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Amaranthine ran and ran until she thought she could run no longer, and still she ran. Her feet crunched the snow that gathered in bigger and bigger drifts on the ground, freezing and numbing her little toes, throwing flakes in the air like confetti. She sobbed and her breath turned to ice in the air, and she ran, ran, ran, never once looking back to see if the others were following her. The others already seemed like figments of her imagination, like they had never been real in the first place. All there was was snow and cold and running. And then she smelled weater. Sobbing again, this time with exhaustion and relief, she turned and ran straight toward the intoxicating scent, until she could see the silvery oasis on the horizon. She staggered to the edge, shed her dress in one fluid movement, and plunged in head-first. The water was cilly at first, but pleasant once Amaranthine got used to it. She kicked a few times, until she could feel her feet again, and swam off into the depths. Eventually, the girl stopped to rest on a mossy rock. Her hair floated all around her, a shroud of feathery brown, and she gazed at the undersea wonders she loved. Even in such chill waters, the delicate balance of life captivated her. Just the sight of such beauty banished her disappointment of her failure. And suddenly Amaranthine was no longer alone. She froze and turned slowly, fearing whatever predator she shared her watery haven with, and saw not a vicious carnivore, but a creature like none she had ever beheld. He was long, slender, and blue, with soft, gentle bearing and smooth gracefulness in the water. He resembled a snake, in Amaranthine's mind, but his face looked eerily ... draconic, almost. But it couldn't be. And yet, as Amaranthine looked at him and he looked at her, the girl began to notice something else. At first it was just a vague nagging at the corner of her mind, something she couldn't quite put her finger on. But then she realized. The dragon's eyes were round, intelligent, and black. "My name is Amaranthine," the girl said breathlessly. Vienaguo, the dragon replied, and the girl felt chills all over her body. "What are you searching for, friend?" she asked gently. I am looking for my bondmate, the dragon said, just as quietly. I was wondering if you had seen anyone nearby ... you know, looking for a dragon.... "I believe," Amaranthine said, her voice trembling, "that I have been sent to help you." "It's been a day and a half," Julia said blankly. "She's not coming back, is she?" "Sadly, I think you're right," Marcus said, gazing out at the snowy landscape. "And it feels like it's for good this time, doesn't it?" Julia nodded. "I wonder where she is, what she's doing," she mused. "You don't think we should look for her?" "Do you?" Marcus asked in response, looking at Julia with piercing blue eyes. Julia looked away. "Poor creature," she said. "All this way to find out that she was right back where she started. I wonder why she started in the first place." "I don't think it's for us to know," Marcus replied. "I've always felt like this isn't her world, we aren't her people." Julia nodded. "Perhaps we should stop talking about it," she said. The two were quiet for a long while; the only sound was Dilani typing. It was amusing to watch her on the lovely laptop computer Leopold Anderson had lent her to type up a manuscript to send to his boss; at first she had neglected half the keys on the keyboard, but she had learned typing anew rather quickly, and she had barely slept at all since she had first opened her document. She would keep one eye on her many notebooks and one eye on the computer screen, occasionally pausing to think, occasionally digging through her notebooks for some other passage of thought. The two had never seen her look quite so happy and at home as she did, sprawled out on the hotel bed, a pen in one ear, writing the words of her generation and generations to come. "I just wish," Julia said finally, "that she had been able to accomplish what she'd come here to do." "Do you know," said Marcus, looking from Julia to Dilani to Julia again, "I think that she did." And Julia agreed. "All right, take care of yourself, good bye." Julia Allweather hung up the phone, and looked up at her mantle. It was a different mantle than the one she had put her pictures on many years ago, but this was fitting, as the pictures were different as well. On the far left sat a picture of a beautiful young woman and a handsome young man, sitting and smiling with a little baby. Beside them, in another frame, was another couple, another young woman that looked like a slightly softened version of the first. Though they were not Julia's own, they had grown to look like her over the years. Their husbands always said they spent so much time with their step-mother that they were turning into her. Who knew? Beside those pictures, in the middle of the five, was a larger image, of a man and a woman. The woman was Julia, in a long flowing gown of white, and the man had dark brown hair, bright blue eyes, and tanned skin from being outside. The man had the pleasant look of one who has seen quite a lot in life and doesn't allow himself to be too bothered by it. They were smiling at the camera, and flowers were all around. Still farther to the right was a picture of a bright young woman with pale, freckled skin and thick red hair ever-twisted into dreadlocks. She was wearing an uncharacteristically crisp suit, and she was holding a thick red book. She was smiling both in the picture and from the cover. And farthest to the right sat a rather older picture of a man and a woman. Julia was much, much younger in this picture, and the man had his arm around her. He was smiling and, even after so many years, the picture had not faded in the least. And above all these images hung a painting by Julia Allweather herself, one that she had slaved over for months. The painting was of a girl, done as best as Julia could remember. She had smooth, pale skin, short brown hair, and intense, piercing brown eyes. Beside her hung a vase, a vase full of rich red-violet flowers. Stretching, Julia stood up and walked off to bed. |