The Past Unfolds part 3: Shattered Dreams
Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to RA Salvatore and Wizards of the Coast.
A/N: Again, sorry about the inordinate amount of time it took to write this chapter. Anyway, here it is and I shall endeavor to post more in the near future.
Snow swirled around Drizzt Do'Urden as he trod heavily through the streets of Bryn Shander, not bothering to look up into the fierce wind that blew the wetness from his eyes, freezing it further down his ebony cheek. He knew where he was going. If he had been blind he would know where he was going. Despite the bitter cold he nearly floated as he walked. The long wait had ended. Soon he would see his Catti-brie again.
The house where she now lived was not hard to find, indeed he had visited there many times when Regis had been its owner. With the threat of barbarians gone once and for all with the peaceful treaty that lay between the Ten Towns and the tribes, each had begun to thrive. So rich had it become in fact that Cassius sold his house to the princess of Mithril Hall and gone to work on a new manor. Drizzt could not fathom why Catti-brie alone would need so large a dwelling but he supposed that her stature as a hero had perhaps earned her the greatest amount of respect that the Ten Towns could offer. After all, they had done the same for Regis and the plump halfling had done much less.
For a moment he stood outside the door, barely able to contain his growing anxiety. It had been two years since he had last been here, he had planned to come back within a year of Bruenor's banishment but the winter had been hard and few caravans were willing to make the trek north. It had taken nearly 3 months just to travel here, despite Drizzt's impatience.
What would he tell her? Should he make small talk, reacquaint himself with her? What if she was still heartsick? Then what would he do?
During those four long years the realization had stolen over Drizzt that his desire to see Catti-brie was far greater than the excitement he felt to see Regis or Bruenor again. After much soul-searching he had come to the realization that he was in love with her. On the day he had returned two years before he had planned to propose but news of her continuing unstableness had postponed that dream. But now nothing stood in his way, he had been blind for too long, blind to the feelings for her he cherished in his heart and to the feelings she had returned.
Unable to handle the suspense any longer, Drizzt leapt lightly on to the top stair of the entranceway to the large house that had formerly been the residence of the leader of the city. His first knock was soft but then he realized that over the howling of the wind even someone on the other side of the door could not have heard it. He spent the next minute pounding on the hard wood and just when he was about to turn away to find another entrance, the large door opened and a shard of golden light lit up the snow.
A man, at least a half a foot taller than Drizzt, was framed in the doorway.
"I am searching for Catti-brie," Drizzt shouted above the wind, a bit off balance by the appearance of any other beside the fiery redhead he had come to see. Who was this man? A steward, perhaps? A close friend?
"Come inside," the man said hastily, obviously wanting to close the door against the chill. He had not yet seen Drizzt's face but the dark elf felt secure in the knowledge that if this man was any friend of Catti- brie's his disposition would not change once he discovered Drizzt's heritage.
Once inside Drizzt was enveloped in the warmth from the roaring fireplace. Lowering his hood he shook the snow out of his hair then turned an inquiring glance on the man who had let him in. He had been right, obviously the man recognized who he was, for no dark elf had ever come this far north, let alone directly threatened the Ten Towns. There was no one else he could be.
"Greetings," the man said after only a brief pause as he took in identity of his guest, "I am Garien Arvandir, what business do you have with Catti-brie?"
As Drizzt had suspected, the man was half-elf, most likely part sun elf if his golden hair and skin were any indication. Drizzt again wondered what he was doing here and what his relationship to Catti-brie could be, "I am Drizzt Do'Urden, a close friend of Catti-brie's. We have not seen each other in years. I don't suppose you could summon her if she is here?"
"Yes, she is here, most likely she just finished putting the baby to bed. Make yourself comfortable while I go get her," said Garien then strode out of the room. Drizzt hardly noticed his departures, his thoughts locked on what the half-elf had just said.
'Baby?' he wondered, 'Perhaps an orphan that she has taken in, or a dwarf child that needed tending while its parents were away,' his mind supplied. Suddenly the lightness he had felt when he had first entered the room was dimmed by a nagging fear that had firmly established itself at the back of his mind. The sound of approaching footsteps roused him from his thoughts and for a moment he could only stare as the woman he had dreamt about for the past four years was suddenly standing in the flesh before him. Though it had been long, too long, since had seen her last she had not changed at all. He knew in an instant that the dream could never measure up to the reality, the sight of her real, standing right in front of him filled him with joy like no fond memory ever could. "Catti-brie," he whispered. It was all he could say. After so many years of imagining what this moment would be like, of planning what he would say the very sight of her had left him speechless. Only her name, murmured like a prayer, made it past his lips and somehow he knew that that was all he could say, that anything else would be meaningless.
"Drizzt," she said; her emerald eyes lit up with the joyful fire that was one of the many things he loved about her. Then suddenly her face went white and her eyes widened and the pleasant flame guttered out. "What are you doing here?"
