A/N: Hello everyone...I'm back at it:) thanks to all the new followers who have added this to your lists:)

Also, thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter...your reviews mean a lot and they're very much appreciated...

Disclaimer: I am so sick of winter already, and it hasn't even really begun! Oh, and I don't own Skins:(

Chapter 14: The Absence of Fear

Naomi should be terrified. Absolutely and utterly scared. She should be wanting to run for her life, but she couldn't. She didn't want to.

She was in love with Emily, and it felt fucking fantastic!

She knew, had always known in fact, that she'd had some feelings for Emily, right from the beginning. But what she was feeling right now was different than anything she'd ever felt before.

It was something she hadn't expected, it was subtle and in your face...it made her feel as if her mind was running in a million different directions, yet calm, all at the same time.

After her realisation last week, she had been happier than she'd been since the curse started. Actually, longer than that. It was an emotional roller coaster ride and she was enjoying every minute of it.

Naomi didn't even care that she hadn't known Emily longer than a few months. This was something that just was, and she was going to embrace it.

Emily and Katie had gone with Effy to do some office work, leaving Naomi alone at the house to get some work done. She was in the process of putting plans in place for after she was gone.

She had received a large trust fund that her grandparents had left for her, so Naomi was setting up new charities with it.

"Have I told you that I'm sorry?"

Naomi jumped a mile in the air, startled at the sound of Sophia's voice, which had been absent since Ashley's memorial.

"Fucking Christ!" She shouted in surprise. "Have you ever heard of a telephone?"

Sophia laughed at the blonde. "C'mon, Naomi! Where's the fun in that? Besides, all those pesky charges and all?"

There was definitely something different about Sophia's voice.

"What's wrong with you?" Naomi asked, suspicious.

"What do you mean?"

"Something's wrong with your voice." Naomi thought it sounded like...,"Are you...happy?" She almost sounds accusatory, like it's against the rules or something.

Sophia laughed again, but not the bitter laugh that Naomi had become accustomed to over the years, but a melodic sound of pleasure that didn't have to be forced.

"Yes, Naomi, I'm happy. What of it?"

The blonde blinked in surprise at the info she had just received, before smiling. "Nothing, it's just...it's different, you know? I've never heard it before, so it was a shock."

"Yes, well...it happens." Sophia informed her.

Naomi shuffled through the papers on her desk, looking for a proposal that Katie had written up. "So, what brings you to my mind today?" She asked, locating the document she was looking for.

"To apologise."

"For what, Sophia?" She was slightly curious.

"The curse. I was angry and I wanted to make sure you hurt as much as I did, which I've mentioned before, but I shouldn't have made it so...final."

"Yeah, me too, but I can't say it hasn't helped. The curse, that is...not the other thing." Naomi paused in her actions, thinking about the last four and a half years. "It made me open my eyes, ya know? You were right...I was a monster."

"Yes, you were." She stated simply, causing Naomi to laugh.

"So is that all you wanted to say?" Naomi asked through her giggles, going back to her work.

"No. I've tried to find a way to break the curse, because I see now that I was just like you...throwing a tantrum because I didn't get my way." Sophia explained, quietly. "But it's no use."

Naomi felt her hopes raise slightly at Sophia's confession, to be immediately crushed. "That's...it's...fine, Sophia." She replied sadly, as the words almost stuck in her throat.

"No, it's not fine, Naomi. I've got one last shot to try and do it, but I'm not getting my hopes up." Sophia explained.

Naomi pushed past the disappointment that settled over her. "Why not?" She asked the voice in her head, now immensely curious.

"Because it involves talking to my grandmother." The contempt in Sophia's voice was comical. "She's just...ugh!"

"I take it you're not on good terms with your granny?" Naomi smiled at the thought.

"Fuck no! I like her less than I like you!" Sophia spat out and the words echoed through Naomi's mind. "She's a bitter old woman, who thinks she's better than everyone else...she'll make me beg for her help, just like the last time and she might not even be useful!"

Naomi's hand stilled over the document she was signing, thinking about Sophia's words. "Look, don't do anything you don't want to do on my account. I've made my peace with everything, Sophia, I really have, so...,"

"It's not because of you entirely. Now that I've finally laid Ashley to rest, properly, I find myself with a conscience." Sophia sighed quietly, knowing that it sounded like a howling wind ripping through Naomi's mind. "Ashley would have been appalled at what I've done. And I find that I don't want to think of what she would've said."

