“Priyam is fine, she’s with the others.” Shui placed her hands on Gaia’s cheeks and held her head still as she looked into her eyes. “Everyone is fine, but you need to relax and control this. Do you understand?” Gaia nodded. “Good. Breathe slowly, in and out, in and out.”
Shui led Gaia with one of her meditation breathing sets so she could relax and make the ground still. Gaia concentrated on the gorgeous teardrop that hung from Shui’s choker. She didn’t know if it was its swinging motion or its soft blue color, but somehow it calmed her. Gaia began to breathe in and out until the bungalow stopped shaking. “I’m sorry,” she said as her hands clung to her sheets still dizzy and confused.
Shui sat down closer and hugged her. “It’s ok, everyone is safe,” she said stroking Gaia’s bright red hair.
“Does this mean I can wield earth now?” Gaia asked Shui without moving away from her gentle touch. Somehow it reminded her of how her mother used to do it.
“No, that was your subconscious,” she said. “What happened? Do you remember?”
Gaia closed her eyes, clenched her lotus locket and tried to recall her dream. “I had this weird dream about when I was little,” she said. “Edan took me around a beautiful city surrounded by water. After that we went to a castle but we got separated. I ended up spying on my mother and a man named Hans when the palace was attacked, and I was taken away to a place called Lakefall… I think.” Gaia noticed Shui stopped touching her and that her body seemed rigid. She sat down with a strange expression on her face. “What’s wrong?”
Avoiding the question, Shui stood up and took some books from the floor and placed them back on the shelf. “I think you need to speak with Edan,”
“Why?”
“It’s started; they are coming back.”
“What started? What’s coming back?”
“Your memories.” Shui placed a flower vase on the shelf. “That wasn’t a dream. That happened a month before the city of Nádúr Noc was destroyed.”
“That can’t be.” Gaia lifted Priyam’s chair from the floor. “Except for the last war, I have no memory of my childhood.”
“When the necklace broke, you didn’t only get back your ability to wield but you also got back your memories.” Shui manipulated the water on the floor back to its flower vase. “The more time passes, the more memories you will get.”
That was good news to Gaia. She would eventually learn all about her past. But she had no patience, it’d been almost two months since the necklace broke and this was her first time recovering a memory. As for the rest, they could take years and she needed some answers soon. “What happened that day?”
“Talk to Edan,” Shui insisted and kept cleaning the room.
“No way, Shui.” Gaia stopped Shui from picking up more stuff. “You know he won’t tell me a thing.”
“I know, but he’s the one who was there.”
Damn it... that was true… The only one who could talk to her about that day was Edan. “At least tell me what was wrong with him?”
“What do you mean?”
“In my memory...” Gaia sat down and hesitated. She worried the topic could be inappropriate to ask Shui, or anyone else, but there was something about how responsible and caring Shui was that made Gaia view her like a mother figure. She felt safe and comfortable around her. “People were very rude to him. Some even refused to acknowledge him. Why?”
“I’m sorry,” said Shui with a strange sadness in her voice. “It’s not my place to talk about that matter.”
That answer alone let Gaia know there was something wrong. Shui didn’t deny it and the look on her face clearly showed she felt bad for whatever Edan was going through. Knowing Shui wasn’t one of those people who gives away information about others, Gaia decided to ask her about something else instead. She remembered how scared her mother was when Hans told her about Him finding something, only, what was that something? “What is Le Gardien de la vie?”
“Nothing you need to know yet,” said Edan leaning against the door frame. “Is anybody hurt?”
“Everything’s fine,” Gaia jumped in frustrated over all the secrets. “I want to know what that means.”
Edan took a second look at the bungalow to make sure everything was good. “Not now,” he said and turned around to leave.
In order to stop him, Gaia grabbed Edan by the arm and pulled him. “We’ve been through this!” she said.
“Exactly, you should know better by now. The past is the past, concentrate on your elements instead.” He moved Gaia’s hand and walked away.