The nagging doubt at the back of his mind dropped to his stomach where it sent cold fear like ice through his veins. "I- Catti-brie, what's wrong?"
"I-You... came back, after so long, I-I thought that ye would never return, Drizzt," the shocked expression on her face changed to one of old pain, "Why did ye leave us for so long?"
How could he tell her? How could he tell her that the reason that he had left was because he had feared for her sanity, because Bruenor had told him that his daughter would never recover from the wounds to her heart if he was there tearing them open with his very presence?
"I-I sent out word to all the neighboring cities asking if they had seen ye. I was going to go look myself but me da told me I shouldn't, that you had left to do something important and-and might not come back," Drizzt took it all in but could hardly believe what he was hearing. She had almost come looking for him? How.?
"Drizzt, why did ye abandon us, abandon me?"
"No! I... Catti-brie, I would never abandon you! You were sick. I thought you would never recover and Bruenor said that it was because of me you suffered. I never wanted to hurt you, Catti-brie," he said.
"Then why did ye abandon me when I needed ye most?!" she fairly screamed, tears springing up in her emerald eyes.
"Because I love you," he said, his voice crushed with defeat and sudden knowledge that he could not take in, "And I thought it was the only way to save you."
"You-," her voice faltered, "I knew... I knew you loved me, and I loved you. But Drizzt, you left, and you didn't come back. It was so hard to bear; sometimes I didn't think I could stand the pain of missing ye. But. I finally realized that ye weren't going to come back, I-I had to move Drizzt. I'm human, I didn't have hundreds of years to wait for ye, I..." she averted her gaze, unable to go on.
Drizzt took her hand in his, striving to keep only one emotion in his voice as he spoke, "Catti-brie, I know I've been gone long, too long, but I did it for you. I love you Catti-brie and. I never want to leave you again."
"Oh, Drizzt," she said, her voice quivering with unshed tears, "I-, Drizzt," she raised her eyes to his, those beautiful eyes that had missed for so long.
"Drizzt, I'm married," gently she pulled her hands out of his nerveless fingers and placed her arm around Garien. The half-elf had not yet said anything for there was little he could do in this situation. Placing a reassuring hand on Catti-brie's shoulder he hugged her closer, supporting her with actions if not words.
"When?" was all Drizzt could say. All the feeling had gone out of limbs, his only sensations were the tightness at the back of his throat the made his words hoarse and the leaden feeling in the pit of his stomach.
"Two years ago," she replied.
Two years ago... two years ago when he had come back for the first time only to be driven away again by Bruenor's counsel. He knew he should be angry with his friend for lying to him but he could not summon the emotion. Bruenor had been doing what he thought was best for his daughter, had Drizzt appeared that day... 'She may not have married him,' the tightness at the back of his throat became more constricting, 'but she must love him too, or else she would not have married him. If I had appeared that day she would have once again been torn.'
"Drizzt I can't...there's a child now, Drizzt. My daughter, Kayela." she said.
"I want you to know...I came," he whispered brokenly, "Two years ago, I came. I would have come sooner if I could but when I got here Bruenor told me I shouldn't go see you," he raised his lavender eyes to meet Catti- brie's sea green ones. "That I would cause you pain. So I left again, I wanted to come back when the pain was healed, when I could see you smile again," he smiled weakly at her but he could not stop the quaver in his voice, "That time has come but it seems I am too late."
"I-I should leave," he said and turned back towards the door. He did not want to intrude on them and this happy existence of theirs. For love of Catti-brie he had done everything and for love of Catti-brie he would leave them in peace.
"No, wait, Drizzt," Catti-brie called after him, he stopped. Though he tried to deny it he could not stop himself from pausing to hear her voice one last time, for spending one extra second in her company. She had moved on, now he would have to learn how to. But first he would remember every moment they spent together and lock it away where it could not be sullied by time or anger. He turned to face her once more.
For a moment she said nothing then she smiled wanly around the tears that still glistened down her face, "At least stay the night and... go see Regis before ye go. He has missed ye as much as any of us."
"I shall," Drizzt replied. "And, thank you."
"Ye.should come back sometimes. It's lonely in the Dale without ye here, and the tundra yeti need to be put back in there place," she half-smiled and some of the pain evaporated inside of him. This was the old Catti-brie, the one who had been his closest friend long before she had become his love. If he could not have her love, at least he could have that.
With this in mind he let her guide him to a spare room where he could place his things. She and Garien went to sleep yet he stayed up well into the night. Once his elven ears picked up the sound of their breathing becoming deep and even with sleep he bowed his head, feeling the tremors as all his dreams shattered one by one inside his heart and as they did, he wept for what he had lost.
As always, reviews are appreciated. By the way, don't hate Bruenor, I wasn't trying to make him evil. He really did do what he thought was best for his daughter. He was just a bit misguided.
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