ok, heres the next chapter, sorry it's so late. i just started a new job and suddenly had no time for anything. I hope people still read this thing Anyway, heres the next chapter. hope you like it...
The Tides Change
As time passed in the old Kingdom, Paul began to feel the pressure of keeping Lo a secret. He had less and less time to spend with her in the Arboretum and Gottreich watched him like a hawk. He made excuses of course, lies, once he told Gottreich that he was going to go torment the girl's dreams. If he was being honest, he had no idea what he was supposed to do with her in the long run. Of course he wanted her to stay with him forever but her body was still alive and he was very much not. They seemed to have little to no future ahead of them and he had nothing to offer her except himself, his love, and his soul it it was still his to give.
The Arboretum
Paul stepped into the Arboretum with a heavier heart than usual as reality reared it's ugly head. It took a moment for him to realize that he did not hear the familiar sound of her humming.
"Lo," He called as he walked past the fountain. There was no answer save for the tinkling of water into the basin. The silence worried him, she could usually be found tending the garden or running to meet him when he walked through the door. He wasn't accustomed to having to search for her.
"Lo," He called again, "Where are you?"
The increasing silence was making him crazy and the more silent responses he received the more upset he became. What if she had left? what if Gottreich had gotten here before him and taken her? Good god, what would he do if she were taken?
"LO," He yelled in a panic, "WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU!"
"I'm here," a voice said from the doorway. He wheeled around to find her smiling at him, her arms full of old gardening equipment. He all but ran at her and grabbed her so hard she dropped the implements at their feet.
"Why did you leave this room," he yelled at her "What if he found you?" Paul shook her angrily, hearing only his own panic and not trying to control himself.
"Paul, you're hurting me," She cried and tried to pull away from him. "No one saw me, I was only gone a moment."
"You can't leave this room, do you hear me?" He gave her another shake.
"Are we clear?"
She wrenched out of his grip and gave him a scathing look.
"Let's get one thing straight here, Paul Morlock, I am not a prisoner here and I will go where I want to. Do not lord over me as if I have no rights"
He was taken aback by the angry tone and was silent a moment while she gathered up her fallen tools. Then his own anger returned as she moved quickly around him.
"Take care of yourself then," He yelled at her back, which stiffened as she came to a stop.
"We'll see how you fare without me around to look out for you."
Then he stomped off through the Arboretum doors and was gone before she could respond.
It was about two days before Paul was willing to talk to her again. He didn't really leave her alone the entire time but let her think he had, it was petulant but he wanted to punish her just a little for throwing his worry back into his face. The truth was, even when he was mad, he couldn't just leave her to her fate. He loved her, he knew it now and had no idea what to do with that love. His anger at her fizzled out the night after their fight when he stood in the shadows of the arboretum, invisible to her and watched her cry herself to sleep. He almost went to her then when she began to talk to him like he was there, not knowing he really was. She said she was sorry, that she was only bored from being in one room, that she wanted him to come back. When she was asleep he came out of hiding, brushed some hair out of her face and kissed her.
The next day he was determined to make amends but had no idea how to do it. He felt he should give her a gift but had nothing to give, nothing that he thought would mean much to her. he wasn't much in the habits of giving gifts.
Stegman's Office
As he wandered the corridors of the new kingdom he heard the sounds of one of the songs he often heard Lo sing. It was coming from Stegman, of all people's, office. Paul went invisible and walked through the door to a hilarious sight. Steg was conducting wildly with a pen as Brenda listened with rapture from the nearby couch. The look of pure adoration on her face for his hilarious attempt at leading music was comical.
"I love this play," Steg said as the lead singer went into a song about the blood of the martyrs and drums. "I'm much like the main character Valjean, persecuted and hounded only for trying to do what's right."
Brenda nodded and jumped up to throw her arms around him.
"Well then, Valjean, who does that make me?"
Steg gave her a sloppy kiss which made Paul gag a little.
"You are Eponine, sacrificing everything for the one she loves."
Brenda smiled brightly a moment, then frowned up at him.
"Didn't she die?" Brenda asked with narrowed eyes. Steg made a show of looking at his watch to avoid the question.
"Oh look at the time, I'm late for a meeting with that horrible lawyer of the klingermans. Must get going."
He nearly ran out of the office. Paul laughed as Brenda ran after him, yelling something about Salem and plane tickets. When he was alone in Steg's office he went to the CD player and pilfered the C.D. that Stegman had been listening to. He now had an idea of something he could do for Lo.
