The Smile

Authors Note: In order to work with what I had in mind for the path leading to Kahlan's developing affections for Cara, I'm pretending that Extinction took place earlier in the season and prior to Desecration and their talk in the tomb. Basically I rearranged everything and left out people and events that didn't fit my plan. Please forgive the altering of the timeline. I'm also ignoring several aspects of Extinction. This is all about that one beautiful, heart wrenching smile and Kahlan's reaction when she saw it.

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It had been three weeks since Cara had joined their quest and since then Kahlan had discovered her sister was alive, even if in a different body. She'd been torn to learn she'd been brought back by the Mord'Sith to kill Cara and horrified at how eager Denee had been to do it. She knew her sister had cause to want the blonde dead, but if she thought about it which she tried not to, the parallels between Cara's actions and Denee's were disturbing. Both women were created by the Mord'Sith. Both women were sent to kill each other on the orders of the Mord'Sith or their master Darken Rahl. It shifted something inside Kahlan to realize it and she had stopped her sister from carrying out her orders and it was only the fear of losing her sister once more that kept her from reminding Denee that Cara hadn't been the one to kill her child. Denee had made that choice and it had only been by Richard's interference that she and Kahlan hadn't killed him themselves by tradition long before Cara showed up.

Between that and the haunting memories of Cara's nightmare and the painful anguished cry, Kahlan's anger had faded and she had found herself studying the strange woman instead of glaring at her. Fighting beside the formidable woman had proven to be exhilarating in a way Kahlan hadn't expected. She had been expecting the fierceness, but there was an almost hypnotic sensuality in her movements that had surprised and fascinated her, even more so because Cara either wasn't aware of it or simply didn't care.

Cara had even started talking more, though whether that was out of any true desire for conversation or to appease Richard, Kahlan didn't know, but she had found herself striking up conversations with her and while it was like pulling teeth most of the time, Kahlan had been able to see hints of the wit and compassion that had only been buried, not stripped from her. And Kahlan had discovered a sort of gentle amusement every time Cara offered a resigned sigh before ultimately doing as Kahlan suggested.

Kahlan's heart had softened toward their newest companion and for the first time since the flicker of sympathy she'd felt for Cara in Stowecroft, she didn't feel guilty about it. Cara had proven her loyalty to Richard, she'd put herself in danger repeatedly to save Kahlan and even Zedd and Kahlan couldn't find it in herself to hold on to her resentment. Now she was more curious than anything. Cara clung to her Mord'Sith training as if it were the only thing keeping her from drowning, but Kahlan saw the cracks and she couldn't help but notice those cracks almost inevitably appeared after Kahlan and Richard had their private moments.

"Is there any particular reason you keep staring at me?"

Kahlan jumped at the unexpected voice breaking into her thoughts. "I'm not staring Cara," she muttered in embarrassment. "Besides, unless you have eyes in the back of your head, how do you know what I'm looking at?"

To her surprise, Cara turned and offered a smirk that was actually amused instead of irritated. "You aren't as subtle as you believe," she shrugged.

"Oh. Well I'm not staring," Kahlan retorted.

"If you say so," Cara replied, clearly not believing her and Kahlan stiffened.

"I do say so," Kahlan retorted defensively.

"Okay," Cara answered.

Kahlan huffed in irritation. Cara's most recent habit had become to do all she could to annoy Kahlan and it never failed to work.

She clenched her jaw and mentally took back every positive thought she'd just had about the blonde and marched past her to go walk beside Richard.

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"Look, snow."

Kahlan turned at the almost happy sound of Cara's voice, only having a split second to see a hint of a smile before she realized that what had drawn such an unexpected reaction was most definitely not snow.

"It's ash! she said in alarm. The group turned to see smoke filling the forest. They pushed through the smoke to discover the forest of the Night Wisps being torched by D'Haran soldiers. Fury swept through her. The Nightwisps weren't just their last hope for finding the Stone of Tears, they weren't just key to life, they were true innocents and they had all been slaughtered.

Cara heard the wild scream coming from Kahlan and she only had a small moment to appreciate the magnificence of the Mother Confessor in action. Not even the strongest and fiercest of her sisters could compare to Kahlan in strength, power and beauty as she tore through the soldiers like soft butter. The moment was gone, however, before she could dwell on it and she was finally able to release the frustration that had been building inside of her from the first time she and Kahlan had fought side by side and turn it toward the men who dared angered the Confessor.

