J2_Everafter Fic: "In another lifetime together ", Jared/Jensen, PG-13
Fic title: "In another lifetime together "
Author: the_milky_way
Genre: RPS, AU
Pairing: Jared/Jensen
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: ~ 5600
Warnings/Spoilers: none
Beta: Many thanks to A for beta services and the suggestions.
Disclaimer: This story is fictional (not real, didn't happen). Not true in any way. I don't own anything.
Summary: Jared really hates this day.
He not only lost his city but had to surrender his home to Persians, had to watch his sister being taken as a war price and last but not least lost the one thing he’s supposed to guard with his life.
Notes: This was written for the 2012/3013 round of j2_everafter and is loosely based on the movie "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time".
I had a different idea in mind when I claimed the prompt but it all kind of ran away from me and ended up being told from a different POV than I had intended. But it worked way better this way, at least writing-wise... for me anyway.
Title taken from Blue - "Paradies"
He grunts when he’s shoved behind the line of guards facing the door. He’s not a small man and the fact that he lets himself be shoved shows how the fight has already taken its toll on him. It hasn’t been going on that long, but trying to get his sister to safety and things away from the prying eyes of the invaders took time.
And there were soldiers - invaders - along the way he had to fight. He’s a good fighter but even he has to admit defeat when there are too many men storming his way.
The palace around him is frantic. The last line of guards tries to hold the invading army back, try to protect him and Danneel hiding away in the last unoccupied chamber. But he knows it’s too late. The city is lost to them and there’s nothing they can do now but surrender.
Fear grips his chest and he turns towards his sister, looking for advice, for guidance. But she’s already retreated behind her wall of royal indifference, isn’t even looking at him. It shouldn’t surprise him as much as it does, Danneel has always been better at dealing with severe situations.
If this wasn’t a sever situation he doesn’t know what would count as one.
The noise inside the palace moves closer to where they are hiding.
People shout, cry out in pain, things shatter and he’s sure he can hear bones break as well.
The doors rattle with the first wave of invaders trying to enter; wood splinters and shouts get louder with each board that gives.
He’s frozen where he stands, though. Not moving, suddenly exhausted and body caught in a strange sort of paralysis. His guards won’t let him move anyway.
And then they are inside.
Persian soldiers, loud and dirty, blood on their hands and sand on their shoes. The room’s soiled within seconds, dirt everywhere - and he doesn’t even regret including every single Persian in that word.
They have no business being here. The city is not theirs to take. It’s his to defend but not theirs to conquer. Only the Gods should decide about what belongs to whom. Still, they’re here with all their might and power, taking and leaving destruction in their wake.
This is not how it’s supposed to go.
He’s reaching for the dagger, instinctively and cursing himself for even doing so. Then he remembers sit’s not there anymore. Hasn’t been for a good thirty minutes.
He prays for the dagger to be safe. Still feels uncomfortable with the fact that he had to hand it over to keep it safe - but at that time he thought it idea sending it away. Or rather Danneel insisted on it being a good idea. Now, he’s not so sure anymore.
He stands there, in the middle of the room and watches as his sister lies down on the floor, praying, whispering curses that only a few people really understand. He doesn’t move a single finger to get close to her.
Persians are crowding around her, watching with wide eyes and not a few of them are actually leering. He feels sick just having to look at them. He’s called them filth more than once and he’s just a little regretting being proven right in his view of them.
They all probably just want to see if the legend is true and his sister’s beauty is real.
He almost snorts, disgusted with such blatant display of sexism. He’s willing to call for some respect if this goes on any longer and doesn’t care much for his own safety. Feeling useless, helpless even, is not something he likes and wants to endure for any longer than he has to.
Still, in this moment he might actually be the worst guardian in history. Not knowing where the dagger is or how to help his sister, his city is probably one of the worst states of mind he’s ever experienced.
The invader draw closer when Danneel doesn’t move, just lies there and mumbles words unknown to them. He can see it in their eyes what they want to do, how they want to grab her, drag her up and just look.
His own guards look at her as if she’s something not from this world. He’s got the legend to thank for that.
See, the thing is, everyone thinks it’s his sister - with the legend being of a girl and all that. And it’s always being told like this, never altered or considered to be subject of change.
Well, Danneel and him are twins and he’s older. The God’s very own joke as it seems but he inherited everything. He’s the guardian. It’s his destiny, his sole purpose to protect the dagger, the sand of time and the whole of the world.
Not much pressure to carry around. It’s not really working in his favor right now.
Then suddenly, the princes are there. All three of them. Dirty, as the rest of their men. Loud, two of them roaring in triumph - and so damn victorious that he can’t help but sneer.
Until he really looks.
His breath catches and he hates himself for looking at one of them for a bit too long. It’s not staring, not in the least but it’s a second too long and he knows it, feels it in his bones even. The time is the worst for feeling like this and he’s not willing to get distracted by simply looking at another man.
Not to mention that this could be the worst possible choice ever in his entire life. And he’s made some very questionable choices already, just ask Danneel.
Instead of letting himself get caught up in the moment he straightens, schools his face and hopes it portrays the mask cold blankness he’s going for. He tries hard not to smirk when several of the invaders shrink back and become more cautious.
‘Damn right, they should be,’ he thinks with a little more than just simple satisfaction.
Danneel is dragged up to her feet, defiance clear on her face, her strength visible in every slow movement, every baleful look she casts. He loves her and he hopes she won’t do something stupid that might cost them their lives.
Like the move she does then, sliding down and holding a knife to one of the princes’ throat. He almost rolls his eyes, because that’s exactly what he was thinking about.
His muscles are coiled, ready to move and protect everything he has left of his family.
Something is glinting, something in the corner of the room and his heart stops. No, it can’t be. He sent it off. It’s supposed to be safe and not in the palace anymore. It’s not supposed to be here.
“Jared!”
It’s a shout that sounds more like a hiss, not a real warning but something close.
He doesn’t realize that he’s moving until he’s in front of the man. The very same man he looked a little too long at just a moment ago. The dagger, his destiny, is stuck in the man’s waistband - oh the irony. He can’t help it though, reaches out to take it back. It’s his to protect, his to keep safe. No one but him is supposed to keep it close or to even touch it like this. No one.
“Jared?”
Danneel’s behind, questioning, warning him but he doesn’t know what to say now, how to explain why he’s standing there, this close and staring.
The man, the prince, is watching him with curious eyes.
The other two are talking low and way too calm, in the voices of victors. He hears the words but doesn’t process them until Danneel hisses indignant and furious. When he looks at her she’s calm, blank mask on her face and no one would know how scared, how furious she really is. But he knows her, sees the twitch at the corner of her eye and how her shoulders are tense, so tense that it hurts him to look at her.
