****CHAPTER 2 IS THE RE-WRITE!**** Please note that the original was kept in part for comparison and in part for nostalgia, and shouldn't really be read with any sort of a critical eye. It's like eight years old now and would be in the third grade if it was a person. ;)

05.02.2010: All scene-dividers have been eaten, again, on all of my stories. I give up. Please just go read this story on arowrites dot net where it hasn't been made incoherent; I am unable to keep up with this site's stupidity.

[Part Two of what I have nicknamed: The Akara Files.]

Well, I had this on my computer for about a week, unfinished. How could I top- or even equal- the ending "Just BeClause She Can" had? It was never intended to have a sequel, and so this sat on my computer, half-written and un-finished.

My other fanfic, the DL epic "Fear Of Shadows" just today got it's 30'th review and people are getting antsy, so I decided to finish this one so I could start on Chap 10 of that one.

Good Goddess, people! I never expected anyone to -like- the crap I write! ^_^ It's been very encouraging though, all the reviews, and even my Mother liked "J BC S C"- hell- even my boyfriend and my best friend both liked it!

I only hope this one lives up to it's... predecessor. I didn't know whether to put it in as a second chapter or separate… but then I decided separate since they *are* separate. I mean- "J BC S C" was not supposed to be continued…

…Ah, there I go- rambling.

That be all for now. I don't own Raistlin but I do own his clothes, all right? :) Yeah… I wish even that ^_^.

Holy frog- I've made one long AN here, sorry folks! As usual I'll probably continue this if it gets enough people reviewing. I'm talking like 15-20 this time though, because I put a hell of a lot of work into the "pieces" of this story, and I wanna make sure it's worth it in your guys' opinions too ^_^.

~:+:~

Akara smirked; it was going to be even more interesting this time.

She had been taking packages into the tower for 2 years now, on Yule, and on Raistlin's Birthing Day. The Archmagus had picked up on this easily, and tried harder each time to catch the illusive thief who not only delivered packages, but still somehow always left a note either on him, or near him. And always they said that he was beautiful.

Paladine had stopped supplying presents for delivery, but had not taken his amulets back either; so Akara felt free to continue the interesting missions. The last few times she had made or bought him things, in order to deliver them.

Last time he had almost caught her, it was also the first time she had seen his eyes.

The thief had discovered from her sources that the Archmagus was not in his tower, but rather he had been at the great library for many days, speaking with the Archivist there and searching the tomes for something. He probably hadn't even remembered it was his birthday, a confident Akara entered the library.

The neutral God had contacted her, informing her that he would not interfere with her, and he would keep his acolytes from as well. Well that was fine and dandy, but Akara was starting to wonder about all these Gods that were taking an interest in her missions.

She had gotten acolyte robes, pulling them on over her dark brown clothing. She trailed the real ones around for several hours- getting down the mannerisms and nuances of behavior, as well as learning by chance what desk Raistlin was using for studying the books. Akara learned every little minor detail of blending into the library, even figuring out what books were where in case it was required for her disguise.

There was no package this time, only a card with a folded piece of vellum in it, and as always- a note. These were hidden in her borrowed robes; her grappling hooks and lightweight rope was as well.

Now she wandered through the great library, moving within sight of the desk Majere was using. She was careful not to look directly at him; she was supposed to know he was here already and be pretty much ignoring him. So she only could see him out of the corner of her eye.

But she hadn't anticipated one possible glitch in her plans. The mage rose out of his chair and made his way purposefully towards her, leaning heavily on his staff, one of the books in hand.

Akara swallowed her sudden nervousness, her sudden thought that he somehow knew she was the thief, and pushed herself back into the acolyte personality she had adopted over the last 10 hours. She pretended to be busy checking books, making sure they were in order, pulling one out and moving it where it was supposed to be. She wasn't supposed to be able to sense his movements, that was a trait of a thief, not of the nervous new acolyte just trying to do her job.

Though she tracked him easily, she made sure to jump in surprise and alarm when she felt a too-warm hand on her shoulder. He had already set the book down on the nearest table.