It was over far quicker than either Kahlan or Cara had wanted. Kahlan looked around the charred remains of the forest, desperate for another soldier to kill so that she wouldn't have to deal with the horror and the loss of what had just happened.

Finding out Darken Rahl was back and had managed to save the last Wisp who was pregnant gave her a flash of hope, even as his blackmailing them for the scroll stirred her anger, which wasn't helped by Cara's incessant sarcastic quips.

It was agreed that Rahl would accompany Richard while Kahlan and Cara would take Wisp to the birthing grounds. As she said goodbye to Richard, Cara's impatient prodding made her smile even as it made her inexplicably uncomfortable. There was something in Cara's expression that seemed...strange but Cara in general was strange so she ignored it and she and Cara set off to save the poor Wisp.

It wasn't an easy journey. Wisp was lonely and sad as well as pregnant and that made her talkative. Kahlan didn't mind. It broke her heart to know the little wisp had lost all of her companions and was suffering so. The least she could do was keep her company.

Cara of course didn't understand and like everything else she didn't understand it became a source of mockery, but Wisp kept talking to Kahlan. She explained sarcasm was Cara's defense mechanism and to have patience and so she did. She often looked at Cara and with Wisps guidance, allowed herself to see the furrowed brow that wasn't irritation, it was confusion as she tried to figure out what she was seeing and against her will Kahlan found it incredibly adorable. Not that she'd dare say such a thing out loud.

As it was, despite the urgency of their journey, Kahlan had almost enjoyed the alone time with the enigmatic Mord'Sith and despite the sarcasm and limited conversation, she was growing more comfortable with her presence.

Of course their task couldn't have gone smoothly. While trying to distract an attacking gar, Kahlan had tripped and twisted her ankle and she knew that no matter what she did, she would not get the little Night Wisp to the birthing ground in time. But then, Cara surprised her once again.

Not only did Cara agree to take the Wisp without argument, she had actually understood the little being. It was well known that Nightwisps would only communicate with those they trusted and to learn they put such faith in Cara of all people, warmed Kahlan's heart and she couldn't hold back a smile when she saw the patience, gentleness and concern for the little being held carefully in her gloved hand, despite the air of annoyance she was trying to portray.

When Cara left for the birthing ground Kahlan was unable to keep her thoughts off of her. The woman was such a contradiction that sometimes it threatened Kahlan's sanity trying to figure her out. The danger Cara presented was always there, not even bothering to lurk beneath the surface. She was moody on a good day and never looked more at peace than when she was beating someone with her agiels, but then there were moments where concern and compassion made a brief startling appearance and Kahlan admitted only to herself that it was that contradiction that made Cara Mason so seductive; far more so than her beauty or the body inside of the tight red leather. Kahlan couldn't help but wonder which was the true Cara when she gave in to the needs that often drove the Sisters of the Agiel. Did Cara carry her fierceness into her intimate encounters? Or did she allow that curious, rarely expressed gentle side into those private moments?

Realizing how totally inappropriate her thoughts were becoming, Kahlan got to her feet, hissing at the pain in her ankle but grateful for the distraction. Suddenly a gloved hand appeared in front of her. She saw Cara looking down at her with a typical blank expression on her face, but that look no longer fooled Kahlan. There was something in her eyes that said more than any words could have. She took the hand and let Cara help her up the small embankment.

"Did you make it on time?" Kahlan asked hopefully. Cara nodded but the flicker of sadness in Cara's eyes told her that the poor Nightwisp had died after giving birth and Kahlan felt the sadness at the loss of the sweet creature. Then it happened. Cara's brows lifted and a look of what could only be wonder crossed her face and Kahlan's breath caught at the incredible sight.

"I wish you could have been there," Cara said sincerely. "It was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." Then she smiled, a broad honest smile full of such stunning innocence that tears sprung to Kahlan's eyes and her heart fluttered with a wonderful sort of ache. Kahlan had never seen anything so heartwrenchingly beautiful in her life. In that split second everything changed and the last remnants of the walls she'd kept up against this woman crumbled. She suddenly felt a strong need to reach out to Cara, to touch that smile to see if it were real, to memorize it knowing it would be a long time before she saw it again, but before she could act or even speak, the smile was gone, replaced by a flash of sadness for the loss of Wisp and Cara walked away leaving Kahlan to follow, fighting an inexplicable urge to cry.

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