They had barely been asleep for an hour when Cara sat up quickly, waking up with a start. The sudden violent movement and her loud gasp woke Dahlia. She sat up as well and put her arm around Cara's shoulders.

"Cara? Are you alright?" she asked.

"Fine," Cara answered. "Just a bad dream."

Dahlia wrapped her arms around Cara, and laid her back down. Cara moved closer to Dahlia, taking comfort in the contact. After a moment of lying there silently, Cara felt Dahlia's lips press firmly to hers. Cara started to tremble slightly as Dahlia shifted her position so she was lying on top of Cara.

"Are you okay?" Dahlia asked. "You're trembling."

"I'm fine," Cara answered.

Dahlia kissed her again, more passionately this time. Cara wrapped her arms tightly around Dahlia's neck, returning the kiss enthusiastically, yet still a bit shyly.

"Dahlia…?" Cara said hesitantly.

Dahlia looked at her questioningly. "Hmmm?"

Cara hesitated, not quite sure what to say.

Dahlia smiled kindly at her as she finally understood. "You've never….?"

Cara shook her head.

Dahlia kept smiling at her. This new bit of information she had gained made Cara seem, if possible, even more adorable. She kissed Cara again, even more passionately than last time. She broke the kiss after what seemed like an eternity, and spoke again.

"Cara, are you sure you want to do this?" she asked.

Cara nodded. "I'm sure."

"If you want me to stop at any point, tell me, okay?" she said

"Okay," Cara answered.

"Promise?"

"I promise."

The next morning Cara awoke to find Dahlia studying her intently. Dahlia smiled at her when she saw Cara was awake.

"Good morning," she said cheerfully.

"Good morning," Cara answered, smiling back sleepily.

"So," Dahlia said after kissing Cara on the forehead, "what are we doing today?"

"What do you want to do?" Cara asked, propping herself up on her elbow.

"Whatever you want," Dahlia answered. "Isn't there anything in particular you like to do around here?"

"Well," Cara began, "there is a nice secluded place by the river not far from here. We could go there and have lunch or something."

Dahlia raised an eyebrow and smirked at Cara. "Or something…?" she asked.

Cara looked away shyly, which made Dahlia smile. "You can't possible still be shy!" Dahlia said, laughing.

Cara smiled back then got out of bed and went to the closet. She got out two dresses and handed one to Dahlia. They got dressed and left the room to get breakfast. Upon leaving the room, Cara nearly ran into Grace, who was standing outside the door, arms folded, a small smirk on her face. Cara smirked back at her before going around her and into the kitchen, Dahlia close behind her. It was later in the day than Cara usually got up, so her father was already working outside while her mother cleaned up after breakfast. She was about to take some fruit off the table when she heard Grace clear her throat. Cara turned around, and found Grace looking at her, the same expression still on her face.

"What…?" Cara asked.

"Could you two have possibly been any louder last night?" Grace asked, trying to sound annoyed, but not completely being able to hide her amused smile.

Cara blushed furiously and looked slightly horrified. When she didn't answer, Dahlia stepped in for her.

"Oh, I think we could have been much louder," she said, smirking and putting her arm around Cara.

"Well, next time try to keep it down," Grace said, trying not to laugh. "You kept me up all night." She smirked. "And that's not really something I want to hear," she added.

"Sorry," Cara mumbled, still blushing.

"I don't think they were too loud," Cara's mother suddenly said, surprising everyone. "I didn't hear a thing."

Grace turned to her mother. "You were lucky enough not to be in the room next to them," she said.

"Actually," Dahlia said with a slight smile, "If you want to take out your anger on someone, take it out on me, not Cara. She was definitely the quieter one out of the two of us."

She grinned down at Cara, who looked back up at her, a confused expression on her face. She wasn't quite sure what Dahlia was up to.

Grace looked a bit confused. "I'm sure I heard two voices though," she said.

"Yes, I assure you, you did. But I think you probably heard me more than Cara," Dahlia said. Everyone in the room looked slightly puzzled, including Cara, so Dahlia spoke again. "Cara has a natural talent," she explained, smiling slightly.

Grace looked slightly uncomfortable, and Dahlia was satisfied that she had given her more information than she wanted. She was confident that Grace would now drop the subject, a subject which Cara was obviously not comfortable with discussing.

"That's…lovely…" Grace said, "but I don't think I need to hear any more."

Dahlia smiled triumphantly and took some fruit off the table for her and Cara to share. Cara also gather some more food in a basket, grabbed a blanket out of the basket of freshly folded laundry, and after informing her mother that they would not be back for lunch, the two girls left the house. Cara led Dahlia down to the river, and they proceeded to walk along the bank for some distance.

