Standard Disclaimer: Escaflowne and it's characters don't belong to me. I'm merely borrowing them. Any other characters are from my own imagination. I only write this stuff for fun, I don't make any money off of it, so please don't sue me.

Awakenings

Part Seven

Once Millerna arrived with her team of physicians, things happened very quickly.  Celena was carefully examined, the doctors consulted one another, and medications were administered. 

Gaddes was relieved when he woke to find Millerna at Celena's side tending her.  Also, grateful; he didn't know how he would ever repay the Queen.

By the evening Celena's fever had almost disappeared.  She still had a terrible cough and the wheezing sound hadn't gone away, although the doctors had assured them that she would be back to normal within a few days time.  Until then she was to stay in bed and drink plenty of water.

Eries left Celena to Gaddes' care, confident that she was on the mend.  Gaddes thanked her again for her help as she was taking her leave. 

The princess smiled grimly.  "Don't thank me yet, Gaddes.  There are still things that I need to see to."

Gaddes, distracted with thoughts of getting back to Celena, took no note of Eries mysterious comment.

Celena patiently waited for Gaddes to return to the room.  His sisters had been hovering over her most of the day.  Just now Genna was reading quietly in the corner while Allysan forced soup on her. 

"Come on, Celena.  Just one more spoonful, then I'll leave ya be.  Promise."

Celena dutifully ate the last little bit.  Although Alyssan had been helping take care of her most of the day Celena noticed the girl's smiles seemed forced at times.  "Are you mad at me?"

Alyssan set the now empty soup bowl on the nightstand before turning back to Celena with a serious expression.  "I can't lie.  I'm not happy that you've managed to rope Gaddes into marriage somehow."

Genna gasped.  "Alyssann!"

"Well it's true.  Now that he has a wife to take care of, what will become of us, Gen?  I don't mean to be rude, Celena, but my brother is not rich.  But I know he'll want to give you the things that you deserve; you bein' a lady and all.  Gen and Hettie and I have been survivin' on what little money our brother sends us each pay.  And even so, Hettie's had to go and take employment.  Maybe I'm bein' selfish, but I don't want to have to scrub floors in the palace kitchen to survive."

Celena felt the tears begin to work their way down her face as she stammered out an apology.  "I'm s-sorry.  I n-never meant to hurt anyone.  I didn't realize…"

Genna advanced on her sister with a look of disbelief.  "How could you, Alyssann?  Apologize to her."

Alyssann felt guilt begin to tear at her insides.  "I'm sorry what I said upset you, but it's the truth," she told the weeping girl on the bed.

Her sister let out an exasperated sigh and turned to Celena.  "Don't you listen to her.  We'll be fine, and besides, nothing is your fault."

Celena continued to cry, no matter how much Genna tried to soothe her.  Alyssann began to think maybe she had been too harsh and also attempted to calm Celena down.

"Just leave her be, Lyssie.  You've said enough already," Genna said irritably.   The exhaustion from the past two days was finally beginning to wear on the both of them, and it was showing through in their tempers.

Gaddes returned to find his sisters arguing and Celena silently crying.  What the hell had happened in those few minutes he'd been gone?  He stepped between his sisters and asked that very question.

Alyssann stammered an apology at him then also started crying.  He turned to Genna but his other sister only shook her head and ushered Alyssann out of the room. 

Gaddes sighed and scratched his head in confusion.

"Maybe it was wrong of me to come here," Celena said from the bed.  "I—I feel like an intruder."

He sat next to her on the bed and reached out to tilt her face up so that she was looking at him.

"What do you want?  Do you want to go back home and live with your brother?  Things happened so quickly.  Maybe you aren't ready yet—"

She interrupted him with a question of her own.  "Do you want me to go?"

He frowned.  "Hell no.  I mean…I just want you to be happy, Celena."

A delicate wrinkle formed on her forehead.  "I'm happy with you, Gaddes.  I love you.  But, I don't want to be a burden.  I can do things…I could get work somewhere or something.  I want to do my share.  I don't want to be helpless anymore."