The dagger is so close, so damn close and he has to stay close to it if he wants it to be safe. Then the princes’ words really register and he will not let them take Danneel for anything, not even for the sake of an entire empire.
“Take me,” he says and blinks at his own words.
The prince in front of him blinks as well.
And suddenly there’s a cocky grin directed towards him he just knows he’ll hate.
“Take you in marriage?” The prince asks and the grin gets even cockier.
Laughter roars around him. Heat shoots up into his cheeks and he knows it’s visible.
Marriage? They’d been speaking about taking Danneel as a hostage. But then he’d been mostly solely focused on the dagger and on how to get it back. Of course, he missed the crucial part during his dagger induced freak out.
Marriage, a political one of course. They, too, think Danneel is the one with power. His family has never tried to dissuade people of the notion. He should feel insulted that people think him so useless, so powerless but mostly it’s a blessing. If… well, if he’s not offering himself up as a token and has to clarify his own worth.
“As a token. If you will. As long as you have me, no one here will do anything. And you wouldn’t have to rush things - like marriage. Danneel will be safe here as well.”
He knows he’s giving too much away, doesn’t have a good reason for them to take him instead of her. Green eyes flash, the cocky grin turns into something more predatory and fear settles into his chest with a clarity he never thought possible in situations like this one.
Nothing, absolutely nothing feels under control right now and he thinks it’s a bad idea to even try and offer himself up like this. There’s no reason for them to take him, no worth other than having a hostage they don’t think powerful enough to use as a bargain. Then again, a bargain for what? They already took the city. And they probably are able to subdue it long enough not to have a rebellion on their hands too soon.
Danneel seems to think so as well.
“No, Jared. I’ll go with them. I’ll do it. It’s okay.”
And somehow that settles it.
Only, it doesn’t.
“We’ll take you both. I’m curious about you,” the prince in front of him says and earns himself another round of raucous laughter.
His brothers seem to have expected that, he can see them roll their eyes and shake their heads. They don’t stop him though when the prince drags him away from the room his sister is still captured in.
One look back and he knows Danneel will be able to hold her own.
And that’s how he ends up as Prince Jensen’s war trophy at the end of the day.
Damn those Persians.
***
Then things kind of get out of hand.
Fast. Very fast.
In ways he’d never expected or even anticipated.
Jared really hates this day.
He not only lost his city but had to surrender his home to Persians, had to watch his sister being taken as a war price and last but not least lost the one thing he’s supposed to guard with his life.
Only, it’s not really lost. It’s close. So damn close and he only has to find a way to take possession of it again. He’s not willing to let his destiny be held in the hands of someone else, of someone who doesn’t even know what he’s holding.
He swears he’ll get his hands on it and if it’s the last thing he does.
Not his finest day to date.
But then, Jared isn’t sure what the worst thing is, losing everything he’s fought his entire life for or being on the run with a Persian Prince.
‘Being on the run with Persian Prince’ his mind supplies very helpfully every time he even tires thinking about it.
Being on the run certainly offers interesting features, not to mention a prince that doesn’t really deserve the title when one takes his manners into consideration.
Jared has been called a spoiled little princess more than once today. He has been forced to ride on a horse that is wilder than any creature he’s ever seen. Oh and right now, he’s also in the middle of the desert hiding from the King’s troops and Prince Jensen’s brothers.
Because the whole Empire now thinks Jensen killed the King.
Which he probably didn’t do but Jared can’t be too sure about that. He doesn’t really know Jensen after all.
Everyone also seems to think that Jared’s the spy who helped Jensen kill the King. Where they got that idiotic idea from he doesn’t know. But it doesn’t help with his plan to get the dagger back and free Danneel from the clutches of the dirty Persians.
Jared thinks that he probably should stop thinking in clichés and stereotypes. He’s probably just as dirty now and he doesn’t think they are that different from each other. Jared would do almost anything to protect Danneel, the dagger and his own destiny. He can imagine that sons will do the same for their father and their empire.
Still, he doesn’t think he deserves the torture he’s being subjected to. All he did was stare a little and then try to get the dagger back. It wasn’t that bad and really doesn’t justify the way he’s being punished or how Jensen is treating him.
Also, they can’t seem to go one minute without arguing or bickering.
It should get on his nerves, seeing as everything else Jensen does is driving him mad - but it surprisingly doesn’t. That kind of scares Jared a little. What scares him even more is how much he actually enjoys riling Jensen up.
He still tries to get the dagger back the first chance he gets - during night camp.
A minute later Jared finds himself face down in the sand, arm painfully trapped between his back and Jensen’s broad chest.
Jared dully thinks that he probably shouldn’t have gone with the seduction rouse here but he had seen Jensen looking. More than once even. And it seemed to be a good opportunity to get his hands on the dagger.
He spits sand out and wriggles a little to get free again. He knows how to and it shouldn’t be this difficult.
“Do that one more time and I’ll kill you.”
Jared freezes. Sudden and with his whole body, stops breathing for a second, too.
Not because of the voice or of how close Jensen suddenly is, bringing his weight down on top of Jared. No, it’s the words that let the air get stuck in his throat and make his heart skip a painful beat.
“Dammit. God… No. Please. Tell me you didn’t.”
Jared’s on his back faster than he can blink and comes face to face with a very irritated looking Persian prince. It’s not a position he’d wished for but it’s better than having his face pressed into the desert sand.
It’s also a very interesting position. But he’s not going there. Not ever again considering how these thoughts let him to try to seduction route and made him fail spectacularly, too.
“What is this? Tell me. Now.”
And Jared does even though he knows he shouldn’t. He’s not really clear on why he tells Jensen or on why it feels right to do so. Jensen’s not the right person to tell secrets like this one to but Jared can’t and doesn’t want to care.
He doesn’t tell everything, though. Never everything, not when he can prevent it.
Jensen experienced the sand and that’s what Jared tells him. There’s no reason to tell more anyway. Jensen doesn’t need to know what it means to Jared, how the dagger has always influenced his life.
He tells Jensen about the sand of time, how it moves you back in time and how the dagger is an instrument. He tells Jensen that there isn’t any more sand in the dagger. Jensen used it all.
For a second Jared thinks it’s enough, that Jensen will believe him. Then Jensen just looks, blinks and gets up. The movements are slow but graceful, silent and majestic. Jensen doesn’t say a word, looks up into the night sky and seems to fight with himself weather to ask or not.
