The Quest of Time: Now or Never

First of all I want to apologise for being MIA for so long, I'm very, very sorry, it's not fair to all of the loyal readers who read the stories and were waiting for an update. I have no excuse for it, I'm just very bad , things went out of control, suffered from the worst case of writer's block and lost my motivation and surprise, surprise, my writing suffered :-(

I'm sorry again and this chapter is dedicated to Geril for her kind words which encouraged me to write again

Thank you to all who reviewed tinababy1, Fire Dolphin, icyblossom3, Miriam, EloiseD, HawkAngel XD, noukinav018, geril and Avanell. You guys are the best, I'm so sorry I couldn't update sooner, I really am.

Hope you like the chapter, I'm not sure if it's good or bad but it's something :-/

I'd love to hear your complaints or anything else you have to say to me, please forgive me and hope you enjoy the chapter.

Chapter- 11

"Aaaachhooooooo" Lizzie sneezed very hard and shook the table with all the chemicals and jars, almost ruining the experiment.

Philip held the table strongly trying to keep it steady, to stop the things from falling and said worriedly "Lizzie you should take some rest, you are not well, we can do this work some other day."

She rubbed her nose, which was all red in some tissue and said irritatingly "Don't worry about me Phil, it's just a minor cold, it'll be over in couple of days, but we need to finish this work to start the next phase of experiments." She added with a small chuckle "You forgot to say 'Bless you'."

He rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to ask about what the next phase of experiments was but she sneezed very hard again and he once more held the table to steady it and balance all the jars.

"Bless you" she heard a strange voice all of a sudden and looked around to see who it was.

No one other that Philip was allowed in that barn and she was apprehensive of the stranger standing right in front her. There was a man in his early thirties, tall but not as tall as Darcy, he had friendly eyes and he was standing at the barn gate smiling amusingly at her.

Lizzie smiled despite herself, it was hard not to return his warm smile. She said amusingly "Thank you, you are the only one who is interested in saving my soul, Philip here doesn't care at all."

The stranger laughed and said taking some steps towards her "I would even fight the whole army to save the precious soul of a lady like you with my life."

Lizzie laughed at his cheesy line and said humorously "Oh, my personnel knight in shining armour, lucky me."

The stranger gave a very dramatic bow and said graciously "Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam at your service my lady to protect you from any demons or bandits."

She chuckled at his theatrics and similarly stood at attention pose, gave a very commanding salute and said strongly "Elizabeth Bennet reporting Colonel Fitzwilliam," and added humorously "I don't need any protection from demons or bandits but I'll definitely help you take some down myself."

Colonel Fitzwilliam took Lizzie's hand, bowed and placed a small kiss and said cordially "Intelligent, brave and beautiful, I admire that in a woman."

"Chivalrous, charming and gallant, I admire that in a man" Lizzie said similarly with a small bow herself and both of them started to laugh heartily.

What both of them didn't notice in midst of their humorous bantering was a green eyed and rather angry and jealous man standing at the barn gate throwing daggers with his eyes at both of them. Darcy could not believe what he was watching right in front of his eyes, he had known Lizzie for almost a month now and she never behaved so friendly and sociably with him but right then, she met Richard for less than five minutes and they were laughing and joking like they had known each other for ages.

He marched strongly towards them and said annoyingly "Richard, did you forget that I mentioned only ten minutes ago that you are to not disturb Miss Bennet when she is working." He tried to keep his anger away from his voice but he was not sure how successful he was because his blood was boiling every second by looking at the way he was holding her hand and she was not even trying to remove it.

"I did not forget Darcy, I was more interested to see her work after you mentioned what she was doing" Richard said lightly to his cousin very curious to know the reason behind the sudden harshness in his tone. He looked at Lizzie and said courteously "I hope Miss Bennet you will forgive me for my untimely intrusion and enlighten me with your experiments because all of these look quite fascinating to me."

"It'll be my pleasure to show you what I'm currently working on Colonel Fitzwilliam" Lizzie said with a warm smile to Richard and added to Darcy lightly "Don't worry Mr. Darcy, he is not disturbing me at all. I believe he is the guest you mentioned earlier."