“It is my past!” Gaia screamed and followed him, but Edan didn’t stop, he turned around and smiled at her.
“Too bad you can’t remember, then,” he said and continued on his way, leaving Gaia alone.
* * *
“Care to join me?” Gaia turned and saw Donovan sitting on the dining table drinking some reddish tea.
“Sure, why not.” She sat down across from him and leaned so far forward her forehead touched the cold solid rock of the table top. “Where is everyone?”
“Willow took Priyam and Pink to help her gather the crops.” He opened a turquoise bottle next to him and poured some soft blue liquid into a second glass. “Floyd is taking a weapon inventory and Veter left with Hunter to track a dark beast that got closer to the camp than expected.” He slid the glass with the blue liquid towards Gaia. “Here.”
She lifted her head and stared at the glass as if it was a strange unknown object. “Oh, I’m eighteen.”
“Good for you.” He pushed the drink closer to her. “Let’s toast to that.”
“Legal age is twenty-one.”
“That’s not alcohol. And even if it was, who’s gonna card you?” Donovan grinned. “Kidding. It’s a Terrian punch that helps you calm the nerves.”
Gaia took the glass and smelled it. The fruity scent made her feel all floaty. “Cheers,” she said and took a small sip. Her eyes opened wide at the soft, sweet flavor.
“Not bad, right? Shui makes them fruitier and less strong,” he said. Gaia took a bigger sip.
He poured himself a little bit more tea and, by the way his shirt moved, Gaia was able to see his bear claw tattoo on the top of his chest. She finally remembered where she’d seen it before. “Your tattoo.” Gaia moved her hand towards the tattoo and trailed the lines. “It’s been a while since I’ve had the nightmare of the war so I forgot where I saw it from, but I remembered last night.” She lowered her hand and looked at Donovan. “One of the men who saved me from the war had one just like that, only his was real.”
“Hans,” he said.
“Yes!” Gaia was excited to hear his name. She didn’t know him well yet but he was someone important to her; he helped her mother, defended Edan and saved her life. “You knew him?”
“Everybody did.” His face lit up with happiness. “Hans was the leader of the Elder Clan and the strongest of the earth wilders.” Donovan placed two fingers on Gaia’s necklace. “He’s also the one who forged your previous necklace.”
In her memory, Gaia did hear something about him returning her to the city once the necklace was ready, the thing was, she never thought he was the one to actually make it. Such a strong presence that man had; he was tall, very muscular and the scars made him look fearless. “I always wondered how he got them,” she confessed. “The scars.”
Donovan grabbed his drink and sat down against the base of a tree. “The legend says Hans had a son who couldn’t wield anything.”
“Can that happen?”
“It’s extremely rare, but it can,” he said. “A man with such incredible powers and status, yet his only male child was already five years old and powerless.”
“Was he angry at his son?”
“No,” he smiled. “He loved his son no matter what. It was the rest of the clan who thought of him to be unfit.” He chugged the rest of his tea and placed it on the ground next to him. “One day, Hans and some warriors were doing a resea
rch routine. He took his son to show him the trade. It was a normal day until something went terribly wrong. A bear walked into one of the outside areas and attacked a family. The bear was marked by darkness so it was scared and couldn’t stop itself. Hans wielded a fortress around the family but before he could move away to protect himself, the bear smacked him with his paw and cut him so deep he almost died.” He made a scratching movement on top of his tattoo as he told the story. “The bear was about to finish Hans when the unthinkable happened. His powerless son begged the bear to stop… and it did. The bear could understand the boy,” he said and Gaia saw it in his eyes, he was proud. “That boy wasn’t powerless, he was one of the few Terrians who could speak and understand animals.”
Gaia never made the connection before. Hans was a tall German-looking man while Donovan looked more Latino. But now, on a closer look, their eyes were exactly the same, “Was that the first time you realized you could talk to animals?” she asked, knowing that Donovan was, in fact, Hans’s son.
“The very first,” he nodded, still remembering all that happened that day.
