Prism

[DotCom]

She wanted -- wanted more than anything -- to believe him.

There was something he wasn't telling her, Lyra thought. Maybe it was paranoia, or maybe this fear that she would lose him had just consumed her more fully than she thought, but she thought maybe he was keeping something from her. She didn't press it. She trusted him. When he wanted her to know -- if he wanted her to know -- he would share. And it wouldn't be judgment or hatred or fear. No, she could tell he didn't blame her for what happened, and insignificant as it was, it felt like a weight off her shoulders nonetheless. She had known he wouldn't hate her for it, but even to hear the words lifted thre pressure from her chest and she eased into him again, craning her head just slightly to kiss his neck.

But she still couldn't relax, and she hated herself for it.

At his question about her being the Head Keeper, she'd stiffened, equal parts alarm and anger. Alarm -- her face flushing, her mind scrambling for ways to assure him that no, she loved him, she felt that more strongly than anything she'd ever experienced in her life. Anger -- the thought of someone, anyone else with Rask, even someone she loved and trusted, Rora, or Siya, filling her with a sudden desire to hit something.

But his mind had stayed calm in hers, and the moment he leaned down to kiss her, the anger and alarm fled (well, mostly) in a flurry of ecstasy.

She stayed floating in that warm patch of content as she tried to find the truth in his words.

"Some part of me...the logical part, the part that's always in charge -- the part that will pin you in a sparring match every time," she teased, tangerine eyes shining briefly, "that parts knows it's stupid to linger. It happened so long ago, and I never...it's over. I get that. I do. And before you, I could almost have left it alone. But the day you fought with Mori...and the shadows...they brought it back. Coldheart, they called me. It was true. It's always been true. I did was Cofur asked, because he asked it. There was no remorse, no consideration, only...orders. Following orders. And I couldn't help but think..." She paused and looked up at him, half desperate, half wanting to pull away.

"I'm...I'm not good for you, Rask. I don't...I don't want to hurt you. And maybe...if we fix things, if we keep getting better, I won't. But I made that mistake once, and it cost my brother his life. What promise do we have I won't do it again?"

She flushed again and looked away. "I've never been this close to anyone, not even Cofur. I've never been so afraid to mess up. I love you, Rask. I love you so much it hurts." Looking back. "I would die for you. Do you know that? In an instant, in a heartbeat. I would die a hundred thousand times and it still wouldn't be enough. But I don't know how to keep myself from..." She shuddered. "I killed him because he asked me to. And Rask...you remind me so much of him. I know you...you won't...but I could hurt you. I could kill you. And it scares me."

 

[Kaisaan]

"Oh, Crimson..."

Rask looked at her with a mixture of exasperation, love and amusement as he brought his hands up to slide against her neck, holding her loosely there as he brought his forehead to her own with a sigh. "My stubborn, paranoid Keeper, do you truly not understand yet?" He said the words fondly, opening his eyes to smile at her softly, green eyes questioning, steady. "I'm going to show you something and then you will understand why there is no way in all of eternity that you would hurt me, much less kill me."

He didn't give her the time nor the opportunity to speak as he pulled them from the dreamscape and instead took Lyra back into her own mind. He could have shown her his side of what he was about to take her to, but that would not have worked as well, would not make her SEE what he needed her to know. No, he took the Cerebra back into her own mind, the gold shielding the scarlet heavily from the rest of her consciousness, keeping everything at bay as he drew her deeper and deeper into her own head, probably far deeper than Lyra had ever gone herself. Most people didn't dig this deep into their subconsciousness, but if they tried to do it without someone to help pull them back or training they'd be lost anyway.

But Lyra was hardly lost with Rask.

He understood what he was doing and with some careful 'listening' and 'feeling' he even knew where he was going in Lyra's mind as they finally seemed to come to a chamber of soft light and a calm atmosphere even as it buzzed with intensity over their skin for a moment as if it scanned them, a dangerous warning in the light that passed over their bodies if they were not who they were supposed to be.

But they were and the light, the feeling settled again into a purring tranquility, welcoming them as it seemed to guide, to gently press them toward what it guarded so fiercely.

A brilliant column of scarlet and gold, so tightly woven together that it appeared almost more orange than two separate colors. It was impossible to see where one color began, one thread began and ended, always getting lost in the color of the other. More threads, some scarlet and others gold, were feeding into this column that only continued to grow in a beautiful, unbreakable design, like two vines growing strong into the other, unable to be one torn up without damaging the other unto fatality as well.

Just the sight of the thing alone should mean something to Lyra instinctively when she was this far down in her own mind, seeing what she was seeing, what dwelt within her. It should tell her something of just what this Bond meant. And Rask turned to his mate and without a word he raised his hand and brought it around to strike her.

His hand never even reached its destination as he found himself almost being attacked by the gold threads in the chamber, wrapping around him, glowing brightly and ANGRY. They were the tightest, almost seeming to burn, around his wrist and only when Rask relaxed, his intent changed, did they slowly unwrap from him, leaving, wary and still unhappy, and going to Lyra herself, weaving gently around her, soothing and warm before they went to rejoin the scarlet.

Rask smiled at Lyra then, gentle and loving, nothing in his gaze to say he'd wanted to hit her for any reason. And he hadn't, but he'd meant to do it nonetheless and only that to prove a point. "Do you understand, my Cefnarai? I can't hurt you. My own mind won't let me, not even if I do it dispassionately. I can't hurt you and this is just YOUR mind, not even mine." His hand found her cheek then, fingers tender against her skin as he slid them back into her hair, palming her face and his green eyes refusing to release her tangerine.

"How much more would this Bond, would your mind rise in rebellion if you tried to harm me?"

 

[DotCom]

Even without knowing or understanding where they were headed, Lyra felt herself tense as they crossed the threshold into her mind. She wasn't sure there was much left here to hurt them -- small incidents, maybe, after Cofur's death...and that day when she'd given up completely, she didn't want Rask to see that yet -- but she was wary nonetheless.

Rask didn't let anything touch her, and after a few moments, she forced herself to relax, her attention instead captured by their strange surroundings.

She didn't recognize anything, but then she found she didn't really have to ask, either. Eyes wide, she broke from Rask as they reached the chamber where their minds grew into one another like some vast tree standing alone in a meadow untouched by anyone but the gods. There was unmistakable raptness in her gaze as she drew reverently forward, equal parts awed and afraid. It seemed almost to buzz with warmth and life, and some part in the back of her mind whispered she ought to ask before touching.

But instinct overwhelmed duty for the first time in a long time -- though such a thing, she was finding, was not uncommon in the Bond -- and she reached out a hand and pressed her palm flat to one pulsating vein.

Almost at once, several smaller threads of gold broke away from the main twist of scarlet and gold, twining lovingly around her fingers. She started first, then giggled as a feeling of warmth traveled up her arm to swell like a breeze in her chest.

Ecstatic, amazed, she turned to face Rask -- and stopped as he hit her.

Or tried to.

She flinched on instinct, though neither she nor the scarlet made any move to stop him, and that thrilled her, because she knew, then, how deeply she trusted him.

But even greater than that was the reaction of the gold strands in the room. She'd dropped her hand from the column in the center when he'd first swung out, and the tiny gold strange stretched instantly to reach her, only to be soothed into rejoining the column by a few gentle, vigilant scarlet.

But the larger strands that had all but attacked Rask were what had caught her attention. She stared, dumbfound and amazed as he struggled against them, to the point even where she almost wanted to step forward and help -- it was wrong for Rask to be at war with himself -- until she realized what point he was making.