Darcy said stiffly, still angrily glaring at Richard "Yes Miss Bennet, this is my cousin Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam who will be staying at Pemberly for few days."

He stared hard at him and then followed his eyes to the hand he was currently holding. Richard understood what he was referring to and curtly nodded at Lizzie and let go of her hand, she smiled politely and went back to the table she was working on.

Richard said amusingly "I believe Darcy you would not mind if I stayed more than few days at Pemberly and have the privilege of staying in the company of this lovely lady longer."

Was it possible that Darcy could all of a sudden despise his favourite cousin in the whole world? Currently, it looked like that it was most certainly possible. Why was he doing that to himself, was he not the one who wanted Richard to meet Lizzie, get to know her, get to talk to her and see how wonderful she was? But why unexpectedly he was regretting that those two met?

He said indignantly "I believe it would be most unfortunate for both of us to prolong your stay here as we are expected at Rosings in few days. You do not wish to infuriate Lady Catherine, do you Richard?" He asked amusingly, clearly knowing how much he was uncomfortable with the whole notion of angry and livid Lady Catherine, he knew his so called brave and gallant cousin would never admit that but he was scared of her.

"Of course I do not wish our favourite Aunt to wait and lose her patience with us" Richard said hurriedly giving Darcy a questioning look as if implying the horror of that suggestion. That made him smile and he was satisfied by the panic in Richard's eyes, even if it was only for a brief moment.

"You are going to visit your Aunt?" Lizzie asked all of a sudden.

Darcy's mood softened in an instant when he noticed the smallest amount of distress in her pretty eyes, for a moment he even felt like she would miss him when he was gone. He answered kindly "Yes, we have some estate and tenant dispute to resolve for Lady Catherine, Richard and I help her when she needs us" and he added to assure her "You do not need to worry Miss Bennet, I will return to Pemberly at once the matter is resolved."

She smiled but looked at him apprehensively "I'm sure you'll solve the matter in no time but wouldn't it be very impudent of me to stay here once you are gone? I mean this is your house and how can I..."

Lord, was she really thinking he would throw her out of his house if he had to go somewhere, did she trust him at all? He quickly cut her in the middle "Miss Bennet, you are a guest at Pemberly, this is where you will stay. You cannot in your right mind think I will ask you to leave in the circumstances of my absence. You have to stay here, that is how it will be, nothing else is acceptable."

"But Mr. Darcy...." Lizzie began again and this time Richard was the one to end her doubts "Miss Bennet, I am not aware what impression you have of my cousin but believe me he is a very gracious host, think of this place as your own home and please in no condition talk about leaving" he chuckled and looked at him "because the way Darcy is panicking at the thought, I am sure he will shackle you to keep you here. It is your choice, would you be a guest or a prisoner?"

Darcy angrily stared at Richard, what was he implying and why was he lying? He was not panicking, he was only worried for her and he would never go against her wishes and force her to stay with him.

Lizzie laughed amusingly "I'm scared he might lock me in some dark dungeon if I disregard his wishes." She looked at Darcy and said very gratefully "I'll rather stay as a guest here and I'm very thankful that you are so kind and generous to me."

Darcy smiled and gladly accepted her decision and he would have said that he was the one thankful she was staying with him but his cousin did not give him the opportunity. Richard said delightfully "A very wise decision Miss Bennet, I knew you were intelligent."

"Not as intelligent as you if I might say" she said humorously and they all laughed merrily.

The afternoon passed quite quickly for them as Lizzie showed the experiments she was doing and what amazed him more was how she encouraged Philip to explain the complicated scientific procedures and the boy did well. Darcy always thought him to be smart but he was gifted too in chemistry, now he understood why Lizzie sang his praises to him, Philip not only knew every nook and corner of the things they were doing but he easily made others understood the complexity of it all in the most simplest of terms. He was natural and Darcy was proud to see Lizzie was a good influence on him, she was shaping him to be a responsible and valuable man.