“I didn’t realize he was your dad until now.”
“I know. I look just like my mother, with my father’s eyes.”
Out of nowhere, Gaia started crying. “What is it?” Donovan panicked and took her punch away.
“It’s not the fruity drink,” she sobbed. She knew those men gave their lives for her, but knowing one of them was Donovan’s father and that she was the reason he wasn’t with him anymore was too much for her. “I’m so sorry,” she curled down towards the table.
“Gaia.” Donovan ran and kneeled next to her. “What’s wrong?” he asked as he inspected her crying face.
“I… Sorry,” she repeated over and over again while her face drowned in tears. “Your father…” she cried. “I killed him.”
Donovan cradled her face in his hands and pulled her so she could face him directly. “No, Gaia,” he said trying to calm her down. “You didn’t kill him. It was never your fault.”
Gaia closed her eyes. She couldn’t understand why Donovan was being so nice to her after realizing she was the reason his father was dead. “Yes, I did: he died because of me.”
Donovan hugged Gaia and caressed her head. “He chose to protect you. We are all going to leave this world, he chose to leave it by saving you and me and the rest of The Six and every Terrian, human and living thing that depended on your survival,” he explained with his touching sweet voice.
A second set of hands touched Gaia. She lifted her head and saw Shui smiling at her. “Don’t cry, Gaia,” she said. “Our fathers died the same way they lived, on their own terms.”
Our?... She knew Shui wasn’t talking about Hans, so she tried to remember her nightmare again. ‘Tell my daughter I love her’ she remembered Nobu’s message before he died. Hans’s son is Donovan and Nobu’ daughter is… Shui “Nobu?” she whispered.
“Yes.” Donovan continued stroking her in a failing attempt to calm her down. “Nobu was Shui’s father.”
“How can you not hate me?” she cried again. Her head swam and she shook, a combined result of the sugary drink and the guilt she felt over harming two of her best friends.
“Why would we hate you for our parents’ choice of path,” she asked and grabbed Gaia by the arm.
“Nobu, your father, asked me to tell you something on his behalf.” She took comfort knowing that at least she could pass the message. “He said ‘When you see her, tell my daughter I love her.’ If I’d known it was you, I would have told you sooner but… he loved you.”
“I know he did. Come here.” Shui pulled Gaia close and made her rest on top of her legs, playing with her hair to calm her.
For the next hour, Gaia sobbed in Shui’s arms until she fell asleep from exhaustion. Once asleep, she could hear voices but she couldn’t tell what were they talking about or if it was real or just her imagination. Then, the voices got quiet and Gaia felt her body floating. Strong muscles surrounded her body and cradled her. She leaned her head against his chest and heard his rapid heartbeat. There was something about being carried like this that made her feel protected and completely at peace. She took a breath and fell into a deep sleep.
* * *
Priyam finished helping Willow and did a final computer check-up routine. Once done, she packed her stuff and took a detour to the kitchen to look for Gaia, only to find the place was empty. “Gaia?” she called, but no one answered. Priyam took a few cookies and snacks and packed them with her computer. She walked past the storage room and saw Veter and Hunter playing cards. “Hey, have anyone seen Gaia?”
“Kapetan carried her to your bungalow.” He wielded the wind and made a card fly to his hand. “She finally fell back asleep,” he said and lowered his cards, as did Hunter. “How?” he laughed and slammed the table. “How can you always win, you little ninja?”
“Good job.” Priyam gave Hunter a cookie as a reward and left for her bungalow.
Priyam snuck into the room in order to avoid waking Gaia. She slowly opened the curtain but stopped as soon as she saw Edan was there. He was tucking her in. He placed his jacket on top of her and softly brushed away the hair strands that fell on her face. The way he was looking at her took Priyam’s breath away.
Sneaky as a shadow, Priyam walked out from the room, face flushed and without having left her computer or anything. She leaned against the First Tree and put her computer down. “So, Bobby, something tells me our baby will sleep like an angel tonight,” she said and looked back at her bungalow with a big smile.
