Dahlia lay in her bed. What they were going to do tomorrow was completely insane!
She heard someone knock on the door.
'Come in.' she whispered. She already knew who it was. Mahad.
She sat up, looking at his every move. Mahad softly closed the door behind him.
'I came to check up on you.'
'Well, I'm fine.'
But he knew her too well to take that.
'No, you're not.' he said. He sat down next to her, and placed one arm around her shoulders.
'You are afraid.' he whispered in her ear. 'Aren't you?'
Even if she had said no, Mahad wouldn't believe her.
'Yes.' she said. She turned her head to him. Their noses touched. He pressed his lips against hers in a tender kiss, as a way of trying to comfort her. She kissed him back, wrapping her arms around his neck. He held his hands on her back, and pressed her body close to his. She let one of her hands go trough his hair. He started to kiss her neck, knowing she liked that. She let her hands slip under his shirt, and pulled it over his head. He carefully took her dress of her. Her hands slid in his pants, while his fingers played with the lock of her bra.
----
Oslo sat on his chair. He was thinking. He remembered the time he took over the body of a female Pirate, a woman called Dahlia. She was a close resemblance to Dina. And Eärendil.
This Dahlia wouldn't be…
----
Marcus and Cortes were talking to each other in Cortes' cabin.
'Exactly how strong will she be tomorrow?' Marcus asked.
'I have no idea, Marcus. But if she loses control, she'll be very powerful.'
'Tsssss. I thought you would've lost your sarcasm by now.'
'I actually did. But when I brought Eäredil back, I started to get my old attitude back.'
'You're unbelievable.'
----
Mila stared at the floor of her cell. She tried to contact her daughter. She failed at that, but she could place herself in a dark corner of Lena's brains, and follow everything that happened. She knew what the Pirates were planning. It was simply insane.
But that girl, Dahlia, was very powerful. If only she could control her powers…
----
Dahlia's head lay on Mahad's bare chest. He was playing with a strand of her hair.
'Mahad?'
'Hmmmm?'
'I love you.'
He kissed the top of her head. 'I love you too.'
'Do you think that what were gonna do tomorrow is gonna work?' She looked upwards, towards him, while he looked down at her.
'I don't know, sweetie.' He kissed her forehead. 'I don't know.'
Dahlia kissed his mouth, then placed her head on his chest again and fell asleep.
Mahad held one of his arms close around her, just to make sure she knew that he was there for her.
He stared at Dahlia's sleeping silhouette. What they were gonna do was dangerous. Crazy dangerous. And Cortes always yelled at him when he did something dangerous!
Dahlia's calm and regular breathing calmed him down, and he soon fell asleep, too.
----
It was impossible. Eärendil was dead. By the way, Mac wouldn't leave her.
Unless…
Oslo stood up, and ordered his computer to pull up a photograph of MacIntosh Taylor. Because of the lack of a recent photo, it showed a picture from over fourteen years ago.
'Computer, get a picture of Aran Cortes.'
----
'When you were drunk…You told me Marcus…'
Her mother's voice sounded through Dahlia's head. She remembered the day she shot her mother. She was shouting at Oslo. But what were her words? This wasn't enough.
What had he told her? What was the deal with Marcus?
Suddenly, she remembered the time she had just joined the Pirates. Linazia, a Pirate who was dead now (she was shot during a fight), had asked her about her past. Dahlia had opened her mouth, trying to speak, but she couldn't. She tried to breath, but the air didn't seem to want to reach her lungs. She had eventually fainted. The explanation she gave it was that the Sphere once had thrown her in a water reservoir, and she almost drowned. She told that she sometimes had flashbacks. She hated to lie, but she was still too traumatized to speak about what really happened. But while she couldn't breathe, she remembered what her mother had yelled to Oslo before she shot her. But when she woke up again, the memory was gone.
----
The computer pulled up the photo, and put them next to each other. Oslo studied the photos.
The resemblances were too perfect to be coincidence.
'So, Mac, you were right in front of me all the time…' He murmured, as Diwan entered the room.
'Commander, I wanted to… What are you doing?'
Oslo turned around. He smiled devilish.
'Diwan…You came just when I needed you…'
'Hmm?'
'Do you see this pictures?'
'Two photographs of Cortes.'
'Wrong.'
'But Commander…'
'Aran Cortes is just an alias. His real name is MacIntosh Taylor.'
What was discussed for the rest is top secret. By the way, you'll find out soon enough. Maybe too soon.
----
Ten years ago…
'You admitted it when you were drunk! YOU TOLD ME MARCUS SAW YOU DO IT!'
Dina's words cut through the silence in the house.
'Dina…' Oslo started in a cold tone. But Dina didn't listen.
'You killed my husband! YOU. KILLED. THE. ONLY. MAN. I. HAVE. EVER. TRULY. LOVED!'
'You married me!'
'THAT WAS A MISTAKE! I…I'M GONNA ASK FOR A DIVORCE!'
'DINA, I'VE HAD ENOUGH!' He lifted up his arm and used his seijin powers to throw her against the wall. He walked over to her and raised his hand…
----
Mac heard Dina yell.
'Oslo, don't you dare!' he muttered, before he rushed in.
----
…when his hand was grabbed. Mac's thumb pressed on a pressure point, so Oslo couldn't move.
'Dina, go to your daughter!' he ordered her. 'I'll take care of this scum.' he then said, in a threatening voice.
Dina got up and ran upstairs, tears flowing over her cheeks.
Mac swung Oslo around, and then let him go. The seijin smashed against a wall.
'Next time you try to do something to her, I'd like you to remember I know eighteen ways to kill you with a paperclip.' he said in a cold tone, before turning around and walking up the stairs.
Then they heard a gunshot.
It came from Eärendil's room.
----
Now…
Dahlia woke up with a scream and sat back up in one move. Sweat dripped of her forehead. She then felt Mahad sit up next to her. He wrapped his arms around her waist. She turned towards him and buried her face in his chest. Crying.
'Shhh…It was just a dream, Dahlia…It was just a dream…'
'No, it wasn't.' she looked up. 'It was a memory.'
'That must've been a terrible one.'
'It was when I shot my mother. I remembered what she yelled at Oslo.'
'What was it then?'
' "You admitted it when you were drunk. You told me Marcus saw you." ' Dahlia quoted.
'What did my father see?'
'Oslo killed my mother's first husband. I think your father saw that.'
'Why wouldn't he tell that?'
'I don't know. And right now, I'm not interested. All I want is sleep.'
They both lay themselves down again. Mahad held his arm around her. She lay her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. But she didn't fall asleep. Neither did Mahad. He caressed her waist. Her soft skin. Her perfect body. Suddenly, she rolled on top of him and kissed him. She felt every single muscle in his chest, his body trapped underneath hers. She wanted him. She needed him. Sex with him calmed her down.
And he knew that. He rolled on top of her, not breaking the kiss. They didn't speak or think, they just let their sexual attraction and their lust for each other take it over from them. Dahlia groaned of joy when he pushed himself inside her. It really calmed her down. Every time they had sex, Dahlia didn't think of anything. Except "God, I love him.".
They made love to each other, like this could've been the last time they did it.
And they both knew it could be.