She looked up and around. She could feel a tension in the scarlet strands, as if they were waiting for her to retaliate, as she might have done with any other person but Rask. The waited, coiled and dangerous, for her to attack, and she had no doubt they would not be nearly so passive as Rask's mind had been. Where the gold strands that had come to stop him reached out to her, twining through her hair, around her shoulders to grant a gentle caress on the cheek, the scarlet, too, had been awoken, and appeared to creep forward now as if to create a preemptive barrier between Lyra and the gold.

Indeed, when she stepped forward suddenly to kiss him, the scarlet jumped and surged forward...than quickly away, appeased by the gentle touch of his lips against hers. Lyra smiled against his mouth and stepped away.

"I don't think even my own mind could stop me from being close to you," she said, blushing. "Not...nothing like that." She frowned a little and peered around. "I think it might tear me apart if I tried to hurt you. But not being able to touch you?" She shuddered, and all around her, several strands of scarlet followed suit.

Lyra giggled and pressed forward.

"Thank you for...showing me this. For being so patient. I know I can be..." She trailed off, shrugged, and gestured aimlessly around you. "I don't think I'll ever not be afraid of losing you. But...maybe I can start to trust myself with your safety."

 

[Kaisaan]

Rask knew the moment she understood. He could feel it tangibly in this place and it brought a relief into the gold threads around them, into the very depths of his own mind where a column just like this one resided. It brought a physical relief so strong as well that he knew Lyra would detect it easily and suddenly realize just how tense, on edge and subtly hurting he'd been. It was something they needed to speak of, had needed to speak of for some time, but right now the gold Aavan set the issue aside for just a little while, far more focused on his Bonded.

He smiled at her words, drawing her closer to him still, one arm entwining about her waist and the other reaching up to palm her cheek, his thumb brushing her skin. His words were soft, the gold twining and caressing the scarlet, practically crooning their approval and delight of her acceptance of herself.

It was all he'd wanted for a while now.

"I have trusted you with my safety for some time now, Lyra." Rask told his mate, truth lacing every word as he brought his forehead to her own. "I love you and I shall always fear losing you as well, but such is normal when part of you is wrapped up so tightly in someone else."

The gold Aavan smiled then and his lips moved to brush hers, the lightest of touches that sent ripples of love and pleasure through both their minds, far more intense in this place deep within Lyra's mind. Rask's fingers moved back through the Keeper's rust-colored hair. "And I will always be patient with you when it is what you need. I know how stubborn you can be."

It was clear teasing and his green eyes met her tangerine with a happiness that was pure and bright even as he kept his forehead to her own, the gesture between his people profoundly affectionate, especially between family and mates. His tone took on a bit more of a serious, firmer tone, though he was not upset.

Merely adamant.

"No more self-abuse. Understood?"

He couldn't handle that much longer, not without alerting Lyra to the fact that there was something very acutely different between his strain of Aavan and those that resided in this time. Rask didn't fear telling his Bonded of such a detail, but he did fear WHEN she found out and her state of mind when she did. The last thing he wanted was her blaming herself and if he could establish now that her harming herself with such intense guilt and self-blame was a bad thing, he would feel more prepared to tell her what he needed to.

 

[DotCom]

His kiss, Lyra was realizing, now that neither one of them was in immediate danger of death or insanity, was a strange sensation. Not to say she didn't like it, of course. She would be hard pressed to find any single word -- or ever a number of them -- that suited how she did feel about even touching her orai sol. But the sensation itself was...indescribable, quite frankly. How did one put words to a feeling that made her skin flush and her face burn even as her body shivered and her legs turned to water?

She was just thinking she actually might pass out from the new delirious high, equal parts pleasure and awe...when of course, he began to tease. And she wanted to very much to be put off by it, to scold him for ruining a perfect moment. But she couldn't. Because she loved him for it. She had loved him from the very first time he'd defied her, from the first time he'd beaten her in a sparring match. She could remember so vividly wanting to attack him, to beat him back, to prove she was stronger, better, faster...and more than that, she'd wanted to fight him again. She'd wanted to be close to him, able to hear him breathe and feel him near her. She loved his temper, his wit, his fierce anger, she even loved how protective he was of her, strange and uncomfortable as she found it. There was, she was certain, nothing he could do wrong. She didn't, couldn't, would never understand how he had chosen her. But he had. And she loved him for it.

"If I'm stubborn," she said, trying to sound annoyed, and managing only to giggle when she felt his mind wrap around hers, "it's only because you never seem to know I'm right."

But the smile faded as he extracted the promise from her -- and it was a promise. Stubborn she may be, but she could not defy him. She wasn't sure she'd forgiven herself, quite, but she accepted that he did, and that was a step down the right path.

"Alright," she said quietly, at first unable to look at him. Then, realized that was what he'd want, she stilled herself and met his eyes, green meeting tangerine in a field of gold and scarlet.

"Okay. I...I promise."

 

[Kaisaan]

Rask knew how hard those words were for her to say and he didn't say anything in return, merely bringing the Keeper closer, drawing her mouth lovingly to his own, but with a fierce possessiveness that literally rumbled through his mind and into hers like a growl would start from the chest. She was HIS. He loved her, would protect her, cherished her. The gold Aavan would not see her harmed, not even from her own hand, her own mind. No more than she liked seeing him at war with himself.

The kiss was tender, though, despite the emotions behind it, neither pressing nor timid, lingering until Rask finally drew back with a smirk, green eyes dancing with smug delight at knowing just how his affection affected Lyra. He wasn't ashamed of it in the least and his fingers caressed her cheek and then back through her hair as the gold threads of his mind hummed in contentment, wrapping and twining securely around the scarlet even as Rask's mind gently started tugging them away from this place and back up to the surface.

Blinking back into the real, solid world, the gold Aavan noted first that the time was much later in the day than it had been when he'd arrived. It was no longer morning, but midday and they'd attracted a bit of a crowd, most faces looking worried. News had spread far and fast about ANY Bonds made between Aavan and Cerebrae and next to Mori and Rora, Rask and Lyra were the second-hottest topic within the gossip circles. Their Bond was strange and they were the two Generals of a conjoined army.

People were going to talk.

And now they watched, concerned, curious and among them were the Keepers Lyra had been fighting, perhaps the most vigilant of all the observers as they'd seen everything that had happened firsthand.

Rask ignored them with a cold ease that came from his past life, not his current, and he brought his focus exclusively to Lyra, finding he was holding her the same way here as he'd been mentally. His fingers gently brought her face back to look at his own, knowing without needing to question that she would not like this kind of attention and instinctively bringing her focus back to him. His green eyes met her tangerine, calm and steady, an anchor for every emotion he knew would crash over her as soon as what she'd done and where she was and who was watching sank in.

"Breathe, Lyra." was the first thing the gold Aavan advised and a smile flickered at his lips, his next words for no other purpose than to say them, somehow needing to, longing to just as much as his body constantly longed to feel her touch, no matter how simple.

"I love you."

 

[DotCom]

If feeling his lips against hers was fire, hearing those words from him was rain. It never struck her all at once, and she never saw it coming. One moment, things were sunny skies and the whisper of nature -- the next she was frozen, paralyzed, trembling down to the bone. It was nothing like what she'd ever imagined.

But then Lyra had always loved the rain.

She knew what he thought of the person -- the puddle -- she became when he spoke, whenever he so much as touched her, and it made her blush all the brighter, half annoyance, half outright smitten foolishness, the sort of thing she'd have chided herself for if she didn't love it so much.