The Arboretum
Lo worked dismally in what she had determined to be a rose bush. It had been almost two days since Paul had left her in anger and she felt like crying again. She hadn't understood his anger and he had hurt her by gripping her arms so tightly. She hadn't meant to make light of his concern but she was restless and tired of being confined to one room. She loved him dearly and wanted desperately to tell him so. She was beginning to sink more into her own sorrow when a familiar sound reached her ears.
At the end of the day you're another day older And that's all you can say for the life of the poor It's a struggle, it's a war And there's nothing that anyone's giving One more day standing about, what is it for? One day less to be living.
Lo stood and looked around, the sound started faintly then seemed to grow louder until it was around her. She turned in circles, trying to find it's source until her eyes found a dusty, old intercom system in various corners of the room. Somehow, her favorite musical in all the world was playing in the old kingdom.
At the end of the day you're another day colder And the shirt on your back doesn't keep out the chill And the righteous hurry past They don't hear the little ones crying And the winter is coming on fast, ready to kill One day nearer to dying!
"How?" she asked out loud, then a noise behind her had her whirling around. Paul stood in the doorway, the sight of him made her go still.
"I didn't know how to apologize," he said slowly, his green eyes showing so many emotions. " I wanted to give you something..."
She was in his arms before he could finish, apologizing and holding him to her as if she would never let go. Then they were kissing as if nothing had ever happened and laughing, and soon, dancing. They whirled around like children to the music, not caring if they looked silly, only happy to be together.
At the end of the day there's another day dawning And the sun in the morning is waiting to rise Like the waves crash on the sand Like a storm that'll break any second There's a hunger in the land There's a reckoning still to be reckoned and There's gonna be hell to pay At the end of the day!
At the end of the song, the lay breathless with Lo leaning against the fountain and Paul's head in her lap. He asked her to tell him the story of the play as they listened to it and she did. He was riveted from beginning to end, angry at Javert's pursuit of Valjean, and moved by the marriage of Cosette and Marius. At the end of her story he sat up and took her face into his hands, looking into her eyes with such love that she was sure her heart would beat it's way into her throat.
"Would you be my Cosette?" He asked, his eyes intense. "Will you love me as she loved him."
Lo was about to say yes when a clapping sound brought their heads around.
Gottriech stood in the doorway of the arboretum with a look on his face that made Lo's blood run cold. It was a mad smile that promised pain and torment, and it was on her. Paul jumped to his feet and all but threw Lo behind him.
"Run Lo," He said roughly. "Get out of here!"
"Well, Bless my soul," Gottriech said evilly, "Little Paul Morlock, protecting a girl. I think I might die of shock were I not already deceased."
Paul made no answer and tried to think of what to do. The anteater wasn't around to help, he was on his own.
"Paul" Lo whispered, gripping his arm.
"What are you still doing here, RUN!" He cried at her.
The doctor began to walk toward them slowly, laughing at Paul's attempts to hurry her.
"Did you think you could hide her, that I wouldn't figure it out." His voice was condescending and nasty. "Good Lord, Boy, you played that blasted music through out the old kingdom."
Paul cursed at his own stupidity, he didn't honestly think that Gottreich would come this far to find him. Now his mistake might cost Lo her life for real.
"Paul," she said again in a strange voice. He looked at her over his shoulder.
"For the last time, Ru-" He stopped when he saw the look on her face. She backed up from him and seemed to be shimmering in and out of being.
"Somethings wrong.." She said, and then was pulled upward through the ceiling of the arboretum as if by a rope. She heard him scream her name and then he was gone and Lo felt her self fly up through floor after floor, through the old hospital into the newer area's. Before she knew what was happening she was slammed into a bed. She came awake with a gasp, to the sound of beeping machines and bright lights. A man hovered over her with a pen light, he was talking to her.
"Lo, I'm Dr. Hook," A man with a scruffy, small beard said, "Can you hear me, do you know where you are?"
She opened her mouth to speak and nothing came out at first. Then the tears began to flow and she heard herself screaming.
"SEND ME BACK! HE NEEDS ME, SEND ME BACK!"
She began to struggle in the bed which sent waves of pain through her body. The Doctor held her down as he called to a nearby nurse. Something was jabbed into her arm and she felt a deep sleepiness that could not be ignored rush over her.
"Please send me back," she whispered to Hook before the darkness took her, she felt tears flowing down her face.
"Please send me back..."