When Richard asked Lizzie to join them for lunch, she at once accepted his request with warm smile and to Darcy's disappointment spent the whole time talking about various adventures Richard had in the army. He was utterly amused to see when she quite successfully argued with his cousin about the adverse effect of war and the policies of British Empire of Colonization and exploitation of foreign lands and slavery.

When Richard felt like he was losing the battle of wits with that quite passionate and politically active Dame, he thought it would be wise to talk about more pleasant and cordial topics. It was obvious the way she talked, sometimes more strongly on certain topics than it was acceptable from women, that she was an enthusiastic soul and very independent and free thinker.

As much Darcy enjoyed Richards's or Lizzie's company, he felt discarded and alone when all three of them were together. It was no secret to him that Richard was very popular among people, there was an ease and charm in his manners, he jested his way around anyone's wall of suspicion and people opened their heart to him and welcomed him like a dear friend, so why would not same thing happen with Lizzie too. But he could not stop feeling regret and envy, not because he hated him but because he regretted not having same open and extrovert nature as his cousin, the appeal of luring anyone to like him. And he had been quite minutely watching both of them interacting with each other, they were becoming better friends then he had ever imagined he could be with Lizzie.

So obviously couple of days later when he returned from finishing important business from Lambton before he made his way to Rosings, he was expecting Richard to be meddling into Lizzie's work, he made his way to the barn but did not find anyone. He asked Philip about them, even he had no idea because Lizzie was taking the day off from the work and he had not seen her since morning.

Finally after enquiring from dozens of other servants, he found the people he was all over looking for on the opposite part of Pemberly grounds. Imagine his surprise when he saw them fighting with each other with fencing swords, he left the house for few hours and the world was coming to an end, people were fighting for their lives.

"What is going on here? What are you two doing?" he shouted to stop the death match which was going on in front of his eyes, both of them in white pants and tunic, without the protective mask were attacking each other with steel foil.

Richard turned around to look at Darcy and in an instant Lizzie flipped her foil and struck the blunt tip of the blade in his chest and shouted "Gotcha" victoriously.

"Darcy, did you have to shout like that" Richard frowned at him indignantly and narrowed his eyes at Lizzie in very ungentlemanly manner "I did not lose, Darcy distracted me, so you can stop your celebration."

"Richard, you are such a sore loser, just accept it, the student has become the master" Lizzie said amusingly patting his shoulder in patronizing manner.

Richard rolled his eyes incredulously "No one can master the art of fencing in four hours, not even you Lizzie, it takes years and years of practice to hone your skills."

Darcy looked from one person to another in complete disbelief, Richard and Lizzie, that's what they were calling each other now. All the propriety and decorum gone out of the window in just two days Richard met Lizzie, that what that woman does to everyone, what was next, Richard will start cursing like her now.

"But it looks like I did it in half a day" Lizzie retorted proudly.

Before Richard could open his mouth to answer her, the way he was glaring, it looked less like he was going to answer but more like he was going to shout at her, Darcy interrupted them and asked again loudly "What are you two doing? Why are you trying to kill each other?"

Richard looked at Lizzie, for some reason she looked doubtful and scared, completely opposite to the confident and fierce woman she was few moments ago. Hence because a gentleman he was, he took in his shoulders to explain everything to his angry and impatient cousin.

He took a deep breath and answered calmly "Lizzie wanted to learn fencing and I was more than glad to teach her."

"You wanted to learn fencing?" Darcy asked her astonishingly.

"Yes, ever since I was a child I wanted to learn fighting with swords but my Dad wouldn't let me. He said I was a menace all by myself, he wouldn't allow me to get hold of a sharp object" she rolled her eyes and Darcy couldn't agree with her father more, she was a menace. The she said enthusiastically "So when in the morning Richard said he is great at fencing I couldn't miss this amazing opportunity, what I couldn't do then, I could do now, I had to learn everything from him."

"Tell him about Star Wars, only then he will understand what we are doing," Richard said excitedly "tell him how I am like Obi Wan Kenobi and you are Luke Skywalker."

Lizzie laughed at his childish elation "Oh yes, that's where my obsession with sword fight comes from."