When Jensen settles down again and just looks at Jared, Jared knows the prince will ask soon. But not tonight.
The rest of the story - the rest of Jared’s destiny - will be told at a different time. When it’s more important.
In this moment, with Jensen sitting there and letting things go, Jared suddenly feels okay with being where he is. It’s not peaceful but quiet enough that he can settle down for the moment and take in the silence he hasn’t had in far too long.
The quietness doesn’t last long. It never does.
Jared falls asleep, shivering in the cool desert air with thoughts about the destruction of the world. Dreams that follow are full of what it’s and of lives that could be but probably never will be.
It’s worse than nightmares.
****
The gang of bandits is a surprise. So are the ostriches and how Jared is the one helping them escape. The ostriches as well as Jensen and himself.
Everything is an adventure then, one that Jared doesn’t think about, can’t really even he tried to. It’s an adventure he thinks he won’t see the end of. It’s not like he’s morbid or suicidal. But even he can be realistic sometimes and their chances aren’t really look all that good.
Neither Jensen nor he has any idea how to get back to the King’s city or how to help Jensen prove his innocence.
They are on the run and neither of them knows if they’ll reach their destination.
The thing that surprises Jared the most is how much he actually likes being close to Jensen. After the initial dislike about being conquered and invade - and his mind sniggers at him constantly when he think about that - they’ve settle into a routine that consist of arguing about everything and saving each other’s lives.
Thinking about maybe not seeing Jensen anymore or having him get caught by the King’s men - it feels wrong and Jared’s pretty sure he has started to care too much about where Jensen will end up and what might happen to him.
The sandstorm around them is loud, almost deafening. Jared hates it, always has. It’s the prospect of being hidden under tons of sand with no way out that makes him anxious. Jensen hasn’t made a single joke about it either, which Jared appreciates but which makes him even more anxious at the same time. Jensen not joking about something means the situation is severe.
Jared’s had way too many of those recently. And how he got used to Jensen’s jokes and cockiness in such a short time is a little beyond him.
Jared ends up plastered against Jensen underneath their shelter, shivering for very different reasons and Jensen doesn’t move away. It’s then, during a sandstorm so forceful that Jared has to think back years to remember something similar that Jared finally tells the rest of the story.
The legend is first. Words on his tongue, almost whispered but Jensen hears them nonetheless. A legend about a girl begging the Gods to spare humankind. A legend, a story, about how the mighty sandstorm has been trapped inside an hourglass, hidden away underneath his city.
The hourglass protected by the Guardian, the girl who asked for mercy and her descendants, never to be let unguarded or unprotected. Jared lets the words flow and paint a picture, tells Jensen how dagger can be filled again and how it only lets you go back a minute. How more would destroy it and along with it the hourglass.
Destroying it will mean setting free the still raging sandstorm, taking humankind with it, destroying everything in its wake.
Jared doesn’t know why he tells Jensen everything then and there. Just knows that Jensen deserves to know, somehow even needs to know. Why? Jared has no idea. Only feels that Jensen is a good man, the right man to tell this story to. Knows he has been feeling this way for a while now, that it has been growing inside of him ever since he’s been forced to Jensen’s side.
It tells him that he can trust this man not to seek the power associated with the sand. It tells him that he can trust Jensen with his life.
And that, that scares him way more than all the other feelings swirling around inside of him. In the end Jared also tells Jensen how everyone assumes it’s Danneel who is the Guardian.
The storm’s raging, the horse is fidgeting next to them and suddenly Jared can’t look at Jensen anymore. They are too close, he wants to move and can’t. It’s frustrating.
“But it’s you, isn’t it? The Guardian.”
“Yeah.”
“Huh. I thought you were her bodyguard. But… you… you‘re her brother. Guess I wasn’t too far off with calling you a princess, Prince Jared,” Jensen says with a slight smirk, more a smile than anything and it lacks the cockiness that has been there all those other times before.
Jared decides that he likes this Jensen.
Jensen stays close to him all night, pressed shoulder to shoulder and never moving away.
Life gets even more turbulent after that storm.
How they end up in the King’s city during the King’s burial is way beyond Jared. He doesn’t want to really think about that journey and really has a hard time coming to terms with everything going on.
Then he finally gets his hand on the dagger - can exchange it while Jensen is occupied getting them into the city undetected. When Jared sees Jensen’s uncle he knows he has to hide. An aura of mistrust, of darkness surrounds the man. It means nothing good and he wants Jensen away from that man, wants Jensen out of the city as fast as possible.
Even thinks about warning Jensen, is already about to do so when he catches a glimpse of Jensen’s brother and silently slides around the corner. Jared is gone before the first arrow flies and hopes that Jensen makes it out alive. Jared feels damn guilty for leaving Jensen behind but he has to protect the dagger first, has to get it back to the temple and into safety.
He hopes Jensen will understand it, won’t hate Jared for doing what he’s supposed to do. He hopes Jensen will forgive him.
***
Jared should have known that he won’t make it too far.
Jensen is cunning after all and very adept at surviving the most impossible situations. Jared has seen him run over rooftops and climb walls as if they aren’t any obstacle at all. Jared has watched him in the King’s city and maybe is a little proud of Jensen for catching up this fast.
Jensen catches up with him before Jared has even made a respectable distance from the city. Jared’s not so proud of himself for letting himself get caught this fast. He is a soldier and a trained Guardian after all. Not a damsel in distress. It’s not really flattering for his skills.
Jensen doesn’t seem mad though, more understanding and exhausted than anything else. It surprises Jared a little but then not at all. Not when Jensen tells him about the burned hands and how his uncle had been too far away from the poisoned king to have been helping with the rescue.
It’s a clue and Jensen’s eyes darken when he realizes what it means.
“My uncle gave the coat to my brother. He wanted my father dead. But why?”
It’s then that Jensen tells the story of the king and his brother on the hunt. The king’s brother saving the king’s life. Jared looks at Jensen then, keeps silent and sees the exact second Jensen gets it.
“Dammit. It was him all along. There were no weapons in your city. It was all just a rouse to get us to attack. It was the dagger and the hour glass. He wants to go this far back in time, to change it all and not rescue my father.”
Jared’s breath catches in his chest and he feels himself shudder. Just the thought of someone trying such a thing makes him ache deep inside, makes him fear for Jensen, for Danneel and the future. Not for himself, though. He knows what his destiny is, what he has to do.
“Jensen. If he does it. If he forces the dagger into the hourglass and presses the gemstone… It will crack the hourglass. The sand will be let out and it will destroy everything. Humanity will pay for your uncle’s insanity. I need to get the dagger to the temple. It’s a safe place. Get it back into the stone it came from. No one but my linage can get it out.”