And it had indeed been enough to bring her back. She'd followed him back into reality reluctantly, feeling they'd just finally found their balance in the soil of their minds, that she didn't want to jeopardize it by heading back to the complexities of real life. But it wasn't as though she could be without him, or that she even wanted to. Still, the murmurs that alit all around them the moment they were back made her flush with a different set of emotions, embarrassment and anger and guilt, and she'd just opened her mouth to say...she wasn't even sure what, when Rask put a hand to her cheek and she froze again, once more powerless as a newborn under his hand.

She wanted to yell at him for it, but he gave her that smirk, and she forgot how to speak, waiting patiently, helplessly, caught in his gaze.

And when he spoke, she felt her soul soar, and she had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling...though even she was beginning to understand their Bond meant he knew how happy she was, anyway.

"I know," she finally relented, teasing. Then she leaned forward to bury her face in his chest, making no effort to hide her affection for -- and annoyance with -- him. "I love you, too, you arrogant pertinax."

She pulled away just briefly -- mostly to glare at the few spectators who remained now that Lyra and Rask had apparently returned to the world of the living -- and only then recalled just what exactly she'd been doing before Rask had come for her as her body began to exact revenge for its prior abuse.

Lyra made a face, hiding a wince as she sought cover in Rask's arms again. "I wish you'd come an hour earlier," she groaned, now ashamed and annoyed at her own melodrama.

But the thought -- and the singing bruises that littered her body -- gave her an idea, and when she looked up at Rask, her face was once more mottled red, equal parts excitement and shyness.

"Maybe...a trip to the hot springs would help?" she suggested hopefully, though the gleam in her eye hinted -- just barely -- at more.

 

[Kaisaan]

It was his turn to flush.

And Rask did - a deep, dark golden color with just a touch of red to make it all the more noticeable. It crept from his shoulders - and was no doubt under his clothes, too - and up his neck to burn his ears and create a glow over his cheekbones, turning even his scales a darker hue. Perhaps it was an overreaction to the just-barely-there suggestiveness in Lyra's tangerine-colored eyes, but it had awakened - almost instantly - an instinct that the gold Aavan had NEVER felt.

He'd certainly never been prepared for it in his past life and in this present one....well, he knew what it meant, but that didn't count as experience and very abruptly, Rask felt shy for what might have been the first time in his life. His green eyes ducked beneath gold hair, avoiding his Bonded's for a moment as he tried to collect some semblance of control.

Lyra, oh she'd find this amusing, hysterical probably, at first, but if she actually - seriously - caught on to WHY he was so uncertain all the sudden, she wouldn't be laughing anymore.

And that was the last thing Rask wanted. They were in such a good place right now and this.....this was pushing it too far, too fast. Instinct or no, it was too much for even him and the gold Aavan inwardly pushed away the newly awakened - and very interested - desire that coursed through the feral part of his mind.

Well, there really was no doubt now just what category this Bond fell in to.

Green eyes finally looked up into the tangerine that were no doubt watching him closely and Rask really, really wished the blush wound fade from his skin, but it was going slowly, at its own pace and he couldn't rush it. Instead he ran a hand through his long hair almost nervously, but smiled just a little at his mate, unable to help it.

"I would like that." The words were quiet and then Rask seemed to almost panic. "To make you feel better! That---it, um...the water, it will....uh...h-help!"

Green eyes shut with a low growl echoing through his mind even if not through his throat and Rask sighed even as his skin flushed even brighter. Stars above! What was wrong with him!?

 

[DotCom]

His initial reaction caught her so far off guard, Lyra found herself backpedaling desperately, afraid she'd said or done something wrong, afraid she'd hurt him again, and for just a moment, all the guilt threatened to come pouring back.

"What?" she asked. "What is it? What?" Then, when he didn't answer right away, she was looking around, worry gone in place of a sudden, crushing anger. Someone had stolen their hard-won peace, and exhausted or not, she would --

It was only when she realized that feeling she'd become so accustomed to -- that breathless, flushing wonder that overwhelmed her every time Rask so much as spoke her name -- was not hers, but his she realized what was wrong. And she turned back to him abruptly, face blank with surprise.

She watched in dumb shock as a pale pink tint crawled from around his throat to disappear into his hairline. She blinked once, realized what was happening...then dissolved into helpless, barely withheld giggles.

"Oh, my orai sol," she tutted, and she let herself fall forward, out of the protective crouch she'd taken, standing on her toes to brace her elbows on his shoulders, her fingers toying with his hair as she drew him down to her level to kiss him, offering comfort, while simultaneously reveling in that childish glee of subtle vengeance.

She stayed their, her arms around his neck, her lips pressed against his, for as long as she could manage before her lungs began to plead for air, and then she pulled away without letting him break gaze. There was a funny feeling in her stomach. A part of it was that same breathless feeling, like she'd just missed a step and was clutching for support. A greater part she recognized as that bone-deep need to protect Rask, to keep him safe from anything that would harm him. She could not understand what about this moment made her want to spirit him away to some place untouched by so much as the light of day. But it did.

When the feeling had passed and she could smile at him without giggling or blushing herself, she tilted her head to look up at him, curious and adoring all at once.

"I'm only teasing, Rask. I can almost guarantee to I'll be asleep within five minutes of us getting there." She looked around at the dwindling crowds and frowned. "Besides, we could use some time alone, even if it is just here in the real world." She studied him a moment longer, and her eyes softened. She only just resisted the urge to kiss him again, instead offering a hand.

"Come, orai sol. I won't bite. I promise."

 

[Kaisaan]

The kiss didn't help. It didn't help his self-control at all as his arms found her waist and the gold Aavan drew Lyra far closer still, drinking her in completely.

But the comfort and even amusement that Lyra offered DID help and Rask found that while his heart sped up in exhilaration, his body was relaxing into her hold and a purring kind of growl pervaded his mind at her touch. He knew this was how he made her feel every time he kissed her, but until this moment, he'd not understood intimately, but his own experience, what that was like.

A mind-kiss was different. It held too much of everything to simply be so focused on the physical aspect of the kiss. Until now, he and Lyra had not kissed in this manner, with this kind of passion in the real world. Only in their heads. It was different, so very different in a way he could not accurately describe, waking the wildness within him in a manner he'd never thought possible.

It both terrified and excited him, but Rask was grateful that neither emotion had to be addressed right now as his Bonded's emotions, her love and teasing, adoration and comfort, assurance washed over him, tempering the fire that had stirred and instead giving him focus as her words flowed and curled through the gold threads that wrapped so possessively around the scarlet.

His green eyes smiled back into her tangerine and he took his mate's hand, spots of color burning at his cheekbones again at her last words. Rask's eyes narrowed slightly, but he couldn't find it within himself to be truly annoyed with her, merely exasperated with himself, embarrassed and amused at her reaction.

"Brat." He said the simple word with all the affection in the world, the softening, gentleness in her eyes molding his own mood to match...even if she truly was a brat. But then again...

He supposed he did deserve it after all the teasing he'd given her.

The thought made the gold Aavan smile even as he shifted, the gold threads of his mind offering reassurance to the scarlet that instantly questioned the action. All was well. He simply wanted to get to their destination faster and without gawking eyes. Mindful of her bruises and scrapes, her exhaustion, Rask's tail coiled gently around the Keeper, carefully depositing her on his back, waiting until she was settled before he flared his wings and took off, escaping those who watched them.