Darcy gave her a questioning look, she had an obsession for sword fights, who was that woman? Well, he should not be surprised, she was definitely violent and restless, swords suited her temperament.

And very quickly Lizzie explained what 'Star Wars' really was, how it was this amazing space saga about the young boy with special powers who she described as Jedi Knight fighting the evil Empire. Darcy guessed she must really identify with the protagonist Luke, he watched amusingly when she started to describe the 'Light Sabre' which she thought as a young child the coolest thing she had ever seen. It must had been a twenty first century phrase, because to him coolest meant very cold but to her 'coolest' was the most magnificent and wonderful thing.

As before he was sucked into her world of magic, listening intently to all the things he could not even imagine and her enthusiasm was contagious as always, no wonder Richard could not escape from her charm, she got what she wanted by telling those unbelievable stories. She might not be the master of fencing but she was master of storytelling.

As soon she was done Richard said begrudgingly "And now she will not tell me the rest of the stories until I teach her to fence."

"Oh, so you are trying to kill her because of your childish need to hear a fairy tale" now Darcy understood why Richard agreed to her so quickly.

"It's not a fairy tale, it's an epic masterpiece. You did not really believe I will ever raise a weapon or kill any woman" Richard rolled his eyes at Darcy "but this is extenuating circumstances, teaching is different from fighting, well at least that is what Lizzie says."

Darcy snorted listening to that, that woman can talk her way into getting anything from anyone, she definitely was sleek and cunning but his cousin was even bigger fool to believe every word she said.

Watching Darcy's dark eyes and his trademark haughty snort with a hint of frown she knew he was angry and she once again became a nuisance which she promised earlier she wouldn't be to him. She said trying to mend the trouble she caused "It's not Richard's fault Mr. Darcy, I forced him to teach me and don't worry, this will never happen again, I'm sorry."

Hearing her Richard gave him an angry and disgusting look, she was so elated and excited earlier but as soon as Darcy came he brought the doom and gloom with him. He was about to tell him to leave and take his narrowing eyes and snide remarks with him but the man surprised him.

Darcy took a step closer to her to assure her "Do not stop this on my accord, I will never prevent you from pursuing your childhood dreams" he said with a small smile looking at Richard "I really am eager to see what Richard is teaching you because he himself have faced defeat from my hands on countless occasion, I hope he is a better teacher than a Fencer."

Richard snorted listening to him "The only time you defeated me was when I was formerly injured and had lack of practice. You took advantage of my wounded shoulders."

"Real Knight accept their defeat with dignity my dear cousin, they do not conjure lies to save their faces" Darcy retorted amusingly.

Lizzie stopped them as she saw Richard's face turning completely red with rage. She quickly came to his defence "He is an excellent teacher and fighter and we'll show you in a minute. Come on Richard, let's show him who the boss here is" she tried to distract him and concentrate on the fight.

Darcy took few steps back and smiled wickedly when Richard growled at him completely forgetting that they were in a presence of a Lady. He watched them very amusingly as Richard started to attack her with small and basic flicks of the blade and she was very confidently and successfully defending herself.

He noticed that she was fast, agile and very flexible with her moves and after few moments she changed her tactic and started to attack him. Richard was being a gentleman, his attacks weren't too strong and he was defending himself quite easily. It was evident he was trying to impress Lizzie by looking effortless in his every move but it was clear to him that he was struggling to keep his posture and not growl at her because she was going for the kill, she was very competitive and feral like a cat or more like a Panther.

Darcy was quite fascinated by her, sometime she was so wise, sometime she was so foolish, sometime she was so innocent and sometime she was so wild, she was a complete mystery to him and that made his urge to know her even more stronger.

Instead of watching and enjoying Richard struggle, his concentration was on Lizzie, the way her hair flew at her face even though they were tied securely in a knot, the way her eyes were fixed into Richard's eyes and the way every muscles of her body flexed by her aggressive moves. He knew she would be an excellent dancer because she had a nice pace and rhythm and out of a blue his mind formed a picture of him and her in a big and beautiful ball room, she was in his arms and she fitted perfectly there as he led her easily and effortlessly to a blissful dance.

