A/N: I want to thank everyone who has read and reviewed my stories. Your comments keep me writing. Please continue! :D
As always, SM owns the characters from Twilight. I just borrowed them for a bit.
Chapter 30
Third Person POV
Minutes and then hours pass, the door to the cabin becomes a revolving door of pack and tribe members wanting to wish Quil and Tia well. Hushed conversations buzz through the air in the living room and kitchen as they try to figure out what is wrong. Could Tia be headed for a coma? What would happen to Quil if she did? Is it even possible to bring them back? Will they die? Uma decided it was best for her to stay in the room with Tia and Quil rather than listen to the often negative conversations. She couldn't think in there anymore. Emily chose to stand guard on the outside of the door so that no one was able to disturb their healing rest.
Unaware of the worry and concern of their friends and family, Quil and Tia remained asleep in bed, no movement, no sound. Carlisle had come in a couple of times to check on them, always under the watchful eye of Sam and a couple of the pack members. No change had occurred beyond the decrease in the obvious external bruising on Tia's head. Quil showed no signs of injury other than an accelerated heart beat.
Uma watched as the other pack members escorted Carlisle out the door. Thinking about her dealings with the pack and the legends handed down to her by her own grandmother, an idea formed.
"Sam, help me move Quil and Tia." She ordered.
Sam, who had been staring out the window, lost in his own thoughts, looked over at her confused. "Ok…what are we doing?"
"Tia and Quil need to be touching. It could be as simple as holding hands but they aren't touching one another as they are now. In the wild, wolves need to touch their mates to be assured that they're ok. If my guess is right, those two haven't touched since the battle started. Their wolves don't know that the other is safe. It might be a long shot, but it could work." Uma explains as she walks over to their bedside.
Sam considers her idea for a second. It is true that his slightest caress could calm down his Emily when she's upset so it made sense that these two needed physical contact to get better. It was worth a shot. He walked over to the other side of the bed from Uma. Carefully, they moved Tia and Quil so that the length of their arms touched the others and their hands were entwined. Neither he nor Uma thought it wise to move them anymore than that.
After that, they both sat down and waited.
Tia POV
The mists surround me as I walk through the forest. I can hear the rustling of the night animals around me. A flash of red streaks by me, circles me with laughter. "You're mine." her voice taunts. She continues to circle, taunting…torturing…waiting. My time had come. I would lose myself to my dreams and she will take what she believes is hers. The mists start to surround me. Suddenly, I catch a quick flash of a large brown wolf hitting the water unconscious. Fear and panic grip my heart as I recognize who was in the water, not moving. The mists that were surrounding me turn to smoke. My mind races as I fight to get back to the wolf to save it as the smoke and flame threaten to overtake me. No PLEASE! NOT HIM! NO! I scream over and over. Strong arms hold me, pulling me away from my wolf, pulling me from my love. The fire surrounds me as the same strong arms take me out of the fire.
Over…and over…and over…the dream runs through my mind, controlling, crippling, destroying what strength I have remaining. Soon there would be no going back for there was no reason to do so. He was gone.
Then in an instant, everything changed.
I felt him. The moment his soul touched mine I knew he was safe. He waited for me. Through a haze of pain, I fought to regain what I once had. In that second, I knew what I had to do as the dream came again.
The mists surround me as I walk through the forest. I can hear the rustling of the night animals around me. A flash of red streaks by me, circles me with laughter. "You're mine." her voice taunts. She continues to circle, taunting…torturing…waiting. My time had come. I would lose myself to my dreams and she will take what she believes is hers. The mists start to surround me. Suddenly, I catch a quick flash of a large brown wolf hitting the water unconscious. Fear and panic grip my heart as I recognize who was in the water, not moving. The mists that were surrounding me turn to smoke. My mind races as I fight to get back to the wolf to save it as the smoke and flame threaten to overtake me. NO! YOU WILL NOT TAKE HIM OR ME. I push through the flames and smoke to what is mine. YOU DO NOT CONTROL ME ANY MORE. Not caring for myself, only for my love, I continue to walk in the flames, feeling the scorching of my skin as the flames burn my flesh. I push beyond the ring of fire, and look back over my shoulder to what once was, and knew that I was triumphant. I was now in control. I watch as the flames die down and the smoke recedes. Strong, loving arms hold me, pulling me out of the darkness.