And his own conflicting emotions.

In this form, his feral nature was stronger, but not in the same way. He could not kiss Lyra this way, could not be tempted this way and it provided him the opportunity to gain some balance again before they landed.

The hot springs were at the edges of the forest, stretching on for miles out onto the open plains, but also into the treeline, great pools of steaming, hissing water that varied in temperature. It all depended on where the pool was located and how deep the water went to touch the hot crust of the planet. Safe places for Cerebrae, safe pools had been marked out and it was to some of those that Rask landed near. He alighted with a light touch and looked to his back, nudging Lyra gently with his nose, noting that she'd nearly dozed off.

It warmed him in an entirely gentler way and the gold Aavan crooned softly in her head. "Lyra, come my Crimson, you need to soak for a time."

 

[DotCom]

She'd never thought much of her name until she'd heard Rask say it for the first time after he told her her loved her. And then it had gone from her name to a prayer, a song, some reverent blessing to be spoken only by deities beyond her greatest imagining. And somehow, he'd turned the word 'brat' into that same powerful spell, the single word sparking goosebumps all over her skin, making her shiver in an almost indulgent pleasure. She beamed at him, the crowds around them momentarily forgotten as he promised to take her from here, and she thought in that moment she would fight the world for him.

The journey to the springs wasn't far, but she'd found she could almost feel his heart beating if she lay down close enough, her cheek pressed against the golden warmth of his scales, her hair arced around her head, the rust shining on a golden field. She hadn't meant to doze, but she was tired, and beyond that, so completely content to know he was there with her. He was not screaming. He was not being tortured under the weight of two lives, under the training those...monsters had imposed. And while the thought of what he had suffered still made her want to rip something apart, she found she could just as easily deflect the rage by smoothing a hand over his scales, remembering he was, one way or another, there with her, and whole, and safe, and she loved him far, far more than she could say.

Even so, for all her boastful words and teasing, when it came time to actually climb into the spring, Lyra found herself blushing all over again, eventually deciding on stripping down to the long shift she wore, casting aside soft boots and leggings to sink into the warm water with a wince and a sigh.

She looked back at Rask, a mischievous smile on her face, but when she met his gaze, the desire to teasing disolved and she could only gaze at him, lovesick as a feverish child.

She folded her arms beneath her chin at the edge of the pool, waiting for him to settle or sit or climb in beside her, content so long as he was happy.

"We could stay here, you know," she said dreamily, the heat of the springs already fogging her mind. Her cheeks were pink with pleasure and warmth. "We could stay here and never go back to the city. I think they'd be alright now, the others. Even Asesee. Even the twins."

She paused, chewed her lip, then tried again.

"I know...you feel compelled, obligated to..." She shrugged. "You've just given so much already. To everyone. They...they don't even know what you've done for them. Rora and Mori. Asesee. Tac." She frowned. "They'll never know."

 

[Kaisaan]

Rask, for all he'd teased her in the past, averted his large green eyes when she undressed, not looking back again until his mate was submerged. The gold threads of his mind curled around the scarlet, reassuring that he was here, staying, that they could relax in the love sent to them even as Rask himself moved closer to the pool and his large body settled near the edge. His large head lowered to the ground, resting with his muzzle against the earth, amid the steam as his nose nearly touched Lyra's arms. He sighed out, a great gust of warm wind that stirred her hair as he relaxed and his golden tail dipped into the water, the very picture of a content predator.

A smile was reflected in his green gaze, in the slight curl of his mouth over his fangs at Lyra's words and Rask brought his tail around to wrap securely, but loosely around her waist, making sure that even if she stopped swimming, the Keeper wouldn't sink, safe with him. The tip of said tail had been twitching against her stomach, not a conscious action but more like the movement a half-asleep cat made, but it stilled as Lyra went on and Rask's mind, having been growing sluggish, now became more alert.

It had been the mention of the twins that had caused it and now the gold Aavan listened carefully to his mate, hoping terribly that she was not about to say something that would threaten to tear him in two.

She was everything to him. Lyra was the air in his lungs and the blood that traveled to his heart, she was life and love, joy and meaning. She was his very soul and he never wanted to part from her, to upset her, to harm her. Never. But the twins....they were his duty. They were the future. They were the saving grace of his species, Lyra's species and perhaps for the first time in history, whether past, present or future....duty ranked equal to a Bond in an Aavan's mind.

Rask knew it wasn't wise, wasn't safe and the chances of it harming him were far greater than his chances of success....but what was done had been done. He could no more abandon the twins than he could his own heart....and yet, Lyra held his soul. And the only thing he could do was pray and hope, plead for them to work together, to not make him choose.

Lyra wasn't forcing that, though. Not yet.

And maybe if he could make her see just how bad it would be if she ever did want him to choose, she would never attempt it.

The gold Aavan blew out again heavily and his nose, his scales touched Lyra's cheek, her hair as his voice rumbled through her mind. "They might know, someday, but that doesn't matter to me, Lyra. Whether they know or not, as long as the twins are safe, I don't care about being acknowledged." He meant the words, but went quiet, needing to say more, but hesitating, not entirely sure HOW to explain. It wasn't a simple thing and the last reaction Rask wanted was for Lyra to think she'd done something wrong. This wasn't anything of the sort. Finally he did get the right words out, though.

"It is not a compulsion or an obligation, Crimson. It's....it's instinctive. It's a need. I need to protect them just as I need you, just as badly as I need you. I can't...I can't choose." Large, pleading green eyes looked to the Keeper then, a shadow passing through them that Rask could not control, a haunted expression that would take years to dampen.

"Please. Please, don't make me choose."

It would tear him apart and in that moment, Rask told Lyra without even words, just how very different from the Aavan around him he was. Not only did he have better control over his shifts, but the Aavan in the future had evolved in their Bonds as well, though, not all those changes had been beneficial. Such as feeling each others' pain. The injuries Lyra had sustained, if he let his guard down, Rask could feel them, did feel them as the most constant of aches. But it was the mental pain, hurt, grief, guilt, hate that truly felt like a battering ram to the gold Aavan.

It would literally make him ill over time. To know that Lyra was hurting herself or upset and angry with him was to become sick, and to get steadily worse over time. If she were to leave with the intent of not coming back or even just to punish - and Rask would later be ashamed to realize his mind still thought that way - he'd be in agony.

There was a reason they'd made the Programs and in most cases it was to try and give an Aavan a peaceful death.

If Lyra were to make him choose between herself or the twins....Rask knew he'd be luckier if death took him first. He could not bear his mate being upset with him, distancing herself, angry and hurt.....but in the same breath, he could not let danger touch the twins. He could not let the future happen as it had.

He could not choose.

 

[DotCom]

It took her a moment to realize he was sharing something with her, not with words, but in impressions, and feelings, and she frowned a little, forcing herself to focus on the meaning of the thoughts.

When Lyra began to understand, she shivered, despite the warmth of the water, and sank lower in the hot spring, until Rask's tail stopped her going any lower.

But she didn't say anything. She didn't panic. And she made every effort she could afford not to berate herself over it. Because she had promised him she would -- and now she understood why.

As usual, she wanted nothing more than to soothe his pain, his worry, his discomfort, but when panic reared at the back of her mind, when that small voice she'd become so accustomed to began to whisper everything she'd done wrong...she ignored it. For the first time in a long time, Lyra the Keeper emerged, level-headed and rational, quickly, quietly explaining the futility of guilt. Lyra would feel worse. Rask would feel worse. The situation would not be improved, and in fact, they would only drag each other down, effectively nullifying the peace and happiness they'd fought so hard to earn for each other.

