Authors' Note 2: At the time of writing this, I'd like to mention I GOT !TWO! REVIEWS, and I guess this story is becoming increasingly popular. Please note that this chapter has drinking and some foul language.

As Aedenrel and Aaron sat down at the table, there was a smile on her face. They were seated around a round table in the Mages Private Quarters, the room just below the Archmages' room. Three other Mages were drinking with them, Julienne Fanis, Tar-Meena, and Raminus Polus sat with them. Each one of them had a large silver tankard filled with their favored brew in front of them, and bottles littered the table along with a few ancient texts that Raminus was donating to Aedenrel. Aedenrel had already watched Aaron drink one tankard of beer, but he was showing no inhibition yet. She plastered a smile on her face as she enjoyed the company.

"Aedenrel," Raminus was speaking to her, so she tilted her head in his general direction, "we weren't expecting you to be here, otherwise we would have brought some more of the Tamika Vintage wines up."

"Oh, it's no problem," she assured him, with a hearty swig of the non-vintage wine she had. "I didn't tell you I was coming, so you're at no fault." She turned her head away from Raminus and towards Aaron and Tar-Meena, who seemed to be having some conversation. As soon as she'd turned her head, though, Aaron had glanced at her and flashed her a winning smile. Her heart fluttered, but she ignored it. "Aaron, where did you wander off to today? When I looked for you in the hallway you'd disappeared."

"Less disappeared," Aaron commented, downing the last of his beer, "and more followed an orphan child who had some information worth getting." Aaron realized then that it probably hadn't been such a good idea to follow the child around. Tar-Meena meant to tell him so.

"Is it such a good idea, Mister Glistel, to just follow random people around?" There was scold in her voice, but Aaron chose to ignore it. Or, perhaps he was already getting drunk enough that he really didn't hear it.

"I have a rule," Aaron piped up, with a wide grin on his face as Aedenrel poured him more beer. "I only follow pretty women and children. They're less likely to lead you astray."

"That," replied Julienne, "depends on what your definition of astray is."

The room filled with laughter, and Aedenrel found that she was having a good time. Sure, the lighting was low, and the room smelled a little smoky, like someone had left a candle burning for too long or used a foul smelling incense for too long, but the atmosphere caught up to her. She found she was happy here, in the company of fellow Mages and Aaron. Always there was Aaron, gnawing at her conscience, and twisting her heart into knots. She heard him laugh, then, and tried to disguise the tears that rose in her eyes. Was she tired, she wondered deftly, or getting too drunk? It had been far too long since she'd heard him laugh. Thankfully, Aaron was telling some sort of raunchy joke, and no one noticed when she wiped her eyes on her sleeve.

"But how can you tell the difference between an ugly woman and a pretty one," questioned Raminus, "when you can't see them to begin with?"

"It's all in the voice," Aaron replied, grinning like a maniac. At least, thought Aedenrel, he was as drunk as she was. "But I have another joke. Why did the Land Dreugh cross the road?"

"I don't know," Julienne answered with a question in her voice. Aedenrel felt suddenly jealous as the other woman placed an hand on his arm. Aaron didn't seem to mind, though. He just kept right on smiling. "Why?"

"To get to the other side," Aaron answered. Of course, everyone's senses were already so dulled that it was ridiculously funny. The roar of laughter that followed had Aedenrel smiling as well. When she glanced at the giant hourglass, though, she decided it was time for Aaron to tell her the story that she wanted. For nearly four hours the five of them had been sitting there, numbing away their senses one drink at a time. Now, Aedenrel yawned and stood up, stretching.

"I think I'm going to bed," Aedenrel murmured, and Aaron stood up beside her.

"Are we going home now?" He questioned, and Aedenrel shook her head at him, a silly, toxin induced smile.

"Nooo," she answered, slightly slurring her words. "Haha, we're staying here tonight. I'm too horse to ride a drunk home tonight."

