Chapter Sixty-Eight: Love in a War
Back in the village, villager cried and some stunned when Kocoum body was carried in.
"Who did this?" Powhatan growled.
"Pocahontas was out in the woods. Kocoum went to find her and this white man attacked them" one of the men said as John said kneeled in front of Powhatan.
"Your weapons are strong but now our anger is stronger. At sunrise he will be the first to die!" Powhatan said.
"No! Wait you got it all!" Jason yelled running in with Max and Pocahontas.
"But father you can't!" Pocahontas said.
"I told you to stay in the village. You disobeyed me. You have shamed your father!" Powhatan said.
"I was only trying to help" Pocahontas said.
"Because of your foolishness, Kocoum is dead! Take him away!" Powhatan growled as they took John away.
"Powhatan please! It was not her fault!" Jason said.
"You two! I let you in my village with open arms and you let my daughter do this!"
"We were trying to help! War is not the answer!" Max said.
"Just be lucky you two don't die with him! Find your keyhole and leave this world! Forever!" Powhatan said as they left Pocahontas and them alone as she fell to her knees as Nakoma approached.
"Kocoum was just coming to protect me" Pocahontas said.
"Pocahontas, I sent Kocoum after you...I was worried about you...I thought I was doing the right thing" Nakoma said.
"All of this happened because of me… And now I'll never see John Smith again" Pocahontas said.
"There must be something we can do" Jason said.
"Come with me" Nakoma said as she lead them to the guarded hut where John was being held.
"Pocahontas wants to look into the eyes of the man who killed Kocoum" Nakoma said as the two men glanced at each other.
"Be quick" the warrior said as they pulled back the curtain and Pocahontas enters the tent to see he was tied up to the beam in the center of the hut with the moon light coming down from the hole above as she approached.
"Pocahontas!" John said.
"I'm so sorry" Pocahontas said.
"For what, this? I've gotten out of worse scrapes than this. Can't think of any right now, but..."
"It would've been better if we'd never met, none of this would've happened."
"Pocahontas, look at me. I'd rather die tomorrow than live a hundred years without knowing you."
(A.N. You know what song comes next look it up on youtube If I never knew you.)
"If I never knew you. If I never felt this love. I would have no inkling of how precious life can be. If I never held you I would never have a clue. How at last I'd find in you the missing part of me in this world so full of fear full of rage and lies I can see the truth so clear in your eyes so dry your eyes, and I'm so grateful to you I'd have lived my whole life through lost forever, if I never knew you."
"I thought our love would be so beautiful somehow we'd make the whole world bright I never knew that fear and hate could be so strong all they'd leave us were these whispers in the night but still my heart is saying we were right for if I never knew you."
"There's no moment I regret."
"If I never knew this love."
"Since the moment that we met."
"I would have no inkling of."
"If our time has gone too fast."
"How precious life can be."
"I've lived at last."
Nakoma Jason and Max than looks into tent as they knew her time was up.
"Pocahontas?" Nakoma said.
"I can't leave you" Pocahontas said.
"You never will. No matter what happens to me, I'll always be with you. Forever" John said as she stood up and began to walk out.
"And I'm so grateful to you I'd have lived my whole life through empty as the sky" he sang looking to the stars in the sky.
"Never knowing why" Pocahontas sang as Jason rowed her boat as she looked at the water in the river.
"Lost forever if I never knew you."
That night both the Jamestown Settlement and the Powhatan Village prepared for war preparing all the weapons, armor and battle paint for battle and in the early morning Pocahontas, Jason and Max sat in front of Grandmother Willow.
"They're going to kill him at sunrise, Grandmother Willow" Pocahontas said.
"You have to stop them" Grandmother Willow said.
"I can't."
"Child, remember your dream?"
"I was wrong, Grandmother Willow. I followed the wrong path. I feel so lost" she said dropping her head to her knees as Meeko climbed up the tree and began rummaging through all his stuff as Percy whimpered and rest his head on her.
"I'll stop them then! I don't know how but we can't let them kill each other! It's not right!" Jason said.
"I'm with you! If we work together we can stop this!" Max said as Meeko slid down a vine and made a chirp sound as Pocahontas looked up and he held out John compass to her.
Pocahontas than took it and examined it as she realized what it was, "The compass?"
Jason and Max then looked over her shoulder as they saw the it was a spinning arrow that spun in it.
"Pocahontas!" Jason said.
"Spinning arrow!" Pocahontas said.
"It's the arrow from your dream!" Grandmother Willow said as the leaves began to spin around them.
"I was right! It was pointing to him" Pocahontas said as it began to spin fast as she stood up with Jason and Max as the sunlight hits their faces, "sunrise!"
"It's not too late, child. Let the spirits of the earth guide you!" Grandmother Willow said as the arrow spun faster and faster than stopped and pointed to the direction they had to go "You know your path, child… Now follow it!"
The three then began to fly, with the help of all the spirits of the land and sky as they ran to a valley with the Powhatan Village standing on a cliff looking down to the forest where Ratcliffe men were leaving it as they saw John get pressed to a rock as Powhatan was given a large club as he lifted it over his head to swing down as the three ran past the village.
"NOO!" Pocahontas yelled jumping on John as Powhatan stopped his swing and Jason and Max got down next to her and John, "If you kill him you'll have to kill me, too."
"Me too!" Jason growled.
"Me three!" Max said taking Jason hand then John.
"Daughter, stand back!" Powhatan said.
"I won't! I love him, father" Pocahontas said as his face softened, "look around you! This is where the path of hatred has brought us, this is the path I choose, father. What will yours be?"