"Excuse me." His voice was quite, polite with an undertone of superiority and maybe a hint of bitterness.

She automatically glanced up at him, and then she felt herself staring.

:: I was right 2 years ago, his eyes are captivatingly beautiful.::

"Perhaps you can help me with something." The hand left her shoulder and took her elbow, to direct her attention to the nearby book. He didn't seem to care about her gawking; probably more than used to it.

"U-um yes, perhaps. What's the problem?" She looked at the book now, again sinking back into the acolyte roll.

"I need some help in finding the second edition of this book."

Akara shivered, glancing up again at him. At least she wasn't busted yet.

"Yes, I can help with that, I think it's either over here-" she gestured to more shelving to the right, "or maybe a few aisles down. Where did you get that edition from?"

He pointed down the shelves to the left.

"Well someone must have moved it there, because only single edition books of poetry are supposed to be in that area." She made a show of looking the book over carefully. "Probably should have been over there." She pointed again to the right.

Raistlin watched the girl out of the corner of his eye. The ever-illusive thief would show up today, and he was suspicious of everyone possibly being her. But no, this girl had no hint of even being capable of such things as that thief had pulled off these last 2 years. For one thing, the thief would have died long ago had she been clumsy like this foolish acolyte.

As though on cue, she went by him to get another possible second edition off the shelf, and ran into a small stack books sitting on the floor. They went everywhere as she tried to catch herself on a shelf and in turn sent more books into the mess.

Raistlin watched this all calmly, impatience itching at him behind the eyes and giving him a headache. Using the Staff of Magius for support, he bent and grasped the girl's wrist with one golden-skinned hand and hauled her to her feet. The books that had fallen on top of her slid off- and one in particular caught his eye as it bumped into the bottom of his robes.

He knelt briefly, picking up the book and looking at the title. Yes- this was the one he had been looking for the whole time. Standing again, Raistlin Majere nodded to the acolyte, turned, and went back to his desk without another word to the clumsy girl.

Akara noticed the stack, of course, and that the shelf nearby was about to spill. She kicked into the stack and tipped the shelf as she mock-fell onto the ground. A good distraction, as she fell she slipped the enveloped card out of her robe's large sleeves and threw it.

She saw it hit the back of the Archmagus' chair, flip, and land solidly on top all his other papers and books. The thief had to hide her smirk at this; yet another mission accomplished and well done.

After Raistlin had turned and started back to his desk, she started picking books back up. The mage would have no reason to suspect her unless she just suddenly disappeared.

He put the book down, set his staff against the desk, and sat down as before. Raistlin impatiently snatched up the quill from it's spot on the desk in order to make more notes on the first edition.

That's when he saw the card. Blinking, Raistlin picked it up and opened it.

A piece of folded vellum fell onto the desk; he ignored it for the moment, reading the card's short bit of writing several times over. His face went first pale and then an almost dark orange from frustration and anger.

Dear Raistlin Majere,

Got you, again. Can't you catch a simple, lone thief- or am I too good?

Signed,

And the usual "guess if you can" type remark was signed.

Muttering several fiery oaths, he picked up the vellum- his first thought was to tear it up without opening it. But no- knowledge was power, maybe this would tell him something.

Raistlin opened the vellum slowly, and stared in shock at what he saw.

It was a scetch, a very detailed, excruciatingly accurate one that must have taken hours upon hours to make. It was of a face, the head resting on a pillow and the eyes closed in sleep. There was no frailty or signs of sickness in the picture; it was only a black and white picture so there was no golden tint to the skin either.

He stared at the picture for several long moments, jaw slightly agape, before his hand started shaking and he had to put it down.

Akara had to keep from looking at Raistlin as she and the other Acolytes picked up books and put them back on the shelf. But she did see him as he was leaving, a book under one arm, the card and presumably the vellum as well were sticking out slightly between pages. His staff clunked on the floor as he walked- and Raistlin's smirk as he went by her gave Akara a sudden chill.

And then he was gone, suddenly, on the wings of a spell.

~:+:~