Chapter 2

Catching Up

Aviendha ran to Rand. She threw her arms around him, with almost enough force to knock them both on the ground. Rand noticed her smell, and when he looked into her eyes, he took a mental image of them. He had never realized how much he never really payed attention to things like that before. "I'm surprised you didn't know I was here. I would have thought that you would have felt me through the bond." Rand explained. He had been expecting Elayne to come running to the gates with her guards trailing behind her, trying to get to him. When nobody came, he was worried. That worry went away of course once he found out that Elayne was actually not currently in the city. He didn't think about it again until now, and now he would have assumed Aviendha would have done something similar.

"I would have, should have, but not anymore. Rand. Something is wrong. After you Tarmon Gaidon, and you left to be a traveling gleeman, we all thought that was the end. We thought that it would be safe, that after awhile we would once again be able to see you once and a while. Which now it would seem we would, but being safe… Rand-" She choked up and burst into tears. Aviendha, of all the people that Rand had met, he expected her to be last one that he would see cry. He had seen the forsaken cry, heard mad screams of anguish, had bared witness to the Dark One's own fall, had heard his cries, seen his tears. Aviendha was one of the strongest people he had ever know, stronger than himself when it came to controlling emotions. Yet here he stood, holding her in his arms not knowing what to say.

"Aviendha, what's wrong, what happened?" He figured it probably wasn't the best question. I should have said something to try to comfort her. How was I the one that ended up with three wives? Perrin and Matt were always the ones that were good with the girls. In that moment, thinking of Perrin and Matt, he thought of home, the way that things were before they had met Moiraine. He wondered where they were now…but that didn't matter. What mattered was figuring out what was wrong here, and now.

"It all started shortly after The Last Battle. After the Pyre burned out, gateways were made, and people started to go back the their homes. To rebuild, and try to get back to their normal lives. There were a few people though, that decided to stay in the Blasted Lands. They were all convinced that the Dark One was dead, that you had killed him, and that he and his spawn would never return. But, the only problem, was that they did come back. The people that stayed at near The Bore were found dead. Or...at least some of them. Rand, what I'm trying to say, is that things didn't start getting better after Tarmon Gaidon. They just weren't happening in the open. Shortly after, the bond just dissapeared. At least for Elayne and I. We sent a message to Min to ask her about it, and she never sent a reply. Elayne decided that she would go to Tar Valon to speak to Min and Moiraine about it, but I never heard back from her. I have sent soldiers in through gateway, and none returned. Rand...I don't know what to do."

This was the first time he had heard of anything like this. If they had lost the bond and he hadn't, it must have been something to do with him switching bodies. Although they were still the same, so they could still feel him there. But the most disturbing part was the bit about the tower. If Ba'alzamon had somehow taken control of the tower, then something had to be done about it, and done quickly. "What happened to The Black Tower, and the Asha'Man? Did they move into the White Tower?" I should know this...I have been traveling, not sitting in a cellar eating potatoes.

"No, they built The Black Tower with the One Power, and Saidin. The only reason you

can't see it from here, is because they have a ward around it, so you don't know it is there unless you are wanted. Mainly to keep people away, and to put people's nerves at ease, but everyone still knows it is there."

"Alright, then I'm going to be heading there. If I am going to find Elayne, I'm going to need some help."

"That's something I meant to ask you about Rand...What happened? Can you still

channel Saidin? Or is it the True Power?" That was something he did not want to talk about now. What he could do, he wanted the fewer amount of people to know as possible. If the wrong people knew what he could do...it wouldn't be good. It was obvious to him, that he had been granted some kind of second life from The Creator, and that he had given Rand some of his own power. The extent of that power, Rand did not yet know, however it was something that would take time to figure out.

"It doesn't matter right now. I'm going to The Black Tower, and when I get back be ready with Elayne's guard." Aviendha started walking away, but Rand stopped her before she could. He pulled her around, and kissed her for the first time since before. Before everything happened. She looked at him, with a look that suggested they weren't done, and ran off. Rand watched her go, and then traveled into The Black Tower.