"Aedenrel, you're completely trashed," Raminus stood up too, and supported her with an arm under hers. He gently guided Aedenrel to the portal, and Aaron followed them downstairs, outside, and into one of the small cabins that Mages were allowed to use. Raminus helped Aedenrel sit down on a bed, and Aaron sat on the floor cross-legged. The Mage left then, and Aedenrel broke out into giggles that clearly said she'd had too much to drink.

"This was fun," she managed between giggles, and smiled down at him. Aaron just shook his head in reply and stood up in a rather wobbly manner.

"D'you still wanttohear a stooory? Aaron asked, sitting down next to her on the bed. She batted her eyes at him, and smiled. Then, she nodded. He could see neither, but she thought he got the point.

"I want to hear about why you can't see anymore."

"Oh please, Aede," there was more than a hint of whining in his voice, "why can't you just let this go? Why can't I keep this one thing to myself? You're obsessed with why I can't see anymore, and I wish you'd stop asking!"

"If you'd tell me, then I'd KNOW," Aedenrel answered, clearly just as upset as he was. "And I wouldn't have to keep pestering you for information. I'm not just going to let this drop! I want to know, and I'm going to find out whether you tell me or not."

"I'm not telling you," Aaron answered, glaring at her. "It isn't any of your business."

"Why are you acting like it's a big secret? It can't be that bad!"

"I'm going to sleep now," Aaron answered, sliding down to the floor to curl up in a tight ball. "Please shut up."

"Oh, I'll shut up," Aedenrel hissed under her breath. "I'm going to find out, Aaron."

"And I'm going to sleep." He replied, with a murmur. The last thing he imagined before he fell asleep was Aedenrel's face, glaring at him. He tried to think back to when he'd last seen her so livid, so furious, but he could find no other incident. A smile flickered on his face, and he fell into a dreamless sleep.

Aedenrel, meanwhile, took a look around the room, and noted the familiar things that surrounded her. Shelves lined the walls, old, wooden shelves that had seen better days. Some were sagging under many centuries of holding up magic tomes, and some had the scorch marks left by accidents with alchemy equipment. The floor was white stone, but there was a rug, which Aaron was currently curled up on. A small table had once held a Nirnroot specimen, but now it contained only some small seeds that she had planted herself. Nirnroot took along time to grow, she had found. In one of the other Mages rooms there were Enchanting and Spellmaking altars. She wondered briefly if she could forge a spell to make him tell her everything she'd ever wanted to know about him. The thought was instantly forgotten, though, as her eyes fell upon the bed, with its' silk and velvet sheets and fluffy, down-filled pillows.

The pair of them woke late, late enough to have missed breakfast. Aedenrel was in a foul mood, but Aaron seemed to have a hangover, which had made her feel at least a little bit better. She'd showered and changed her clothes, and the two of them got onto Shadowmere's back in silence. Aaron wished that Aedenrel would just get over questioning him, and she wished that he would open up and tell her. The two of them brooded, and the silence ensued. Miles, hours passed, and still they said nothing. Would this last forever?

The air grew more frigid, and the wind bit into their clothes. Still, Aedenrel pressed on, a new secret weighing heavily on her heart, as the silence pressed between them, an invisible but very solid barrier. What was Aaron going to say when they arrived home...? She pushed the thought from her mind as she stirred Shadowmere faster, pushing him harder than she should have, but they couldn't arrive home fast enough. "Just a few more minutes," she whispered to the stallion.

When they finally reached the house, Aedenrel nearly leaped from Shadowmere's back. Aaron carefully made his way down, and the mare made her own way towards the stables. Aaron couldn't figure out what Aedenrel's hurry had been, but he wasn't about to bring it up. He followed her up the stairs, and stopped when he heard her stop. Just as he was about to say something, she spoke.

"Tomorrow is very special," she addressed him, and then swung the door open. "My adopted... "children" are coming, we do this every month, and you're not to interfere. I want you to get along with them. They're more like friends than anything else, and if you mess this up for me..." Her voice drifted off but her message was clear, she was going to make his life a living hell. He nodded, and then she ushered him inside. Forcefully, she steered him towards one of the tables. "Sit." She told him, and he heard her stroll of to some other part of the household. It was strange, thought Aaron, that she didn't have anything more to say to him. Feeling like the worst was yet to come, he sat silently at the table, absorbed in a daydream.

