AN: Hello everyone, I'm sorry for the once again long delay, in short real life sucks, I don't get to write like a I use to, but I'm still working away and doing the best I can. I would also like to dedicate this chapter to my dad, who was greatly loved and is greatly missed. Also I did a quick edit of this around midnight so I'm sure I missed somethings, I will try to go back and catch any errors I missed tomorrow, hopefully.
Please enjoy the next chapter of Ice and Snow.
23. Ode to the Living
"It may sound hopeless, it may sound foolish…
…but, really, what else can you do?
When faced with death…
…what can anyone do?
You go on living."
~Bilbo-Deleted scene from The Battle of Five Armies
~o~
In the yard of the space-time witch both Fuu and Hikaru had gone into a mild panic after Yûko sent Eagle into dreams. When the bright flash of magic faded he almost dropped to the ground in a dead faint. Fortunately, Camry caught him and did his best to sooth their worry, "Don't worry, he's only asleep. How else would she send him into dreams to bring Umi back?"
"Will they be able to return back safely?" Fuu looked at Umi, supported between herself and Hikaru, to Eagle, whom Camry was doing his best to keep upright.
"That will depend upon those that have gone into the dream" The witch turned back to the house, "Maro, Moro!" The assistants who had disappeared into the house with the Knights' swords came running back out.
"Yes mistress?" They answered in unison.
"Help our guests inside please."
With the help of the witch's assistants they managed to make it into the parlor of the house. The smell of incense lingered in the air, soft airy silk draped around the room. They laid Eagle and Umi down next to each other and the witch motioned for them to join her in the next room.
There was a small table with several chairs, tea, already set for three, was waiting for them.
As if she had known they were coming.
Fuu gave the tea a blank stare for a long moment before pushing her glasses up to rub her tired eyes. She should try not to think too hard about the possibility, it would only increase her headache.
The witch's assistants scrambled around to serve the tea as they all took seats. All except for Camry, who stood and leaned upon the opposite wall by the doorway. "My usual help is currently out right now I'm afraid. So tea will be all I can offer." Yûko smiled and picked up a long thin smoking pipe from its stand on the far side of the table.
Her first wisp of smoke wafted up and curled in slow meandering circles. Somehow it seemed to purposely avoid floating in the their direction, like the smoke had a mind of its own.
Fuu took a sip of her tea, at the very least the caffeine would ease her pounding head.
Hikaru didn't bother with her own tea. She chewed her bottom lip, brow furrowed, considering their options. Her gaze raised to meet the witch's. "Is there anything that we can do to help the two of them return safely?"
Yûko took another drag from her pipe. "Anymore interference on my part would require additional payment." She gestured to herself, the pipe smoke coiling around her fingers.
Hikaru stood, almost upsetting her teacup. "If there is something I can do, then I will do it."
"Myself as well, if there is anything I can do to help then I would like to know it." Fuu joined her in standing, though a little less abruptly.
The witch was silent for a moment, sparing a glance at Camry before returning her attention to them. "You remind me a great deal of someone else I've met before. Sincerity and determination are required if one is too succeed at any task. You two seem well provided in both, if your friends are in any way similar…"
"…then they're sure to be alright?" Camry supplied for her.
A wry smile pulled at the her features. "Something like that."
The witch gave a thoughtful mummer and blew a slow stream of smoke. "Very well, I will need that," she pointed to Hikaru's hair ribbon, "and also that." She indicated with her pipe the ring on Fuu's finger.
Both girls looked equally bewildered.
"My ring…?" Fuu looked down at her hand. The small gold ring she had received from Ferio glimmered in the soft light of the room. It pained her at the thought of having to give it up.
"Your items will be returned once used, but I will also need a few more items. Maro! Moro!" She stood calling for her assistants.
"The gloves you stored your weapons in, those I will take as my price." Yûko set down her pipe and held out her hand as Maro and Moro came into the room. One carried a shallow basin into the other room, the the other set a pair of scissors down by Yûko.
Hikaru removed her glove gem and Fuu followed suit. The price wasn't too much, considering they no longer had their swords to store in them. Handing them over to the witch she asked, "Is there anything else we can do?"