"How was that?" his daydreams broke in middle listening to Lizzie's voice, they had finished their small show and she was looking at him expectantly "I managed to keep up with him for over five minutes, that's pretty good for a beginner, isn't it? It's safe to say he taught me well, don't you agree?"

Richard was looking at him too for conformation but Darcy went past him and looked at Lizzie, she was out of breath and blushing red due the fight. He said with a small smirk "That was indeed pretty well, but Richard forgot to mention some basic yet important lessons to you. Would you like me to teach you those things?" he asked hoping she would accept his offer and let him help her for once.

"What things are you talking about Darcy" Richard asked indignantly.

He ignored him, he was still looking at her. Lizzie seemed confused and he wondered why she would go to everyone for help and here he was offering her everything she need and she was hesitating. After few moments with a wide smile she agreed heartily "Sure Mr. Darcy, teach me anything which will help me get better."

Richard frowned listening to her and Darcy's heart elated with joy, for once she chose him over his cousin. He said confidently "I observed that when Richard was attacking you, although you were defending yourself quite skilfully but you put all your weight on your front foot instead of back. You will have better balance and you could hold your posture better if you put your weight on your back leg than front."

"Hmm" Lizzie looked thoughtfully at him "that does make sense, if you see it from Physics point of view, I'll have lower centre of Gravity if my weight was on hind legs and that'll give me better balance." She smiled cheerfully "Wow, that was a good advice why didn't I think of it earlier. Well, thanks a lot Mr. Darcy."

He smiled, she was really grateful, that gave him the encouragement and he said again "And when you are attacking your opponent, you are using your shoulders. That will help you to make stronger blow but you'll be slower, you should use your wrist instead. Sometimes, speed is better than force."

"Really?" She looked at him perplexed "I thought I was doing it right" she moved her foil in air to show him the new techniques "Is this better?"

"Ummm...no. Move your hands like this" he came closer and showed her how it is really done by moving his own wrist but still she was doing it wrong.

"Why not just show her how it is done if you are such a master at it" Richard said begrudgingly, not at all pleased that all of a sudden Lizzie was ignoring him and taking Darcy's advice.

Darcy narrowed his eyes at Richard, why was he being so rude just because he was finding faults with his techniques. He could learn few things too instead of frowning like a five year old. He came closer to Lizzie and very slowly took her right hand in his own watching her reaction, to see if she was uncomfortable by him touching her like that. But she was looking at him expectantly, waiting for him to demonstrate what to do next.

He smiled diffidently when she did not object and stood behind her, her chest facing her back but still keeping a respectable distance between them. He whipped her hand with his own to show the correct techniques, but to make matters worse Lizzie kept moving back, coming closer and closer to him asking him more questions.

Not trying to fidget at her closeness and not to make a mockery of himself in front of Richard and more than that not trying to show her how he was affected by her proximity he took a deep breath to calm down. That was the worst possible thing he could do at that time, now his head was filled with her floral smell, which was not helping at all.

He prayed to Lord to save him from making a fool of himself and with a strong deliberation he put his other hand around Lizzie's waist and pulled her even closer. The length of her body fitted perfectly in his, her head was right under his neck and his arms were covering her arms, he quite easily and swiftly started to swing their hands together and the foil went from left to right, the noise of his wild heartbeat getting lost in by the noise of the metal steel cutting the thick air surrounding them and her small laughter which he cherished so much.

After a minute or so which really felt like an eternity Lizzie broke the rhythm and looked up at him, she was still in his embrace but she was comfortable "I think I got it now, thank you Mr. Darcy, that was so cool."

Her face was mere inches apart from her, for the very first time he noticed light freckles on her nose, why did not he see them before, maybe because he was never this close to her before, he was so close to her that if he had leaned down few inches he could have easily caught her lips into his which would have been heavenly. And unconsciously he was leaning down towards her but another distant noise of someone clearing their throat broke the spell and he came back to reality.

"Is your lessons complete Darcy" Richard asked amusingly.