Naomi stayed silent, remembering the girl. Something that usually brought considerable pain and self-pity, but oddly enough, today she only thought about the few happy times she had had with Ashley.

"She found an injured stray kitten once." Naomi stated, out of the blue.

"What?" Sophia asked in confusion.

"Ashley. She found a stray kitten one day as we walked from the school to her house. I told her to leave it, because it looked rather mangy, but she saw it had a broken leg and its ear had been ripped off...," Naomi paused with a smile on her face, "it was the ugliest kitten I'd ever seen, ya know? But she wouldn't leave it. Ashley took off her coat and wrapped up that kitten and took it home, where she clean her and started to nurse her back to health."

"Her brother still has that cat." Sophia said, to Naomi's surprise.

"It survived?"

"Yeah, she named her Buttons."

"Wow, I'm impressed. I thought for sure that animal was rabid."

"It certainly looked like it at the time, but she had a talent for that sort of thing. Helping the weak and seeing the good in everyone." Sophia explained, wondering whether or not to let Naomi in on the truth about Ashley. She sighed again, but forgot to keep it quiet.

Naomi flinched as her head dropped into her hands. "Fuck! I really hate when you do that. It sounds like a freight train is running round my skull."

"I'm sorry."

"What are you thinking about anyway?" Naomi shook her head, as if that would wipe away the feeling.

"Ashley thought the same thing about you, ya know."

"What?" Naomi's eyes widened in shock. "Thought what about me?"

"She thought you could be better. Ashley had heard the rumours about you, but she thought you just needed someone to believe in you, to believe that you were a good person...she thought she could be that person for you."

"But...I was a bitch, why would she even waste her time?" Naomi wondered, not for the first time, if she was being honest.

"Because she was like that, Naomi. Kind hearted. Always thinking the best of everyone." Sophia replied. "Listen, I'm gonna go...get this over with."

"Yeah. I should get back to work anyway." Naomi replied, distracted by Sophia's words.

Naomi spent the rest of the afternoon setting up trusts and charities, with everything Sophia said still fresh in her head, but also thoughts of Emily making themselves known.

All in all, even with the visit from Sophia, it was a very good, productive day.

Emily sat alone in the centre of the maze. It was where she felt comfortable, she wasn't sure why, but she did.

She had a lot on her mind and she couldn't seem to think properly inside the house where the thrumming of electrical pulses ran through her body, reminding her of Naomi's presence. And since their last date, those pulses were constantly intensifying.

Emily felt them now, only less intense, allowing her a moment to breathe.

Also, since their date, Emily had been busy with work. Once Naomi told her the truth about the curse and the reason for hiring her to do the research on the Children of Gemini, Emily was actually able to convince Naomi to leave out that aspect out of the video game they were working on, taking the project in a whole new direction.

Emily found the whole process fascinating, to be honest, and as they progressed, more people were hired to work on the job. So what started out as a small group of people has turned into a large operation.

Naomi and JJ explained it all one night after dinner. Designers were hired to start designing the look of the game, going off the storyboards that Lucas and Kane had drawn up. The game world is created first, then levels are added, which involved sprite and polygon artists, source code programmers and testers.

Once the script was finished, then they started hiring actors for motion capture and voice recordings, while the programmers rendered everything and making it cohesive and seamless.

It was a lengthy process, but a rewarding one as well. The whole thing would take almost two to three years, because Naomi's software company was an independent company, so they didn't have to go through everything that a major company did, plus the fact that the game was the only one they were working on, helped.

As Emily thought about it, one fact troubled her. If what Naomi said was true, she wouldn't be around to see the final product. It was already April, so according to Naomi's timeline, the blonde only had less than eight months left.

Naomi. Thinking about her always made Emily smile, even as she felt a sadness sweep over her. She couldn't pinpoint why, it just did. Although, her feelings were slightly conflicted at the moment. One minute, she's feeling as if she could be best friends with the blonde, the next minute, she's flooded by desire for her.

It was, without a doubt, one of the most confusing things Emily's ever had to deal with, which was one of the reasons she was out here now.