Aaron didn't hear when Aedenrel walked up to him, and he started when she spoke to him. "Are you going to help, or are you going to sit there?" She trust something at him, and he caught the books just before they collided with his face. Frowning, he raised an eyebrow at her.

"I can't read."

"Yes, you can, but you can't see to read. I wonder-"

"Don't go there," he warned, and she sighed. "I want you to stack those, and do it neatly. I'll give you other things to do too, as they'll be here tomorrow and-"

"Aede, stop. I'll do this, just don't kill me." Aaron picked books up off of the floor and stacked them on the table around him, taking care not to catch any with his face as Aedenrel continued to toss them at him. He suspected that she half wanted the work done, and half of it was training for him. Focus, agility, and not-getting-hit-in-the-face skills. Aaron could totally call this training.

Aedenrel had either lied to him, had been lazy, or had completely forgotten about having extra bedrolls. Either way, Aaron slept on one of them overnight, and Aedenrel said little to him in the morning. The silence ensued until there was a knock at the door to Frostspire, and then Aedenrel dashed to the door. She flung it wide, inviting both the bitter cold and the person inside. It took Aaron a moment, but he picked out their voices, and listened carefully.

"It's been a while, Aede," said the visitor. "I've been off adventuring, and I brought you something special!!" The visitor, a female who's voice seemed familiar, started shuffling through her bags. Whatever she withdrew must have been to Aedenrel's liking, because a squeal like an adoring fan came from her. Aaron just smiled, and held the tray of food like he was supposed to. That's what she had told him to do, and Gods forbid that he would disrupt her stupid party.

"Oooh, who's the hottie with the sandwiches?!" Apparently they had crossed the room while he was lost in thought. Aaron felt a blush creep over his cheeks, though he tried to ignore it. The girl stepped closer, and brushed at his hair, and he resisted the urge to snarl at her. Instead, he held the tray like an idiot, and pretended that he was deaf, mute, and made of stone.

Hours later, all of the sandwiches had run out, and Aedenrel had forgiven him. Enough, anyways, that he was allowed to stay in the entrance/book-room/hall and listen to what was going on around him. He picked up about twenty voices, only two of which he knew. One was Aedenrels', and the other belonged to the "daughter" he had met in Anvil. He couldn't remember her name, but he knew her voice, and he knew she had been watching him. Slowly, he had heard her approaching him. While other things were going on, chatting, partying, fighting and playing, Aaron had been sitting at the table, amused, but feeling left out. He wasn't at all surprised when the girl sat down next to him, or when she placed a hand on his forearm. He was surprised, however, when he heard her voice, though she hadn't spoken.

"Aaron, you sit here while the rest of us have fun. Why are you sulking?"

He wondered if he should answer aloud, but he knew she had read his thoughts as quickly as he had thought them. The woman had some sort of mind-reading powers-

"The bond you and I share," she soothed telepathically, "is maintained by our contact. If I move my hand, your thoughts are safe. But I think this conversation will go on a little longer. Tell me Aaron, have you thought over the question I left you last time? Do you have an answer for me?"

"You already know the answer. You've known all along."

"Indeed, but is it so hard to admit it to yourself? I know the truth, and you know the truth. Everyone around you knows the truth. Except for her. Do you know why she doesn't know?"

"No. I haven't told her, and I never will." Never... The thought drifted from his mind, leaving a gaping hole in his ego, and his heart.

"So you think that if you ignore them, your feelings, that they will just go away? No no, Aaron, that's not the way they're played."

"What do you know? You think you know me, that you can see right through me and-"

"What would you give, Aaron, to see again?" The question hung in the air before him, seeping into his veins slowly, like a poison. What would he give to see again?

"Anything."

"Anything Aaron? Even if you could never see her again? If Aedenrel were gone from your life, would it be worth it?"

"I..." Yes? No? Would he abandon her for himself? Sever their friendship because he was selfish? "No, not that."

"I can give it back to you, if you wish for it. Temporarily at best. And it's only a small fraction of vision. Is it worth anything to you?"

