"Ah there we are again."

The purring sound of Denna's voice slowly lifted the dense fog that was surrounding her mind, but minutes passed before she finally came through. The first thing Cara took notice of, was that she was lying in the same bed she had woken up this very morning, even when her last memory told her faintly, that she had been on her way to meet up with Richard, Kahlan and Zedd. The pain in her thigh was less prominent though, because that last memory was still very fresh and clear on her mind. A clean bandage was neatly wrapped around her thigh and she was clad in the nightgown, Denna seemed so fond of. The other woman sat curled up in one of the two big armchairs near the fireplace, watching the orange flames as they consumed the wood and turned it slowly to ash.

"What am I doing here?" Cara groaned, "again."

Denna's expression turned deadly serious as she moved slightly in her chair to face Cara, "you don't remember?"

Cara shook her head, but regretted the movement instantly as she fought down the rising nausea in her stomach.

"You came back to the cottage," Denna began slowly, "the wound on your thigh had opened up again, and you'd lost a lot of blood." Denna tipped her head ever so slightly to the side, "you told me that I had been right and that it had been foolish of you to leave so soon, without being recovered sufficiently to take up such a physically demanding journey. But that from now on, you would do whatever I told you without so much as a whisper of complaint from your lips."

Cara narrowed her eyes and regarded Denna's stoic features closely, "I would never say such things," she said puzzled after a moment.

Denna sighed somewhat disappointed. "Well, actually you were unconscious and hanging with your head down from the horse as it brought you back here, but I thought it would be at least worth a try." The smirk on Denna's lips was almost as bright as the flickering fire and Cara was cursing the blonde under her breath.

"At least I hope that you see now, that it ll take time for you to heal completely." Denna looked pointedly at her, "whether you'll admit it or not, in your current state you are no match for anyone, and especially no help to Richard." Denna raised a brow, clearing waiting for Cara's reply.

Cara moved her head and Denna took it for the agreeing nod, she was waiting for. "I'll leave you in your own joyful company, while I tend to the horse." Denna said over her shoulder, "it has saved your life after all." With that, Denna was gone and Cara let herself fall back into the sheets, this was going to be strenuous, to say at least.

The two following days Cara had spent in bed under Denna's watchful eye and care. The platinum blonde was not especially friendly, but it gave Cara a certain sense of familiarity. Oh the Creator knew that Cara wouldn't be able to handle a Denna without sarcastic comments and her ever present mischievous smirk. The third day came and Cara refused to stay in the cottage any longer, so Denna generously allowed Cara to accompany her outside. A day prior Denna had spotted some particular bushes full of red berries not far from the cottage and was determined to gather some in order to enrich their daily meals. Cara had been given a small basket and the instruction to fill it, should she feel up to it. Cara had only growled and turned her back to Denna, refusing to see the full teeth smile a moment longer.

They sat next to the berry bushes for a while now as something soft and tiny hit Cara's lip, then seemed to split open. Cara watched a red berry roll away on the forest ground until it came to a stop at a broken branch in its path.

In a slow motion, she turned her head and looked over to Denna who was picking berries at another bush a few feet away. The blonde's blue eyes were trained at her task. It was only then, that Cara noticed the corners of Denna's mouth twitch ever so slightly. Oh no, Denna wouldn't dare, would she?

Time stretched on, but Cara continued to stare incredulously at her blonde former Sister with an unbelieving look on her face. Cara didn't know what prompted Denna to gaze over to her eventually, but the blonde's movements had stopped altogether. Denna raised a questioning brow as their gaze met, her features remained indifferent, but her eyes sparkled with something dangerously close to amusement. "What is it?" Denna asked, a bit too innocently for her ears.

Cara licked the sweet, red juice from her lips and watched as Denna's gaze dropped to her mouth.

"Was it you?"

After a moment of no reaction at all, Denna forced her eyes away from Cara's lips. "Huh?"