"We will need water from the well outside in the yard, Maro and Moro will show you."
The two assistants came and took hold of their hands. "This way, this way" they echoed one another and tugged the two Magic Knights with them.
Camry watched them go before returning his gaze back to room's other inhabitant. Yûko had already sat back down gazing at him over the smoke from her pipe.
He said nothing for a long moment but then, "My price-are you going to take it now?"
Here the witch smiled, "Not yet. The wish has not been fully granted." She stood and went over to the doorway, sliding the paper door aside to look into the next room.
Eagle and Umi both lay side by side, unmoving in their deep sleep.
"It is not an easy thing-," she paused and let a stream of smoke lose from her lips that coiled around the room. It curled and twirled, joining with the pale smoke of the incense that burned in the corner. "-to pull oneself back from the dream on the edge of death."
"No it is not."
A pause from both of them.
"Thank you for not telling them." Camry injected into the silence.
Yûko glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, "There was no need for them to know the price you paid. It is entirely up to you if you decide to tell them or not." Another puff of smoke, "Nor what you first saw in your dream. Your dream did not quite match his," she gestured to Eagle, "Did it?"
Camry shook his head. "What I foresaw changed many times. One future that I saw had both he and the girl dying. One by the hand of the other, manipulated by one of those winged parasites." He looked much older, sadder, as he gazed at them. "That was why I wanted Eagle to act on only what he himself knew. I was afraid anymore interference on my part would make it even more difficult to change their fate."
"Fate is a chain of many links, one after the other, like countless lines of dominos falling in a row. You can pull one out or change it's direction in an attempt to stop the chain of events, but one rarely knows if they are pulling the correct one out of line. If the inevitability is too great, the momentum behind it too strong, it can be a near impossible moment to change. But the possibility does still exist. That is hitsuzen."
She stepped away, closing the sliding door on the room with her sleeping guests.
"That is why it is better to change a path gradually, naturally, over time, many, many small changes slightly altering a path. If you had interfered more, the outcome would have likely been far more costly. The more inference, the higher price that must be paid."
A pause.
"Why that price for him, Yûko?"
"Because that was his wish." She smoothed the length of her kimono as she sat back down. "If the payment is not something precious than it does not serve as a proper price. If you had not added your payment to their request it would not have been enough. I would have had to take far more from them."
Camry would not look up to meet her gaze.
"And because something once lost can never entirely be replaced or repaired." A breath from her pipe, "If he were to cross dimensions and the space between worlds again after this-." She left the sentence unfinished.
The sound of the two knights returning put an end to their conversation.
Each carried a bucket, filled with the cold water from the deep well outside.
"Fill the basin with the water" Yûko instructed and she picked up the scissors she had previously set down. They did as told and entered the adjoining room to empty the water into the basin. It wasn't very deep, its sides made of smooth, bright metal that gleamed dully in the muted light.
Yûko held out her hand to them.
Hikaru and Fuu exchanged a glance before depositing the requested items in her outstretched hand.
She took the gold ring and slid it through one end of the ribbon. "Something that was once whole, when divided, will always seek to be whole again." She tied the ribbon in a knot around the ring leaving it suspended in the middle of the red fabric.
Taking the scissors she cut the ribbon into three pieces, one snip to the left of the ring, one snip to the right. She handed the two end pieces of ribbon to her assistants and they darted over to Umi and Eagle to tie a piece of ribbon to each of their wrists. "A bond once made can not ever be entirely broken."
Yûko held out her hand, dropping the final piece of ribbon with the ring down into the water. It dropped it with a light 'plunk' though the splash seemed a bit large for something so small.
Fuu looked down into the basin, oddly, though it was shallow, she could no longer see the ring. She raised her eyes back up to Yûko, "Now what?"
"Now we wait."
o o o
It was taking all of Umi's self control to keep it together. At the moment she was torn between sitting down and crying or bolting off screaming into this empty darkness she had found herself in upon waking up a second time. There were no trees this time, no nice, understanding girl to talk to. No strange glowing butterfly to follow as she walked alone for what seemed like hours.
There was only the empty dark.