"What are you hinting at?"

"Detect Light. It might work well to restore your vision partially. I might also try a little Night Eyes." There was an edge, a tone in the girls' voice that he didn't like. Something that warned him that there was a catch. A hook attached to the worm.

"And what do you get out of this?"

"Don't be so stupid. I want nothing. I'm offering you the chance to partially see again, temporarily. Will you take it?"

"Yes," Aaron wondered if he had spoken the word aloud, when the girls' hands were on his cheeks, and her breath was on his skin. He fought the urge to panic as she slipped something onto his neck, and then she walked away. Aaron kept his eyes clenched shut for what must have been five minutes. Then, slowly, fearful, afraid that the charm wouldn't work, he opened his eyes.

Aedenrel had quietly slipped out of the party nearly an hour before. Brooding was the word to describe her mood, she was brooding, upset and angry. There was no reason, she told herself, that he shouldn't tell her how he had ended up blind. But she knew there had to be some sort of secret behind it, or he would have told her himself. What was he trying to hide from her?

She was on foot this time, walking down the path to Bruma. Bundled in a large wool jacket, and with a sword strapped to her side, she was taking her anger out the best way she knew how; walking away from it. Aaron was making her upset, angry, and she would get back at him. The dagger has the sharpest sides when it is pointed at a friend.

The half-elf, half-Imperial woman knew her own course of action; she wanted information and she knew where to go to get it. Bruma was the closest town, but she would shortly be making a trip to Cheydinhal. And then... She let her mind wander, filling with possibilities. Would he thank her? Would he hate her? She tried not to think about it as she skirted around a black-bear and ignored its grumbles of protest. Even the animals knew better than to pick a fight with her.

Twenty minutes later, Aedenrel arrived at the gates of Bruma. She flung one door wide open, and greeted the guards with a half-smile and a dangerous gleam in her eye. The guards knew better than to mess with her when she had that look on her face. Aedenrel was out for blood, and no one was going to stand in her way. Both guards pitied the fool that refused to step aside for her, or whom made a snide remark. They exchanged glances behind her back when she passed, and began quietly betting upon who was going to be dead in the morning.

She ignored them, though, as she made her way towards the beggars' bedding. They smelled, they were often dirty, and one of them had a foul mouth, but she needed them, and she needed to know what they knew. Her ego was slightly deflated as she found that the beds were empty, and she sat down on the stool, to wait. Her mood had not improved, and she doubted that it was going to. She cursed Aaron under her breath, for his stubbornness, for his stupidity, for his secrets. Did he really think he could keep something from her?

When Aaron opened his eyes, he felt tears stinging them. No longer blind, no longer blind! His mind raced, a thousand thoughts, hopes and dreams resurfaced in a wave of happiness that was too large to contain. Swirls of light danced before his eyes, the Detect Light spell had obviously worked. What was more, the world around him was visable, and though blue-tinted, he could see.

"I can see," he said, mostly to himself, but he saw all of the "children" turn towards him, and smile. Men, women, all of them seemed to have accepted him. It was strange, he had felt he was being ignored. Had they planned this all along?

"We had news of you from Kym a few days ago. And that was long enough to make you a little something," said one of the girls, blonde haired and fair skinned. Obviously a Nord, and possibly the ring-leader. "It took David nearly four hours to stop arguing with us about it. What spells to put on, and so forth. But there is a catch."

Oh, he had known there was a catch. "What is it?" He found his voice to be a little less intimidating than he had wanted it to be, but he paid it no attention. What did these people want from him?

"The charm is only temporary, Aaron. It'll wear off in a few hours. You wouldn't believe how long it took us to even make it that strong. A lot of Mages donated their energy, resources and magicka to us in order to make that for you. You'll only have a few hours."

"And I have a task?"

"Of sorts," that was Kym. He turned to look at the woman standing next to him, a girl no older than seventeen who looked as innocent as a doe or a dew-covered flower at sunrise. She was beautiful, but he wanted to see Aedenrel more. Where was she? "We want you to help us think of a gift to give to Aedenrel, for her birthday. It's coming up soon."