Sam POV
I remain seated as Uma goes out to the kitchen to speak quietly to Emily. The majority of the visitors had left, leaving only a very worried Jared and Kim in the front room. He held onto Kim, knowing that he couldn't do anything to save his friend other than wait. I push my hands over my face in frustration and exhaustion. This is eating me alive worse than facing those damned newborns.
Then I smell it….salt. I sense heat. Jumping up, I run to Tia's side. Her skin is red and she's sweating profusely.
"UMA! Come quick!" I yell, not knowing what else to do. I feel so helpless with it all.
Uma and Emily run into the room, with Jared and Kim following close behind. Emily took one look at Tia and immediately feared for the worse. She had a very high fever. Infection had set in or swelling on the brain had begun. It looked like we were losing her. The look on Emily's face said it all to me. Unable to take it anymore, I sit down in my chair again as Kim pulls Jared into her arms. If we lose Tia this way, it was quite possible that Quil was done for as well.
Uma, in her normal, efficient manner, walks over to Tia. She checks Tia's fever, not needing a thermometer. It would not be able to handle this reading anyway. She continues looking over Tia as if searching for something.
"Emily, bring me a towel and some cool water. We have to bring her body temperature down." She says as she looks at the rest of us. "You'll need to wait outside. Her clothes will need to come off."
We do as she asks, taking up our worried vigil in the living room. Kim goes back to Jared's lap. She holds him to her trying to console him. After Emily takes the water and towels to Uma, I pull her into my lap, needing her reassurance that everything would be alright. She pulls my head to her chest, cradling me, humming to calm me down. I can't lose Quil…or Tia. They are family to me.
Uma POV
Waiting for Emily to close the door behind her, I watch Tia struggle with the fever. Her body has begun to shake with what would appear to the untrained eye to be a high fever. I knew otherwise. With deft hands, I quickly remove Tia's clothing, searching, looking. I knew that it had to be there somewhere.
I dip the towel into the cool water to wipe Tia's brow. "It's ok Tia. You're almost there. Don't lose focus. Don't let the flames win." I wipe her brow, watching and waiting. I wish there was some other way for this to happen, but according to the stories and legends, this was the only way. She had to go it alone.
Time passes. I watch as her the temper begins to spike. The trembling is much worse. I continue to place my calming hands on brow, whispering reassuring words in her ear. I never realized how hard this would be to watch happen. I spare a look to Quil. His face held a pained expression and his grip on Tia's hand was tight. He knew. He could sense her pain.
I take what had been Sam's chair. I would stay by their side until the trial had passed.
Quil POV
TIA! My soul and my wolf cried out in silent agony. I had lost her. I had no reason to live. I wanted to die. I couldn't feel her connection through our imprint bond. My wolf howled in grief knowing that she was gone. It would be simple to just stop breathing.
Then, in an instant, everything changed.
I could feel her soul touch mine, but I could also feel her conflict. She was not free. In my mind, I reach out to her, to save her.
Then I find myself in her dream…
The mists surround her as she walks through the forest. I can hear the rustling of the night animals around us. A flash of red streaks by us, circles us with laughter. "You're mine." her voice taunts her. She continues to circle, taunting…torturing…waiting. I realize that Tia is losing herself to this dream and that damn leech would have what she thought was hers. The mists start to surround us. She watches in fear and panic as she recognizes who was in the water, not moving. It was me. The mists that were surrounding us turn to smoke. She fights to get back to my wolf to save it as the smoke and flame threaten to overtake us. NO! YOU WILL NOT TAKE HIM OR ME. She pushes through the flames and smoke to what reach my side. YOU DO NOT CONTROL ME ANY MORE. I watch in horror as the flames begin to burn her flesh. Her pain became mine as she pushes beyond the ring of fire. Once through the fire, she looks back over her shoulder to what once was. She had won. She was now in control. The flames die down and the smoke recedes. I wrap my arms hold around her, sending her my love through my touch. I pull her out of the darkness.
Uma POV
The bright light of the new day woke me. I was unsure at what time I fell asleep but I knew that it had been a long while. Outside, I could hear the soft snores of Sam, Emily, Kim and Jared who had waited through the night as well. If only I could have told them that the worst was almost past but there are secrets that even they cannot know.