She took a deep breath to steady her nerves. Freaking out wouldn't help her situation. She really, really couldn't freak out, even though she really, really wanted to. She had to find out where she was, find out if Eagle was alright, find the others and get back to them somehow.
Hikaru and Fuu were probably really worried right now.
They were waiting for her, she was sure of it. She forced back her fear and the threat of tears that stung her eyes. Willing herself to walk as calmly forward as possible.
Despite her resolve the urge to break into a run did not quite leave her. Her veins thrummed with it, a steady pulsing push to move. Umi stopped, taking another deep breath and closed her eyes, calming her mind.
This feeling was different than the fear she had felt before, this was something else, flickering, warmth in her limbs. Her blood nearly sang with the steady thrum, a whisper along her skin, "This way" it seemed to say, "you must go this way." She had to go, she had to find them, she had to find Eagle.
Right now.
She went forward again, each step a bit more certain than the last.
Yes, this way. Over there.
Her heart beat faster as her pace increased and her doubt faded. This was right. This feeling, it felt almost like she was being pulled along, tugged by some invisible force that knew where she should go.
She stopped suddenly again as she realized there was in fact something pulling her along that was dangling from her arm, or more accurately her wrist, that she had not noticed earlier. She lifted her hand to eye level, just to make sure she wasn't seeing things.
"A red ribbon…?"
o o o
A heavy sigh.
Eagle was beginning to question the wisdom of following the fluttering image of a butterfly into oblivion. So far he'd come across no one or thing in the seemingly endless darkness that stretched out before him, so the small golden glow in front of him was his only guide.
He felt like he'd been walking for a long time, but was unsure, it was impossible to keep track. Weariness was beginning to slow him down, every nerve in him screamed in exhaustion. He had been near his limit before they had reached the witch. Now his weariness was so heavy he could hardly keep his eyes open.
Was Umi really in this darkness somewhere? Even if he did find her how would they return to their friends? The more he thought of these things the heavier his limbs felt, each step more difficult than the last.
Eventually his progress slowed to a crawl, breaths coming in sharp gasps as his eyes strained in the dark to see the glimmer of his guide in the distance. He just needed to rest, for just a moment. His feet stumbled, eyes drooping. He blinked rapidly, trying to chase away the heaviness in his eyelids as he meandered forward, his guide now of sight.
"Eagle…"
That voice again, he knew…
"Son, no! You mustn't go that way! You must not fall asleep within a dream…!"
He looked around him but could still see nothing, where was the voice coming from? He looked behind him and then turned back around, only to feel a sudden sharp thug on his wrist as if someone had grabbed his hand.
"Eagle…"
He came up short, gasping, suddenly realizing he was standing on the edge of ledge that he could not see the bottom of. "Mother?" His question reverberated off into the emptiness.
But there was no one there.
He looked down at his hand that had been grabbed.
A red ribbon dangled from his wrist, pulling him back, away from the ledge.
He turned, the ribbon tugging him forward as he coiled it around his fingers, his eyes followed the thin red line off into the distance.
His fingers curled tight around the ribbon and he pushed himself to follow, confidence returning to his steps. In what felt like a much shorter time than his previous walk, he felt the ribbon begin to lose some of it's slack, as if it was being pulled on from the other end.
Encouraged, he quickened his pace, boots sounding out a steady rhythm, echoing in the emptiness around him. His steps seemed overly loud in the relative quiet so much so that at first he didn't realize that not all the steps he heard were his.
He came to abrupt halt, holding his breath in the silence, listening.
The footsteps continued.
For a second Eagle thought his own heart might beat itself free of his ribcage. The thud of it in his ears nearly drown out the other footsteps.
"Umi?"
The footsteps faltered briefly, then were much faster, so close now…
"Eagle?!"
Suddenly in the inky black in front of him on the other end of the coiling thread of red a familiar silhouette came into view.
Relief washed over Umi's features at the sight of him, she bolted forward, heading straight for him.
He released a breath he'd forgotten he was holding and took a step toward her, opening his arms to catch her with the intention to enfold her in an embrace.