The other reason was Gareth Campbell.

Naomi had allowed her to go through everything from her father's study, and Emily found some very interesting pieces of info, but she was still deciding on whether or not to tell Naomi about what she'd found.

It seemed as if Gareth Campbell had been in touch with some scientists who were researching the flora in Medog for medicinal purposes. He had chartered a plane to take him up to Tibet, and she found correspondences with a doctor who hired a guide to take them into the valley. They were going to have to hike in because there was no highway in at the time. The whole location was so remote back then, that Emily started to get a sinking feeling about the situation Gareth might have found himself in.

She made up her mind to talk to Gina about it in private. He would have surely discussed his plans with her back then, so she would see what Gina had to say before talking to Naomi.

With that problem settled for now, she pulled her jacket tighter around her, blocking as much of the springtime chill as she could, and thought about Naomi.

Mysterious, beautiful, smart, broken Naomi.

There was nothing about the blonde that didn't intrigue Emily. From her past to her scars, she wanted to know everything about her. What made her happy, what really made her sad, and most importantly, what excited her.

Emily couldn't lie to herself anymore. She had feelings for Naomi, huge feelings. She doubted it was love, but it was something. Something she had never felt before and she wanted to explore it. The blonde made her feel special and sexy and something Emily couldn't quite figure out, but she wondered if she was allowed to push the issue.

Would it be too much if Emily tried to attempt anything physical? Naomi had told her that it had been years since she'd been close to anyone.

She was lost in the thought of exploring Naomi, and didn't notice the pulses intensify, signaling that she wasn't alone anymore, as Naomi stood in the entrance of the garden, watching Emily's face.

'What's on your mind, Emily?' Naomi asked the red head silently, not wanting to break the spell Emily seemed to be under, instead remaining quiet so she could memorise the look of happiness on her face.

So it was that both girls, lost in their own internal musings, were unaware of the coming interruption in the form of James Cook.

"There you fucking are!" Cook called out as he barrelled through one of the other entrances to the garden centre, causing Emily to jump and Naomi to scowl. "I've been looking for both of you for twenty fucking minutes!"

"Well, congrats you fucksplash, you found us!" Naomi shot back sarcastically, causing Emily to jump again because she didn't know that the blonde was there. "What do you want?" She asked as she sat down next to Emily, smiling at her. "Hello."

Emily felt embarassed all of a sudden, not knowing how long Naomi had been here. "Hi."

"You have visitors." He told her, not looking to happy.

Both girls looked at him. "Who?" They asked at the same time.

Cook grinned a toothy grin. "Aww, isn't that precious." His tone of voice was almost a sing-song tone. After the glare Naomi shot him with, he howled out his trademark laugh. "You two are just too cute sometimes."

Emily and Naomi both blushed. "Fuck off, Cook." Naomi growled at him. "Who's here? Who has visitors?"

"Well, you both do, actually."

"What do you mean?" Emily asked, wondering who would be coming here to visit her.

"How about you both come to the house and see and stop playing twenty questions with me, yeah?" With that, Cook walked out of the garden and left them sitting there.

"Whatdya say, Ems? Shall we go see who's here?" Naomi smiled at her and Emily nodded.

Both of them stood up and made their way out of the maze in silence. Emily wanted to ask the blonde why she had come out and Naomi had wanted to ask why Emily was there in the first place, but neither of them could seem to ask.

When they got inside, Emily heard her guest before she actually saw him. "Emsy!" James came running over from where he was standing with Katie, throwing his arms around her. "Fuck, I've missed you."

"James, what are you doing here?" Emily asked him as she returned the hug.

"Well, I had mum drop me off because I hadn't seen you in a while and like I said, I missed you."

Emily squeezed him and realised that she missed him a lot, something she never thought would happen. "I've missed you too, perv."

The Fitch reunion was short lived as Emily looked past her brother and saw a tall brunette standing by the door. "Hello. Are you here with James?"

The brunette looked surprised that anyone was talking to her. "Um...no, I'm...um, I'm here to see Naomi." She stammered, embarassed at herself, as she looked around for Naomi. "Is she here?"