No, this was not the place to rebuke herself. And she could see, even, she'd done nothing wrong, per se. Perhaps she should never have been so hard on herself in the first place. But this, now, she'd been given a clean slate, and knowing what she knew -- even without her promise to Rask -- she knew she could not begin to slide back into that dark place. Neither one of them could handle anymore of that.

So, when he finished speaking, and the wave of horror that had come with his words passed over her, she nodded slowly, sadly, but calmly, and reached out a hand to lay atop his muzzle, content with that contact. Her mind offered soothing comfort, promises of love and devotion, despite where his duty took him.

Without breaking her gaze, she leaned into his muzzle at her cheek, her other hand brushing his tail beneath the water, lending equal parts affection and comfort. She turned her head to kiss his snout and stared into one large, green eye.

"I love you," she said first, calmly, because she knew he needed, wanted to hear it, even if he knew it already. "I love you more than...more than anything. More than I am a Keeper, a Cerebrae. More than I hate those...people for what they did to you. Far, far more than I can understand or say. I love you more than I want to run away from the world sometimes. So, no. I won't make you choose, orai sol. I can't. I couldn't bear what it would do to you."

She brought her other hand up from the water, dripping, and laid it atop his muzzle, stroking gently before placing a hand along either side of his jaw, smiling faintly at how strange and how oddly wonderful it was to be so dwarfed by him -- and still only a fraction as large as he loomed in her mind, in her life.

"I am not...bound to Rora's children as you are. To be very honest, I've never been very close with children. But you, Rask, are my love and my duty. If they are your life, then they are mine, too. Rest assured. There will be no choosing. If someone means ever to harm the twins, they will need to go through me first."

She held his gaze a moment longer, her gaze earnest, almost desperate in its sincerity.

"Do you understand, love? I love you. Every part of you. If that includes the children of Kaloranis and the Maiden, then so be it. I love you. I can learn to love them, too."

 

[Kaisaan]

At the first touch of her hand, Rask was soothed completely, for in that touch was acceptance, was love and loyalty, there was understanding. He drank it in without reservation and was almost puzzled at himself for it. He needed Lyra, yes, but while he'd spent thirty years growing up in hell, he'd also spent thirty growing up in love. Why then, did bad years seem to make him so desperate? Was it because for the thirty good years he'd not known of the bad? He'd not known just how MUCH that other side wanted approval and love, to comforted and touched? Had it not been enough, what his new family had given him?

Or was it a combination of that and Lyra herself?

He longed to feel her touch, though, the feeling was not purely born of desire. More often than not, it wasn't about that at all. But it WAS a constant need, almost an ache within the gold Aavan. Her fingers in his hair, a brush to his cheek, patterns on his skin, her in his arms, it all brought him a contentment, a wholeness, a joy he couldn't yet truly process but craved.

It spoke to him far louder than any words could and perhaps it also explained why he'd grown to sick in her absence, why he'd reacted so violently when she'd hit him.

However, it would also explain why now Rask instantly relaxed even before Lyra spoke. Her words cemented what he already knew and a crooning purr flowed through his mind and into hers, wrapping happily, gratefully around the scarlet that sought so hard to protect him. Always vigilant, his Crimson. And he loved her for it.

Rask didn't answer the Keeper immediately as his form slowly started to shift down. It was a much smaller version of himself who nodded in understanding and leaned into Lyra's touch, green eyes closing for a moment in purr bliss at the contact before opening again with a smile. Rask slipped into the pool then and his arms came around Lyra, HIS Keeper as his forehead met her own.

"Thank you."

Two words and yet they conveyed far more than he could ever say.

 

[DotCom]

For three days immediately following the birth, Rora lived in a cottony haze of exhaustion and ecstasy. She lost track of time, hours and minutes, nights and days. She wasn't sure how much time she spent sleeping, and how much she spent simply staring at her children. She said nothing to anyone, save Mori, and even then, she spoke less in words and more in distracted impressions. She lost track of everything and everyone that wasn't within her immediate family. If it wasn't Mori or one of her daughters, for those three days, it didn't exist.

She was vaguely aware she was still somewhere near the delivery room. Yenna and Siya and the delivery team had insisted on keeping Rora and the twins under watch for at least a week after the birth, to meet any complications with mother or child head on. Rora, for her part, had simply refused to go anywhere with her mate. Part of it was some slight measure of paranoia and overeager protectiveness, perhaps brought on by exhaustion and hormones. A greater part was complete and utter content. Whatever part of her remained that was not wholly dedicated to her mate and her children understood Rora had never felt so wonderfully right in all her life.

The recovery was a slow enough process, but she was largely unaware. There was some fatigue and a mild fever that persisted the first few days, and ever once in a while an errant cramp would put Rora in as foul a mood as she could manage when she was holding her children. Aside from that, she slept when she was made to, and ate when Mori reminded her. The entirety of her conscious mind, though, was with the twins.

She could waste hours at a stretch just lying on her side, watching Tai or her sister sleep. Occasionally, she would put out a hand, eyes wide with a wonder that never seemed to die, a run a gentle finger across a wingtip, or down a tail. She'd discovered she unexpected appendages upon waking up the morning after the delivery -- a solid twelve hours after almost everyone else in the city, though she did know that yet. There had been concerns, for the children and the mother, the sort that were only surfacing now that the babies had been delivered. What would they eat? How would they live? Were they Aavan or Cerebrae, or both, or neither? Tai had scales dark, iridescent scales -- soft and warm to the touch, though whether that was natural, or just a factor of her young age, none could say -- on her face and shoulders, with two dark, soft wings sprouting clumsily from her back. Rora forever worried the child would roll over and break one, or that the soft, leathery fabric would be torn. She allowed none of the non-Aavan healers to so much as hold Tai, and would only take her younger daughter herself if Mori settled her in her arms. And the unnamed twin, with the strange and striking eyes, whose tail Rora fretted over constantly, with her hair that was simultaneously dark and light, and a thin line of scales down her tiny spine.

Rora's life had narrowed to bedrest, and Mori, and studying her daughters, awed and amazed that anything so beautiful and so perfect could ever belong, even in part, to her.

It was the second day the delivery team had wanted to weigh the children, monitor changes in skin, scales, tails, and wings, reinforce a diet that would feed both species. Rora only vaguely remembered it. One moment, she was holding her young nameless daughter, the both of them half asleep, tracing fingers through a tuft of black-white hair. The next someone -- Siya, she found out later -- was talking to her. She put a hand out toward the little one, and Rora hadn't even thought. There had been no consideration, logical or otherwise. She saw a hand that was not Mori's coming for her daughter, and she had simply reacted.

She didn't know until later she'd broken Siya's arm without so much as having broken a sweat. Tai had started fussing almost immediately, and Rora had been distracted once more.

Mori hadn't been allowed to leave after that.

But the fever broke two days later, and Rora slowly began to return to a less hazy, more focused state of mind...though she could still spend hours just staring at one of the twins.

Friends and family had arrived in force to see the new babies, and Rora was unabashedly nervous. She hadn't gotten a chance to apologize to Siya yet, and while she knew none of her friends would intentionally -- or even unintentionally -- hurt the twins, she idea of handing them off still made her anxious.

"I think we should wait," she said abruptly, leaning over Tai, who beamed up at her mother, reaching for chubby fistfuls of dark hair. She'd only just started actually speaking to Mori again, and her voice was a little hoarse, but she giggled down at her daughter as Tai giggled back up at her.

