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Part 3. [done]
IP: 76.28.225.70
Posted on March 17, 2014 at 00:55:35 AM by BIRCH

"I do, which is exactly why" - Ahlkai swept her up into a dance, ignoring her laughing protests. - "I say we lock the doors, hide out in the bedroom, and..." His voice lowered to a seductive whisper, earning a laugh and a light punch from Birch.

"And disappoint Papa? Not a chance, as tempting as that may be."

"Mama?" Roo's voice made them start, looking as guilty as teenagers caught necking in the forest. Seeing their expressions, Roo shook her head at them both and laughed. "You two behave yourselves, or I'll send your grandbabies in to make sure of it." - Both Birch and Ahlkai looked more delighted than disappointed at the prospect, but Roo continued on. - "Mama, there's a man here. He says he's an old friend of yours?"

Birch and Alhkai traded confused frowns before, with a shrug, Birch extracted herself from her husband's arms and stepped outside after Roo. There, in the clearing, was...

"T... Torram?"

"Birch!" the boy, who was no longer a boy at all, shouted. He hugged her tight against him and Birch, after a moment of hesitation, hugged him back. "I've come to tell you something."

"What is it, Tor?" Birch asked. She glanced over her shoulder, found her family looking worried. It was then, in that fragile moment, that she realized something terrible: if the family had never fallen, if her akkide had never died out, there would have been no reason for her to meet Tor's ancestor. There would not have been a life in which the two of them had known one another, which meant...

"It's time to come home, Birch," Torram murmured. His tone was gentle, his eyes sad.

"But, I..." Birch turned again, glanced over her shoulder. Found her family, all but Ahlkai, fading. "No! No, Torram, I don't want to!"

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Birch, but you must," Torram said gently. "I need you, Shaman needs you."

"I don't care!" Birch cried. Her eyes were filling with tears and there was nothing, nothing she could do to stop them. The home behind Ahlkai - indeed, the entire village - was fading now, more quickly than before. "I don't want to go, please, Torram, please don't make me!"

And then Ahlkai's arms were around her, his lips were at her cheek. "Don't cry, my love. We'll find each other again."

"H-how? When? I lived my whole life without you, I can't-" Birch was sobbing now, nearly incoherent, but Ahlkai stifled her words with his mouth. The kiss was soft, sweet, and lingering, but when they parted she saw him becoming more transparent, phasing out.

"I'll see you again, Birch, sooner than you may think. And this time," the proud male's eyes sparkled with unshed tears as he touched her cheek. "It will be your turn to remind me."

And he was gone. In his place stood the portal, opened once more after all these years. Feeling a hundred years old, weak and emotionally broken, Birch was far slower in exiting the garden than she had been entering it. As she crawled, the years fell away and she returned to Shaman mere minutes after she departed.

"What did you see, Birch?" Torram asked. The boy's face was pale and drawn as if he too had experienced something difficult within his garden. Birch stumbled into his arms, her muscular frame shaking as she cried. Torram, at a loss, patted her back awkwardly. Birch never cried, not ever! Rochambeau, at her side, looked heartbroken as he wound his way around her feet, trying to think of a way to cheer her up. Eventually, the three parted. Birch clutched her familiar to her chest and, still sobbing softly, headed for home.


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