It was then that Emily realised that her, Katie and James were the only ones there. "She was right behind me. Give me a second and I'll see where she went." Emily smiled at the brunette and turns to leave, but quickly looks back at the girl. "I'm sorry, but I didn't get your name?"

"Oh, right...sorry. Could you tell her that Sophia Moore is here to see her?"

Naomi watched as Cook and Effy both paced back and forth in front of her.

"I don't like it!" Cook stated ademently, forceful even. "What the fuck is she doing here?"

"What do you think she's here to do, Cook? Turn us into frogs?" Naomi asked with irritation. "Look, it must be important...she's never once turned up on our door step, so...,"

"Katie! Stop right now!"

Naomi and Effy looked at each other with wide eyes as Emily's raised voice filtered through the house. They heard the sound of breaking glass and Katie's response.

"Let me fucking go, Emily or I swear to god...,"

Cook ran out first, leaving Naomi and Effy stunned, but soon enough they followed him and came into the front room just in time to see Emily on the floor and Cook grabbing Katie as Sophia stood off to the side, shaking in fear. Katie struggled in Cook's arms, as her brother helped Emily up.

Naomi saw red trickle from Emily's nose and rage filled her. "What the fuck happened?" She roared, bringing everyone to a stand still. "Emily? Anyone?"

Katie answered as Cook kept hold of her. "She showed up, didn't she?" Katie said, contempt in her voice as she pointed to Sophia. "She probably came here to cause more trouble for you."

Effy had explained everything to Katie, so she knew who Sophia was, but the older twin didn't know what Naomi and the brunette had talked about earlier. No one did, but Naomi was touched that Katie felt the need to protect her.

"So you automatically felt the urge kick her ass?" Naomi questioned her.

"Well, don't you?"

Naomi smiled at the older twin, while shaking her head. "Katie, I haven't felt the need to do that in three years." she explained, before looking over at Emily again. "Can someone explain to me why Emily is bleeding?"

James Fitch rushed to answer that question. "Oh, it was bloody epic. Emsy grabbed ahold of Katie and wouldn't let her go, so Katie twatted her good." He grinned at the image of his sisters fighting, which kind of reminded Naomi of a younger version of Cook.

But then James' words sunk in to Naomi brain. "You hit your sister?" She rounded back on Katie, fists clenched.

"Naomi, stop!" Emily's voice was loud and clear and very effective in stopping Naomi from advancing on Katie. "Please stop, okay? She didn't mean it, Katie was just caught of guard by Sophia's arrival, that's all." She stated as she stepped closer to the blonde, placing a hand on her arm. "This has all been a misunderstanding, yeah?"

Katie at least had the decency to look scared, as Effy stood in front of her prepared to take the brunt of Naomi's anger for the older twin.

"Emily's right, Nai." Effy agreed, calmly. "Katie? How about you and James come along with me and Cook, okay? We'll go get a drink and cool off."

Emily shot Effy a grateful look, earning a smile from her as she led everyone else out of the room. She didn't move away from Naomi, merely ran her hand up and down the blondes arm, feeling her anger dissolve little by little.

Once Naomi felt in control enough, she turned to Emily. "I know she's your sister, but the next time she hurts you, I will repay the favour."

Emily was oddly touched, laughing nervously. "Where were you five years ago?" She questioned, thinking back to when her and Katie going off on each other was a common occurance. "Look, she didn't mean anything by it and I'm fine, really."

Naomi took a few seconds to check over the small cut on cheek, before nodding at her and turning to find an ashen Sophia standing closer to the door than she had been earlier.

"Well, you certainly know how to make an entrance, Sophia." Naomi said dryly, trying to keep her frustration at bay. "To what do I owe this pleasure?" Sophia stood nervously, looking as if she didn't know how to say what she needed to say, which was very unusual for Naomi to see, and it made her nervous.

She quickly glanced at Emily, who was standing there confused about the entire exchange.

"Sophia? Seriously, what's wrong?" Naomi asked more directly, a sudden sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"I've...just, um...," Sophia trailed off, hating the way her voice sounded. She was afraid of telling the blonde what she had found out.

"C'mon, spit it out."

Sophia cleared her throat and tried again. "I've just left my grandmother's house...the old cow made me spend all day with her!" She huffed, crossing her arms in front of her.

"You don't look to thrilled about that." Emily stated, still not knowing why the brunette was here.