"Not forever," said Rora, her voice once again taking on that dreamy tone of one not even aware of what they were saying. She tapped Tai on the nose and was rewarded with a peal of laughter that made Rora shiver with delight. "Just until they're older. Mid twenties, maybe..."

 

[Kaisaan]

The new parents had a week to themselves in total, nothing but each other and their little girls. They were taken care of, but visitors were not allowed and they were left to recuperate, to get used to having two babies and to adjust to their new life. Mostly the four slept when they weren't up at all hours of the night. It seemed all they did was eat, change diapers, soothe babies and nod off while talking.

But it was good, so very good. It was normal and wonderful. It was peaceful.

Mori found he'd never been happier and even small hiccups could not change that. He didn't mind that his mate did not speak, that she seemed to be in her own world. He'd seen many new mothers do such among his own kind and he could feel her mind, knew her heart. She was happy. Rora was so incredibly happy and content that he wasn't worried about how she was functioning. She was healthy. She was a new mother. She didn't need to be functioning as she normally did, not yet.

Her state didn't alarm him, even when she lashed out at Siya or anyone else. No, he merely apologized for their pain and fright, but made it clear what they'd done wrong and how better to approach in the future. He wasn't blaming his mate for anything at this point. If she felt threatened, if she thought her babies were in danger then she had right to react as she did. Her hormones were raging

And her words now made him laugh softly, coming over with the yet unnamed twin in his arms, his free one wrapping around Rora's waist. Mori looked down at Tai with her and smiled at the baby before he kissed Rora's temple. It was good to hear her voice again.

"Little rainbow, you know that's not going to work." he teased her softly, reaching down to touch Tai's small fingers with one of his own, growling playfully at her as she continued to giggle, loving the attention of her mother and father. The little one in his arms was still sleeping and Mori glanced down at her with adoration before he touched Rora's cheek, bringing her wonderful green eyes around to look into his violet. There was love there, but also a fierce protectiveness. "They will be fine. I promise."

A smile flitted across his face. "And besides, are you truly going to keep my mother from seeing her first grandchildren?"

Mori already knew the answer and he waited for Rora to pick Tai up before wrapping his arm back around her waist, the blue threads of his mind joining, twining, and caressing the violet, comforting and offering calm assurance. The twins were meeting their family. They could be in no safer environment.

--

Emerging back into the real world, into sunlight and nature was just as refreshing as seeing familiar faces was to Mori. They'd come out to a private courtyard garden that overlooked the city. And only those closest to Mori and Rora had been invited, and they truly were family to the twins.

Their aunts, whether through mating or adoption; Siya, Yenna, Lyra, Asesee and their uncles, Tac, Rask, Rogan. Their grandparents were there, too, Sumilah, Anesa and Cas. There were so many faces to greet them, so many smiles and exclamations of happiness as everyone gathered close, albeit a bit cautiously, not wanting to overwhelm.

Anesa was the first to come forward, the only one not highly alert to what Mori or Rora might do. She'd been a mother before, knew the hormones, but she knew she had nothing to fear as she represented no kind of threat. And she had her grandbabies in her sight. Nothing was going to stop her from cooing over them in absolute delight.

And such was what the red-blue Aavan did, coming close with a beaming smile and a half-hug to her son first and then a gentle kiss to Rora's forehead next, softly congratulating them before she turned her violet eyes to her second-born granddaughter. Violet eyes met those of the same shade and Anesa felt her heart melt before she looked to Rora again, speaking softly with happy tears in her eyes as she connected with Rora's mind gently.

"Oh, Rora, may I hold her?"

--

While Anesa had gone to Rora and Tai first, Yenna and Tac had gone to Mori and the unnamed baby. The red Aavan smiled at his younger brother before looking to the child with a fondness already present, but both he and Yenna were a bit more reserved about their greeting. Not for lack of joy in seeing the twins and seeing Rora and Mori, but such was their nature. It would be a great while before they had children, both of them knew that instinctively. Tac and Yenna were more dedicated to their work and existing family than to a future one at this point.

So while they congratulated and sang the twin's praises - for they were beautiful children - they willingly made room for Asesee and Cas when the two came over. It was to Cas that Mori first passed his eldest daughter to and he watched with great vigilance, but no fear or true worry as his father held up the small infant, studying her as she woke and opened her startling eyes to study him.

Asesee gasped in awed amazement to the child's coloring - who had ever seen one blue eye and one red? - but her grandfather took it in a stride and nodded rather solemnly to the young on that looked back at him in quiet.

"You have a very important future, young one."

Asesee chuckled and shook her head to the older gold Aavan. "Don't go putting so much pressure on her so young, father." she teased, though, deep within, the female knew what her elder spoke was true. Still, when Cas merely kept looking at the child for a long moment, she did not say anything further, but felt relief when he finally smiled and pulled the little one in closer, letting her grasp one of his fingers before he looked to his son.

"She's beautiful. They both are."

Mori practically beamed, a proud father, but a son as well, seeking the approval of those he loved.

 

[DotCom]

Mori did what he had always done, calming with a word, a touch, and when they stepped outside, Rora felt love and adoration and awe from her family and friends roll over her, brighter and warmer than the sunlight. It was so overwhelming, she at first gasped aloud, then abruptly felt her eyes begin to prickle with tears. She huffed an aside to Mori, a little annoyed, mostly elated.

"I thought I was done with crying over everything!"

And their loved ones were upon them. Anesa found Rora first, and Rora beamed back at her mate's mother, every bit as overjoyed and relieved to see her as the first time they'd met. It was strange to think of everything that had happened in their time apart -- she could hardly remember the last time she'd seen Mori's parents, though she could still feel Anesa's part fear and sadness like a prong in her belly. And she was proud, so proud, that their trip back to the Matriarch's city had ended not only in peace between their people, but in two young grandchildren for the Aavan family to behold.

Even so, Rora felt her heart clench a bit when Anesa asked to hold Tai. She knew she would not, and could not keep the child from her first grandchild, but as she nodded tearfully and passed over her daughter -- she shared her grandmother's eyes, too -- there was a faint twinge of longing, an early separation anxiety, an intense flare of possessive desperation...and then joy, and pride as she felt Anesa's love and awe wash over her granddaughter. Rora's daughter.

She beamed, holding her breath so as not to sob, watching Anesa with Tai, who giggled and reached out to touch her grandmother's face, an impossibly friendly baby, Rora had told Mori. When she looked up, she saw Sumilah approaching with a sort of reverent awe, and felt her smile grow even wider.

She drew forward, hand extend to her own adoptive mother, and retreated back to Anesa's side.

"Sumilah, this is Anesa'laVena. Anesa is -- "

Sumilah held up a hand, still beaming down at Tai, cooing as the child cooed back. "A mother knows a mother, Aurora," Sumilah said quietly, finally looking away from Tai to embrace her daughter. "And you are a mother now yourself. I am so proud of you, Rora dear."

Rora nodded, then swallowed a little nervously, still watching Anesa with the baby. "Her name...the baby's name, it's Tai. Tairisa."

Sumilah looked sharply from Tai to Rora and back again, her expression going from one of shock, to painful nostalgia, to teary-eyed gratefulness before finally breaking into a smile, and then Rora couldn't help but sob. She hugged her mother, then looped an arm around Sumilah's waist and Anesa's, and stood there between them while Sumilah shook with silent tears.

