When The Heart Sings

Chapter 50

Darien's POV:

I woke up and gazed down tenderly at Serena as she slept curled up against me. Mere days ago I didn't think it was possible for me to love her any more than I already did, but I was once more proven wrong. I had known she was my heart from the moment I saw her, but she had become more, she had become the center of my life.

I rested my cheek against her hair. I was perfectly content to lay here as long as she was in my arms. Small flickers crossed her mind and I focused my reading ability on her dreams.

She had enjoyed the events of last night. I had been gentle and her dreams only held positive emotions. That was a relief since I had been worried about hurting her.

Images appeared of our time by the lake. She had taken great delight in splashing me, even though she knew I could easily catch her. Flickers of various flowers and shrubs appeared, and I recognized them from the flower beds in front of the house that she had tidied up.

I tilted my head slightly at the next series of pictures, I hadn't realized how intently she had been watching me make the meals. She had always helped, but I now knew that she wanted to learn how to cook the foreign foods on this planet. Well, I was more than happy to teach her.

Saphira's face appeared along with happiness. I had a feeling that Serena hadn't had many friends before meeting me and she was quite excited that Saphira was more than happy to be friends with her. Glimpses of a few of the other Dranek appeared, but it was mostly Saphira. Serena had no fear of them despite how much larger they were than her.

Serena's memories of more plants piqued my interest. Serena had told me that her magic could help plants grow, but it was one thing to hear it and quite another to see the plants literally growing as I watched them in her dreams. I was quite certain that this was not a dream exaggeration either. I might have to get her to tell me more about her singing ability.

A stream of seemingly random images and emotions distracted me. I saw quick glimpses of the Dranek war camp, trees, flowers, and myself at the same time as I heard faint hums and saw glimpses of rather wilted flowers suddenly recovering.

I was just about to consider them random dream images when a memory of Saphira appeared in Serena's mind saying that the forests on her planet were dying. I closed my eyes and exhaled slowly.

It didn't really surprise me that Serena wanted to help the Dranek. She was just the kind of person who liked to help people. I wasn't sure what the Dranek thought she could do to help an entire forest though.

I had to hold in a chuckle at the next image in Serena's mind. She had been eyeing up some flowers as she contemplated how she could weave them into a crown and get them onto my head without me noticing.

Before I had met Serena, if anyone had tried to put a stupid flower crown on my head, they would have been left with bruises. In fact, even today, most would get that reaction out of me. Serena was the only one I would allow to do such a thing.

The thought of her trying to put a crown on my head actually made me grin slightly as I tried to imagine her expression. That alone showed me just how lost I was in her love. Had her love been water, I would have drowned long ago. And I didn't care in the least.

I couldn't imagine life without her. She made every day brighter and I couldn't figure out how I had managed to get through each day before I met her.

She was my heart and that was all there was to it.

*      *      *  

I watched in amusement as Serena's cheeks went pink again, although I continued to keep my gaze on the toast I was buttering for her. Breakfast didn't take much effort, so I decided that she could relax while I made our simple breakfast over the fire in the wood stove.