He smoothed the hair back off her brow.  "You're not helpless.  I don't like the idea of you workin', but I guess that's your call and not mine."

She blinked.  "I can make my own decision?"

He didn't mean to laugh at her, but the look of dismay that crossed her face was just so priceless. Didn't she realize…?  Maybe she didn't.  "Of course you can.  You always have made your own decisions, kid."

"I have?" she asked uncertainly.

Gaddes nodded.  "Who was it that bargained with Allen for the chance to visit my sisters?"

She smiled softly.  "I did that."

He grinned, warming up to the topic.  "Who was it that convinced the princess to come along?"

Celena's face pinked slightly.  "I didn't convince her; I merely asked and she accepted."

"Still, she wouldn't have come if you hadn't asked," he pointed out before continuing, his tone softened.  "Who was it that kissed me, and told me she loved me?"

"It better have been me," she said jokingly to cover her embarrassment.  The way he was looking at her was doing funny things to her.  The fluttering in her chest seemed to have reached an all time high and she felt that she might pass out or even just float away.  She closed her eyes and took a deep breath to try and control the giddiness.  It helped, but she made the mistake of looking up at him again.  He looked so serious; his gaze was intense and she couldn't break away this time.

"And who was it that was so determined to be with me that she lied to her own brother?"

"You know it was me," she whispered.

He moved his hand to cup the side of her face, smiling gently when she leaned into his touch.  His thumb brushed across her mouth and she closed her eyes only to feel his lips against her own a scant second later.

When he pulled back he was pleased to note the bemused expression on her face. 

She sighed contentedly and rested her head on his shoulder.  His hand came up to brush through her hair absently.

"Will it always feel this way?" she asked softly.

"No, I don't think it will."

Startled, she pulled back to look at him.  He grinned and then gave her a little wink.  "Sometimes it will feel a whole lot better."

Celena felt the heat rush to her face once again.  "Gaddes!"  When he laughed she halfheartedly tried to shove him off the bed.

That was the sight that greeted Genna and Alyssann when they walked into the bedroom a few seconds later.  Genna smiled, happy to see her brother back to his old self.  Alyssann was nervously pulling at the hem of her apron.  "Celena, I'm sorry.  I shouldn't have said those things.  Sometimes I open my big mouth before I think about what it is I'm sayin'"

"That's alright.  Please don't apologize.  You were only saying how you felt, after all."

"I still feel awful.  I didn't mean to make you cry."

Celena flushed.  "I'm a bit overdramatic sometimes," she admitted.

Alyssann laughed, feeling relieved.  "Me, too."   She leaned down and embraced the other girl.  "Welcome to the family, Sister."

The pale girl felt tears forming in her eyes as she hugged her new sister back tightly.  "I think I'll like having sisters."

She thought for a minute that he might refuse her entrance given the way she had treated him on her last visit.  But Eries was shown into the parlor with all the respect due her station.  Allen was already there, waiting.

He sighed wearily.  "Come to be my conscience again?"

Eries walked towards him, her steps echoing in the room from the hard wood floor.  "I just came from Gaddes' house.  Your sister was ill," she said quietly.

Allen tensed slightly, but his face remained impassive.  "Is she alright?"

She turned away from him to carefully consider how to word her answer.  She knew Allen, perhaps better than anyone, and she knew what to say to him to get the response she wanted.

"I suppose I should have sent word.  She was very sick; she very well could have died.  Would you have cared at all?"

Suddenly, she felt his hand on her shoulder, turning her to face him.  

"Is that what you think of me, then?  You, my oldest friend, think I am so unfeeling?"

She sighed.  "Allen, you know that's not true.  Of course you have feelings.  Perhaps you have too many feelings; you get so caught up in them that it's hard to get through to you sometimes."

He pulled her into a tight embrace burying his face in her hair at her shoulder.  She was surprised by his actions and stood stiffly in his arms for a moment before relaxing.