"War, hatred, anger these are all the creation of darkness in man hearts! Were all better than that! We don't have to fight! We all share the same sky and the same light from the warm sun, were all the same, all of us in this giant universe may have different color skin, hair, beliefs and think differently on how life should be lived but were all the same! We have the same hearts beating in our chest, we all have dreams" Jason said.
"Our path lead us to protect our friend and to die to protect him, this is what our hearts told us to do Powhatan what does your say?" Max said as Powhatan looked around at his men ready to fire their arrows on his command and the men below with their guns ready to fire as the leaves began to fly around him as he took a deep breath and held up his staff.
"My daughter speaks with wisdom beyond her years as do her friends. We've all come here with anger in our hearts, but she comes with courage and understanding. From this day forward, if there is to be more killing, it will not start with me, release him" Powhatan said as John was cut free and he hugged Pocahontas as the men on both sides held down their weapons.
"Now's our chance, fire!" Ratcliffe said.
"No!" Thomas said.
"What?" Ratcliffe said.
"They let him go!" Thomas said.
"They don't want to fight!" Ben said.
"It's a trick, don't you see? Fire!" Ratcliffe yelled as the men just stood where they stand and didn't raise their weapons, "Fine, I'll settle this myself" he growled taking a gun from a man and pointed it at Powhatan.
"No!" John yelled pushing Powhatan out of the way and took the bullet Ratcliffe fired.
"John!" Thomas yelled.
"John!" Jason yelled as he Max and Pocahontas ran to his side.
"You shot him!" Thomas growled as all men glared at Ratcliffe.
"He stepped right–right into it! It's his own fault!" Ratcliffe said.
"Smith was right all along!" Ben growled as they began to surrounded him.
"We never should have listened to you!" Lon said.
"Get the gun!" Ben yelled as he and Lon tried to yank the gun out of his hands as all the man held him down.
"Traitors! Unhand me, I say, how dare you!" Ratcliffe said as Thomas yanked the gun out.
"Put him in chains!" Thomas yelled.
"I'll see you all hanged for this!" Ratcliffe yelled.
"And gag him as well!" Thomas said.
"Hold on John" Jason said looking to John side.
"Will your spell heal him?" Powhatan asked.
"The bullet too deep, if I try to force it out I will only make it worse, if I heal it he may have health issues later, he needs to see a doctor in his land" Jason said.
Later that day all of the men from England began to back their gear on the boats to go to the ship.
"Is he going to make it, Thomas?" Ben asked.
"Sooner he gets back to England, the better" Thomas said.
"Well, let's hope the wind is with him" Lon said.
"Is the ship ready yet?" Thomas asked.
"Any minute now. Just loading the last bit of cargo" Ben said as Ratcliffe, bound and gagged and tied up in chains is tossed into a boat.
"How dare you! Untie me at once! I'll have your head for this!" he muffled as his boat was pushed into the water.
"And he came so highly recommended" Wiggins sighed as Thomas approached John who lay on a coat with bandages around his waist.
"The ship's almost ready. We'd better get you on board. We'll lose the tide" Thomas said.
"No, not yet. She said she'd be here" John said.
"Look" Thomas said as they looked to the fog where Pocahontas, Jason and Max lead the village carrying baskets of food as they set them down.
"For you, much better than gruel" Jason said as he Max and Pocahontas approached Thomas.
"Going back is his only chance, he'll die if he stays here" Thomas said as she knelt down next to John.
"Here. It's from Grandmother Willow's bark" she said holding a yellow wrapped package, "It'll help with the pain"
"What pain? I've had worse pain than this. Can't think of any right now, but…"
"You are always welcome among our people. Thank you, my brother" Powhatan said placing with cape as a blanket around John as Flit flew over and landed on John finger.
"I thought you didn't like strangers" John said as Flit made a chirp sound and flew off over to Meeko wearing Percy bell collar and Percy dressed with fur around him and a feather head piece on his head as Meeko, Percy and Flit present Pocahontas' fixed necklace.
"My mother's necklace" Pocahontas said tying it back around her neck.
"See ya, Percy" John said petting the dog then turned to Pocahontas, "Come with me?"
She then turned to her father who smiled, "you must choose your own path" Powhatan said.
"I'm needed here" Pocahontas said.
"Then I'll stay with you" John said.
"No, you have to go back" Pocahontas said.
"But I can't leave you."
"You never will. No matter what happens, I'll always be with you. Forever" she said as they kissed as Lon and Ben lifted up John cot
"Good luck, lad" Lon said.
"Godspeed, John" Thomas said as they pushed John boat into the water as they began to lift anchor and set the sails on the ship as the Susan Constant begins to sails off and Pocahontas ran up a hill with Jason and Max followed, past the forest and onto a cliff as Pocahontas watches the ship begins to sail back to the sea as the wind blows past them with the leaves heading to the ship and around John as he looks to her, Jason and Max on the cliff and holds out the sign for goodbye as Pocahontas Jason and Max returns it.
"Will you be okay?" Jason asked Pocahontas.
"Yes, we'll meet again someday" Pocahontas smiled as the water below glowed and Jason looked down to see the keyhole form.
Jason then summoned his keyblades and jumped off the cliff towards the keyhole as he spun one in his hand and pointed it out as it shot out the light and hit the keyhole as it light up and engulfed the area in light and Jason dived into the water and came back up as he smiled up at Max and Pocahontas.
Later that day Jason and Max were back in the village as they prepared their goodbyes.
"You two will always be welcome back to our village and will always be a part of it and our hearts my brothers" Powhatan said.
"As you ours sir" Jason said as Powhatan and the village gave them their goodbye sign and Jason and Max returned it.
"I will miss you" Pocahontas said.
"Our paths will meet again princess you can be sure of that" Max said as he hugged them both before they went to the forest before taking off back to the Lanes Between.
A.N. Please Review.