That was his intention at least, but as soon as Umi was within arms reach of him she pulled back and hit him, hard, in the shoulder with her fist.
Eagle reeled back, rubbing the place she'd hit, "Oww what was thatー" he was cut off by her rocking up onto her toes, grabbing him by the collar and crashing her mouth to his. Equally surprised, again, he took a second to respond in kind, but upon regaining his wits he crushed her to him with equal fervor.
Umi didn't think she'd even been hugged so tightly in her life, she didn't mind. For a brief moment everything else fell away. She felt only his warmth, the smell of his skin, his fingers in her hair. The utter relief she could taste on his lips, in the kisses he laid along her jaw, trailing up to her cheek in a caress before once again coming back to her lips. His quiet sigh as he withdrew filled her with solace, the shade of his eyes as he gazed down told her, 'Somehow everything will be alright.'
Despite their current situation being unknown, for the first time since he had woken from his coma Umi felt like perhaps there might be some truth to that. 'Somehow everything will be alright.'
She took a few steady, deep breaths, "You're an idiot"
A low, half hearted laugh escaped him, "So I've been told." She made to hit him again, but this time he caught her hand, bringing it up between them and pressing a kiss to it. "I'm sorry, I scared you."
Her annoyed frown softened to more of a pout and she wouldn't look up at him even as he rested his forehead against hers, "You have no idea. When I saw you just lying there like that–" Her words faltered as her hand tightening its grip on his.
"You gave me quite a scare yourself when I woke up on the other side with Camry and you were just laying there motionless in the snow." His other hand came up to brush her hair back from her cheek.
"I'm sorry I made you worry. I'm sure Hikaru and Fuu and everyone else is worried to, but you were the only one who knew how to stop Elantra. Are the others alright?" Suddenly both her hands had taken his, "Hikaru, Fuu and all the others? You were able to stop her weren't you?" Her voice rose in octavie along with the rush of words.
"Yes, everyone is alright for the most part and I was able to stop Elantra...but it came at a price." His eyes would not meet hers.
"Price? What price Eagle?"
A sigh, "We had to have help, so I could come here to find you. I've been seeing a woman in my dreams, a witch, Camry knew of her. So we went to her and she sent me into this dream to get you."
"A dream?" Now that Umi thought about it, Sakura had said this was a dream.
"The witch called it a 'dream that lies on the edge of death'.
"You still haven't answered my question." She craned her neck, trying to make him look her in the eye, "Eagle, what kind of price do you mean? What did you give her?"
"We paid her, all of us, including you," he stared down at their joined hands, turning them over, skimming his thumb over her wrist, over the odd ribbon that currently bound them together. "She took your sword, Hikaru and Fuu's too, along with something I received from Elantra. That was your price."
Umi gaped at him and then promptly shut her mouth. If that had been just for her...She swallowed hard trying to force the lump growing in her throat down, "And yours?"
He was silent so long she thought he wasn't going to answer. Though when he did answer it was in the barest of murmurs. "I can't ever go back home-to Autozam. When we return to Cephiro it will be a one way trip for me."
"WHAT? Eagle how could you ever agree to something like that?!" If he hadn't been holding her hands she might have tried to hit him again.
"How could I not?" His hands came up and grasped her face, keeping her gaze immobile with his own. "Umi I wasn't going to let you die for me, anymore than you were willing to leave me to my fate in the snow."
"But…"
He shushed her with a finger to her lips, "No buts, I have no regrets in making that decision." He rested his forehead against hers. "Since first coming to Cephiro and meeting Hikaru, you and all the others I've learned so much and have come to understand many things I didn't know before."
His sought out her hands again, warm, where they lay flat against his chest, to twine their fingers together once more. "But there is one thing I've always understood. Sometimes to save something, something else has to be given up. There is not always a perfect answer, sometimes things are lost that can not be returned."
Umi took a shaking breath and nodded, she understood, though the thought of him never being able to go home again… "I know, but I'm sorry–"
He shook his head, "Don't be." Releasing one of her hands his own came up to push back a lock of hair behind her ear. "Now, what do you say we find a way out of here?"