"I don't want to lose her, Eries.  I can't go through that again," he whispered, his breath warm against her ear.

"Then why did you send her away?"

"I think I was afraid.  Having her back means so much to me, but I don't know how to….I don't know."

His answer surprised her; it had always been hard to get him to talk about his emotions.  In some ways he was still a child and as much as she loved him she knew that she could never be with him until he finished growing up.  It was times like these, however, that made it hard for her to remember the promise she had made to herself.

She gently disentangled herself from his arms.  "You should go to her."

"Eries…"

She turned away from him again, unable to bear his intense gaze.  "Don't.  Don't say whatever it was you were going to say.  Go to your sister, because she needs you now."  Things were quiet but then she heard him moving out of the room.  She didn't turn around until she heard the front door close.  Allen, she thought, I know you'll do the right thing.

Genna knocked lightly on the door before entering.  She immediately apologized for intruding when she saw that Celena wasn't alone.  Gaddes was with her still, sitting on the edge of her bed spoon feeding her dinner.  "Celena, your brother is downstairs." 

Her face betrayed her every emotion:  fear, excitement, worry, sadness; they all flashed across her features.

Gaddes gathered her into his arms and held her close, tucking her head under his chin.  "You have to make up with him sooner or later."

"I know," she said with a sigh.  She pulled away slightly to look at the girl standing in the doorway.  "Please send him up."

It wasn't long before the door opened again and Allen stepped in the room.  It felt as if she hadn't seen him for months, when in reality it had only been a matter of days.  He looked about as tired as she felt.  Perhaps things hadn't been well with him either.

Gaddes started to get up saying he would leave the two of them alone.

"No, wait."  He sighed.  "I want to apologize to the both of you.  I acted rashly before, causing needless pain in the process.  I'm sorry for that."

Celena's eyes began to fill up with tears.  "Allen, I never meant for things to turn out the way they did, either.  I only wanted to be happy, but I didn't want you to be disappointed in me.  I didn't know what to do."

"You could have trusted me," he commented.

She nodded, wiping the tears from her face.

"I was more upset at the fact that you had been keeping such a thing a secret from me than I was at realizing there was a relationship between the two of you.  Two of the people that I trust most in the world didn't trust me at all.  Can you imagine how I felt?"

"Do you hate me now?"

He looked shocked for a minute before his expression gentled.  "Of course not.  I was angry, and understandably so, but I could never hate you, Celena."

"Boss, I'm sorry.  I guess I didn't think you'd trust someone like me to take care of your sister."

"I can't say that you are the ideal person that I had in mind for her, but since the two of you are obviously in love …it's not my place to deny anyone's happiness.  I've trusted you with my life, Gaddes; I'll trust you with hers also."

Gaddes nodded.  "I won't disappoint ya, boss."

"See that you don't.  I suppose I don't have to remind you that I'm rather handy with a sword," Allen said.

Celena blanched but Gaddes only laughed, causing her to look at him as if he lost his mind. 

"Boss, you have a warped sense of humor."

Celena gasped.  "Allen has a sense of humor?"

Her outburst caused Gaddes to go into another fit of laughing, which in turn set her to giggling. 

Allen sighed and tried to remain dignified.  "When you two are finished mocking me perhaps we can finish up with this apologizing business?"

Carefully, she slid from the bed and went to her brother.  She wrapped her arms around him and felt him return the embrace. 

AN:  First off, I'd like to apologize for the amount of time it took for me to get this last chapter out.  Even though I know how I wanted it to end, for some reason writing the conclusion is always the hardest part for me.  Also, I will sheepishly admit that I got sidetracked by Fruits Basket.  ^^;;;

A warm thanks goes out to everyone that has reviewed this story.  The reviews were helpful and very much appreciated.  *hugs*

A quick note for those of you that have read 'Finding Her Roots':  That fic is in the process of being revised.  I don't know how long it will take, but it will eventually be finished, with a complete make-over.  For updates feel free to check out my bio, or my fic log (link is in my bio.)