As they walked, Dahlia noticed that the farther they went, the more trees there were. They were just on the edge of the forest. They reached a small clearing, and Cara laid down the blanket by the river and set the basket on the ground. Cara sat on the blanket, and motioned for Dahlia to do the same. Before she sat down, Dahlia pulled up the left side of her skirt, and unbuckled the sheath which held her agiel. Cara hadn't even known she was carrying it with her.

"Why did you bring it?" Cara asked quietly.

"My agiel?" Dahlia asked. When Cara nodded, she continued. "I wanted to have it with me, just in case anything happened," she explained.

As they ate the fruit which Dahlia had brought, Cara kept eyeing the agiel curiously. Dahlia noticed this, but didn't say anything. After some time, Cara finally vocalized what was on her mind.

"What does it feel like?" she asked, nodding toward the agiel.

Dahlia looked at her, trying to think of exactly how to explain it. "Well," she began, "it hurts, but it's more than that really, it's…I don't think I can explain it accurately." She looked at the agiel, then back at Cara. "You can feel for yourself, if you like."

"Okay," Cara said hesitantly. Dahlia picked up her agiel and slowly held it out to Cara. Cara took one finger and cautiously touched it to the agiel. She felt a shocking pain run up her arm and quickly broke the contact, gasping. Yet with the contact broken, she felt herself craving the pain again. Dahlia had been right. It was more than just pain. There was something thrilling about it as well. She touched it again, with two fingers this time, and felt the pain shoot up her arm once more. She didn't break the contact as quickly this time. She let the thrill and the pain flow through her, closing her eyes and enjoying it. The sensation fascinated her. It was pain in its purest form, yet there was something immensely enjoyable about it. She pulled her hand away and opened her eyes again, looking at Dahlia, who silently put the agiel away.

For some time after that Cara and Dahlia lay side by side on the blanket, looking at up at the sky and watching the clouds. As much as it felt strange to Dahlia, she rather enjoyed not having to do anything. They talked some while they ate their lunch, and then returned to silently watching the sky.

"What are you thinking?" Dahlia asked after some time.

"Not much," Cara replied truthfully.

Dahlia smiled. "You have to be thinking something," she said.

"Well, actually, I was just thinking how that cloud looks kind of like a cow with a duck's head," she said, giggling slightly and pointing.

Dahlia examined the cloud carefully. "You're right, it does," she said, smiling back. She propped herself up on her elbow and looked lovingly into Cara's eyes. After a moment she leaned down and kissed Cara tenderly, one hand moving to the blonde's waist and the other gently caressing her cheek.

"I love you," she said after breaking the kiss. Cara smiled and pulled Dahlia back down to kiss her again.

A while later they heard a stick snap, and quickly broke apart, sitting up. Michael was walking toward them, with some other young men that Cara didn't know, but had seen often enough with Michael. They all looked angry. Dahlia and Cara stood up as the men came to a stop a few feet from them.

"What do you want now?" Cara asked, annoyed at the interruption.

"This has nothing to do with you, Cara," Michael said, not looking at her. "Our business is with you…friend," he spat the last word scornfully. "Go home."

"I'm not going anywhere," Cara said angrily. "Why don't you go home?"

"Because I have unfinished business here," he said, pulling a knife from his sleeve where it had been concealed.

Cara gasped, but Dahlia simply rolled her eyes and picked up her agiel off the ground. The men eyed it warily.

"Don't make me use this on any of you," Dahlia said in a threatening voice.

"You're a Mord'Sith," Michael stated, glaring at her. "That explains a lot."

Dahlia glared back. "I don't want any trouble," she said. "I just want to spend a nice day with Cara. Which I was doing until you showed up," she pointed out.

Michael's friends all seemed to think that leaving sounded like a good idea. The all looked nervously at Dahlia with her agiel held at the ready and began to back away. When Michael saw that his friends weren't going to stay to support him, he began to lose confidence. He replaced the knife in his sleeve.

"This isn't over," he said to Dahlia before turning and walking away as well.

Dahlia silently glared after them until Cara spoke.

"Dahlia?"

"I can't stay here," Dahlia said.

"You're leaving…?" Cara asked sadly.

"I have to," Dahlia answered. "Michael knows I'm a Mord'Sith. It won't be long before the rest of Stowecroft knows as well."

Cara knew Dahlia was right, but she didn't want her to go. They gathered up the blanket and food and put everything in the basket, including Dahlia's agiel. They ran back to Cara's house as fast as they could. This resulted in some curious looks from people they passed on the way. Grace, who was in the kitchen as Cara and Dahlia entered the house, raised an eyebrow as they ran into the house and then into Cara's room, slamming both doors. As they were running through the kitchen, Cara dropped the basket next to the table.

Once in Cara's room, Dahlia quickly changed out of the dress and into her leathers. Cara was amazed how little time this took, considering all the lacing she had to do up. Not long after they had arrived at the house, Cara heard someone banging on the door, and then loud voices.

"I'm going to go see what's going on," she said, casting a worried glance at Dahlia.