Umi started to reply but stopped before the words left her mouth, her gaze shifted away from Eagle and into the dark around them. Her head cocked side to side, "Do you hear that?"
Eagle had not noticed it until she pointed it out, but now that she had the low roar of rushing water was easily identified. He took a step to the side, trying to discern which direction the sound was coming from, but his movement suddenly alerted them to something else.
They were standing in several inches of water.
And it was rising.
"When did…?" Umi startled, she hadn't even felt the water lapping around her ankles.
Eagle stepped forward closing the distance between them, she could feel the heat of his chest on her back as well as the cold of the water now at her knees. "Where is the water coming from?"
"I don't know, but there isn't any high ground here." Eagle looked side to side rapidly, "If we don't do something quickly…"
"We'll have to move and try to find a way out before…" Sloshing forward Umi was stopped from proceeding by a heavy weight on her wrist. The ribbon between them, something was weighing it down like a heavy stone in the middle, they couldn't move.
Eagle tried to pull up on the ribbon, it didn't budge, whatever was holding it down was holding fast. They both struggled to untie the ribbon from their wrists, but no matter how they tugged it would not come free.
The cold water had already made it to Umi's waist.
"Not good, not good...uhm…" Umi wracked her brain trying to think of something. "This is a dream right? So we should be fine, right?"
"To be honest I have no idea…" Eagle pulled her back to his chest as the water rose even faster.
Umi stood up her on her toes, trying to keep her head above the surface. She felt Eagle's grip around her waist tighten.
"I guess now would be a rather bad time to mention I can't swim…?" Eagle gave a very nervous laugh.
"What?!" Was the only word Umi managed before she took one final gasp of air and the water went over her head, with Eagle being submerged with her a few seconds later. She floated for a moment, she could feel Eagle still, his hand held hers tightly. She struggled, trying to swim upward, but to no avail.
Just as her lungs began to ache from holding her breath she heard a voice.
"Magic Knight...look below you..."
'Selece!' she opened her eyes underwater to see the eerie image of Eagle floating near motionless beside her, she turned her gaze downward to the vastness below them. Far below there seemed to be a small pin prick of light.
"Magic Knight…"
Selece's voice faded, but she knew what to do now. 'Thank you Selece' a silent prayer to her former Mashine and she took hold of Eagle's hand and tugged him with her, swimming down toward the light. The small light growing larger and larger as they neared. She thought her lungs might burst from the exertion, they screamed for her to take a breath, but she did not care, she would get them out.
Then when she thought she could hold her breath no longer, the circle of light opened up and they broke the surface.
o o o
It was very early morning as far as Fuu could tell. Even the predawn light had not yet began to fill into the sky. Hikaru was sitting beside her on the floor, her head pillowed on her shoulder, trying to fight the urge to sleep. It had been several hours since the witch had sent Eagle into dreams. Camry stood by the window across the room, silently looking out into the darkness outside.
Fuu stifled the yawn that tried to escape her, removing her glasses to rub her eyes when a loud thunk followed by a splash startled all the inhabitants of the room except for Yûko. The witch calming looked up from the book she had been reading as Hikaru lept to her feet and flung the door open that separated the room they were in from the one with Eagle and Umi. They found an empty room, the basin with water had been turned on its side spilling its contents.
"Where are they?" Hikaru asked franticly, only to suddenly hear shouting and splashing outside.
Both Knights ran out the front door and around the side of the house to the source of the sound and stopped dead in their tracks.
The witch stopped by the corner and leaned against the wall, "Interesting, they returned using the water you drew from the well as a pathway back from the dream."
"Hikaru, Fuu! Why are we down a well?!" Umi sputtered, coughing and doing her best to climb out of the well without knocking Eagle back in. The commander looked none too pleased with their current predicament, and was holding on to the walls of the well for dear life as he coughed up water he had swallowed.
Yûko called her assistants to bring towels, Full heaved a sigh of relief and Hikaru dissolved into uncontrollable laughter at the sight of her two dear friends, now awake and standing before her.
AN: okay...so I might have lied about this being the last chapter, but for sure the next one is it! Thank you for reading everyone. I hope to bring the final chapter to you soon, but I give no promises on a date!