"Berries. Flying red berries." Cara narrowed her eyes. "You wouldn't know anything about it?"

Denna chuckled, "I have no idea what you're talking about, but maybe you should head back to the cottage and get some rest!" Denna's grin spoke volumes, "we don't want you to overexert yourself, now do we?"

Cara growled, "I am fine. I don't need to rest!"

"Fine, " Denna replied evenly, nibbling at her lower lip, before she turned her attention back to the bush and the berries hanging there, waiting to be picked.

They sat in silence for some time, both of them changing positions on occasion, until all berries in reach had been gathered from the thin branches. Cara's small basket was almost filled by now with dozens of dark berries, only some in a lighter shade of red in between. Out of the corners of her eyes, Cara caught a movement and her head snapped around, her hand shot up and caught a particular fat, dark red berry midair, in the last second before it hit her face.

Seeing Denna's surprised expression Cara was up from her knees and running as fast as the wound on her leg allowed towards Denna, before the blonde could even move enough to stand. Denna was trapped as Cara straddled her waist and caught her wrists above her head.

"So," Cara drawled, "you have no idea what I was talking about, hm?"

Denna struggled beneath her but with her weight pressing the blonde down, Denna had no leverage to escape Cara's hold. Cara might be still weakened in her state, but the strength in her arms was slowly returning and she didn't miss Denna's widening eyes as the blonde seemed to realize, that she couldn't push Cara off, like she had the other night in the cottage.

Cara had never seen Denna so unguarded before and for a moment it was easy to pretend that she had never been tortured to one inch of her life, never had been trained with pain and blood to be a Mord'Sith of highest rank. Cara couldn't help the smile that settled on her lips, not asking for permission or her consent. In this moment the genuine smile didn't feel strange, just naturally as she stared down in Denna's blue eyes, while the platinum blonde tried to wriggle her hands free.

"Do you have anything to state in your defense?" Cara asked with feigned seriousness, even more amused as she dodged Denna's half-hearted attempts to break out of her grasp.

"I was only trying to help you to regain your sense of reaction." Denna's mirroring smile couldn't be described other than smug, even when she obviously fought to keep the amusement off her face, failing miserably.

"Ah I see," Cara said, nodding her pretended understanding, "you only wanted to help!" She pressed her lips together, considering Denna's words carefully. "Then I should be thanking you instead of tackling you to the ground?" Cara asked, not even trying to sound serious, while Denna nodded, a bit too eagerly.

"You got it!" Denna exclaimed suddenly, as one of her wrists snug out of Cara's hold and the platinum blonde desperately bucked herself upwards, trying to throw Cara off. In the last moment Cara regained her balance, before Denna could push her down or get her other hand free.

At first, Cara thought Denna was going to hit her, as the blonde's hand came in a sudden motion, quickly towards her face. Only as Denna fingers came into contact with her lips, Cara realized, that Denna's hand wasn't empty and now pressing the contents against her mouth. Something was crushing under the pressure of Denna's fingers. Sticky, sweet juice invaded her mouth, even as Cara pressed her lips tightly together. Denna had ceased her struggling effort and was now almost gleefully smearing red berry mash over Cara's skin. Denna had to be a glutton for punishment, Cara thought, as she stared down at Denna in sheer disbelief at her actions. Her fingers closed tightly around Denna's wrist and stopped the movement, but she didn't push Denna's hand immediately away. Cara knew with certainty, that there was nothing physically she could do to revenge Denna's actions, but as she saw Denna's eyes widen in shock, when her lips closed around the blonde's fingers, she knew she had made the right decision. Cara savored the moment of a speechless Denna, her tongue moving sensuously against the sensitive skin of her fingertips and she felt Denna trembling almost instantly beneath her. Denna just stared up at her, obviously unable to move away, her lips were slightly parted and Cara heard Denna's breath catch in her throat as she sucked the sweet juice from her fingers. It felt like time had stopped, the wind ceased to blow and all Cara could suddenly hear was the loud pounding of her own heartbeat. The heat emitting from Denna's body beneath her seemed to get unbearable hot and the throbbing between her thighs had absolutely nothing to do with the wound she had suffered.

