„Heaven and Earth"
She was taken like a queen back to the cabin, carried by Minsc, Xan never leaving her side, holding her hand all the time. Jaheira identified her state as a shock after another one of her visions and Daria silently agreed with her. The diviner hasn't even said a word all the time, forcing her body to relax as she was checked up by the druidess, but she wasn't asked anything as she was clad in another cloak, her wet hair covered, Anomen using one of his spells to calm her racing heart and Minsc lifting her with ease. She felt like a heavily wounded warrior being taken from the battlefield, but for once she didn't protest. The main reason was that she really felt emotionally worn out and was reluctant to isolate herself from her friends, but the other cause, making the main reason a bit less 'main', was that her gloved hand was still tightly held by someone's usually cold fingers, making her care a bit less whether she was being carried, dragged or left on the ground.
In the camp a welcoming committee already gathered by the fire. Nalia gasped dramatically seeing their leader being carried by the berserker, and even usually lighthearted Yoshimo seemed strangely distraught. Daria wasn't responding, Minsc steady pace of walking drawing her into a trance-like state, but Jaheira quickly shooed everybody back to their work, declaring that her ward was going to be fine as long as she gets some peace and rest. She only stopped to ask Valygar if they can occupy his room for the night, offering him one of the tents instead. She let Minsc in for a moment to help her put the weary elf to bed, before closing the doors shut behind her.
Daria didn't react when she heard Jaheira beginning to cast a spell, moving her hands smoothly over her bed in a second room closed behind heavy wooden doors, but she twitched at the realization that it wasn't a healing, but a dispel. It was already too late to stop the magic at work and a tickling white shroud enveloped the diviner, disappearing in no time along with the illusion masking her face, revealing the sorry self she hid underneath.
"I was surprised when Nalia mentioned that she saw you are using illusions on yourself. At first I couldn't believe you would behave in such an immature way, hiding the state of your health from me. But then I thought than I should at least check before ignoring young Nalia completely" Jaheira said with a studied tone, practiced to make Daria feel exactly how she felt right now. Immature. The healer raised her ward's chin examining her eyes and skin closely.
"It's not like that Jaheira…" Daria broke her silence averting her eyes.
"Why did you do it?" the druidess' tone changed to soft and caring, expressing only concern. Daria never heard her sound like that. She was expecting a lecture, or even the barking tone Jaheira used when she was really mad. Even her face looked different without the hawk-like sharpness attached to it almost permanently. The elf felt she can confess everything to this new Jaheira, that she will be understood and she wasn't going to be angry this time.
"My face is… the last part of me that he hadn't destroyed completely" Daria wasn't going to sound weak, or overemotional. She would simply say it, that was the plan. "After all the time in the dungeon, the spells, fire, knives and experiments I have so many scars, but I can still look into a mirror without flinching, when I look at my face. I wanted this last thing to seem nice, without the effects of tiredness. I could have at least that..." she stopped taking a shuddered breath. It was too dramatic for her likening, but her voice was breaking every time she was looking back at the times she spent under Irenicus' 'care'.
Jaheira gave her a long look, a fire from the oil lamp standing at the desk dancing in her eyes. Daria couldn't guess what she was thinking.
"But remember to show yourself to me every now and then" she said finally and bend over the elf kissing her gently on a forehead.
"Thank you" Daria said. The druidess smiled nervously as if only now realizing how strangely she was acting.
"I'll send you someone with some food in a moment. Are you sleepy? You shouldn't sleep tonight. I'll set watches to keep you awake." Jaheira began to sound more like her old self, bossing around. She quickly summarized what needs to be brought into the cabin and went outside to throw some orders and feel more like herself again.
Upon leaving the cabin Jaheira almost bumped at Xan standing by the door. She instantly recoiled and saw worry written all over his face.
"You are going to make up for what you did today" she stated with a tone of voice that suggested she wouldn't take 'no' for an answer. "You will take a bowl of what we have to eat and Daria's spellbook and take it to the cabin. You will stay with her until I come back, not leaving her for more than a second! Keep her from falling asleep, make sure she is comfortable and eats everything." She hoped the feeling of guilt he felt, and she could make out from his features as clearly as seeing the sun on a cloudless day's sky, would motivate him to do exactly what she said. "And for nature's wrath don't even think about saying that we're doomed or other such nonsense! Sound optimistic!" she ended.
He gulped at the last sentence. 'You won't teach a fish to fly, no matter how much effort you put into it' Jaheira recalled one of her old mentor's many sayings.
