The morning light did not penetrate the dark cave, but something woke John up. He slipped carefully out from under his beloved Pocahontas and walked softly over to the entrance of the cave. Looking outside, he was surprised to see how beautiful the day was. He could see the damages left by the storm, but all in all, there wasn't much to be concerned over and a lot to be thankful for. "Thank you," he spoke aloud to whatever Gods might be listening.
Then he turned and walked back to Pocahontas. He knelt before speaking, "Good morning, beautiful!" He thought that he had never seen her look so beautiful. This was the first day of the rest of their lives, and he could hardly wait to begin it with his beloved.
She had actually been awake for several minutes now, but she had held her breath and kept from opening her eyes for fear that when she did, all that had happened the previous day would vanish in the morning sun. When John spoke softly to her, however, relief flooded Pocahontas' soul and tears filled her closed eyes. She opened her eyes, batting them against the tears of joy and gratitude to the Gods that it had not been merely a dream, and gazed up into the handsome face of the man she loved with every fraction of her being. She reached up a hand and touched the face that she had memorized long ago, the smiling face whose vision had kept her alive through all the beatings and had given her strength to take what Rolfe had given her and not utter a single scream.
"John." The way his name sounded on her tongue said more than a thousand words could have. It spoke of how much she loved him, always had, and always would. It spoke of how thankful she was to be with him now. It spoke of how she was still having trouble believing that they had finally been blessed with such amazing good luck. It spoke of all this and a thousand things more, all straight from her heart, as she leaned up and gently conquered his lips with her own.
John melted into her and, before he knew it, was lying beside her, holding her close, still kissing her. Her hair rained down around him like an ebony curtain, and the scent intoxicated him even more. His hands slipped gently up and down her lithe body, caressing her gently. Their body heat melded them into one being, and all coherent thought disappeared from his mind. It was filled with one thing only -- his beloved Pocahontas! They were at last together, and they had all the time in the world just to be together and love one another!
His sweet kisses drove all thoughts from her mind and set her soul on fire. She had been without him for so long, and now her body craved his more desperately than ever before. Though he was there in her very arms, she still ached for him. Her lips kissed him with an increasingly maddening passion, and her arms pulled him closer still. Her body slid enticingly against his as her tongue dipped smoothly into his mouth to taste even more of his deliciousness. Her hands lovingly caressed every inch of him that they could find, and with each new touch and kiss, their love and desire soared even higher.
Much, much later, as John spiraled back down to Earth, holding his beloved close to his heart, he kissed her gently before rising and pulling her up with him. They were naked and unashamed. They were alone except for their family. John reluctantly let go of her to pull his pants back on. He kissed her again on the tip of her nose and gazed into her eyes before saying, "I love you so much, my darling. I could spend all day with you here, but we must be making our new home more comfortable and we must find food for all of us."
Pocahontas nodded; Meeko and Percy had began to stir even while they had been dressing. Her body still sang from their wondrous love-making, and her mind was still having trouble trying to adjust to everything that he had made her feel. She had known that it would be wonderful, but she had never dreamed that it could be so much better than the first time when they had lain in the fields of her homeland. She smiled at him from across the cave, and her eyes easily met his through the fleeting darkness. "I know you are right, my love, but I must confess that the only thing I really want to do is to be with you and feel your arms around me." Her smile grew, and her brown eyes sparkled in the rays of morning sunlight that snuck into the cave. "I love you too."
Kissing her one last time, John took her hand and gently led her from the cave. Once outside, he looked around while waiting for her to tell him what to do next. Then a thought occurred to him. "Didn't Grandmother Willow give you a twig, beloved? Did you use it or do you still have it?" If she still had it, John knew the first business of the day should be to plant the twig.
Pocahontas nodded. "I still have it." Her fingers dipped into a pocket that was sewn so closely in with her dress that it was practically invisible to any one who did not know it was there. Her fingers brushed over a cold blade before grasping the twig and pulling it out. Looking around, she wondered where would be the best place to plant it.
John smiled at the sight of the twig. "I know just where to plant it." He had already been surveying the land and recognized it as the land where he had first fallen in love with Pocahontas. Taking her by the hand, he led her to the place Grandmother Willow had been before. "Here, beloved," he said as he pulled her down to the ground. Releasing her hand, he began to scoop handfuls of dirt out of the earth to make a home for the twig who would one day become their Grandmother Willow.
The bear had been up for hours and had been trying desperately to catch a fish but had had no luck. Just as she finally scooped one up, she heard her new friends talking. With fish in mouth, she ambled over to the pair, and upon seeing what they were doing, she dropped her fish in the hole. She looked at the pair as if she were trying to tell them that it was a gift.
John waited for Pocahontas to place the twig in the hole. He stroked the bear gently on the head and told her, "Thank you." The bear seemed pleased.
Pocahontas had been silenced by awe as soon as she had realized what they were doing. She was pleasantly surprised that John had actually understood Grandmother Willow's plan before she had. They had gone a long, long way back in time, and they were to be the ones to first put Grandmother Willow in the ground. She smiled; the circle of life truly had come around to completion.
She had been about to place the twig in the hole John had made when a fish had suddenly dropped into it instead. She looked up to meet the smiling face of the bear they had shared the cave with. She smiled, reached up with a free hand, and gently stroked one side of the bear's face. "Thank you," she spoke to her in her native Indian tongue. She then returned her attention to the hole just in time to gently swat Meeko's nose for trying to sneak away with the fish. "That's not for food, Meeko," she told him sternly but with soft eyes. "That's for Grandmother Willow." She lovingly placed the twig into the hole. She then set about helping her beloved to pat the dirt back in around the twig.
Once they were done, they stood back together, hand in hand, and Pocahontas' eyes misted with unshed tears as John drew her into his strong arms and close against his chest. Their fingers entwined together as they gazed down at the place where Grandmother Willow would be born. "It's so strange," he murmured. "She gave birth to herself. If we hadn't come back, she never would have been born."
Pocahontas smiled sadly at his words. His ability to see and understand her world in ways that even her own people's men never could was only one of the million and quite possibly more reasons why she loved him. She squeezed his hand gently. "Yes," she agreed, "but she will be born and this will be a new world and a new life for us . . . " Her voice trailed off as she watched Meeko and Percy playing.
John turned his beloved in his arms, crooked a finger underneath her dark chin, and lifted her head so that he could gaze into her eyes. They were dark, swimming with emotions, and so beautiful that they took his breath, just as they always had and, he knew, always would. " . . . together," he finished her sentence for her, then pledged his eternal love for her alone with a kiss that promised her also that their new world together would be a brilliant one filled with love, laughter, and happiness. He would not only make her happy but keep her happy, John Smith swore, and they would never be parted again.
The End