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fembuckAuthor: Janine
Fandom: The Mummy
Pairing: Evie/Anuk Su Namun
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I don't own them.
Summary: Sequel to "A Princess's Tale". What would happen if Anuk Su Namun got her soul back?
Part 3
"I don't think that I like this game very much," I said rather petulantly as I dropped the cards in my hand onto the table.
"Don't be a spoiled sport," Alex responded grinning widely. "Mum says nobody likes a sore loser," he continued picking up the cards I'd discarded and drawing them into his tiny hands to shuffle.
He had come into my room early that morning and stood in the doorway watching me. He thought that I had been asleep, but I'd been aware of him from the moment he had opened the door. After a few minutes of silence I had called out to him, telling him not to be afraid. He'd responded with, "that's easy for you to say lady, I didn't threaten to put snakes in your bed," but he'd cautiously ventured over towards the side of the bed anyway. I apologized for that and told him that I hadn't been feeling quite like myself at the time. He seemed to find that amusing and made himself comfortable on the chair his mother had spent most of the previous evening – and into the early hours of the morning – occupying. He asked me what it was like to be dead almost immediately, leaning forward as if we were partners in crime, his earlier concerns about me apparently forgotten. I told him that I wasn't entirely sure I was dead, but whatever it had been was a lot like being asleep. It was waking up that was scary.
After that we became fast friends and he barely left my room for the rest of the afternoon.
One of the times he had left was when his father brought in some lunch for me. He'd told the child to go get his uncle out of his mother's hair for a bit while the two of us chatted. Rick had then placed the food tray on the bedside table and drawn the chair up close to the side of my bed.
"Evie made it," he said gesturing to the tray. "I don't know what it is but she said that you'd like it."
"I'm sure I will," I said softly. I felt like squirming under his gaze, but I'd learned to tolerate examinations well in my last life and the lessons learned apparently had not deserted me with time for I moved not an inch despite my discomfort.
"She's concerned about you," he responded learning back in the chair, his arms folding across his chest. "Now that I've gotten a good look at you I think that she may be onto something. Your colour looked a lot healthier when you were stabbing her."
"That wasn't…" I started to say, hurt by but not surprised by the attack.
"That's right," he said cutting me off. "I forgot. You're different now," he said in a tone that clearly indicated he didn't believe a word of what was being said. "Truthfully, I think that your transformation is a crock of shit," he continued leaning forward, his eyes cold as he looked at me.
"Is it really so hard for you to believe?" I asked him. "After all that you've seen?"
"I don't know what I've seen," he replied. "But I have learned to have no expectations cause something new and creepier is always just around the corner," he continued, leaning back in the chair once more, his eyes still studying me. "So, maybe it's true. But maybe it's not. I just want you to know that I'm watching you, and if I think for even a moment that you're a danger to my family what I'll do to you will make mummification rituals seem like a walk in a flowery park," he continued standing up so that he was looming over me. "Are we clear?"
"Perfectly," I responded watching as he picked up the tray and placed it on the bed beside me. "But," I continued reaching out and grasping his wrist, earning a sharp and rather hostile look from him. "I would never hurt her … or the child. She's very … dear to me," I went on looking him in the eye.
"We'll see," he said removing his hand from my grasp. "Just remember, I've got both eyes on you," he went on, though his voice was not as hostile as it had been moments before. And with that he'd left the room.
Alex had come back a few minutes after that and had been constantly beating me at every card game known to mankind ever since.
"Did mum tell you that nobody likes wise asses either?" I asked him picking up the cards he'd dropped in front of me, my gaze shifting between him and the cards in my hand shrewdly.
"How's everything going in here?" Evie asked breezing into the room seconds after I had spoken.
"Somebody's cranky," Alex said in a singsong voice while nodding his head in my direction. I glared at him and Evie smiled as she walked over to him and ruffled his hair playfully.
"You do have that effect on people don't you?" she asked looking down at him.
