Kingdom of Life and Death (The Fifth Element Chronicles)

Chapter 16: The wedding [part 2]

That night I dreamt of him.

He was waiting for me in the meadow, sitting watching the three moons, his hair blowing in the wind, his gaze lost.

I sat down beside him and sighed.

'I thought it best to get away, I came here, where we stayed those days after the test. Here I am, Polar is sleeping nearby.'

He said and I looked at him quizzically.

In my dreams, nothing seemed to be real. We were two ordinary people, not pirate and Queen, but two regular folk.

This was the first time he spoke as if he remembered....

'I always remember everything, Gaia.'

'What's going on?' I stood up.

He did the same. His shirt was open, his lips dry.

'These dreams were always real. It was the way I stayed close to you those three months. You didn't think I'd left you, did you?'

'Then everything we experience here...all of the...'

'It's all real.'

'How long have you known?'

'Since before I met you. Only now this... skill has been added.'

Skill?

What did he mean?

He was scaring me.

'You shouldn't be scared.'

'Are you reading my thoughts?'

'Yes.'

By all the Gods, this was dangerous. I couldn't think about... no.

'And how long has this been going for? How long have you been able to read my thoughts?'

'I'm not sure, but I think it was when I held back your shadows. I was surprised to hear you in my mind, it was all of a sudden. I hear your voice, loud and clear. I guess we connected even more than we were connected. It's my blessing and it's your curse.'

'It was you talking to me lately, and every time I wished you would come.'

'I could hear it, I don't know if you knew that you were doing it, but you were talking to me directly. I can't listen to you without you wanting me to, it doesn't happen all the time, you let me in Gaia.'

Then I wouldn't let him in.

'I want to wake up right now.'

How could it be possible that in dreams the Gods don't punish us?

Don't think.

'Don't marry him Gaia.'

'Caelus...'

'I know, you don't love me. But you don't love him either. I don't want you to be joined to someone like that by someone else's choice. This quest for power started to keep you from marrying him and I can't accept that it's led you to the same end. Do you know what I want? If you ever get married, I want it to be because you and you alone chose it.'

If the dreams were real, he had to wonder why I was behaving like this here and in reality I was so cold, so distant. Or maybe not, maybe the dreams were enough for him.

That broke my heart even more.

'I don't know if I'll be that lucky Caelus, I don't know if that's written for me.'

'Forget what the Gods want, what do you want?'

'It's not that simple.'

'Yes, it is. What do you want?'