"Just say 'life is beautiful' instead of 'we're doomed'" she advised. "At least she will be able to laugh at you."
If he was offended he didn't show it. Instead he took one of the cleanest bowls they had and went to get the food at once. Jaheira watched him for a second, checking if he wasn't about to start sighing or doom-saying, considering whether she should tell him what she would do to him if, after her return, Daria was at least mildly unhappy, but decided against it. She picked her pack from the ground and went back to the forest. She had other things to take care of.
***
Xan stopped by the inner door of the house holding a bowl in his hand. He considered shortly, making sure he remembers what to say and what not to say, and knocked quietly.
"Come in" he heard a voice coming from behind the door. He lingered for a moment, feeling strange uncertainty, but entered.
Daria was lying in bed, still clad tightly in a cloak with her eyes closed, but she opened them to look at him. There might have been a glint of something in them when she saw him, but it could be only his imagination. He wasn't an expert on hope after all. She didn't look tired at all, but he suspected it was because of illusion magic at work. He wondered if he should tell Jaheira about it, but Daria would never forgive him that and that was the least of what he wanted. She didn't say a word as he handed her a bowl with Minsc's finest rabbit soup and moved a lone chair standing in the room to her bed. He tried not to watch her struggling with a spoon, her fingers numb after recent cold bath and still not fully flexible. He knew better than to offer his help, as she always hated being treated with exaggerated care, even if it was caused by genuine concern, and he sincerely doubted she would let anybody feed her.
He took the bowl from her once she finished and took the blankets out of a wrecked wardrobe standing in a pile of dust in one of the corners. Valygar told him he can make use of all he finds inside, but he didn't have any use for a nest of mice or a swarm of moles, so he took only the blankets, which seemed to be placed there only recently, not completely moth-eaten yet. The ranger wasn't very caring towards the cabin, but that was hardly a surprise, since from the first look one could say he preferred seeing only night's sky over his head at rest.
Daria didn't say a word as he wrapped her carefully in a cover, and then another, replacing the coats. Her eyes followed his every movement without any expression and he couldn't stop the clumsiness in his efforts wondering when she would finally scold him for treating her like handicapped. Nothing like that happened and he was beginning to fear that something was wrong when the blank expression hadn't disappeared from her face even for a short moment. When he adjusted the pillow under her head and she hasn't as much as blinked he snapped.
"Say something!" he whispered with anguish.
"Umm…" he caught her off guard and her eyes widened with surprise. And then her lips began to curl, though she looked as if she was trying to hold to her stony mask. He felt that even his ears are becoming bright red at a realization that he made himself a fool, when she began to giggle in her pillow. He sighed and bit his lip before saying anything.
"Life is beautiful…" he tried. The phrase sounded incredibly alien in his mouth, not to mention how nonsensical it was, and Daria hadn't even noticed the different words, his forlorn tone of voice speaking for itself. He knew Jaheira's plan wouldn't work. He hid his face in his hands waiting for the flush to fade.
"Are you alright?"
And now he made her worried about him. Why did Jaheira send him of all people? She could have sent Anomen. He would do a better job at keeping the conversation, with his countless fabled tales of how he saved this entire order of his from the clutches of some terrible wyvern. And Daria seemed to like his company, the enchanter thought bitterly.
"No, I am not" he said looking back at her. "I'm truly surprised that you aren't weary of my company yet after how I treated you, and I honestly would blame you for that. I feel terrible for pushing you away back then. It really wasn't my intention to act like that. It was an accident." Now that sounded original. How could pushing anyone from an embrace be an accident?
She shot a mischievous smile he learned to fear, as it was usually inseparable with yet another prank she was preparing with Imoen. Few months before he would already be at the door, but now he felt like seeing the sun after long days of rain, vivid glow warming his face. Only the remnants of his instincts, worked out after countless pranks, kept him from smiling back.
"There is one way to make up for it" she said, still grinning, and sat down on the bed, extending her arms to both her sides. She pretended to close her eyes, but he knew she was peeking to see his reaction, a bit of silver light seeping from under her eyelids as she was waiting for an embrace. In one swift movement he hugged her, pressing her to his chest with all the strength he could muster, keeping her close for a lasting moment. It wasn't hard now, when he remembered how terrified he was when he heard her scream, when he saw her half-lying by the tree, when he realized that it might have been the last time he held her then and when he couldn't stand the thought that he pushed her away. Now he could hold her and feel only care and… friendship, the uncomfortable sensation gone without a trace. Nothing he felt now mattered, as long as she was alive and well. The scent of jasmine was braided into her wet hair and he knew that it was the most beautiful scent he ever felt.