"Hardy har," the boy replied shaking her hand off of his head.
"Why don't you go help your dad, he's almost got that telescope Ardeth left finished," Evelyn suggested, her eyes drifting over to meet mine briefly before she returned her attention to her son.
"Brilliant," Alex responded jumping up immediately and heading for the door, pausing halfway there to turn back around and give his mother a kiss before then running out of the room yelling as he went down the hall.
"He hasn't been bothering you has he?" she asked taking the seat her son had vacated, her eyes drifting behind her to the closed bedroom door before returning to me.
"Not at all," I replied softly, a smile spreading across my face. "He's precious."
"A precious handful," she responded rolling her eyes though she too smiled nonetheless. "The doctor will be here shortly," she continued more seriously.
"Lovely," I replied trying not have the distaste I felt at the prospect of seeing a doctor show in my voice and failing miserably at it.
"He comes highly recommended," she said leaning forward and resting her elbows on her knees as she peered at me keenly. "You've got nothing to worry about."
I smiled at that, a small sound escaping my throat as I allowed my eyes to drift up towards the ceiling. I had plenty of things to worry about it, of which the doctor did not even factor into the top ten. Despite Meela's memories, which were really more like vivid dreams, I had no knowledge of this world. I was not just a fish out of water, I was a fish stranded in the middle of the Sahara desert. I had no idea about anything, which meant that I had plenty to worry about.
"What's so funny?" she asked softly. She was leaning so close to me now that I could feel her breath tickling my skin. I closed my eyes and sighed.
"Life," I responded allowing my eyes to drift open once again as I turned to look at her. "I feel like a seed blowing in the wind, powerless against the forces acting on it and where it will end up," I confided softly, my hand coming to rest on top of the one she had rested on the bed as she leaned towards me. "You are the only thing that makes sense here," I continued softly, my eyes locked with hers in an intimate gaze, her thumb once again caressing my hand.
Her lips parted as we stared at each other, her eyes shimmering as she watched me without blinking. "Fear not for the wind," she said quietly, squeezing my hand, which was now firmly ensconced in hers. "Where ever you land, I'll be there to catch you," she continued her voice breathy, even softer than it had been before.
"I…" I started to say, but before I could say anymore I felt a pair of soft, wet lips pressing against mine swallowing my words. I felt my breath catch, and the tears that I had been struggling to contain since the moment I had woken up in this strange room the night before finally fell into our kiss.
There were no words to describe the wonder of kissing her as myself once again, except to say that it was worth every single year, every single month, every single second of the two thousand years that we had been separated. It was a revelation, a glorious revelation, and as I felt her hand come to rest on my cheek as she deepened the kiss and our tongues danced together, I felt peace for the first time since He had stopped me the hallway of the palace that night and asked to show me something special.
When the need for air finally became too great for us to ignore we pulled away from each other slightly. When we did I saw her look at me her expression surprised, and scared, and excited and so much more. She started to draw further back, her eyes clouding over in thought, I reached out and grasped her hand holding it lightly, but firmly.
"Please don't leave," I said softly. I couldn't bare it if she did.
"I won't," she said her voice somewhat distracted, "I wasn't," she continued her eyes slowly focusing on me once again. "I'm not going anywhere," she said finally composed once more. "You should rest before the doctor arrives, he may be here for a while," she continued a moment later as she settled herself better on the chair, still close, but not as close as before.
"Lay with me," I said already acutely feeling the loss of her warmth. "Keep me warm."
"We have fireplaces for that nowadays," she responded looking over at the fireplace on the far wall. "And lots of blankets. The snuggly kind."
"Nothing could possibly be better than you," I replied, my heart hammering in my chest. I had tried to be strong, to be brave, to be a good little soldier but I was losing the battle. I was tired, and scared, and all I wanted to do was crawl into the arms of the woman I loved more than life itself.
I needed her.
