Authors Note: Alright so if anyone is confused Italics Is flashbacks and or dreams. Please review! I will give anyone who does so a virtual cookie! I need to know if you guys are liking it! Any who here's the next chapter.
Laceylou76- Haha yes there is going to be a whole heap o' trouble to come but you'll have to wait and see, lol. Here's the next chapter I'm really thrilled your enjoying the story.
Water raven- Fireblade's (Keir's) coming back soon I promise, and he'll have a run in with the twins soon enough. You'll have to wait and see about Remy. Here's the next chapter.
Chapter 8- Dim as an Ember
Rouge mindlessly flipped through the channels of the television barely paying attention to what was on, her mind was adrift a thousand miles away in thoughts and worries. After escaping from the clutches of danger, they had managed to slip past the tracking devices and had slid into this beat down motel somewhere on the outskirts of Nevada, with no destination in mind.
"Would you quit that." She heard Elle's voice gripe, apparently she was back with food sooner than Rouge thought. "You know it gets on my nerves with the constant flipping of channels."
Rouge rolled her eyes, and laughed, throwing the remote down she snagged the food from her sister before plopping back down on the sofa. Pulling out a slice of pizza she motioned for Elle to join her but she only shook her head.
"I'm going to bathe, I smell like a pig." Sniffing her hair Elle crumpled up her nose, and with that walked over towards her bed and began digging clothes out of her duffel bag, she wouldn't have heard Rouge's retort had it not been from years of dealing with her mumbling.
"You look like one too." Rouge felt a pillow back hand her and fall into her lap.
"We're twins, so in that case so do you." Pulling her hair out of its ponytail, Elle slammed the bathroom door before Rouge could retort. Rouge stuck out her tongue before settling back down into the lumpy couch and turning her attention back towards the T.V.
She stuffed the last bit of pizza in her mouth before settling on some random cartoon. Throwing the remote across the room she rested her head back against the couch. She watched in mild interest as a red headed girl ran across the screen a little floppy eared gray dog at her heals.
Keeva, she though sadly, thinking of her poor gray fuzzball that she greatly missed. As the girl broke into some rundown palace Eclaire pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. Suddenly though the movie caught her attention as she began to sing.
'Dancing bears, painted wings, things I almost remember,' Rouge reach up and rubbed her temple, talk about a random head pain. The movie seemed so familiar too her, but she couldn't quite place her finger on it. 'and a song someone sings once upon a December.' Rouge gasp in pain as she suddenly fell to the floor gripping her head, memories flooding through it.
Eclaire sat situated on her fathers lap and Isabella in her mothers as the orphan girl 'Anya' began to sing in the movie.
'Dancing bears, painted wings things I almost remember,' she twirled around the door 'and a song someone sings once upon a December.' Rogue began humming the old familiar tune and watched in amusement at how entranced Bella was, while Eclaire was trying to grab the candy Remy held high above his head away from her. She was jumping and growling, as Remy laughed egging her on to jump higher.
"Oh quit torturing the poor girl, Rems." With ease Rogue plucked the candy from his hand and handed to Eclaire who proceeded to stick her tongue out and jump onto the floor, her attention now back on the T.V.
'Someone holds me safe and warm, horses prance through a silver storm, figures dancing gracefully, across my memory!' Suddenly the screen lit up as figures burst from the dusty windows and began to dance around Anya, the girls were hooked.
'Someone holds me safe and warm, horses prance through a silver storm, figures dancing gracefully, across my memory!' She spun and was soon draped in yellow gown and fine jewels.
'Far away, long ago, glowing dim as an ember, things my heart use to know things it yearns to remember," Both girls were sitting forwards on their knees, their big three year old eyes wide with mirth and entrancement. 'And a song, someone sings, once upon a December.' her voice slowly faded away along with the dress and people around her.
"Boo!" Bella and Eclaire both screamed and dove forward under the coffee table, as Remy continued to laugh at the girls.
Rogue smacked Remy on the arm "Remy Lebeau, what is running through dat thick skull o' yours?" Rolling her eyes she pulled Bella out from the under the coffee table.
The girls eyes were glued shut, but as she felt fingers running through her hair she peeked through one. Seeing it was her mother she shot into her arms.
Eclaire, who like her father caught on quickly, growled after the words had left her mothers mouth. Standing she turned to face her father, eyes squinted in annoyance.
"Stupid pere" Eclaire pulled a pout that could make any man stop in their tracks. Remy chuckled as he swept her up in his arms.
"Did pere scare you mon petite?" He grinned as Eclaire stuck her lip out further and crossed her arms. She nodded her head before cocking it towards the side. Remy grinned before fuzzing up her hair.
"Petite you look like a bird with dat face non?" He grinned when she glared up at him, red on black meeting red on black.