I rise and walk over to Tia again. Her color had returned and no longer did she have the fever. I look for the final sign on her skin. It had to be somewhere. I check her from her feet upwards across her belly and then I see it. Appropriately enough, it mirrored Quil's tattoo as they lay on the bed side by side. She now held the burn mark that proved she had passed through the flames. She was ready to officially take her role as a fire dreamer in the tribe. She was in control.
I dress Tia in a night gown that I found in her dresser, and arrange the bed coverings over her. I walk out into the living room, wearing a worn but jubilant face. As the door softly clicked behind me, Jared and Sam's eyes flashed open. Their wolves were waiting for news.
"They are both fine. The fever is over. They'll be back with us soon." I answer quietly and cryptically, not able to give them any more information than that. I head into the kitchen to start cooking. "They're going to wake very hungry so I'm starting breakfast." I add as I start cooking and brewing some much needed coffee.
Tia POV
I wake feeling weak and shaky as if I had gone through some long sickness. I look around the room, thinking back to my last memory of hitting the tree. The fight with the newborns was over. I was back in my room. I look over to see Quil's eyes open. He smiles. We both made it. I feel him squeeze my hand.
Uma knocks and walks in. She's carrying a tray piled high with food for both of us.
"I wasn't sure how much I could carry on this tray or if you two would want more so eat this and join us outside when you're ready." She smiles, placing the tray on the bed between us. Walking back out, she closes the door firmly to give us some privacy.
Quil's eyes told me everything. Our future is ours once again. We had made it to the other side that seemed so impossible only a day ago. He pushes himself to a sitting position and reaches for the bacon. Rather than put it in his mouth, he held it out to me. He needed to feel in control again, that he was taking care of me like his wolf always wanted. I chuckle softly, accept a piece of bacon but rather than eating it, I held another piece out to him. He accepted his piece of bacon. I sit up as I finish my piece, wondering what really had happened while we were out when I felt his touch on my arm.
"Tia, where did that come from? Did you get burned?" He asks.
I look down. "Not that I recall…" I shrug as I fix us both a plate of food.
Quil watches me closely as we eat. His eyes were following my every move, my every breath. It was as if he wanted to ask me a question but was afraid to ask, as if I would disappear. Unable to contain my curiosity, I ask "What?" with a smile.
He drinks his orange juice before he answers. "Tia, while we were …out, I saw your dream. No, I take that back. I was in your dream. I saw you fight your way out of the flames to get to me as I hit the water. I also know that I'm the one that pulled you out. Our bond must have connected us so that I could help you out of the dream."
I think about my last dream and how it differed from the previous ones. Nodding, my last dream was important and I bet Uma can tell me more about it later. She probably also knows what this burn mark is.
Quil and I finish our food in record time because once we started eating, our stomachs decided to grumble louder than ever before, reminding us that we had been neglecting them. I lean over, giving him a brief good morning kiss, when I heard movement beyond the bedroom door. We still have company here with us that have been waiting since we were first brought back.
"I need to grab a quick shower before I can face anyone Quil."I say as I thought about facing our family and pack. I wanted to ask him for something more but I didn't know if this was a good time or if he would even consider it. Then, I realize how close we came to losing each other and that being hesitant with the man I love was just silly. I stand up from the bed and hold out my hand to him. He hesitates for just a second before he takes my hand with a grin.
"Only a shower…" he whispers in my ear as we walk towards the bathroom. He turns on the shower and the clothing begins to fall.
Sam POV
Having finished our breakfast, we were all anxious as we waited for Tia and Quil to join us. Only moments afterward we heard the shower turn on, Jared's head snapped up to give me a look. Our keen hearing heard Quil's whisper. We both knew that we needed to leave them alone for a while. I caught a twinkle of happiness for Quil in Jared's eyes as we worked out a way get everyone out without being obvious.
"You know what Emily? I think we should head home and get cleaned up ourselves before we talk to Tia and Quil. Let's head back and we can be back in an hour or so." I say as I take her hand.
"Yeah, Sam's right Kim. I could use a shave." Jared added as he ran a hand over his scruffy jaw. Kim giggled and agreed.
"Uma, do you want to ride back with us?" I ask as we begin to gather our things. I look at her closely and I could have sworn I saw a knowing gleam in her eyes as well. She knew what Jared and I were doing and why.
"I would appreciate that Sam, thank you." She replied as she followed us out the door and to the car.