He quickly released her from his grasp and took few steps away from her, what was wrong with him, what he about to do was completely unacceptable. He stiffly managed to blurt out "Yes, it is." He looked at Lizzie, she seemed normal and thank heaven totally oblivious of his intentions, he quickly made an excuse "I have some important business to finish with Andrew, I will see both of you later at supper" he bowed to her and left them there. In his haste to leave, he did not notice Lizzie's confused expression and Richard's amused chuckles but he did avoid both of them whole day long.

The five days Richard spend in Miss Bennet's company it was the most interesting experience to him. He was quite perplexed how Darcy could let anyone like that in his home and his life. He was epitome of best conduct and norms and Lizzie, in more than truer words challenged everything he or Darcy had to say. But it was amusing that his cousin quite enjoyed their discussions and loved to counter each other's arguments. There was something quite poetic about the way they tried to prove other wrong and themselves right. The battle of wits and conviction which consumed those two was like a crackling fire spreading fast in a jungle and it was not obvious to those two but only to an outside observer.

Richard was also very keen to know the real intention why Darcy let Miss Bennet stay in his home and more than that in his heart, he was completely devoured by her presence and he was also completely unaware of that fact too. He had noticed that whenever her attention was at him, Darcy's had a distinct frown on his face and when she spoke to him, the grin on his face was like a Cheshire cat.

It was more amusing that at times Darcy would try so hard to provoke her, to talk to her and even be close to her and at other times, he would avoid her, was rude to her and even pick arguments with her. It was apparent that he was himself unsure what he wanted from her, his internal battle was so obvious to Richard and he was dying to corner Darcy and ask him once in for all, what his intention was with Miss Bennet.

On the eve of their departure to Rosings Lizzie accompanied them in the parlour after supper which she not usually did, she left Darcy and Richard alone to discuss their matters but on Richard's special request she was with them.

Darcy was pleased too, at least he got to spend some more time with her even if it was because of Richard, once he left for his Aunt's he would only get to see her after many days and he was sure he would miss her but would she miss him, he wondered gravely.

Amidst their banters Richard somehow after lots of persuading and pleading and there was slight begging involved too, he managed to convince Lizzie to play a song for them. Darcy was quite astonished to found that out, why he never knew she was musically gifted and how on earth Richard knew that about her.

Richard explained that his bed chambers being in the same hall as Lizzie's he heard her playing some instrument last night and he wanted to hear her play that before he left as he would never get another opportunity to see her once she finished her work and left for her home.

After ten minutes of ranting that she was very bad at singing, she was still learning to play the instrument, she was out of practice and at one time she even admitted that she sang like Banshee and people rip their ears out listening to her singing which was quite funny for Darcy because he had heard her hum a sweet song once and her voice could not be any sweeter, Lizzie finally went to her room to get the small instrument she had, as she did not know how to play the piano which was in the parlour.

Darcy waited in anticipation as Richard was describing the sweet melody he heard from her room last night and he at once regretted that his bed chambers was in the opposite hall than hers, she could play and sing day and night and he would never get to hear from his room.

Lizzie walked into the parlour with a string instrument, she called it an acoustic guitar, Darcy had seen that before but he had never seen any woman play that before. Most girls learned to play standard musical instruments such as piano and harp like Georgina, but since she was independent and free woman, not like anyone else, he wondered she chose an instrument she could take anywhere with her, instead of a heavy instrument which would bound her to one place.

Again after lots of complaints about her bad voice and her less than lustre skills at playing the guitar, Darcy and Richard both rolled their eyes together and asked her to start playing. Why was she being so difficult and he soon realized that she was nervous, more like scared to perform in front of them. It was amusing to see her lose her cool and be insecure for once, all the other time she was so stubborn and sure of herself and making other people nervous.

"Alright, this is the song I learnt most recently and it is dedicated to you Richard for being a dear friend and an amazing teacher" she said with a small smile and added "and if you hate it just tell me to stop, no need to be kind and considerate and suffer torture."

"Ok Lizzie, I promise I will" Richard said impatiently "you making us wait is more torturous though."