When people had looked at us in the past, they had always assumed that I was the strong one. That with her soft voice and gentle smile Nefertiri was the one who depended on me, but that had never been the truth. Emotionally, Nefertiri had always been far stronger than I, far stronger than I had ever even conceived of I came to realize. She had survived her father taking possession of my body, and of Him taking my soul. She had survived watching the murder of her father, my execution and fought for control of her kingdom.
I had always been the one that needed her, and I needed her still.
She looked at me for a long time after that, her eyes steady and unblinking, and then she slowly rose out of the chair and rested her left knee on the bed. I watched her intently as she then drew up her other knee and placed it on the other side of my body then shifted so that she was on the other side of the bed, kneeling above me. Then very carefully she lowered herself down until she was lying stretched out on her side facing me.
Once she stopped moving, I slowly shifted my body towards her until my head was level with her shoulder. I lowered my head onto her shoulder then and draped my arm around her waist drawing us together as I inhaled her scent.
"What a novel idea," she breathed out a moment later. "When you said rest it wasn't a euphemism for anything."
I smiled at that, my lips pressing against her collarbone as if to disprove her point, but I did no more than that. I could do no more than that though I wanted to, badly.
"I think you're right," I said softly, resting against her comfortably once more. "I think I am sick. I fully intended for it to be a euphemism for something," I continued honestly, feeling content but drained.
"That's my Su," she said softly as she pressed a soft kiss to my forehead. "It's alright, we'll have you feeling completely like your old self again soon enough."
"I hope so," I replied as my eyes began to flutter shut. I really was tired. I couldn't remember ever being so tired and so persistently. It was strange, but then again these were very strange times.
"I'll make sure of it," I heard her respond softly but with conviction. "I'm not going to lose you again," she went on her voice becoming increasingly distant as I drifted off to sleep. "I couldn't stand it."
Part 4
The sun was shinning down on my face, pleasantly warming my skin as my eyes slowly opened. It was warm out and I could feel a fine sheen of sweat covering my skin making me tingle nicely as the breeze rushed over me. Then I felt something cool rubbing against my lips and automatically opened them. A small berry was inserted and then one of the fingers that had delivered it. I smiled and sat up easily.
"How long have you been awake?" I asked playfully as Nefertiri gazed at me.
"Awake?" she asked looking down at me, her expression thoughtful before breaking out into a wide grin. "I was never asleep."
"So the snoring was just an elaborate rouse?" I asked knowing that it would get her riled up. I loved to see her with fire in her eyes, her lips thin and determined, strength and determination radiating from every fiber of her being. She was beautiful when she was angry, she was beautiful when she was calm. She was the most exquisite creature to ever walk the earth.
"I do NOT snore," she replied firmly, her eyes trained on me, her expression leaving no room for argument.
"If you say so," I replied resting my hands behind my head and closing my eyes once again, a lazy, content grin spreading across my face.
"Are you humoring me?" she asked leaning down over me. "You're humoring me, aren't you?" she asked her hands trailing up my torso. She was smiling I could hear it in her voice. "Humor me will you," she continued to say, her fingers now dancing across my skin, tickling my sides.
"Hey," I said my eyes popping open and my hands coming from beneath my head to enter the fray. "Stop that," I continued laughing as I struggled with her trying to get her hands off of my abdomen. "Play fair," I went on rolling her onto her back. "Exploiting my weaknesses like that," I said laughing again as she rolled me over and I rolled her back over carrying us off of the blanket and onto the grass. "You should be ashamed of yourself."
"Of course you're right," she said stopping suddenly, looking down at me contritely from her position straddling my waist. "That was wrong of me. Even though you started it," she continued, her hands once again on my sides, but this time caressing them softly, sensuously. "Where are you hurt? Do you want me to kiss it better?" she asked, a truly delicious smile spreading across her lips before her tongue slipped out to lick them.