"Let me up," Denna said silently, breaking the tension and the contact of Cara's lips and her fingers, "the dampness from the ground is invading my clothes in places I'm not really fond of."

Cara looked down at her for a moment, nibbling on her lower lip, then moved to stand. Denna stood as well, but didn't meet her eyes.

"Let's head back," Denna said, eyes trained at the small basket at her feet, "I think we have gathered enough." With that Denna picked up the basket from the ground and started walking without looking back.

How could she have lost it? This entire struggle, all this effort and taking risks to get it back. And now she had simply lost it? It just couldn't be. Somewhere here at the lake - it must be here somewhere.

Denna had searched through every pack, box and the whole damn cottage and found nothing. The fine golden necklace, she had risked anything for to get back, seemed to have disappeared from the face of the earth. Over the past few days, she had walked along the path they had taken as they arrived. But despite her best efforts she hadn't found a trace or couldn't remember when or where she could have lost her precious treasure.

Denna walked up and down at the rim of the water, where the waves licked the shore, wetting it, making it squishy. Her boots sank deep in the soggy sand while her peering eyes scanned the ground, examining each unevenness of the terrain, every little piece of dirt.

The growing desperation took hold of her thoughts, hugging her tightly in its cold relentless grip of sheer helplessness. No. She closed her eyes and shook her head in the attempt to bring order to the endless, chaotic, activity of her mind. No. She would find it. She had just to be more thorough. It was certainly here.

It must be here.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something blinking in the sunlight and rushed quickly in its direction. As she came closer, the blinking faded in the reflection of a shiny stone. The stone flew in a great arc, as she kicked it with her boot, it splashed in the lake and the small waves disturbed the peaceful looking water. Her gaze followed the waves as they slowly died down.

Something sparkly caught her eye again from within the lake, as the waves broke the light and the sunlight fell on the small object. At first she abandoned it, believing it to be only a stone again, getting her hopes up and then turned out to be nothing. But then it blinked again, this time even brighter - and golden?

Her eyes fixed on the spot were she had seen the light coming from. It was a few steps into the lake, so she would need to go inside the water at least waist-high and dive for it. The prospect was most unappealing considering the low temperature of the water. She cringed inwardly. But it was her best shot since - ever. She started to take off her clothes up to her cream-colored undergarments; not wanting to explain to Cara why she was soaked to the skin, when she actually wanted to gather firewood. No, she didn't want Cara to know about this, she didn't want anyone to know. She had changed over the past months, she knew that, but this was her weakness, her nemesis. A reminder of a former life and people, once close to her, now long gone.

Denna hissed, as her naked feet made contact with the freezing cold water. But there was no way to avoid it, clenching her teeth, she moved deeper inside. She was Mord'Sith after all. The concept of pain and suffering were familiar to her like the act of breathing. That was something that would never change, no matter how much time would pass.

The water soaked her undergarments and let them cling coldly to her skin. She turned back to the shore, assessing her current position. Finding it suitable, she scanned the ground for any signs of the necklace. As she saw a golden shimmer, she tried to reach it with her foot, but it only drifted further away. It was getting extremely cold and now diving to the ground seemed even more unpleasant as before. But nothing could come from nothing or something like that. Taking a deep breath, clenching her teeth against the cold, Denna dove downwards.

Swirled up sand clouded her vision, from when she had tried to reach the necklace with her foot, but after a moment, Denna was able to locate the small item with her hand. Relief filled her as her fingers closed around it and started to swim upwards without delay. The relief she felt only seconds ago was short lived however, as a strong underwater current seemed to make it impossible for her to reach the surface again. Denna pushed upwards with all she had, but was always pulled down again. Cold arms got heavy and slowly she was running out of air.