Jensen looks at him then, there’s something in his eyes Jared can’t grasp, something deep and scary but not in a bad way. Then Jensen nods.
“We’ll get you there.”
And they do.
***
Only to find themselves in the company of the same gang of bandits that made them entertainment during ostrich races. The prospect of gold from the temple could is the convincing argument in the end that makes them help instead of kill Jensen and him.
The killing though is still on. This time for all of them.
Assassins. Send by Jensen’s uncle as it seemed.
It’s not a good day.
For either of them.
Jared loses the dagger again and Jensen loses one of his brothers.
The future looks bleak and their plan on how to change it is a suicide commando. Jared doesn’t mind at all.
The way Jensen grins at him when he agrees to it is worth him dying over it. Jared’s not sure when it all happened and when he changed his mind. But it sure didn’t take him too long going from hating the Persian prince, to liking him a little and then skipping a step and falling for him.
It happened along the way, when Jensen fought for his life maybe or when he listened to Jared tell a legend that can only end badly or maybe when he willingly agreed to vouch with his life for the chance to get Jared where he needed to be.
Jared doesn’t know and he doesn’t really care anyway. All he knows is that Jensen’s there fighting at his side and he’s not sure when it shifted but is sort of really happy that it did shift.
But on their way back to Jared’s city only one thought has enough power to settle inside his whirling mind.
For some reason Jared knows it won’t last.
Not in this life, not in this time.
***
And he’s right.
Their friends die.
Jensen’s second brother, the king now, dies as well but not before he finally believes that Jensen has been telling the truth all along.
Jensen’s uncle finds the hour glass. And Jared sees his life rushing past. He sees it all in the sand and knows he has failed. Jensen is there, getting out of the way of falling walls, of the world breaking down around them.
Jared has failed and he doesn’t have a chance righting his wrongs. He doesn’t get the chance to tell Jensen how infuriating the other man can be and how Jared maybe even loves this a little about him.
He doesn’t get any kind of chance to do more than watch.
And he watches the world fall apart.
Danneel is on his mind then, how he didn’t get to see her one last time. His parents, how he misses them now more than ever. His friends and how he’s lost them all.
Then Jensen. A man, Jared wishes he had the chance to get to know because he knows, just knows they’d be good together.
The last assassin falls.
Killed by his own poison and Jared tries not to feel smug about the way he showed the bastard how to do it.
Jensen is there then. In front of Jared. There’s that cocky smile Jared doesn’t like at all and secretly loves seeing anyway.
Jensen is close.
Jensen’s lips are on his and then it’s pure desperation. It’s nothing Jared has ever felt and regret settles deep inside of him. It’s the wrong time. The wrong place really.
It’s all wrong, only Jensen being there with him is so right it hurts.
Jensen’s uncle plunges the dagger in, first into Jensen then into the hourglass.
And then they are falling, sliding down away from where they should be. The hourglass keeps getting smaller and smaller, getting away from them and it’s not right. Jared suddenly knows he’s not the one supposed to stop it all. It’s not him.
Jensen can make it, Jared knows.
So he lets go, slowly and painfully. Watches Jensen strain against it, not giving up, blood dripping down from the knife wound in his shoulder. But Jared sees the dagger protruding the glass and chokes in desperation.
“Let me go Jensen. It was never my destiny. But it’s yours. You can save us. Let me go.”
“No. No, Jared. Dammit, you goddamn spoiled princess,” Jensen yells, tears in his eyes and Jared is falling. It’s not fast or slow. There is no perception of speed anymore. He is just falling.
And then the world ends.
Time ends.
Everything ends.
***
The guards are frantic and try to prevent the intruders from entering the room.
Danneel is as stoic as ever and doesn’t bat an eye.
Jared’s fidgeting because something feels off about it. Something isn’t right here, something doesn’t belong but he doesn’t know what it is, can’t put his finger on it. It’s a very weird case of deja-vu and it makes him anxious.
His heart beats harder when the sounds of the fighting comes closer to the chamber they are hiding in. He straightens up, makes himself as tall as possible and steps in front of Danneel. It’s like he knows that this will make a difference.
Jared just doesn’t understand why he knows this.
Then they are there.
The Persian Princes, the enemy that invaded without reason. And Jared braces himself for the confrontation he just knows will take place now. It’s so clear on his mind that he blinks when everything just stops.
Everything just stops.
The confrontation doesn’t happen.
Instead the prince apologizes, claims false information and Jared suddenly knows what he has witnessed earlier.
The two men fighting in the yard, it had been one of the princes and maybe the spy.
False information. That is unexpected.
The oldest prince apologizes to Danneel, looks at her as if he’s mesmerized and Danneel doesn’t seem to mind. It hasn’t happened before and Jared finds it interesting and watches. Danneel has never even slightly interested in anything else but keeping up appearances and protecting what’s their destiny.
He watches until Prince Jensen steps forward.
Jared doesn’t know why, though. Everything seems settled.
There’s something in those green eyes that tells Jared it will be a long story to tell and that he’ll make Jensen tell it. He’s so sure about it, that he almost misses what happens next. Jensen is offering apologies as well but to Jared and not Danneel.
The crowd gasps and Jared does, too. No one really knows. Just a few people and Prince Jensen just comes and knows? How did that happen? Why does it feel even more like a deja-vu? Jared’s confused, scared even and he can see that Jensen knows it, too.
“Prince Jared. I can’t give you your city back as it is free off now. And I don’t want to offer something as an apology but merely hand something back that already belongs to you.”
Then Jensen is on his knees and offers the dagger to Jared.
The room is silent, deathly so and Jared can’t move.
When he touches the dagger it’s like a current is crawling up his arm and he takes a deep breath. There are flashes, images he can’t place and suddenly knows are from another life. There are words and stories from a different life - lived as well, not his but his all the same.
“Jensen?”
He sees Danneel roll her eyes and Jensen’s brothers smirking out of the corner of his eye but he can’t and doesn’t want to care. Not when he knows that this is important. Not when he has a man he instantly thought of as gorgeous and kind on his knees in front of him offering him his destiny.
Jensen’s eyes are bright, flashing even and Jared just knows that Jensen has lived the life he just saw in glimpses. Jared knows that this Jensen will be by his side no matter what.
“I’m looking forward to getting to know you Prince Jensen,” Jared says with a knowing smile and Jensen grins.
And Jared feels like he missed this smirk even though he has never seen it before.
Later, in the inner yard, Jensen will tell him everything, for now just knowing that things might turn out well, is enough for Jared.