"Everywhere," I groaned, shutting my eyes to indicate great pain. "I think you better just kiss everything to make sure," I continued cracking one eye open and then the other to look at her.
"It is better to be safe than sorry," she agreed, her eyes raking over my body hungrily though her tone was almost scholarly. "Alright," she said with sigh a moment later. "It's settled then … I'll have you for lunch."
The rest of the afternoon was spent in a pleasurable haze. Most of the evening as well, and a good portion of the night truth be told.
Part 5
After twirling the white stick around between my fingers for a few minutes I pulled the sticky half moon shaped candy out of my mouth and held it up to the light looking at it. A lollypop, grape flavored, it was quite good. The doctor had given it to me for being such a cooperative patient. I liked the doctors in this century much better than the ones from my time, back in the day the only treats that were given was news that you weren't dead or likely to be dying any time in the near future. Lollypops were much more satisfying.
"Do you like it?" Evie asked walking back into the room and shutting the door behind her. After the doctor had finished examining me he had asked to speak to her outside.
"It's quite good," I said sticking it back in my mouth and finishing it off. "He didn't give you one?" I asked with a touch of smugness as I rested the stick on the night side table. He liked me better.
"I've had enough suckers to last me a lifetime," she said softly coming to sit by the side of the bed. "I can't look at them without getting a stomach ache now. One of the drawbacks of knowing the owners of candy store as a child," she continued to say as she gazed at me.
She extended her hand a moment later so that it was hovering over my chest, right above my heart, her thumb stroking the air lightly as if she could feel something beneath it before she then retracted her hand letting it fall limply onto her lap, her head bowing.
"Bad news," I said watching carefully. Whatever the doctor had told her wasn't good.
She looked up at my words and nodded slightly before closing her eyes tightly. It was a valiant effort, but tears still slipped out from underneath her lowered lids a moment later, and she took a deep, shuddering breath before raising her hands to her face and harshly rubbing away her tears.
"He doesn't know," she started to say looking at me now though her eyes still shimmered. "He doesn't know what's wrong with you," she continued her head dropping down momentarily as she struggled to collect herself before looking back up at me. "But … he says your body is shutting down. He couldn't explain it, he just said that everything points to the lights being turned off."
I was silent after she stopped speaking, her words saddening me deeply but hardly surprising me. I had felt it almost from the moment I had woken up in their nicely furnished rented house. I had felt my energy waning more and more with each passing day until I had become convinced that very soon I would run out of energy to lose. I had felt myself fading away.
"Say something," she said softly a moment later, picking up my hand in hers holding it lightly as if she thought it might break.
"I know," I told her softly. "I could, I can feel it. It's like being very tired but trying not to go to sleep," I related. "Do you remember that night, a couple of days after I came to live at the palace? We had a competition to see who could stay awake the longest," I continued having seen her nod weakly. "It's like that. I can feel myself getting more tired with each passing day."
"But why?" she asked almost militantly. It was the first time I had seen her really lose control since waking up. "I checked up on Meela, she was twenty-nine and in perfect health, she'd never even had her tonsils taken out. There's no reason for you to be dying," she continued fiercely.
"The restoration spell," I said softly, "it must have done something to me."
"But I have Nefertiri's memories," Evie responded. "I have her soul, and I'm fine," she continued, her hand clutching mine more tightly now as if she were afraid I would fade away right in front of her.
"Those were a gift, from the gods," I replied softly, my hand coming to cover hers. "A divine treasure … just like you," I continued kissing her knuckles softly. "My soul was put into Meela using the darkest of magic and was sustained by his power. I've been dying since Anubis took them away from Him, since the temple," I related, finally realizing how I'd gotten the strength to turn away from him at the pit, to turn and run.
"Please," I said a second later focusing on Evie once again and seeing tears begin to fall from her eyes once more. "Don't cry," I continued raising my hand up to her face to catch her tears, wiping them away gently. "I … I don't belong in this world. It's time for me to finally rest in peace."