Darcy could not agree more to his cousin and Lizzie took the cue and started to pluck the string of guitar and a beautiful and melodic tune started to fill that warm parlour. The melody sounded like Scottish folk song and he wondered if she wrote the tune herself or someone else wrote it.

They were sitting, they were sitting in the strawberry swing.
And every moment was so precious.

She started with a small smile and her voice was as sweet as he had imagined it to be and Darcy could not get his eyes off her. Why on earth she would say that she sang like a Banshee, he rolled his eyes at the thought.

They were sitting, they were talking in the strawberry swing.
And everybody was for fighting, wouldn't wanna waste a thing.

With her voice and her skilful pluck of the strings, the chamber was filled with an aura of mystery, it was not at all like an intense opera but more a like a sweet lullaby which a mother sings to a child to calm down and put to sleep.

Cold, cold water bring me 'round.
Now my feet won't touch the ground.
Cold, cold water
What you say?
It's such, it's such a perfect day.
It's such a perfect day.

Darcy could actually visualize everything she was singing as she looked at him and Richard as she repeated the last verse while playing the guitar with a huge smile. He could see the green fields next to the lake, the same field and lake where her car was crashed, a swing tied to the biggest tree where she sat under that sunny day to work. He could really picture her sitting on that swing going to and fro, her feet touching the cold water. He smiled at the thought when she was shivering with cold, her teeth clattering, goose bumps all over her skin when she jumped into that lake. That day was definitely perfect, not for her but definitely for him because that was the day she gave him the phone and he took her picture through it.

I remember we were walking up to strawberry swing
I can't wait 'til the morning
Wouldn't wanna change a thing
People moving all the time
Inside a perfect straight line
Don't you wanna curve away
It's such it's such a perfect day
It's such a perfect day

Darcy wondered why she chose that particular song to sing, was it only because that was the last song she learnt to play but it seem more like it was from a distant memory. After that verse, she started to play the guitar even more strongly, the bridge was faster than the beginning of the song, the rhythm was the same but the energy of the room changed and her facial expression changed as well. It sounded more like she was remembering someone while she was saying those words.

Ahhhh....
Now the sky could be blue I don't mind,
Without you it's a waste of time
...could be blue I don't mind, without you it's a waste of time

Her voice become softer and melancholy as she sang those verses, Darcy at that very moment knew that that song was not meant for Richard or him, it was meant for someone else. She was desperately missing someone and she was singing for him or her. He was not sure if she was singing that for her family or someone in particular, a friend or a loved one.

The sky could be blue, could be gray without you I'm just miles away.
The sky could be blue, I don't mind, without you it's a waste of time.

Darcy felt his heart constricted, for a moment he felt like he could not breathe when he saw her eyes sparkling with tears and his doubt was confirmed. Those words were for someone she loved, and he could even bet his life that it was a 'him'. She was missing that man and he had no notion who he was. That was not only a love song but a song for separation, it showed the pain and hurt, the sadness when someone is far away from the object of their affection.

She just confessed to him that everything she was doing, her laughter, her sword fights, her jokes and amusements, the perfect day she had was a waste because she was not close to the one she loved and he most urgently and desperately wanted to know who that person was.

He saw her close her eyes deep in her thoughts as she finished her song, playing that folk music slowly and slowly as it finally came to an end. Richard filled the silence of the room with strong applause and began to sing her praises.

Darcy wanted to tell her she had a beautiful voice, she was amazing at playing guitar and she need not be scared or doubtful about her abilities. If he had to describe her in a word it would be marvellous, because she was marvellous but he could not utter a single syllable.

He simply nodded and faked a smile when Richard asked for his agreement that she sang beautifully. They were leaving in the morning, there was no time to inquire about the person she was singing for, she was missing, she was thinking about when she was fighting those tears. Richard was a fool to believe that song was for him but he was not.

What scared him more than the fact that she might be in love with someone else was the feeling that she could not be here in Pemberly once he returned. What if she found a portal while he was away, he will never get to see her again, and then he would be the one to realize the true meaning of that song, the feeling of separation from someone he thought about and cared for so much.

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Happy reading :-)