Story Excerpt - Healing

2007 TA - Ahlden

What Lyall saw was nothing close to what he had expecting, and ever further away from what he had been ready for. A cottage spiralled into his vision as they came out from the teleportation tunnel. Ash trees they had planted together at their weddings waved at him across from the trees planted for Emma, Grace, and Mellian. They had tried coming back here for Ash’s birth, but Conan’s Ga had prevented them from coming. Why had it allowed them through now? Georgia was staring at the coin, ticking herself off for not recognising the insignia of the canines, when something, no, someone caught Lyall’s attention.

            Elliot jumped upright when he saw Lyall and Georgia standing in their front garden.

            “For goodness sakes, Gray,” he muttered to himself, before setting to work on coaxing the plants into growing, as Gray had insisted that instantly grown plants tasted like tv static. He smiled at the ridiculous statement, humming that song of hers under his breath. She would be along any moment now. He knelt back down, stooping to trace the roots of the ash tree she loved. He would never understand her vigour for life but he was happy experiencing it for now, not that he would tell her.

            “Stop right there, Moreno,” His last name sending an ice cold shock through him, he acted without thinking, standing to face the newcomers, thorned vines trailing from the ground, reaching towards them. The vines froze, doubling back on themselves and wrapping around his own arms. He didn’t want to hurt them, he wouldn’t send it to them.

A ghastly black mist surrounded the couple, Lyall’s hands were glowing.

            With a flash and a bang, a fire roared between them. He could feel the burning heat against his face as Gray activated one of Conan’s safe-guards.

            “Lilies, Elliot, lillies,” Her voice was calm, dangerously so. Shutting his eyes, he concentrated on every single thorn, one by one letting them blossom out into large white petals, “Uncle Lyall, Aunt Georgia. I’d appreciate you lowering your defences. This is a safehouse not a circus. Now come on you guys, settle down, I run a business of repute, I am the owner of this cottage,” There was a strange rhythm to her words. She was quoting something again, “I can’t believe none of you got that reference, but seriously, guys, tone down the mist, and really? What’s with the glow-y hands? This fire ain’t going out ‘til you stop,”

            Lyall searched her face, and saw she was deadly serious, and exhausted. Cut-like boils stretched across her skin, her skin was too pale, eye-bags too heavy. He also noted the half-eaten slice of meat feast pizza in her hand. He let his defences down, wishing he’d been able to bring some of the medicine with him. It felt wrong not feeling the effects when Grace was suffering. Georgia’s cloud dissipated, a trail stilled followed her, as it normally did.

            Grace let the fire down, “Head in, I trust you. Remember where the guest rooms are? Food’s at six, we’ll sort out details then,”

            “What is a Gak apprentice doing here?” Georgia asked warily.

            “It’s a long story, I’ll tell you later, but if you trust me, trust him,” Elliot was stood surrounded by a pile of lilies, spots of blood blossoming as the thorns had restrained him, “You, come with me. Uncle Lyall?” She called before he went inside, “There’s enough violence outside these borders. I don’t want any while you’re within these walls. I was able to let you in. I can just as easily kick you out,” Eyes met, and he understood. She told everyone that message, it didn’t matter if they were family friends or not, it still applied.

            Lyall and Georgia shared a look before they followed and nodded, Georgia looked after Elliot, concerned. She had seen too much of her in his eyes.

---

            “Honestly, Elliot, if you carry on like this, you’ll end up with as many scars as me,” Grace laughed. They were sat in the living room, beside a small fire. She was conscious of the claw like boils on her face that would smoothen down to scars by the end of the week, as she said it, it was easier to laugh these things off. “You need to get yourself a new hobby, this’ll only hurt you,” Her point was proven as she put cream on one of the cuts, and he flinched, “What about knitting?”

            He ignored her “It’s better than lashing out at someone else,” Grace paused in what she was doing, contemplating his remark, before turning to grab some bandages from her mum’s old desk, it would take too many plasters.

            “Then just don’t, or find a less painful way to prevent yourself. Why thorns?” She started winding the bandage around his outstretched arm. Usually she’d tell him to watch so that he could apply them himself, but she had a gut feeling that he needed to talk.

            “Because if I don’t remember what that pain feels like, what will stop me from casing that pain for other people? I’ve been raised with Gak ideas, taught primarily to look out for myself, and only myself, maybe some family. I do not want to fall back into that. Never again,” She saw the tears in his eyes and didn’t comment, silently tying the bandage, and starting with the other arm, “I was used by the Gak to hurt people, and I don’t know if I can ever forgive myself for that… and how can I expect anyone to forgive me, if even I can’t? He broke off, hiccoughing. She pushed his tea towards him.

            “Drink. It’ll help,” He drank the tea slowly, the hiccoughing stopping, as he started taking deep breaths again. She didn’t comment on the tears, just nudged the tissue box near them.

            “Why are you helping me?” He said when he had mostly recovered, “You know what I am. You couldn’t stand me before. What changed?”

            “Well, then I saw you as a symbol, but a while ago I started seeing you as a person,” She hesitated, “When I used to see you, I saw a statement that the Gak stood for, but when you started to… well, act like a decent human being, it changed. I realised I couldn’t judge you when I had been given a chance for redemption, why couldn’t I do the same for you?”

            “You?” She returned to bandaging his other arm.

            “I spent my life on the streets. When things got desperate we fell into debt with the White Raven. We didn’t have a choice. We went through a lot to pay back our debt. Stole, mugged, fought, we never killed, but I dread to think what would have happened if we hadn’t been found by Professor Weeks,” She had to take a break from speaking, the years had been dark, and many things that had been pushed to the back of her memory were clawing at the doors, screaming to get out and run rampant. She firmly shut the door. “I was given forgiveness. Neither of us were given a chance at a normal life,” She laughed a little, tying the other bandage, and despite having finished, they stayed sat down. The sound of the fire and the wind outside was peaceful, calming.

            “What’s so funny?” Elliot asked, smiling a little himself. He always found her laughter infectious.

            “What’s funny is that you can get so distracted by the opposite ends of the prism, that we forget they reflect each other. I reckon that’s why we get on now, we understand each other,”

            “Speak for yourself,” She grinned, checking over the bandages to make sure they would stay, “Seriously, Gray, I don’t understand you at all. I don’t understand how you can dance to music when you know you can’t dance. I don’t understand how you can be so confident in the face of a challenge. I don’t understand why you’re helping me, but I think I know what you mean. I wouldn’t go back, even if I could,”

            “You can,” Elliot started at that. Grace looked down, “You’ve had free reign, ever since the first time you went shopping,” She looked up as if she expected Elliot to disappear any moment. He leaned forwards, and took her hands in his, bandaged arms matching.

            “I can’t go back, not if I don’t want to. Gray. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have discovered grilled cheese sandwiches. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have known how to look after money. If it wasn’t for you… I… I wouldn’t know how to live, I don’t think I would have been given a chance for this,” He smiled “Thank you,”

They were enveloped in silence, locked in their own world, the last bricks of the wall that had separated them crumbled, and the ticking of Grace’s pocket watch could be heard, it seemed to slow for a few wonderful moments, the silence between every tick stretching into minutes, and they were set to live happily ever after.

Until the call came in.