All couples fight. And Bracken was alright with that.
Couples fight because love was not easy or perfect. They fight because love took work and care and communication. They fight because no one was perfect. Not even a unicorn, or a fairy princess. But he and Kendra, they were different, they were strange and unconventional, but at the end of the day they loved each other. And as long as she was willing to fight for their love, so was he.
All couples fight, and there`s nothing wrong with that.
Life lessons here, truly.
Thank you so much for reading everyone! This will likely be my last chapter here for a few weeks. I start school very, very soon so I will be very busy with that, but I promise I will still be around. My plan is to try and post once a month at least, if not more.
Also, in other news, my other project is going quite well and I plan to post it by the end of the year at the latest. If you like more novel based stories than I hope you will go and check it out! It is a direct sequel to the original Fablehaven series (ignoring Dragonwatch) and is something that has been floating around in my head for quite a while.
Thank you to Fairy Girl22, Wolf Lover27 and so many more for the support on this story! If you ever have any ideas or prompts you`d like me to write, I`d love to hear them!
Bye! I`ll see you again soon!