--

Siya hung back with Lyra and Rask. Rogan was there was well, though in the last few days, he'd been so close, she tended not to count him when she -- when they -- went places. Not that she could forget he was there. He had an uncanny ability at making her both very aware, and very content with his presence.

She was happy to see her friends finally up and about, and even happier to see Rora beginning to gain more of a level head again. Her arm rested against her belly, still tender and swollen, though the Healers had fixed the break quickly enough. And in truth, some part of her -- as per usual -- had been fascinated by Rora's effortless, and apparently unheeded reaction...though that part was smaller than usual, to make room for the pain of it. Siya had been a Prodigy all her life. It was normal, even respectable for Keepers like Lyra to sustain broken bones. For Siya, it was shocking, unexpected. A learning experience for which she'd been grateful...but only a little bit.

Indeed, she hadn't even realized how badly she was hurt until she'd left the room. Rogan had come to find her swaying slightly, trying not to vomit from the pain of the break. For such an intelligent Cerebra, it seemed she had little pain tolerance. This, too, had fascinated her.

"Siya?" Rogan had said, immediately confused, then concerned. "By the goddess, what happened?"

"Mm?" Siya's voice had been strained, but she still had the look on her face that meant she was planning some private experiment. Rogan's brown eyes grew a little harder. "Oh, nothing. I startled Rora."

"Rora did this?" he'd demanded, and his tone had called her attention, because she didn't think she'd ever seen Rogan angry before. For whatever reason, all thoughts of fascination and pain left her mind as she turned to face him, broken arm forgotten.

"Yes, and if you try and confront her, she'll ignore you at best," Siya warned. "If Rora's hackles are up, then so are Mori's, and I don't think she'll try and stop him from anything, Rogan. I'm...fine."

Rogan stared over her head, toward the room where new parents cooed over new babies. On his face was an expression Siya had never seen before. She reached up with her good arm, laid a hand alongside his cheek. His expression changed at once and he looked down at her, surprised and worried all over again.

"Rogan. I'm fine."

He watched her for a moment, then sighed, the tension going out of his shoulders. "No. You're not," he said simply, and put out a large hand to brace her when she swayed again.

Siya shook her head, eyes closed. "I'm just a little...nauseas..."

"Because she's broken your arm. C'mon, then. Let's get you to the Healers." And he'd scooped her up and walked off, completely oblivious to the way Siya had gone pink under her purple skintone.

Now, she stood back, watching Rora smile and laugh, equal part bemused and, of course, fascinated. There was so much more she had to study about the Matron patterns Rora had adopted, and the way the Aavan DNA had changed her, but --

But Rogan elbowed her.

"Perhaps we ought to try again now that she's a bit tamer?"

Siya grinned wryly. "Be my guest."

The two went slowly, cautiously, to Rora, Anesa, Sumilah, and Tai, leaving only Lyra and Rask behind.

She leaned heavily into him, content just to watch the family with their new members, but knowing, feeling Rask would want more.

She turned and planted a gentle kiss on his bicep.

"So? What are you waiting for?"

 

[Kaisaan]

Rask smiled just a bit at Lyra's touch, her kiss, but he remained where he was, never looking away from the scene before him. His hand had found Lyra's, though, and he kept hold of it securely even as his body accepted her own, letting her use him as a support without any protest. They were drastically different just a week later than anyone would have ever guessed they could be and to anyone who had known what they were like in the past, it was astounding the changes.

The gold Aavan didn't pay great heed to what others thought, though. Only Lyra. If she was happy, then so was he, no matter what that meant.

Right now, though, his focus was split between her - and Lyra was gratefully calm, steady within his mind - and the twins. But still he'd not moved and now Rask shook his head a bit, voice quiet even in her head. "Not yet. I can't explain it, but I'll know when to move."

--

Anesa wore a soft smile as she held her granddaughter in one arm and her other raised to smooth Rora's hair. She didn't entirely understand the significance of the name Tairisa had been given. She did not know everything that had befallen her son and his mate, but she knew sadness and joy mingling when she saw it, and the red-blue Aavan merely accepted it.

And when the tears slowed and the smiles were more happy than sad, she very willingly handed Tai gently to Sumilah for indeed, she recognized another mother as well and could guess instantly who this older Cerebrae was to Rora. Once the child was in the hands of her maternal grandmother, Anesa turned to Rora and gently pulled her into a hug, making sure she never lost sight of her baby even as she felt the older Aavan's embrace and the comfort in it, the acceptance and love.

"Her name is beautiful, Rora." she assured the new mother before pulling back with a smile and wiping the young Cerebra's tears away with a mother's touch. "Now, no more unhappy tears." Anesa teased lightly before she gave her daughter-in-law another gentle squeeze and then set her sights on the grandchild she'd yet to greet. With a last smile, she departed briefly from the new mother to find the new father, her son.

Cas passed the little girl into her arms willingly and Mori allowed it, smiling at his mother with soft affection in his eyes that brought more moisture to her own to see. Her youngest baby, now with babies of his own. It was enough to make her heart want to burst and to keep the tears from spilling over - even as Cas touched her shoulder in understanding only a mate could give before he moved to meet Tai, Asesee following - she looked down into the vivid, startling eyes of her eldest granddaughter.

It was clear to her in a moment that this baby was much different from her sister, though, not badly so. She was quiet where Tai was giggly, solemn where her sister was cooing at everyone, studying and strangely calm while Tai was smiling and a joy, spreading that happiness. And yet this baby did not spread unhappiness, rather she made one pause for a moment, taking in the details of her face and expression. She quieted the mind even as she herself was quiet and Anesa found herself smiling softly, but with an almost puzzled feeling. It did not temper the love she felt for this twin at all, only gave it another element.

Mori instantly sensed it and moved forward a step, the wariness of a father stirring in him, but he didn't truly see a threat in his mother and Anesa looked up at him as she heard, felt his movement.

"Does she have a name?"

"Kohe'Erana."

Rask's connection, his mental voice, spread out like a ripple and Mori's head snapped up, his violet eyes alighting on his brother whom he'd not seen since before Rora had given birth. He could instantly sense the difference in his brother, something in the tone of his voice, something that had started to become clear to him the moment Rask had stopped Rora's labor. The black Aavan just couldn't pinpoint WHAT the change was, but it made him very alert and watchful as Rask finally stepped forward and Mori did the same, a bit warningly for reasons even he could not define. The gold Aavan didn't seem bothered by it, though, simply stopping again.

"What did you say?" It was nearly growled, but Rask didn't look at Mori or Rora, his eyes on the baby in Anesa's arms, a smile in his eyes. "Kohe'Erana Stormborn. Koheera. Those are her names."

Mori's mind was working furiously trying to translate that meaning -and reeling that his brother would know that name 'Stormborn' before they'd told anyone - and when he finally understood it, confusion rippled through him. "Guardian of Time without End? Why-?"

Green eyes looked up then, piercing him with an intensity Mori could not remember Rask possessing in quite this way. "Akatikari. Time Keeper. The elder twin. And Rekuhisha. Spirit Reviver. Tai'risNya. Did those mean nothing to you?" Rask had approached Anesa then and when he reached out to touch the child, Mori didn't stop him, not sure what he was sensing, but it wasn't danger to his twins. No, far from it. Rask had done nothing but protect the two from the start. There was no danger.

But there was something in he way he looked at his daughter now - in the way he knew things he should NOT know, like 'Stormborn' and Tairisa's Aavanian name - that Mori could not figure out. He would almost say it was familiarity born of a long relationship and....hope. Yes, there was hope in those green eyes as Rask's fingers touched the baby's own and those mismatched eyes found the gold Aavan.