Just a few days before his. They had been born closely together, and their destines were intertwined. They had always known that. "Where is she?" He heard the fear in his own voice. What if he didn't get to see her before the time ended, before the spell ran out? He felt like someone out of a fairytale, given only until midnight to go to the ball. Only there was no ball, and he didn't want to meat a handsome prince. He wanted to see Aedenrel, and he knew she wasn't there.

"Left a few hours ago, claiming she had a headache. When she gets like this, we just let her go." This time it was a male who spoke, a spritey boy no taller than Aaron's shoulder, but with the cocky kind of confidence that young teenagers exude; their sort of "I-can-do-anything" attitude that so often gets young adventurers killed. Aaron realized he didn't know any of them by name.

"Gets like what?" Aaron found himself asking, against his better judgement.

"Gets all... flustered. Upset, angry, whatever. She deals with it in her own way." The boy winked, and Aaron felt jealousy at what the boy was implying. Aedenrel has another man somewhere out there that she went to when she had desires to? His expression must have changed, because the boy laughed. "It's not what you're thinking."

"How would you know what I'm thinking," Aaron retorted, suddenly upset. He didn't want to deal with his own feelings of jealousy and hurt that came from the knowledge of where Aedenrel had gone. The boy made no attempt to answer, and before Aaron could say something really hurtful, Kym stepped between them.

"Aaron, we're wasting time. What can we do for her?"

Aaron sat silently for a few minutes, completely absorbed in his thoughts, raking his memories for anything that might prove useful. For some reason, he couldn't get the scene out of his head; the voice near his shoulder. "Don't touch that." Finally, he had an answer for them. With a smile, he looked up at all the smiling faces. "The vaults have lots of precious artifacts in them. Things I'm not allowed to touch. I have the feeling that they're disorganized and probably piled all over the place down there. How quickly can you make a few display cases? Nice ones, with locks and traps? If we can find things that Aedenrel holds precious, we should get them display cases, and surprise her with that."

"Sounds like a good idea," that all agreed.

Aaron tried to ignore the one voice he had heard, the one that said, "We ought to get a display case for him, then."

The room was much larger than he had imagined it being. But he didn't have much time to look around. Aedenrel's "children" were leading him towards the Vaults Portal, and then he was there. They smelled like... Aaron couldn't put a word to the smell, other than cold. Small Imps floated aimlessly around the cellar, obviously there to provide some sort of protection. And either they weren't a threat, or Aedenrel had allowed them free access to the place. He had his sight back, he wanted to jump for joy. A niggling in the back of his head reminded him that it was only temporarily, that it wouldn't last forever.

Nothing lasted forever. Not friendship, not love, not sight, not life. That was depressing, but he tried to remain positive as the others dragged out barrels and boxes, chests and other things filled to the brim with things that were obviously unorganized. Oh yes, thought Aaron, Aedenrel had remained the same after all these years. He and Kym went to sorting one barrel, using a simple "piles" system. One for weapons, one for armor (divided into light and heavy sections), booze, precious gems, clothing, and things that seemed to be either of great power or great significance. It appeared that Aedenrel kept her magic utensils elsewhere, though, because none of them found Alchemy equipment or ingredients. Two of them had left, with the promise to return with display cases of the finest craft and make. Aaron wasn't going to ask them how they were going to get them, mostly because he knew he didn't want to know.

And slowly, as the hours wore on, his vision faded. The Detect Life spell grew weaker until he saw no more than dust motes of magic around them, and the Night Eyes slowly faded to blackness. It was well past Midnight when they finally retired, all of Aedenrel's things categorized and organized and other things that end in -ized. Aaron fell asleep on the floor, while Aedenrel's "children" curled into their sleeping rolls. In the middle of his sleep, the amulet around his neck disintigrated and was no more, its magic was spent. Aaron would miss it in the morning, but he knew, also, that there was something more that he had to do to repay the "children" for their gift.

Aaron sensed that they knew something more about something that they weren't telling him. Did they know why Aedenrel had decided to "rescue" him in the first place?