Nara sits on the balcony, wrapped in a blanket. She has a cup of tea, which she's trying to warm her hands around, and she's been reading a book she found in the study
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Concentrating hard, Zhilbar began to teleport over; Sam had a very tricky teleport encryption that was tough to manage, but He wasn't considered the sneakiest shifter in ten thousand realities for nothing!
Staggering an arrival at the balcony she liked so much, He stared at her... so different! So Ora still! So... cold! "My dear, are you all right!?" He rushed over to her and clasped His hands around her own as they held the teacup, trying to warm her as best He could with His own inner heat. "Let's get you someplace less chilled!"
"No," she says, looking up at him. He's familiar, but in a frustrating sort of a way that doesn't tell her anything about him. She doesn't pull her hands away -- yet. "I like it out here. The cold is all right. I'm growing used to it. Rodney has said they will try and find a way of making it better."
He rubs her hands slowly with His own, trying to chafe warmth and sensation into them... they seemed far too cold as they were. "What kind of better did they have in mind?" His heart ached to see her as she was, no real clue as to His nature and vulnerable to the elements as He had never seen before. "...How have you been settling in again?"
"I don't know. Warmer." She looks down into her teacup. "I don't like the cold much...but everywhere is cold now. So I ignore it. Or hide." She looks up at him again, tilting her head. "I've settled all right. I have been remembering things...not much, but a little. I went to see my island."
He smiled a little. "The cold and I have never been fast friends either, I'm afraid. Though I would seek to banish as much of it as feasible from you... a roaring fire may not touch the core, but it does tend to take the edge off, no?"
He sighed. "I was just there Myself... Hard to believe that it was in such a state. I had such pleasant memories there, with you. But then, how much have you recalled on your own, so far?"
"You said you went to my garden," Nara corrects him, immediately. "Those are different places." She considers his question for a moment, thoughtfully. "I have remembered...some things. Leela reminded me of herself...her father. I remember them a little. Sam gave me memories of he and I through the ages...I remember the 19th century of his Earth very well. I liked London very much. And today, today someone told me that I have a daughter with you."
"Hmm, perhaps I was unclear. In your gardens, I spoke with you from an island. Rather different, yes?" He chuckled a little, sadness tinging His voice. "Yes, that is true... Our little Galenna comes from the blood of Lord Zhilbar and Laelora-Deigna, who carried Her in Her womb.
"But it was not as Ora I really knew you. I gave you a true name, My lady. I named you Sashan." He watched, wondering just what memories that name might bring back.
"My garden has an island," she recalls. "But it is not what I call my island..." She doesn't get any more detailed than that, trailing off and looking down again.
"My name is Nara now," she says, but she's frowning slightly, memories slipping back with the name. "...Sashan..."
Zhilbar didn't ask for clarification, always aware that she had kept her secrets and respectful of them.
He rubbed and patted her hands to keep circulation alive, wondering to himself 'Nara, then. But what does Nara-that-is now know of Sashan-that-was, I wonder...' The Uprising? The birth of their daughter? The time at the bacchanal, when it seemed that everything fell apart for His hopes with her... He couldn't help but reflect upon how it would have been had He acted otherwise, if the pebble had fallen the other way. 'Nothing more futile than memory of a temptation resisted, indeed.'
"I wanted to marry you," she says, and she sounds surprised. "I had a...a hidden away place. Where I could see what it would've been like." She frowns deeper, trying to clear it in her mind. "Sashan loved you."
"And I love Her." The slightest tremble now, escaping from an iron-controlled voice. "I never stopped, nor will I... Not a day goes by that I don't regret not having Her next to Me, My lady love. I wished you to marry Me, to bear more of My children, to have your light fill My life while I laughed and loved and lived beside you." His voice breaks- "I'm sorry, this is very difficult for Me as well..."
She shivers. "I...think that I would have liked that. It's not easy to remember." She sets aside her tea, folding her hands neatly in her lap. "I don't understand any of this," she confesses, softly. "I don't even remember what I was trying to do that has done this to me. I only know that whatever it was, I failed."
He knelt before her, looking into her eyes as His left hand moved her hair away from her face. "I don't know if any of us do, My dear. I never got the real 'scoop' from you before you set off to do it, and all I ever learned about what happened was Sam telling Me that you were in the Old Kingdom with no way out, then that you had made your way out... That's the extent of what I know about the subject of your disappearance, sadly."
He lowered His head, spoke a little softer then. "I thought I would go insane when I couldn't find you... I pushed Myself to the edge of exhaustion and beyond trying to find your prison. It was no good, though. I failed too."
He snapped His fingers. "So THAT was it!" Looking up, He saw her shiver, and slid His hands up her arms, his considerable heat warming just a little, until His hands graced her shoulders. "Is there any way I could help you get a little warmer, My dear?"
Staggering an arrival at the balcony she liked so much, He stared at her... so different! So Ora still! So... cold! "My dear, are you all right!?" He rushed over to her and clasped His hands around her own as they held the teacup, trying to warm her as best He could with His own inner heat. "Let's get you someplace less chilled!"
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He sighed. "I was just there Myself... Hard to believe that it was in such a state. I had such pleasant memories there, with you. But then, how much have you recalled on your own, so far?"
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"But it was not as Ora I really knew you. I gave you a true name, My lady. I named you Sashan." He watched, wondering just what memories that name might bring back.
Reply
"My name is Nara now," she says, but she's frowning slightly, memories slipping back with the name. "...Sashan..."
Reply
He rubbed and patted her hands to keep circulation alive, wondering to himself 'Nara, then. But what does Nara-that-is now know of Sashan-that-was, I wonder...' The Uprising? The birth of their daughter? The time at the bacchanal, when it seemed that everything fell apart for His hopes with her... He couldn't help but reflect upon how it would have been had He acted otherwise, if the pebble had fallen the other way. 'Nothing more futile than memory of a temptation resisted, indeed.'
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He lowered His head, spoke a little softer then. "I thought I would go insane when I couldn't find you... I pushed Myself to the edge of exhaustion and beyond trying to find your prison. It was no good, though. I failed too."
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