Daria expected a shy, momentary squeeze, making him embarrassed, or maybe refusal she could answer pretending she was only joking, but she was far from complaining at what she got. Come to think of it she actually fell victim to his jest instead the other way around. She threw her arms around his neck and wished for it too last as long as it could. She soon ran out of breath and he released her, pinking slightly seeing her breathing deeply.
"…sorry" he muttered.
"Any time mellonamin, any time" she said with a flushed smile.
***
They talked through half of the night, freely, like back in the 'old' times, arguing teasingly about whose school of magic is more refined and sharing the new spells they learned. Daria tried to avoid recalling their previous adventures sensing she might be missing few vital events, a side-effect of Irenicus' attempts to block her divinations, but she listened with curiosity about the enchanter's short stay in Evereska and his journey to Amn. By the midnight Jaheira came to check if she has to throttle Xan for making her ward miserable, but was satisfied seeing them talking without any restraints. She sent Minsc to replace the elf by Daria's bed and urged him to get some rest despite his attempts to convince her he wasn't sleepy.
The large berserker had a different way to keep the diviner awake and even though his tales about Rashemen reminded her too much of Gorion's bedside tales to keep her eyes opened, Boo's cold and wet nose touching her face and his whiskers tickling her nose made every attempt of drifting to reverie futile. The method was as effective as irritating, but she could stand having a hamster running all over her bed. The situation could change any moment though, if the rodent decided to do something more than just running. She only took a bath and wasn't up for spending the rest of the night in a smelly bed.
By the morning even a lively hamster fell asleep, curling into a fuzzy ball on his favorite spot on her belly. Minsc's legendary snoring was shaking the small cabin, but it wasn't enough to stop the wave of tiredness closing Daria's eyes. With great effort she managed to focus on reading her spellbook until the first ray of sunshine dawned on the east and only then let herself doze off, thunderous lullaby of large Rashemi's snore ringing in her ears.
***
As far as the three night of full moon were the worst time in the month Daria could think of, the following few days were the best. She had a perspective of over three nightmare-free weeks, at the next rest she planned to skip her watch and make the most of the time to make up for the previous nights, and she could breathe easier without the fat round moon over her head. She would be happy were it not for rescuing Imoen not going as it was planned. But she could pretend that everything was going to be fine, as long as they had some aim ahead of them. No dark foreboding could cloud her relief.
The sky didn't share her good mood and from the moment the party left the cabin rain poured down on them in constant stream, only pausing for a moment, as if to take a breath, and began to fall with renewed strength by the noon. Valygar directed them in a straight line east, on the road through the forest surprisingly resembling a swamp now, without crossing the village. He seemed to believe both of his comrades, the rangers, would inform the mayor about the happenings in the forest and face his judgment for killing Jeb, but somehow Daria wasn't that optimistic. She'd rather expect two brothers to frame them into murder to avoid responsibility, but she couldn't help it in any way, and since they were leaving the area for good, or so she hoped, it really didn't matter.
They parted with Mazzy when the road divided in two directions leading west, to Athkatla, and south, to Trademeet. Daria hugged the small woman at their parting, surprising her with effusiveness. In exchange they were invited to visit the Fentan's family house should they ever visit the little town. The diviner wasn't certain whether she should let the halfling paladin go alone, but she hadn't sensed any dangers on the road ahead. She did ask her new friend to be careful though. Extra care would never hurt.
Valygar had a hard time at finding a company for himself during the long march. Out of rule he avoided the mages. He tried to talk with Minsc at first, expecting a fellow ranger to share some of his views, but only managed to receive a permission of getting a counsel from Boo, once the hamster would wake up. He carefully stepped back and approached Jaheira, but after first few sharp retorts he decided that walking alone had many advantages he hadn't noticed earlier. Few moments later Daria engaged him into a conversation and even listened to his full list of reasons why the magic shouldn't be trusted. The elven diviner was in such a good humor, that she managed to actually listen to one of Anomen's tales and even considered that it might have a seed of truth hidden in it, if one took into account that the deeds were accomplished by an entire squadron of paladins instead of a lone squire. She tried to share her optimism with her friends while it lasted.
She knew they would need it when they finally reach Athkatla.