"Well pere, you smell funny." She stuck out her tongue, before attempting to jump out of his lap, but Remy held tight causing the girl to thrash in annoyance. Suddenly though she burst out laughing as her father tickled her, causing her to squeal.
"Pa-pa! Stop!" She giggled as she tried pulling away but to no avail, Rogue laughed and joined in tickling Eclaire's sides. Bella just sat there dumb stuck before it hit her, with a swift motion she was in the floor tickling her sisters feet"BELLA! Hey stop it! Momma! Papa! Pl-ease qu-quit!" She squealed tears running down her cheeks from laughing so hard.
"ROUGE! Damn it wake up!" She felt a firm slap against her cheek causing her to wake from the hazy dream. Blinking several times she glanced up to see a rather annoyed and wet Elle standing above her wrapped in a robe.
"What was that! I leave for ten minutes and I come back to see you laying in the floor laughing like an idiot!" Elle wrapped her arms around herself and looked at her sister expectantly.
Rouge sat up and rubbed her head, a migraine forming. She tried to focus on the things she saw in the dream but it was all a haze, except for...
"Elle! I've got it!" Elle raised a well groomed eyebrow at her sister. "I know where were going."
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Keir felt a jolt run through his body as the train came to a stop. Forcing his eyes open, he took note of the fact that no light was present in the train car. Sitting up he stretched his back, and came to the conclusion that it was night. He smiled to himself, it looked as though luck was on his side.
Waiting for the constant talking to cease outside, Keir pulled the stand from his bike up and balanced it with his arms. After a few moments the voices died down, and Keir pulled the train door open. With ease he jumped out of the train with his bike, and quietly began snaking away from the station.
When he felt he was clear of watching eyes he revved his bike to life and shot off towards the bright city lights to the west. Looking around something wasn't settling right with him. This wasn't right, New York didn't have swamp land. He came to an immediate stop as he read the sign hanging from the building.
Keir palmed his forehead and growled, stupid train directory, it lied! He yanked his phone from his pocket and looked to see that the battery was about to die, great he thought in annoyance. Pulling away from the sign he continued on into the city the sign blowing carelessly in the wind.
'Welcome to New Orleans!'
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"We're what?!?" Elle shot up, her mouth curling up into a snarl, there was no way her sister was stupid enough to trust a dream.
Both girls were in a small town in on the out skirts of New Orleans, Louisiana. Rouge might have forgotten to mention the true reason to Elle why they were in Louisiana, and she wasn't seeming to be taking it too well. Previously Rouge might have twisted the truth ever so slightly saying she knew a friend in Louisiana, hey at least she had gotten Elle here, with only a little bit of lying, that had to count for something right?
"Elle, I promise I know it was real! It was a sign for us to find safety." Okay or maybe she could be that stupid.
"Rouge I can't believe you expect me to believe you that the last name 'Lebeau' is going to help us any." Elle pushed out her left hip and rested her fist on it, glaring at her sister.
"Elle trust me on this one," She looked at her sister eyes full of mirth and adventure, "I know it's true, and if we can find the person with that name, BOOM! We find safe haven."
Elle laid her head in her hands and shook it back and forth. "This makes no sense, you watch a movie and suddenly BAM! You know a random name, and where to go to find it, incredible."
"Well now that you mention it," Rouge laughed innocently and looked at her sister "I don't know which way we're going really, But it did sound southerny..."
Elle just moaned and slammed her head against the gas pump, this couldn't be happening. Rouge opened her mouth to speak but Elle raised her hand commanding her not to.
"So what if we find this so called 'Lebeau' family? How are they going to help us? Do they even know us?" Rouge shrugged her shoulders while leaning against her bike.
"Great just great," Elle murmured more to herself than anyone, "Well let's finish this wild goose chase we started, seeing as you didn't approve of my idea of getting out of the country and running." Rouge jumped up and shot her fist in the air before quickly pulling it back down and a low whistle coming through her thick lips.
"So that means you approve?" Rouge's voice was filled with excitement, Elle only let her jaw hang slightly open.
"No I don't approve, but heck we've seen so much random crap in the last few days I guess any things possible." Rouge nodded happily before jumping on and revving her bike to life.
"Oh mamma Mia here we go again." Elle mumbled before jumping on behind her sister on the bike as she shot off onto the roadway. Elle could already play the scenarios over in her head of what was going to happen.
For one, chances were good that they weren't going to find any so called 'Lebeau' family and were going to be stuck in some random city in the south starting back at square one, or they would find the family and they wouldn't have a damn clue as to what the hell was going on. Yep that sounded rather probable. Elle groaned, in all truth it was better than staying to find out what would happen to them had they stuck around to fight the soldiers.