He has his entire life in front of him.
And Jensen will be there.
The end
Author: the_milky_way
Genre: RPS, AU
Pairing: Jared/Jensen
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: ~ 5600
Warnings/Spoilers: none
Beta: Many thanks to A for beta services and the suggestions.
Disclaimer: This story is fictional (not real, didn't happen). Not true in any way. I don't own anything.
Summary: Jared really hates this day.
He not only lost his city but had to surrender his home to Persians, had to watch his sister being taken as a war price and last but not least lost the one thing he’s supposed to guard with his life.
Notes: This was written for the 2012/3013 round of j2_everafter and is loosely based on the movie "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time".
I had a different idea in mind when I claimed the prompt but it all kind of ran away from me and ended up being told from a different POV than I had intended. But it worked way better this way, at least writing-wise... for me anyway.
Title taken from Blue - "Paradies"
He grunts when he’s shoved behind the line of guards facing the door. He’s not a small man and the fact that he lets himself be shoved shows how the fight has already taken its toll on him. It hasn’t been going on that long, but trying to get his sister to safety and things away from the prying eyes of the invaders took time.
And there were soldiers - invaders - along the way he had to fight. He’s a good fighter but even he has to admit defeat when there are too many men storming his way.
The palace around him is frantic. The last line of guards tries to hold the invading army back, try to protect him and Danneel hiding away in the last unoccupied chamber. But he knows it’s too late. The city is lost to them and there’s nothing they can do now but surrender.
Fear grips his chest and he turns towards his sister, looking for advice, for guidance. But she’s already retreated behind her wall of royal indifference, isn’t even looking at him. It shouldn’t surprise him as much as it does, Danneel has always been better at dealing with severe situations.
If this wasn’t a sever situation he doesn’t know what would count as one.
The noise inside the palace moves closer to where they are hiding.
People shout, cry out in pain, things shatter and he’s sure he can hear bones break as well.
The doors rattle with the first wave of invaders trying to enter; wood splinters and shouts get louder with each board that gives.
He’s frozen where he stands, though. Not moving, suddenly exhausted and body caught in a strange sort of paralysis. His guards won’t let him move anyway.
And then they are inside.
Persian soldiers, loud and dirty, blood on their hands and sand on their shoes. The room’s soiled within seconds, dirt everywhere - and he doesn’t even regret including every single Persian in that word.
They have no business being here. The city is not theirs to take. It’s his to defend but not theirs to conquer. Only the Gods should decide about what belongs to whom. Still, they’re here with all their might and power, taking and leaving destruction in their wake.
This is not how it’s supposed to go.
He’s reaching for the dagger, instinctively and cursing himself for even doing so. Then he remembers sit’s not there anymore. Hasn’t been for a good thirty minutes.
He prays for the dagger to be safe. Still feels uncomfortable with the fact that he had to hand it over to keep it safe - but at that time he thought it idea sending it away. Or rather Danneel insisted on it being a good idea. Now, he’s not so sure anymore.
He stands there, in the middle of the room and watches as his sister lies down on the floor, praying, whispering curses that only a few people really understand. He doesn’t move a single finger to get close to her.
Persians are crowding around her, watching with wide eyes and not a few of them are actually leering. He feels sick just having to look at them. He’s called them filth more than once and he’s just a little regretting being proven right in his view of them.
They all probably just want to see if the legend is true and his sister’s beauty is real.
He almost snorts, disgusted with such blatant display of sexism. He’s willing to call for some respect if this goes on any longer and doesn’t care much for his own safety. Feeling useless, helpless even, is not something he likes and wants to endure for any longer than he has to.
Still, in this moment he might actually be the worst guardian in history. Not knowing where the dagger is or how to help his sister, his city is probably one of the worst states of mind he’s ever experienced.
The invader draw closer when Danneel doesn’t move, just lies there and mumbles words unknown to them. He can see it in their eyes what they want to do, how they want to grab her, drag her up and just look.
His own guards look at her as if she’s something not from this world. He’s got the legend to thank for that.
See, the thing is, everyone thinks it’s his sister - with the legend being of a girl and all that. And it’s always being told like this, never altered or considered to be subject of change.
Well, Danneel and him are twins and he’s older. The God’s very own joke as it seems but he inherited everything. He’s the guardian. It’s his destiny, his sole purpose to protect the dagger, the sand of time and the whole of the world.
Not much pressure to carry around. It’s not really working in his favor right now.
Then suddenly, the princes are there. All three of them. Dirty, as the rest of their men. Loud, two of them roaring in triumph - and so damn victorious that he can’t help but sneer.
Until he really looks.
His breath catches and he hates himself for looking at one of them for a bit too long. It’s not staring, not in the least but it’s a second too long and he knows it, feels it in his bones even. The time is the worst for feeling like this and he’s not willing to get distracted by simply looking at another man.
Not to mention that this could be the worst possible choice ever in his entire life. And he’s made some very questionable choices already, just ask Danneel.
Instead of letting himself get caught up in the moment he straightens, schools his face and hopes it portrays the mask cold blankness he’s going for. He tries hard not to smirk when several of the invaders shrink back and become more cautious.
‘Damn right, they should be,’ he thinks with a little more than just simple satisfaction.
Danneel is dragged up to her feet, defiance clear on her face, her strength visible in every slow movement, every baleful look she casts. He loves her and he hopes she won’t do something stupid that might cost them their lives.
Like the move she does then, sliding down and holding a knife to one of the princes’ throat. He almost rolls his eyes, because that’s exactly what he was thinking about.
His muscles are coiled, ready to move and protect everything he has left of his family.
Something is glinting, something in the corner of the room and his heart stops. No, it can’t be. He sent it off. It’s supposed to be safe and not in the palace anymore. It’s not supposed to be here.
“Jared!”
It’s a shout that sounds more like a hiss, not a real warning but something close.
He doesn’t realize that he’s moving until he’s in front of the man. The very same man he looked a little too long at just a moment ago. The dagger, his destiny, is stuck in the man’s waistband - oh the irony. He can’t help it though, reaches out to take it back. It’s his to protect, his to keep safe. No one but him is supposed to keep it close or to even touch it like this. No one.
“Jared?”
Danneel’s behind, questioning, warning him but he doesn’t know what to say now, how to explain why he’s standing there, this close and staring.
The man, the prince, is watching him with curious eyes.
The other two are talking low and way too calm, in the voices of victors. He hears the words but doesn’t process them until Danneel hisses indignant and furious. When he looks at her she’s calm, blank mask on her face and no one would know how scared, how furious she really is. But he knows her, sees the twitch at the corner of her eye and how her shoulders are tense, so tense that it hurts him to look at her.