Donovan walked out of his bungalow and toward Priyam. “Sup girl? Do you know if Edan is still in there?” he asked as he continued walking to the door.
“Whoa!” Priyam stood up and ran towards Donovan. She didn’t want him to interrupt the sweet scene she witnessed at her bungalow “I’m hungry, let’s go.” She took Donovan’s hand away from the door.
“At this hour? Wait, where’s Edan? Is he in there?”
Priyam stopped in front of him and placed her hands on his chest. “You have a choice, I’ll cook you my curry chicken or you go see Edan,” she proposed.
In seconds, Donovan turned around and guided Priyam to the kitchen. “I’m pretty sure that wherever he is, he’s fine on his own,” he said and Priyam laughed as they walked away.
Chapter 18
New In Town
THE NEXT MORNING Gaia woke up like she never had before. She felt completely relaxed, at peace and full of energy. She couldn’t remember what she dreamt of but she still felt warm and happy. She got dressed, took a box of chocolates she brought from the town and Donovan’s grey jacket to thank him for using it as a blanket when he took her to bed last night.
Gaia walked to the table and saw Pink and Shui helping Donovan make armour for Icarus. “Good morning, Gaia.” Shui smiled as she wielded water into the hot mini metal chest armour Pink had on her hand.
“Morning. What are you doing?”
“It was Pink’s idea. In case we need to go to war, my baby will stay protected,” Donovan hugged Icarus.
“Lots of free time, I see.” Gaia laughed at the idea of that little sugar glider wielding a sword or wearing a helmet. She turned to Donovan and handled him the jacket and the chocolates. “By the way, thanks for taking me back to my bed and lending me this.”
Donovan’s blue eyes stared at the jacket and the chocolates and he smiled, a smile that made Gaia feel like he was hiding something. “I didn’t take you to bed and that’s not mine.”
“Oh…” Gaia felt confused. Donovan had to be the one to take her to bed since he was the one who talked to her for hours last night. She tried to remember what happened but after crying like a maniac, she had no memories.
“I’ll tell you whose jacket it is if I still get the chocolates,” he grinned with no shame at his bribe.
“I’ll give them to you as an apology for my behavior last night,” she said handing him the chocolates. She playe
d around with her new locket, still feeling uneasy about last night’s crying session.
“No need to apologize.” Donovan drew in a deep breath letting the smell of chocolate waif through his nose until his attention went directly towards Gaia’s lotus locket. “Lotus flower?” he asked with curiosity.
“It’s pretty, right?” she passed her thumb over the turquoise flower. “Edan gave it to me the night of the rollercoaster.”
“So that’s what was inside that box he kept guarding with his life.” Donovan smirked and pointed at the jacket Gaia was still holding. “And that, my friend, belongs to the same person who gave you that necklace.”
Gaia walked towards Edan’s room, his name echoing in her brain. Knowing it was Edan’s made her feel completely different. And in there, in that feeling, everything just clicked.
The stares, the angry mood swings, the jealousy that took hold of her when Willow, or any other girl, talked to Edan. She finally understood why she was so interested in his approval and getting to know him better. Why she kept looking for him even if she complained about his personality and how much she got annoyed by it. She had thought that it was her wanting to prove him wrong, to make an arrogant man like him admit defeat and admire her, but now she knew she was wrong. No! No!... Shut up, G. She tried to stop thinking about it but there was no way back, there were no more excuses and no more pretending. She always knew deep inside the real reason for her behaviour, but instead of fighting it, at that moment she let herself acknowledge her real feelings.
Crap! I like Edan.
Gaia walked in and saw Edan sitting on a chair looking at the wall as if he was daydreaming. Gathering the needed courage to go inside his room, Gaia took a minute before she knocked on the door. He looked so peaceful and friendly, she wished he behaved a little more like the Edan of her dreams. That way it wouldn’t be so damn difficult for her to get close to him.
Seasons Within Box Set Page 20