navy = flashback
"She said that you might die."
"Who said that?" Lina turned in his embrace under the sheets. A skeptical, indignant expression in her eyes.
"The oracle." Zel stared up at the ceiling. "The same one that acurately predicted that Zelina would return to us two years ago."
Lina crossed her arms over his chest and leaned over him thoughtfully.
"What exactly did she say?"
"You can't be serious."
"Don't make me say it again."
"She can't die... Our first daughter has finally
returned... The twins are only 5 years old... She
can' - "
The white coated woman turned, a psuedo-anger
fuelling her next remark.
"Listen to me." She paced towards him, staring him
down. "There is nothing I can do to change whatever
Fate has in store." She paused and looked away,
scornful at the horizon. There was some silence
before she continued, in almost a whisper. "If the
maple outside your cottage turns red this fall, she
won't live to see the winter. But if the leaves all
turn a bright gold, she'll live to have your next
child."
Zel could only stare astonished, as the ebony-haired
girl faded into the growing twilight shadows.
"Stop glancing out that window and help me!"
Zel turned from the maple to stable a pile of toppling dishes Lina transfered from the diner table to the sink. It was the first week of November. The leaves could either stay yellow or go on to red, as he had watched it do so many years before.
Lina continued washing dishes, but gave a worried, sideways glance at Zel. He picked up some dishes of his own. The mood was too dark. Lina began to grummble.
"I swear, those twins eat us out of house and home! If Zelina wasn't living with Zefi, it'd be the end of us!"
"Hmph. At times like this, they're more your twins than mine."
"Hey!" Lina scrubbed the next dish. Then she smiled up at him. "Now, how could times like this end?"
He stared into her eyes and smiled as she leaned forward.
"I couldn't possibly imagine." He leaned to meet her halfway as they gently closed their eyes.
FFFRRRMMMPPPHH!
Their eyes snapped open.
Turning towards the window, the maple was in flames.
"It was YOUR Fireball!" A small voice yelled.
"Nu-UH!!!" The other girl stomped her foot.
Oddly enough, Zel only laughed.
"Oi! You two!" Lina called out the window.
"EEP!" They both squeeled in unison before running off into familiar woods.
"sigh Freeze Arrow." Lina waved a hand. "See?" She smiled at Zel, just behind her. "Nothing to worry about. Now, weren't you about to kiss me?"
Zel chuckled and yanked her to him for the task. In the reprieve, he noted, "The twins will be gone playing for a while."
"Yes... They will." Lina gave him a knowing smile.
"When is Zelina coming over, Daddy?"
"I wanted to ask him!"
The indigo-haired girl stuck out her tounge at her red-headed sister. Zel juggled his new son and a baby bottle while preparing a large tray of food.
"She'll be here in 2 days, sometime passed your bedtime. Now bring this tray to your mother."
"'kay." They both said in unison, each taking opposite sides of the dinner tray.
"Daddy, how come Mommy's had to stay in bed ever since the baby made her tummy really big?" One of the twins asked before going down the hall to Lina's bedroom.
"Having a baby has just made your mother very tired this time."
"Yeah, but...Is she supposed to stay in bed still? And the healers saw her already."
"You jellyfish!" The other twin replied before Zel. "Mommy's gotten breakfast, lunch, and dinner brought to her in bed for the past few months! Who wouldn't want to stay in bed?!"
Zel stared after them as they slipped into Lina's room. He turned from the hallway, his eyes pensive.
"Daddy?..." A quiet voice came behind him.
"What is it honey?"
"Mommy... Mommy... - "
"She won't wake up." Came the other twin.
"Here. Take your brother." Zel went passed them, leaving them alone with the baby and his bottle.
"I don't know how to take care of babies!" She called out, looking her little brother up and down frantically.
"Lina? Lina." He approached the form curled up in sheets. "Don't make me pinch you to wake up. ...Lina?" He knelt at her side. It took only seconds for him to realize the lack of rising and falling movements her chest should have had. He reached a shaking hand out to her, almost forgetting to breath as he did so. "L-Lina..." He clutched her, burying his eyes in her red locks.
"Is Mommy going to wake up?"
"No." Zel shook his head.
Vaguely familiar. Last night. He had this dream before, last night. He and Lina making love ever so gently. A memory of 3 days earlier. The night before the day he buried her. He awoke abrubtly, to the empty bedside. He shut his eyes tight. So sure it felt real.
He opened his eyes until an image of Lina appeared beside him. An illusion of his fanciful dreaming. But it was OK to dream in the dark. He reached out a hand to his imagining, as she smiled and did the same. At his touch, she vanished. He flinched away, as if his eyes burned by the reality. He closed his eyes tight. She haunted his dreams, his musings, and his sight since her death.
"I don't mean to haunt you, Zel."
His eyes snapped open, his body paralyzed, except for his suddenly deep breathing.
"I just can't materialize well for long."
He felt a weight crawling up him, and closed his eyes. Then those soft lips curved over his. He complied. Reaching up, he held a tiny set of shoulders and held close a slim, petite figure.
"Beloved... I should have been more careful."
"Shhhh... It was a wonderful way to die." They stared into each other's eyes, hers trying to be happy, his in shock and pain.
"I can't live without you...my precious Lina...!"
She quieted him with a kiss, both turning to rest on their sides. They continued until eventually, he hung slightly over her.
She began to feel colder in his arms.
"Zel! Zel...it's happening." She looked about ready to fade. His eyes searched her desperately, in panic. "Zel. Don't watch." She reached up to guide his eyes closed, but the first attempt proved futile. Her hand passed right through him. Seeing that didn't help either one of them. She bit her lip and tried again, this time succeeding. "Zelgadis...Greywiers....." His mouth tried to follow the feel of her fingertip gliding down his lips. But the feeling vanished. He opened his eyes to a dark room and empty bed.
He clutched the fabric in frustration, then flicked off the bedsheets. He felt compelled. He strode out his room and opened the door to the room of the twins. He watched. Two of them, suggled in sheets, perfect images of Lina's sillouette in the dark. He picked up the baby in the nursery. He walked through the house, admiring the flaming locks already on his son's head. He almost didn't notice the knock at the door.
"Dad?" Zelina stood there, finally come. A copy of her mother.
Zelgadis shut his eyes and clutched the baby more tightly to himself.