The dagger is so close, so damn close and he has to stay close to it if he wants it to be safe. Then the princes’ words really register and he will not let them take Danneel for anything, not even for the sake of an entire empire.
“Take me,” he says and blinks at his own words.
The prince in front of him blinks as well.
And suddenly there’s a cocky grin directed towards him he just knows he’ll hate.
“Take you in marriage?” The prince asks and the grin gets even cockier.
Laughter roars around him. Heat shoots up into his cheeks and he knows it’s visible.
Marriage? They’d been speaking about taking Danneel as a hostage. But then he’d been mostly solely focused on the dagger and on how to get it back. Of course, he missed the crucial part during his dagger induced freak out.
Marriage, a political one of course. They, too, think Danneel is the one with power. His family has never tried to dissuade people of the notion. He should feel insulted that people think him so useless, so powerless but mostly it’s a blessing. If… well, if he’s not offering himself up as a token and has to clarify his own worth.
“As a token. If you will. As long as you have me, no one here will do anything. And you wouldn’t have to rush things - like marriage. Danneel will be safe here as well.”
He knows he’s giving too much away, doesn’t have a good reason for them to take him instead of her. Green eyes flash, the cocky grin turns into something more predatory and fear settles into his chest with a clarity he never thought possible in situations like this one.
Nothing, absolutely nothing feels under control right now and he thinks it’s a bad idea to even try and offer himself up like this. There’s no reason for them to take him, no worth other than having a hostage they don’t think powerful enough to use as a bargain. Then again, a bargain for what? They already took the city. And they probably are able to subdue it long enough not to have a rebellion on their hands too soon.
Danneel seems to think so as well.
“No, Jared. I’ll go with them. I’ll do it. It’s okay.”
And somehow that settles it.
Only, it doesn’t.
“We’ll take you both. I’m curious about you,” the prince in front of him says and earns himself another round of raucous laughter.
His brothers seem to have expected that, he can see them roll their eyes and shake their heads. They don’t stop him though when the prince drags him away from the room his sister is still captured in.
One look back and he knows Danneel will be able to hold her own.
And that’s how he ends up as Prince Jensen’s war trophy at the end of the day.
Damn those Persians.
***
Then things kind of get out of hand.
Fast. Very fast.
In ways he’d never expected or even anticipated.
Jared really hates this day.
He not only lost his city but had to surrender his home to Persians, had to watch his sister being taken as a war price and last but not least lost the one thing he’s supposed to guard with his life.
Only, it’s not really lost. It’s close. So damn close and he only has to find a way to take possession of it again. He’s not willing to let his destiny be held in the hands of someone else, of someone who doesn’t even know what he’s holding.
He swears he’ll get his hands on it and if it’s the last thing he does.
Not his finest day to date.
But then, Jared isn’t sure what the worst thing is, losing everything he’s fought his entire life for or being on the run with a Persian Prince.
‘Being on the run with Persian Prince’ his mind supplies very helpfully every time he even tires thinking about it.
Being on the run certainly offers interesting features, not to mention a prince that doesn’t really deserve the title when one takes his manners into consideration.
Jared has been called a spoiled little princess more than once today. He has been forced to ride on a horse that is wilder than any creature he’s ever seen. Oh and right now, he’s also in the middle of the desert hiding from the King’s troops and Prince Jensen’s brothers.
Because the whole Empire now thinks Jensen killed the King.
Which he probably didn’t do but Jared can’t be too sure about that. He doesn’t really know Jensen after all.
Everyone also seems to think that Jared’s the spy who helped Jensen kill the King. Where they got that idiotic idea from he doesn’t know. But it doesn’t help with his plan to get the dagger back and free Danneel from the clutches of the dirty Persians.
Jared thinks that he probably should stop thinking in clichés and stereotypes. He’s probably just as dirty now and he doesn’t think they are that different from each other. Jared would do almost anything to protect Danneel, the dagger and his own destiny. He can imagine that sons will do the same for their father and their empire.
Still, he doesn’t think he deserves the torture he’s being subjected to. All he did was stare a little and then try to get the dagger back. It wasn’t that bad and really doesn’t justify the way he’s being punished or how Jensen is treating him.
Also, they can’t seem to go one minute without arguing or bickering.
It should get on his nerves, seeing as everything else Jensen does is driving him mad - but it surprisingly doesn’t. That kind of scares Jared a little. What scares him even more is how much he actually enjoys riling Jensen up.
He still tries to get the dagger back the first chance he gets - during night camp.
A minute later Jared finds himself face down in the sand, arm painfully trapped between his back and Jensen’s broad chest.
Jared dully thinks that he probably shouldn’t have gone with the seduction rouse here but he had seen Jensen looking. More than once even. And it seemed to be a good opportunity to get his hands on the dagger.
He spits sand out and wriggles a little to get free again. He knows how to and it shouldn’t be this difficult.
“Do that one more time and I’ll kill you.”
Jared freezes. Sudden and with his whole body, stops breathing for a second, too.
Not because of the voice or of how close Jensen suddenly is, bringing his weight down on top of Jared. No, it’s the words that let the air get stuck in his throat and make his heart skip a painful beat.
“Dammit. God… No. Please. Tell me you didn’t.”
Jared’s on his back faster than he can blink and comes face to face with a very irritated looking Persian prince. It’s not a position he’d wished for but it’s better than having his face pressed into the desert sand.
It’s also a very interesting position. But he’s not going there. Not ever again considering how these thoughts let him to try to seduction route and made him fail spectacularly, too.
“What is this? Tell me. Now.”
And Jared does even though he knows he shouldn’t. He’s not really clear on why he tells Jensen or on why it feels right to do so. Jensen’s not the right person to tell secrets like this one to but Jared can’t and doesn’t want to care.
He doesn’t tell everything, though. Never everything, not when he can prevent it.
Jensen experienced the sand and that’s what Jared tells him. There’s no reason to tell more anyway. Jensen doesn’t need to know what it means to Jared, how the dagger has always influenced his life.
He tells Jensen about the sand of time, how it moves you back in time and how the dagger is an instrument. He tells Jensen that there isn’t any more sand in the dagger. Jensen used it all.
For a second Jared thinks it’s enough, that Jensen will believe him. Then Jensen just looks, blinks and gets up. The movements are slow but graceful, silent and majestic. Jensen doesn’t say a word, looks up into the night sky and seems to fight with himself weather to ask or not.
When Jensen settles down again and just looks at Jared, Jared knows the prince will ask soon. But not tonight.