She sniffled as I finished speaking, her eyes searching out mine her jaw tightening defiantly as she gazed at me before loosening once more as she ran a troubled hand through her hair. "I know," she said softly, her hand coming to rest on my check, "that it's been so hard for you," she continued blinking. "You deserve peace," she said her eyes closing. "To be at rest, finally," she went on softly. "And this is going to sound selfish, but I don't want you to go. I want you to stay here, with me. I don't want to lose you again."
"That's Nefertiri talking," I said softly, my hand coming to cover hers as she stroked my cheek.
"I am Nefertiri," she replied looking at me crossly.
"I thought only just a little," I replied, recalling our conversation from the previous night.
"Don't be a smart-ass," was her frowned response. "You can beat this," she said. "You can stay. You just have to want it. You have to fight," she continued leaning forward, her words coming out in an intense whisper.
"And if I do live?" I asked her my voice soft though my eyes burned with intensity. "Then what? I move in with you and your husband and your son? We become one big, happy family?" I asked. "If Meela's memories are correct, it's still not legal for me to be your concubine," I continued stilling her thumb with my hand, though I kept her hand pressed against my face.
"There's a solution," she responded dropping down off of the chair to kneel by my bedside. "There's always a solution, it's simply a matter of finding it, of thinking outside of the box. If we…"
"Evelyn," I said, saying her name out loud for the first time since I awoke. "I'm dying. Your doctor said so, and I can feel it. There's no way to creatively think my way out of this, it's not a riddle," I told her finally removing her hand from my face and bringing it to my lips, placing a soft kiss on her palm. "It's the end. But it's not. Do you understand?"
"No," she said quietly. "Why does it feel like it?" she asked, her voice cracking.
"We'll be together again," I told her confidently, my voice the strongest it had been in centuries. "I promise," I continued, and I knew those words to be as true as any that had ever been spoken. "I promise."
Part 6
"Do you remember this place?" she asked me softly as she draped a blanket over our bodies. "It's darker than the last time we were here," she continued wrapping her arms around my waist holding me securely against her.
I had gotten weaker, though I hadn't believed that it was possible, in the days after the doctors' visit. It was now an effort to make even the smallest of gestures, yet I was not afraid for I knew that she would take care of me.
The day after I had been given my diagnosis Evie had come into my room with a chair on wheels and ordered Rick to sit me in it. That chair had been home away from home for the next few days as she took me on a tour of the new Cairo. "Before you leave this world you're damn well going to see some of it," she had said. And a sight to see it had been. I had memories of all the things she had shown me, from my time as Meela, but to see them with my own eyes, and touch them with my own hands had been an amazing experience. To see them, and experience the new world for the first with her by my side even better.
"I remember," I said softly. Everything I said was softly as of late.
I had told her of the dream I'd had the other night, of when we'd visited the valley and now she had brought me back there for one last memory, our last hurrah as flesh and blood.
"I wanted you to see something beautiful before you go," she said, her head tipped upwards towards the starry night sky, before lowering to take in the dark leafy vista in front of us.
"I've seen something beautiful everyday," I responded without hesitation. "Nature's most beautiful creation ever," I continued tilting my head back to look at her.
"It's so strange to be held," I said later in a moment of silence as we held hands under the blanket. "I should have let you do it more often, but I so enjoyed holding you in mine," I continued remembering a time when I had been young and strong like she was now. When she would lay, protected and loved more than anything in the world in my arms.
"And I enjoyed being held," she replied her voice soft and wistful. "So strong. My hero," she whispered, pressing her lips to my temple. "My love."
Part 7
I could feel her hands squeezing mine tightly as tears sporadically rained down on my skin. I wanted to comfort her, to tell her not to cry and that everything would work out exactly as it should, but I no longer had the energy to speak.
My thoughts however remained clear with memories of things that I had loved in my life.
