'You took my advice?' Cortes asked. He and Dahlia sat in the tavern. Dahlia nodded. She felt better since she told Mahad. She felt relieved.
'When I told him, I remembered something.' she said. 'It was just as horrible as everything else I remember.' she said.
'What did you remember?'
'A burglar. My sister screamed. I came in. He aimed a gun at her. Next thing I remember, my father was hitting me. Then he left, grabbing my mother on his way out. Saniya carried me to my bed, then she left to get some ice for my bruises.'
'You have a gap again.'
'Iston.'
'Iston?' Cortes raised his eyebrows.
Dahlia seemed to be pretty confused, too. 'It means…It means I know.' she said. 'I don't know where it came from.
----
'Cortes, we have some technical problems. Nothing serious, but it's best to fix it before we continue.' Cheng said.
'Ok. Wayan, Dahlia, start landing procedures. Land on that block.' Cortes said. But as soon as Dahlia saw which block he meant, she panicked.
'No…' she said. She was breathing fast. Cortes immediately walked over to her, and kneeled down.
'Dahlia, go to your room and calm down, ok?' he said. Dahlia nodded and left.
'Mahad, take over.' Cortes said. He sat down and massaged his right sleep.
'What's wrong with her?' Lena asked. She had never seen Dahlia scared. Never. Not even with Shinseki, or when Jelola aimed a gun at her. Never.
'Post-traumatic stress.' Cortes answered.
'How do you know THAT?' the Vector asked.
'Don't ask.'
As they had landed, Mahad looked at Cortes in a questioning way. Cortes nodded.
'Go.' he said. Mahad took that advice and went to see Dahlia.
----
'Dahlia?' Mahad asked.
'Come in, Mahad.' she answered. Mahad pushed the door open and came in. He softly closed the door behind him.
'Are you all right?' he asked. Dahlia lay on her back on her bed, staring at the ceiling.
'I don't know.' she answered.
'Why did you panic?'
'I don't know.' she said again. 'There's something about this place that…frightens me.' She looked at Mahad. 'I got so…scared.'
'Did you remember something?'
'No. But this place looks familiar.'
Mahad walked over to her and sat down on the edge of her bed. Dahlia came sitting next to him. He took her hands. His hands were warm, comforting. So she didn't pull away. He looked in her eyes, she looked in his. If they wanted to, they could kiss right now. And they wanted to, but there was something that stopped them. But they didn't know what.
'Wanna go back?' Mahad asked. He didn't feel very comfortable.
'Yes.' Dahlia answered.
----
BONK!
A back lion with red eyes jumped aboard the Saint Nazaire. It walked towards Cortes. Cortes seemed to know the animal, considering the fact that he petted in on the head.
'Ik heb mijn werk gedaan, Midnight. Ik heb de prinses hierheen gebracht. Nu is het aan jou.' he said. Midnight made a confirming sound. Then he let out an asking growl.
'Volgens mij komt ze zo.' Cortes said. And he was right. Dahlia came back, Mahad walked behind her. Dahlia seemed to recognize Midnight too. She walked over to the lion and kneeled down. She touched Midnight's neck. When she did that, two small orbs of yellow light came floating above her head. They went down around her body in two spirals, with a tail of some sort of gold dust. But what they did was surprising.
They changed Dahlia's clothes.
When the orbs reached the floor, they vanished. Dahlia was now dressed in a midnight blue dress, with silver edges. The sleeves were long, but the dress didn't have shoulder. She had a silver braided belt. Her dress reached to the floor, concealing her shoes, but now she sat on her knees, her silver high-heeled sandals were visible. She had silver gloves, made of silk. She looked beautiful. She couldn't understand this, just like everyone else. She looked at her hand and arms. Midnight softly pulled at her skirt. Dahlia looked at him. He walked away, stopped and looked back. He seemed to want her to follow him. So she stood up and followed him.
Cortes looked at Mahad.
'Go after her. But try not to disturb her.' he said. Without thinking, Mahad did what he said.
----
Dahlia followed Midnight trough the village. She knew where he was taking her. The small castle up the hill. One of the older female villagers was trying to get her grandson of the street, but when dahlia passed by she looked at her. She smiled. "So he brought her back." she thought.
'Granny, who's that?' her grandson asked.
'No one, Tommy. Now go inside.'
'But you recognize her.'
'Tommy, come inside.' his mother yelled from the door. 'Mother, do you come too?'
'I'll be back in a minute, Nuala. I have to take care of some things first.' the woman said.
----
'There's no difference between her and her mother.' the woman said.
'I hope there is one.' Cortes answered, before he turned around. 'Good to see you again, Kaya.'