The rest of the story - the rest of Jared’s destiny - will be told at a different time. When it’s more important.
In this moment, with Jensen sitting there and letting things go, Jared suddenly feels okay with being where he is. It’s not peaceful but quiet enough that he can settle down for the moment and take in the silence he hasn’t had in far too long.
The quietness doesn’t last long. It never does.
Jared falls asleep, shivering in the cool desert air with thoughts about the destruction of the world. Dreams that follow are full of what it’s and of lives that could be but probably never will be.
It’s worse than nightmares.
****
The gang of bandits is a surprise. So are the ostriches and how Jared is the one helping them escape. The ostriches as well as Jensen and himself.
Everything is an adventure then, one that Jared doesn’t think about, can’t really even he tried to. It’s an adventure he thinks he won’t see the end of. It’s not like he’s morbid or suicidal. But even he can be realistic sometimes and their chances aren’t really look all that good.
Neither Jensen nor he has any idea how to get back to the King’s city or how to help Jensen prove his innocence.
They are on the run and neither of them knows if they’ll reach their destination.
The thing that surprises Jared the most is how much he actually likes being close to Jensen. After the initial dislike about being conquered and invade - and his mind sniggers at him constantly when he think about that - they’ve settle into a routine that consist of arguing about everything and saving each other’s lives.
Thinking about maybe not seeing Jensen anymore or having him get caught by the King’s men - it feels wrong and Jared’s pretty sure he has started to care too much about where Jensen will end up and what might happen to him.
The sandstorm around them is loud, almost deafening. Jared hates it, always has. It’s the prospect of being hidden under tons of sand with no way out that makes him anxious. Jensen hasn’t made a single joke about it either, which Jared appreciates but which makes him even more anxious at the same time. Jensen not joking about something means the situation is severe.
Jared’s had way too many of those recently. And how he got used to Jensen’s jokes and cockiness in such a short time is a little beyond him.
Jared ends up plastered against Jensen underneath their shelter, shivering for very different reasons and Jensen doesn’t move away. It’s then, during a sandstorm so forceful that Jared has to think back years to remember something similar that Jared finally tells the rest of the story.
The legend is first. Words on his tongue, almost whispered but Jensen hears them nonetheless. A legend about a girl begging the Gods to spare humankind. A legend, a story, about how the mighty sandstorm has been trapped inside an hourglass, hidden away underneath his city.
The hourglass protected by the Guardian, the girl who asked for mercy and her descendants, never to be let unguarded or unprotected. Jared lets the words flow and paint a picture, tells Jensen how dagger can be filled again and how it only lets you go back a minute. How more would destroy it and along with it the hourglass.
Destroying it will mean setting free the still raging sandstorm, taking humankind with it, destroying everything in its wake.
Jared doesn’t know why he tells Jensen everything then and there. Just knows that Jensen deserves to know, somehow even needs to know. Why? Jared has no idea. Only feels that Jensen is a good man, the right man to tell this story to. Knows he has been feeling this way for a while now, that it has been growing inside of him ever since he’s been forced to Jensen’s side.
It tells him that he can trust this man not to seek the power associated with the sand. It tells him that he can trust Jensen with his life.
And that, that scares him way more than all the other feelings swirling around inside of him. In the end Jared also tells Jensen how everyone assumes it’s Danneel who is the Guardian.
The storm’s raging, the horse is fidgeting next to them and suddenly Jared can’t look at Jensen anymore. They are too close, he wants to move and can’t. It’s frustrating.
“But it’s you, isn’t it? The Guardian.”
“Yeah.”
“Huh. I thought you were her bodyguard. But… you… you‘re her brother. Guess I wasn’t too far off with calling you a princess, Prince Jared,” Jensen says with a slight smirk, more a smile than anything and it lacks the cockiness that has been there all those other times before.
Jared decides that he likes this Jensen.
Jensen stays close to him all night, pressed shoulder to shoulder and never moving away.
Life gets even more turbulent after that storm.
How they end up in the King’s city during the King’s burial is way beyond Jared. He doesn’t want to really think about that journey and really has a hard time coming to terms with everything going on.
Then he finally gets his hand on the dagger - can exchange it while Jensen is occupied getting them into the city undetected. When Jared sees Jensen’s uncle he knows he has to hide. An aura of mistrust, of darkness surrounds the man. It means nothing good and he wants Jensen away from that man, wants Jensen out of the city as fast as possible.
Even thinks about warning Jensen, is already about to do so when he catches a glimpse of Jensen’s brother and silently slides around the corner. Jared is gone before the first arrow flies and hopes that Jensen makes it out alive. Jared feels damn guilty for leaving Jensen behind but he has to protect the dagger first, has to get it back to the temple and into safety.
He hopes Jensen will understand it, won’t hate Jared for doing what he’s supposed to do. He hopes Jensen will forgive him.
***
Jared should have known that he won’t make it too far.
Jensen is cunning after all and very adept at surviving the most impossible situations. Jared has seen him run over rooftops and climb walls as if they aren’t any obstacle at all. Jared has watched him in the King’s city and maybe is a little proud of Jensen for catching up this fast.
Jensen catches up with him before Jared has even made a respectable distance from the city. Jared’s not so proud of himself for letting himself get caught this fast. He is a soldier and a trained Guardian after all. Not a damsel in distress. It’s not really flattering for his skills.
Jensen doesn’t seem mad though, more understanding and exhausted than anything else. It surprises Jared a little but then not at all. Not when Jensen tells him about the burned hands and how his uncle had been too far away from the poisoned king to have been helping with the rescue.
It’s a clue and Jensen’s eyes darken when he realizes what it means.
“My uncle gave the coat to my brother. He wanted my father dead. But why?”
It’s then that Jensen tells the story of the king and his brother on the hunt. The king’s brother saving the king’s life. Jared looks at Jensen then, keeps silent and sees the exact second Jensen gets it.
“Dammit. It was him all along. There were no weapons in your city. It was all just a rouse to get us to attack. It was the dagger and the hour glass. He wants to go this far back in time, to change it all and not rescue my father.”
Jared’s breath catches in his chest and he feels himself shudder. Just the thought of someone trying such a thing makes him ache deep inside, makes him fear for Jensen, for Danneel and the future. Not for himself, though. He knows what his destiny is, what he has to do.
“Jensen. If he does it. If he forces the dagger into the hourglass and presses the gemstone… It will crack the hourglass. The sand will be let out and it will destroy everything. Humanity will pay for your uncle’s insanity. I need to get the dagger to the temple. It’s a safe place. Get it back into the stone it came from. No one but my linage can get it out.”