"She's fucking crazy, that woman is, of course I'm not thrilled." Sophia said quietly addressing the red head, appreciating how attractive the girl was.

"Sophia?" Naomi saw the look in her eyes and felt a surge of jealousy, but kept it in check. "What did you find out?"

"What's going on?" Emily asked, hating the feeling of being left out.

Sophia stepped forward, closer to Naomi and Emily. "I know I don't have a right to ask, but can we sit down somewhere? Maybe get a drink?"

"Sure, c'mon." Naomi led them into the kitchen and turned to the woman standing at the counter. "Thelma, can you excuse us please?" She asked, giving the older woman a smile.

Thelma nodded and left the room, leaving the three girls alone. Naomi went to the fridge and pulled out three beers, bringing them to the table and sat down next to Emily, handing a bottle to her and one to Sophia.

"So...is anyone going to tell me what's going on?" Emily asked.

Sophia took a drink before looking at both of them. "I figured Naomi would've told you already, but...,"

"I didn't have a chance to. We've been busy with work all day."

"So tell me now." Emily looked at both of them.

Sophia and Naomi explained their conversation from earlier, both of them noticing the look of hope in Emily's eyes.

"Don't." Sophia stated sadly. "Don't get too excited."

"Why? Don't you think Naomi's learned her lesson? Hasn't she paid enough already?" Emily pleaded with the brunette, passion filling her voice, as a part of her envisioned a future with the blonde.

"Ems, calm down." Naomi's voice was soft as she placed a hand on the small of her back, trying sooth her. "What did you find out, Sophia."

After another couple of sips of beer, Sophia took a deep breath. "It's not good, Naomi. I can not reverse the curse, it has to play out, and...," she trailed off again, really afraid of how Naomi was going to react. "You have to remember, Naomi...I was young back then and just learning my craft...my mum doesn't practice this kind of magic, so I needed an experts' advice...my grandmother."

"And?"

"She's a bitter old woman. She's hateful and spiteful...she's just...horrible." Sophia was stalling, she knew she was.

Naomi knew she was stalling as well, but instead of losing her patience, she spoke calmly. "What did you find out?" She was dreading the answer.

Sophia looked between Emily and Naomi, knowing that neither one of them were going to be happy with what she had to say, but she couldn't avoid it anymore. She picked up her beer and downed the rest of it, trying to build up her courage, and set the empty bottle on the table.

"There is no such thing as the Children of Gemini. They don't exist, Naomi. I'm so sorry."

Naomi was crushed. Emily could see it clearly written all over her face and the anger she herself suddenly felt was huge.

"What the fuck do you mean, they don exist?" Emily rose up, placing her hands on the table and leaned toward Sophia. "How dare you? How could you do this to her? What gives you the ri-,"

"Emily, stop! She had a reason, we all know that." Naomi paused for a moment, deep in thought. "So...that's it then? There's no way to break the curse without a Child of Gemini, which doesn't exist...fuck, what a mess!" She replied, feeling much older than she was.

"That's not all."

"What else could there possibly be?" Emily rolled her eyes at Sophia, frustrated beyond belief. "You've pretty much done enough!"

"Look, I'm sorry that all of this happened, but you weren't there, alright!" Sophia's own anger finally hit. "I've already apologised to Naomi, and I know I've got no reason to expect forgiveness. I'm not even asking for that! How was I supposed to know that my grandmother would be so cruel? If I had known, I never would have done it!" Sophia was standing now as well, the only thing separating her and Emily was the table between them.

"Enough!" Naomi interjected. "Sit down, both of you!"

Emily and Sophia glared at each other for a few more seconds before doing as Naomi asked.

"So what else is there, Sophia?" Naomi asked.

"Emily's stalker."

"What?" Naomi leaned forward, hoping she misunderstood.

"Mandy? She found me."

And this is where I must leave you beautiful people for now...I know, I know...another cliffhanger...but I'm hoping to have the next chapter posted after the first of the year.

Its just, with Christmas around the corner and I've still got those damn presents to finish...

Please, let me know what you think...good or bad...loved or hated it, seriously guys, your reviews keep me writing, so...

Happy Holidays to you all:) hope you guys have a great time!

love ya,

Marci:-)