Rask sucked in sharply to see them, confusion and then amazed understanding coming to him as he breathed his words mentally, not meant for anyone but the child before him and his Bonded whom he trusted above all others. "You. It was you." Memory flashed, so old he'd nearly forgotten it, thinking it merely a fevered dream. But now, here were those unique eyes he'd seen and over there in Sumilah's arms was the aura of the presence he'd felt. As a teen, suffering and despairing, desperate and at the cusp of giving up...they'd been there. Two young girls, one exuding an incredible calm, a power that radiated from her in waves and the other like the brightness of the sun, peace and comfort flowing from her without effort.

He'd met them before and Rask felt tears trail down his face knowing it, a smile spreading fully across his face as the baby in Anesa's arms finally smiled as well as if she understood completely. And Rask repeated again his words, much more softly this time, far more firmly.

"Kohe'Erana. That is her name."

 

[DotCom]

Rora felt the change in Mori -- and both her girls -- the same time she heard Rask speak a name she knew to be right and wrong at the same time. Right, because the moment she heard it, she knew the elder twin could be named nothing else. She did not know the meaning, and did not care. It fit with the rigid rightness of a key sliding into a lock. Her second daughter was named, and she was relieved.

Wrong, because the name had not come from Mori or herself, or the girls, nor had it come with any real invitation. Wrong because Rask had once more proven to have a far greater knowledge of her children -- her children! -- than was right, than what even she had, and it unnerved and unsettled her. A strange combination of jealousy and fierce, possessive anger swept over her, and she turned with Tai still cooing in her arms, not yet noticing Tai, too, had quieted -- slightly.

Rask was questioning Mori now, the girls' many names and titles on her tongue as though he had known them his whole life, and Rora started forward, uncertain of what she was going to do or say.

It was Lyra who stopped her, her voice calm and gentle, almost understanding -- though there was a hint of warning in her eyes that threatened to spark Rora's temper.

"It's alright," Lyra said, as soothingly as she could manage. "He won't harm them, Rora. He just...you need to trust me. Or trust Mori. Or them." Lyra nodded at Tai, who now stared up at her mother with an unmistakable expression of baffled joy -- because everything the violet-eyed newborn did was done in joy, even now when Rora strongly suspected the infant was redoubling her own empathic abilities.

It was enough for Rora to forget her fear and frustration for a time, absently offering a finger for Tai to play with. Her younger daughter threw up chubby fists in victory and promptly latched onto Rora's thumb, and the Emapth laughed, her concerns not quite forgotten, but soothed.

She stood alongside Mori, watching Rask warily, but patiently, as something she did not understand, or even hear passed between him and the unnamed daughter -- Kohe, she was called now.

Lyra stood at Rask's side, only half understanding what had occurred, slightly alarmed at the sudden change in him, though she relaxed when he felt joy and gratefulness. She could not say for certain what he spoke of, though she could guess. Had Rask -- or Ras'K? met Rora's daughters in the future? Or the past? It did not seem possible, but then much had seemed impossible just a few short weeks ago.

Whatever the case, Rask was exuding such an air of grateful adoration, even Lyra felt swayed, and when Kohe beamed up at her uncle, Lyra had to return the smile.

And the moment her older daughter grinned, Rora's unease drifted away.

"She is Kohe, then. Koheera." The Empath stepped around Lyra, who tensed just briefly, before deciding the new mother wouldn't try anything this close to her children, anyway, particularly not with one still resting against her bosom.

And indeed, Rora's mind was elsewhere as she looked down at her newly named daughter, suddenly feeling as if that final piece had fallen into place. In her arms, Tai broke the moment of silence with a sudden, delighted giggle at hearing her twin's name for the first time, and Rora could not help but smile.

"Yes, little one," she said, touching the scales on Tai's dimpled cheek as she leant over to nuzzle little Kohe. "You are the beginning of a new chapter."

 

[Kaisaan]

----------

Some were calling it the Year of Peace. Others said it was the Year of Hope, but ultimately, the records would jot it down as the year of New Change for that was what it was; change. Everything changed; from the way the Aavan were treated, to the way the cities were rebuilt. Change came between species and in hearts.

They rebuilt.

That was the focus on all minds for only in rebuilding would they learn from each other, would they thrive in this new world before them. The biggest cities got the most overhaul as streets and buildings were built to grand scales to accommodate Aavan who would dwell within them. Great efforts went into the joint union as Cerebrae builders and earth-gifted Aavan worked together with caution and yet great excitement to accomplish what no others had done before them.

And the cities they created were breathtaking.

The real challenges, though, came with leadership and with inter-species relations. A hundred years of slavery did not absolve itself in a few months, and wouldn't for a few years, but the seeds of a new beginning, a better one, were being planted. It was rather quickly that the Elders of the Aavan, the Matriarch of the Cerebrae along with the Shaman and The Council all came together to negotiate lands, rights, resources and knowledge.

It was quickly agreed that the Southern Jungle and the Red Mountains beyond would belong solely to the Aavan. The latter was their ancestral home and the former provided more than enough food for them at the numbers they currently sustained. Now that trade and travel would become free to both species, food and other essentials were not going to be so difficult to come by for either Aavan or Cerebrae. It was agreed upon that the Cerebrae would be allowed every city they'd set up, most on the plains and the Northern Jungle that was too unpredictable in its weather for an Aavan to live there safely anyway. It was not so much that territories changed in the end as it was that rules were set up in place for travel, trade and the safety of both species within the land and company of the other.

Laws of punishment were much more shaky and often argued over for their cultures differed severely in this regard and each species knew that it would be a problem in the future for it had still not been decided by the end of that first year and crimes and the punishment for them up to that date had been difficult to handle already.

To help prevent the crimes at all, however, both parties agreed that a team had to be set up that consisted of both Aavan and Cerebrae, people who got alone and worked well together. This was a new world, a new age, a new way. They needed those younger, less prejudiced and with fresh ideas to lead them into true peace. So it was natural that Mori and Rora found themselves at the top of such a list, in charge of it and answering to no one but the United Council itself - and often overruling them when their wisdom exceeded the elders of their own races. Siya, Rogan, Yenna and Tac created the rest of the division and Rask and Lyra kept their own positions as the Generals of the United Army. Their enemies were few now, but lawkeepers they still were and even with the astounding work the Peace Division accomplished between Aavan and Cerebrae, crimes still happened.

Grudges were still kept on both ends.

To help end this, to create understanding, the Prodigies and mostly purple Aavan were set up to start recording history, to gain knowledge of each other and to spread that knowledge among their peoples. Aavanian culture was studied, Cerebrae culture was learned. The hope was to ensure that when the two species thought about one another, they did not simple see a former slave or a former master, but a culture rich with diversity as well as similarities. This Records Division was also assigned and given authority to outlaw Aavan cages, drugs and research, and were given a small faction of Keepers under their command to enforce this new, and strict, law.

It was greatly needed as Bonds were starting to spring up everywhere, in little clusters of two or three at a time, and it was Mori and Rora who set up places where those newly Bonded or struggling could go to learn from those further along in their Bond, where they could learn each other's history, how a Cerebrae thought versus how an Aavan did and the changes that would come over both. The last thing that was needed were people trying to go back to the old ways during this crucial period.

And it was a very cautious, curious, rocky, wonderful age to be alive. They were making a new future, understanding the past and only time would tell what history would say about them.

They would strive to make it a bright story.