Jensen looks at him then, there’s something in his eyes Jared can’t grasp, something deep and scary but not in a bad way. Then Jensen nods.
“We’ll get you there.”
And they do.
***
Only to find themselves in the company of the same gang of bandits that made them entertainment during ostrich races. The prospect of gold from the temple could is the convincing argument in the end that makes them help instead of kill Jensen and him.
The killing though is still on. This time for all of them.
Assassins. Send by Jensen’s uncle as it seemed.
It’s not a good day.
For either of them.
Jared loses the dagger again and Jensen loses one of his brothers.
The future looks bleak and their plan on how to change it is a suicide commando. Jared doesn’t mind at all.
The way Jensen grins at him when he agrees to it is worth him dying over it. Jared’s not sure when it all happened and when he changed his mind. But it sure didn’t take him too long going from hating the Persian prince, to liking him a little and then skipping a step and falling for him.
It happened along the way, when Jensen fought for his life maybe or when he listened to Jared tell a legend that can only end badly or maybe when he willingly agreed to vouch with his life for the chance to get Jared where he needed to be.
Jared doesn’t know and he doesn’t really care anyway. All he knows is that Jensen’s there fighting at his side and he’s not sure when it shifted but is sort of really happy that it did shift.
But on their way back to Jared’s city only one thought has enough power to settle inside his whirling mind.
For some reason Jared knows it won’t last.
Not in this life, not in this time.
***
And he’s right.
Their friends die.
Jensen’s second brother, the king now, dies as well but not before he finally believes that Jensen has been telling the truth all along.
Jensen’s uncle finds the hour glass. And Jared sees his life rushing past. He sees it all in the sand and knows he has failed. Jensen is there, getting out of the way of falling walls, of the world breaking down around them.
Jared has failed and he doesn’t have a chance righting his wrongs. He doesn’t get the chance to tell Jensen how infuriating the other man can be and how Jared maybe even loves this a little about him.
He doesn’t get any kind of chance to do more than watch.
And he watches the world fall apart.
Danneel is on his mind then, how he didn’t get to see her one last time. His parents, how he misses them now more than ever. His friends and how he’s lost them all.
Then Jensen. A man, Jared wishes he had the chance to get to know because he knows, just knows they’d be good together.
The last assassin falls.
Killed by his own poison and Jared tries not to feel smug about the way he showed the bastard how to do it.
Jensen is there then. In front of Jared. There’s that cocky smile Jared doesn’t like at all and secretly loves seeing anyway.
Jensen is close.
Jensen’s lips are on his and then it’s pure desperation. It’s nothing Jared has ever felt and regret settles deep inside of him. It’s the wrong time. The wrong place really.
It’s all wrong, only Jensen being there with him is so right it hurts.
Jensen’s uncle plunges the dagger in, first into Jensen then into the hourglass.
And then they are falling, sliding down away from where they should be. The hourglass keeps getting smaller and smaller, getting away from them and it’s not right. Jared suddenly knows he’s not the one supposed to stop it all. It’s not him.
Jensen can make it, Jared knows.
So he lets go, slowly and painfully. Watches Jensen strain against it, not giving up, blood dripping down from the knife wound in his shoulder. But Jared sees the dagger protruding the glass and chokes in desperation.
“Let me go Jensen. It was never my destiny. But it’s yours. You can save us. Let me go.”
“No. No, Jared. Dammit, you goddamn spoiled princess,” Jensen yells, tears in his eyes and Jared is falling. It’s not fast or slow. There is no perception of speed anymore. He is just falling.
And then the world ends.
Time ends.
Everything ends.
***
The guards are frantic and try to prevent the intruders from entering the room.
Danneel is as stoic as ever and doesn’t bat an eye.
Jared’s fidgeting because something feels off about it. Something isn’t right here, something doesn’t belong but he doesn’t know what it is, can’t put his finger on it. It’s a very weird case of deja-vu and it makes him anxious.
His heart beats harder when the sounds of the fighting comes closer to the chamber they are hiding in. He straightens up, makes himself as tall as possible and steps in front of Danneel. It’s like he knows that this will make a difference.
Jared just doesn’t understand why he knows this.
Then they are there.
The Persian Princes, the enemy that invaded without reason. And Jared braces himself for the confrontation he just knows will take place now. It’s so clear on his mind that he blinks when everything just stops.
Everything just stops.
The confrontation doesn’t happen.
Instead the prince apologizes, claims false information and Jared suddenly knows what he has witnessed earlier.
The two men fighting in the yard, it had been one of the princes and maybe the spy.
False information. That is unexpected.
The oldest prince apologizes to Danneel, looks at her as if he’s mesmerized and Danneel doesn’t seem to mind. It hasn’t happened before and Jared finds it interesting and watches. Danneel has never even slightly interested in anything else but keeping up appearances and protecting what’s their destiny.
He watches until Prince Jensen steps forward.
Jared doesn’t know why, though. Everything seems settled.
There’s something in those green eyes that tells Jared it will be a long story to tell and that he’ll make Jensen tell it. He’s so sure about it, that he almost misses what happens next. Jensen is offering apologies as well but to Jared and not Danneel.
The crowd gasps and Jared does, too. No one really knows. Just a few people and Prince Jensen just comes and knows? How did that happen? Why does it feel even more like a deja-vu? Jared’s confused, scared even and he can see that Jensen knows it, too.
“Prince Jared. I can’t give you your city back as it is free off now. And I don’t want to offer something as an apology but merely hand something back that already belongs to you.”
Then Jensen is on his knees and offers the dagger to Jared.
The room is silent, deathly so and Jared can’t move.
When he touches the dagger it’s like a current is crawling up his arm and he takes a deep breath. There are flashes, images he can’t place and suddenly knows are from another life. There are words and stories from a different life - lived as well, not his but his all the same.
“Jensen?”
He sees Danneel roll her eyes and Jensen’s brothers smirking out of the corner of his eye but he can’t and doesn’t want to care. Not when he knows that this is important. Not when he has a man he instantly thought of as gorgeous and kind on his knees in front of him offering him his destiny.
Jensen’s eyes are bright, flashing even and Jared just knows that Jensen has lived the life he just saw in glimpses. Jared knows that this Jensen will be by his side no matter what.
“I’m looking forward to getting to know you Prince Jensen,” Jared says with a knowing smile and Jensen grins.
And Jared feels like he missed this smirk even though he has never seen it before.
Later, in the inner yard, Jensen will tell him everything, for now just knowing that things might turn out well, is enough for Jared.
He has his entire life in front of him.
And Jensen will be there.
The end