She left the room, and entered the kitchen to see Michael standing there, arguing about something with Grace. They both looked very angry.

"She's not hurting anyone," Grace was yelling as Cara approached. "Why can't you just leave them alone?"

Michael spotted Cara and walked over to her. "Where is she?" he asked, glaring at her.

"That's none of your business," Cara said, glaring back.

"Don't make me hurt you," he said. "Your little Mord'Sith isn't here to protect you this time."

"I can take care of myself," Cara retorted.

Michael shrugged then took a swing at her face. Cara ducked and darted over to the basket she had dropped, taking Dahlia's agiel out of it and standing back up. She felt the excruciating pain shoot up her arm as it had earlier, but this time it was much more intense, as her entire hand was in contact with the weapon, rather than just a finger.

She held the agiel firmly and walked back over to Michael, still glaring at him. She raised the weapon and held it an inch from Michael's face. He looked at it fearfully.

"You wouldn't use it," he sneered at her. "You don't have the guts."

Cara's facial expression didn't change a bit as she slowly brought the agiel closer, touching it under Michael's chin. He screamed in agony and fell to the ground. Cara didn't break the contact between the agiel and his skin. She glared at him scornfully as he writhed in pain. She felt tears of pain and anger start to fall down her cheeks.

Grace looked on apprehensively. She was surprised at Cara's sudden cruelty. Her sister had always been very sweet, very gentle. Grace realized that Cara must love Dahlia even more than she could imagine if her love could cause her to hurt another human being.

As Dahlia was just finishing dressing, she heard Michael scream and rushed out of the room. She saw Michael on the ground, and Cara standing over him with the agiel. She rushed over to Cara and took the agiel from her. Cara stood staring down at Michael, tears still flowing.

"Get out," she said, her voice deadly calm.

Michael got up and staggered to the door. He cast one more fearful look at Cara before leaving, running as fast as he could.

As he was leaving, Cara's parents entered the house, alarmed expressions on their faces. They saw Dahlia holding her agiel, now dressed in her leathers, and their expressions turned from alarm to fear.

Dahlia ignored them, putting a hand on Cara's shoulder.

"Cara?" she asked softly, "Are you alright?"

Cara didn't answer, but turned around and buried her face in Dahlia's shoulder, sobbing. Dahlia put her arms gently around Cara, pulling her closer.

"Shhh," she said, stroking Cara's hair comfortingly. "It's okay."

Cara felt her knees give way, and she and Dahlia sank to the ground. Dahlia set her agiel down next to her, and held Cara more tightly. She continued to stroke the smaller woman's hair and whisper comforting words in her ear until Cara's tears subsided.

Cara's family continued to watch throughout this time. Grace looked slightly sad, a sympathetic expression on her face. Cara's parents, however, looked rather confused. As Dahlia helped Cara to stand up again, Cara's father's expression turned from confusion to anger.

"Get out of my house, right not," he spat at Dahlia.

"Father, don't…" Cara began.

"It's okay, Cara," Dahlia said to her. "He's just trying to protect his family. I understand." She sounded slightly sad.

Dahlia placed a gentle kiss on Cara's forehead, then turned without a word and left the house. Cara glared at her father as Dahlia left. She just stood there for a few moments, glaring, then ran after Dahlia.

"Dahlia!" she called.

The Mord'Sith turned, and Cara quickly caught up to her.

"Take me with you," Cara begged.

"Cara," Dahlia said, "You know I can't."

"But you can," Cara said. "Take me with you," she repeated. "Train me."

"Cara…" Dahlia began, looking stunned. "I can't, I…I don't want to hurt you."

"Please."

Dahlia looked into Cara's eyes and saw that this really was what she wanted.

"Maybe," Dahlia said finally. "I need time to think about it, to discuss it with the others."

"Okay," Cara answered.

"I'll be back soon," Dahlia said. Cara didn't look convinced, so Dahlia unsheathed her agiel and handed it to Cara. "Take my agiel," she said. "This way you'll know that I will be back."

Cara took the agiel from Dahlia, feeling the pain from it mixing with the emotional pain caused by Dahlia leaving. She stood on her toes and threw her arms around Dahlia's neck, hugging her tightly, not wanting to ever let go. Dahlia hugged her back and kissed her lovingly. Cara fervently returned the kiss, and as she did she felt the tears leak from her closed eyes. When they broke apart, Cara saw that Dahlia had tears in her eyes too.

"Goodbye, Cara," Dahlia whispered.

"Goodbye."

Cara watched as Dahlia turned and began to walk away. Soon Dahlia disappeared into the woods and Cara was alone. She stared at the spot where the woods had devoured her Dahlia, and her vision blurred with tears. She suddenly became acutely aware of the pain from the agiel surging through her body. She gripped the weapon tighter and reveled in the agony it caused. It was the only thing she had left of Dahlia.