'Still as sarcastic huh?' apparently, they knew each other.
'That got better. Being back brings up my old attitudes.'
Being back?
----
Dahlia pushed the door open.
SKRIEK!
Midnight walked into the hall. The he wrote something on the wall with his claw.
I must let you discover your own past.
Dahlia looked at her animal guide, and then turned around. Mahad leaned against the doorframe.
'Cortes said I should come after you.' he said. Dahlia walked over to him. She took his hand.
'I wouldn't want to do this with anyone else.' she said. She looked in his eyes. He touched her cheek.
Midnight let out a growl. He wanted them to hurry up.
'You lead the way, Dahlia.' Mahad said.
Still holding his hand, Dahlia walked towards a door. Her heels made a clacking sound on the floor. She pushed the door open. It was a dining room. Dahlia let go Mahad's hand. She walked around the table and sat down on a chair. Her chair. She had always sat there. Breakfast, lunch, dinner…always. Saniya sat on her right, Oslo on Saniya's, the head of the table. Her mother sat over Saniya. They always ate in silence, except when someone asked to reach something. Oslo hated conversations during dinner. But there was someone else. A man. Dahlia got confused. She didn't remember how the man looked, or his name. She did know his initials. MT.
Mahad stood in the doorway, carefully observing the woman that stole his heart.
'There was another man.' Dahlia said. She looked up.
'Do you know who?' Mahad asked. Dahlia stood up.
'No.' she said.
----
'Ok, what's going on here?' Wayan asked when Kaya had left.
'I wish I could tell, Wayan. I wish I could tell.'
----
Dahlia went upstairs and opened the first door she saw. It was the door to her bedroom, which she had shared with her sister.
The first thing that Mahad noticed was an old doll with a broken head. Dahlia kneeled on the ground, picked the doll up and held it against her chest. She remembered how she threw the doll on the floor after her father had killed her sister. She remembered how her sister had cried.
Dahlia let the doll fall out of her hands and stood up. She walked over to the bed on the left. Saniya's bed. She touched the pillow. Then she reached under it, and pulled her sister's diary from under it. She looked at Mahad. He came in. Dahlia looked back at the bed. There were still bloodstains on it.
'Are you all right?' Mahad asked, placing a hand on Dahlia's shoulder. Dahlia nodded and turned around.
Only then she realized how close he stood to her? She shivered. He looked in her eyes. Her beautiful brown eyes. They moved closer towards each other, until their lips almost touched. Dahlia pulled her head away at the last moment.
'I have to do this first.' she said. Mahad understood what she meant. And he couldn't blame her.
Dahlia walked over to the bed on the right. Her bed. She pulled her own diary from under the pillow. What mostly grabbed her attention was the name on it. Eärendil. She knew the name. It was her name. Yes, that was her name.
'Eärendil? Is that your real name?' Mahad asked. Dahlia turned around. She looked happy.
'Yes!' she said. She sounded so happy. She had her name back. She had her identity back. Who wouldn't be happy?
They left the room and Mahad closed the door. Dahlia had the two diaries in her arms. She opened the next to. It seemed to be a spare bedroom. There were no personal items. Dahlia sat down on the bed.
'The other man slept here.' she said. 'His name was…Mac. It was MacIntosh Taylor. But I still don't know how he looks.'
'You'll remember, Dahlia. Trust me. Your on a good way.' Mahad said. Dahlia looked up. She knew he was right.
The next room was the master bedroom. The first thing that grabbed the attention of the two lovebird teenagers was an envelope on one of the pillows. Dahlia picked it up. There was a name written. Eärendil. Dahlia opened the envelope and took the letter.
"Dear Eärendil,
So you came back. I don't suppose you remember Mac? Oslo hated him, because he was with me most of the time. Oslo thought we had a relationship. But that's not true. He had to protect me, just as he should do with you now. He played with you and Saniya all the time, as you can see in the picture.
I love you, sweetheart, and I always will.
xxx Your mother
Dina"
That's my mother's name!' Dahlia said. 'Dina!'
She took the picture out of the envelope.
'Oh my god! Mahad, look at Mac Taylor.' she said. Mahad looked at the picture. Two young girls, one six, one ten. A man, with his arms around their shoulders, sitting on his knees. He smiled, just as the two girls. Mahad recognized him too. He had aged, but was still very good recognizable.
Cortes.
A/N Here are translations:
Ik heb mijn werk gedaan, Midnight. Ik heb de prinses hierheen gebracht. Nu is het aan jou.
I have done my job, Midnight. i brought the princess here. Now it's your turn.
Volgens mij komt ze zo.
I think she'll be here soon.