She hated it when her sisters crazy ideas seemed to make more sense than the reality and world around them. What next? She thought grimly, a chicken riding a bicycle on the road with a dwarf following close behind.
She shook her head she hoped not, but as luck would have it when they pulled into the next town Elle could have shot herself. A man in a chicken suit was racing down the highway on a bicycle with a midget chasing after him screeching. I just had to open my damn mouth didn't I? Elle into a large hotel, Rouge killed the bike.
"Elle did you see that guy dressed as a chicken and that midget? That's something you don't see everyday." Elle resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Suddenly a thought hit her though, so if I can make random things appear what would happen if I?
"I want a pony." She waited for a moment but nothing happened "Damn." Rouge cocked her head to the side, her eyebrows raised in confusion.
"Um Elle?"
"Don't even ask." With that she yanked the card from her sisters hand and strode into the hotel, maybe a good nights sleep would help revive her slowly dissipating mental state.
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Rouge followed behind her sister slowly, trying to figure out if she had really pushed her over the edge, from the way she was speaking it sure seemed like it. Stepping into the hotel she glanced around the small lobby, it was nothing fancy, but was more seemingly clean than the last one they had stayed at, so Rouge had no complaints.
Walking over Rouge felt a key being shoved into her hands. Elle flipped her long auburn hair back before motioning for Rouge to follow. Both girls entered the elevator and shot up towards the fourth floor. As the elevator doors opened though, Rouge felt her heart jump. Slamming her hand onto the third floor key, she repeatedly beat the button to make the doors close.
Elle looked at her like she'd grown two heads. "Um what was that?" Rouge looked at her sister her body becoming suddenly fidgety, she wasn't thinking strait all she could think of was the fact that she had seen that same exact orange headed Aussie no more than two weeks ago trying to track her down. The only sane thoughts running through her head consisted of Oh merde, Oh merde, Oh merde!
As the elevator stopped Rouge drug her sister out of it and rushed for the stairs. With ease she pushed the door open and drug her sister behind with her. She smiled sheepishly.
"Oh nothing Elle, hehe I just love the stairs that's all!" Without waiting for a response she bolted up the stairs, hoping her sister didn't catch on or worse that that Aussie didn't. Pushing open door at the top of the stairs she raced towards the room labeled 445 and shoved her key in the lock, but the door wouldn't open.
"Merde!" She hissed as she struggled to re-enter the key. With sudden force she felt the key be swiped from her hand, turned over and placed in the lock. The door lock shined green and Elle pushed open the door. Rouge rushed through and immediately pulled the drapes, laughing nervously.
"Rouge." Elle said warningly, her arms crossed over her chest, duffel bag long forgotten and laying the floor.
"Yes?"
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Keir stopped dead in his tracks, had he just seen Auburn hair streaked with white. He shook his head there was no way, but deciding to follow his curious nature (which we all know curiosity killed the cat) he waited for the elevator to come back up before shooting it down towards the previous floor it had been on, the third.
As the elevator doors opened he heard the doors to the stairs slam shut as the sound of running feet vibrated through the door. Pushing it open he eased it back silently into place before calmly and nonchalantly walking up the stair case. He watched as the fourth floor door swung shut, and quickly followed through it.
He stopped and whistled in disbelief it was her, he knew that hair anywhere, he wasn't even sure how he had doubted it being her the first night he had seen her, but as he got a better look he was being convinced of it. Though what was more shocking was the fact than an auburn haired, green eyed beauty stood next to her, and looked like the splitting image of his sheila. There was no way it wasn't them, of that he was sure now.
Deciding not to frighten the girl anymore than she was, he memorized her room number and decided he would pay her a visit later on in the night.
His Eclaire, she was alive. That sweet little girl that had always played with him and spoke with him as a child, she was alive and he was at a loss for words. True he had been six almost seven when she had turned four but he had still found so much comfort in her presence.
He let his mind glance over memories long ago of the girl when they were children. They had practically been crib mates seeing as his parents were best friends with her own, and he couldn't remember a time before the accident without her in it
. He had let her memory go so long ago from the pain of losing his only friend, but yet there she was breathing and alive. He knew now that he couldn't keep it from his uncle, but it could wait. He had to speak with her first, then he could drag her father into it.
Standing in front of his door, he wasn't sure how he'd gotten back to it, it didn't matter really. Pushing open the door he walked in and let it close behind him. He felt his knees collapse beneath him and did the one thing he had refused to do so many years ago when they said she was dead, he cried.
Authors note: I'm not really sure what to think about this chapter, hmm well we'll see how you all like it! And the only way to know that is reviews!!!!
Disclaimer: I don't own the movie 'Anastasia' or the line from the ABBA song 'Mamma Mia' til next time!