The feel of the wind rushing across my face as we raced horses through the desert. Her eyes. A deep breathe of crisp morning air. Her smile. The feel of barley stacks brushing against my legs and arms as we lay in the fields finding pictures in the clouds. Her hands. Jumping into a crystal clear pool of water on a scorching summer afternoon. Stars shooting across the nights' sky like balls of fire. Her ears. A flower slowly opening itself to the world, spreading its pedals for the world to enjoy. Her. And more, and so much more…
"Agh," I gasped, my chest rising one last time as my eyes fluttered closed.
I blinked, my eyes tightly shutting as I turned my head to the side to block out the light attacking my eyes. Raising my hand to my face and curving it over my brow I tentatively opened my eyes allowing them time to adjust to the light.
Pushing myself up so that my palms were resting on the mattress and my torso was upright I looked around the sunbathed room and smiled. Widely.
I flung my legs over the side of the bed, wiggling my toes as they touched the sun warmed tile of the floor. Then I rose to my feet, stretching out my body and bouncing on the balls of my toes before stopping to once again survey the room. It was a room I knew well, I room I had missed for over two thousand years.
Turning my head to the side I spotted the wall permanently stained with ink and stared at it for a moment before smiling once again. Then without a moments more hesitation I ran towards it, lifting my foot up to brace against it as I reached it and using my previous momentum to flip around up and around landing perfectly on my feet staring at the wall once more. My wall. My work of art, I thought tracing the dark stains splattered across it with my fingers.
Evie opened her eyes slowly, her right hand rising to her face so that she could use her thumb and index finger to pinch the bridge of her nose as she blinked rapidly in a futile attempt to stem the stream of tears running down her face.
"Evie," Rick said softly, his hands coming to rest comfortingly on his wife's shoulders as he watched her with a concerned expression. She had come out of Anuk Su Namun's room only moments before to tell them that the woman had passed away, then her eyes had rolled up into her head and she had dropped to the floor clutching at her heart.
"She's gone," Evie breathed out, her voice barely more than a whisper as she looked up at her son and her husband, tears still streaking down her face.
"We know," Rick said holding her around the shoulders gently and helping her into a standing position. "You came out and told us, then you collapsed. Are you okay?" he asked. From the moment Evelyn had hugged the other woman on the steps of the temple he had been confounded by their relationship, unable to grasp the bond that tied them together, but recognizing that there was an incredible connection between them nonetheless and that her passing had hurt Evie terribly.
"I'm … not hurt," Evie responded turning to face him. She was feeling an acute sense of loss however that would not allow her to say that she was fine. She wasn't fine, but she would be. They all would be. "I meant Nefertiri though," she said leaning into Rick as he wrapped his arms around her comfortingly. "She's left me," she continued softly, before turning around to face Rick and breaking out into a dazzling smile that surprised the man and small boy standing by her. "They're together now."
I felt her arms wrap around my waist and her lips brush against my neck as her body pressed up against my back.
I turned slowly, not wanting to break our embrace, until I finally saw her eyes shimmering in the sunlight.
Her hand came to rest against my cheek and she smiled, the most beautiful smile in all of the earth and all of the heavens.
Then her lips were against mine, kissing me softly, lovingly, before her lips curved up into a smile once again and she took my hand in hers.
"Come on," she said tugging my hand. "What? Did you buy sandals made of molasses?" she asked grinning at me as I stumbled along behind her awkwardly. "I've made some changes in the garden. You'll never guess what Phaiki managed to get me," she continued dragging me out of the bedroom. Our bedroom.
I was home at last.
The End
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no subject
Date: 2008-06-30 04:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-30 11:03 am (UTC)i loved the relationship you created between them and the way they were SO passionate about the other and who DOESNT love a 'forever' that truly IS forever!
the two stories were so amazing that i am going to hope you have some more somewhere (of course i understand that this one is ended but still)
no subject
Date: 2008-06-30 02:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-30 11:46 pm (UTC)