Everything was a blur and Denna's thoughts took her back to her past, to her former life in the Mord'Sith temple when a situation similar to the one she was experiencing now had ocurred. Remembering with especial vividness what had taken place as one of her fellow Sisters had tried to drown her in the bathing area. The situation at hand was no different. She just needed to outsmart her enemy, like back then, when she had pretended to be dead and her Sister had let go of her, without checking her pulse. A fatal mistake. Denna would have chuckled at the memory, had she air to spare, that her Sister had suffered the fate in the end she had so meticulously planned for Denna.

Making up her mind, Denna ceased her efforts to swim upwards and let herself flow with the current instead. After a short while, in which she was sure to loose consciousness from the lack of oxygen, she finally reached the surface. Sucking in gulps of air, Denna let her gaze flicker over the water. The shore was not close anymore; the current had carried her further into deep water and it was still tugging at her legs.

Her fingers had become stiff and numb in the freezing water and hurt as she moved them to wrap the necklace around her wrist, fearing her hold onto it may waver in the attempt to swim back to the shore. The cold, she was already sure she had caught by being in the lake for so long, would have been for nothing if it slipped her grasp again. In these deep waters would be no way for her to ever retrieve it.

In the distance the sun was setting in glowing colors, reflecting on the surface of the lake, seeming to be endless. After a moment of catching her breath, Denna began swimming towards the shore and wondered if Cara would worry that she hadn't returned yet.

Cara.

At first Denna had excused the notion to safe the other Mord'Sith to herself as an act only to defy Darken Rahl, to send him a message, that not everything went according to plan, that not everything he wanted would actually happen.

Denna had had big plans for her own existence, however, it hadn't played that well either. The turn of events had taken her by surprise, but she had adjusted eventually more or less. Even in her wildest dreams, she may not have imagined that one day, she would be the hunted and no longer the hunter. In the moment she had lifted Cara into her arms and walked out of the temple, Denna knew, that it was the wrong decision, especially when she had wanted to stay low on Rahl's radar. As days passed and Cara fought consciously or unconsciously for her life and Denna had tried to relieve some of her pain, realization dawned on her, that it hadn't been merely a matter of provoking Darken Rahl.

A lingering sense of longing arose within her heart, but she couldn't figure out, what it was seeking for. Maybe it started because Cara was also Mord'Sith and they had known each other, even when their last encounter went slightly out of hand. Or it had to do with Cara being an outsider like she was herself, despised and pursued by the only family they both had ever known.

In the end Denna was glad that she had taken Cara with her, even if she'd never admit it out loud to anyone. In the past three weeks, the constantly lurking feeling of loneliness Denna felt since her parting of her Sisters, had become less and less with each passing day, until she realized that it had vanished without her even noticing. For the first time in a very long time, she felt happy again. And the recognition had scared her to death. As Cara stated, Denna could accompany her, join Richard and the rest of their group in their quest, she couldn't cease to think about it. She had been shocked and utterly surprised by the offer at first, but dismissed it quickly as an act of pity. There might be occasionally times when she felt lonely, this however, did not mean that she need anyone's compassion.

Only as Cara had renewed her offer, in the evening she wasn't able to lock from her mind, she truly considered it for the first time. There had been nothing but an honest request in Cara's voice then. And Denna thought, that it might be the right time to reevaluate her prompt dismissal.

The strong pull on her legs brought her swiftly back to reality, as she tried to break free of the current and finally reach safe ground at the shore. But the more she fought, the harder the pull seemed to get. Denna felt the exhaustion taking over; her limps feeling heavier than lead. In a last attempt, she summoned all the she could muster - but in the end there was no point to struggle, no point to resist.

No one heard her strangled scream, resonating in the dead silence of the valley, as she was dragged downwards again. This is the end, was her last thought before the water surrounded her completely and her eyes saw the sky for the last time.