~A Wild Heart~

Chapter Twenty-Three

~~~ooooo~~~

"My grandparents on both sides hailed from a town far to the north," Aeris explained, tucking her face closer into the curve of his neck and letting her eyes close as her fingers continued to move up and down languidly over his chest. "But not everyone who came here were from the same place. From what we understand, the hills were settled by families from various wagon trains over the course of several decades. All came from the northeast but some were from towns much farther back east, along the coast. But they all made the journey through the forest following the trail at some point and some decided to stop here and make it their new home rather than travel onward with the train."

"Yes, that explains the differences in clothing and languages humans wear and use in these parts." Cloud's arm tightened around her waist, drawing her toward him and away from the rock at their backs and helping her to settle more comfortably against him. "Even the words for "mother" and "father" differ from farm to farm. It's a little strange sometimes when we hear one person using "father", another one "pa", and yet another "papa" in the same conversation."

"Right." She smiled at him. The bewilderment in his voice was so subtle, one could be forgiven for not picking up on it. Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see the sheep scattered below them on the hill, grazing peacefully in the late afternoon sun. "We have been told that with time, some words and clothing will become the norm and the others will be lost but for now, it is still fairly easy to trace the roots of each family by the way we talk and dress."

She felt him nod above her. "That has already started to happen, especially in the cities and towns in the south."

Aeris leaned her head back to look up at him. "How often do you visit other places?"

"Other places as in places built by humans?" His eyes were on hers, direct, unflinching.

She nodded.

"Every day." Her eyes widened and the corner of his lips lifted slightly. "Clearly not everywhere every day, but I have a duty to visit a few places each day. If I visited more places, I wouldn't have much time for the hills." A hand lifted to cup her cheek. "And the truth is, the hills are where my heart is."

"Cloud." Her own heart was beating furiously inside her chest. She could not look away from the burning blue of his eyes.

He lowered his head and gently touched his lips to hers.

~~~ooooo~~~

Sparks crackled and flew from the bonfire, huge flames flickering wildly, reaching for the sky, lighting up the night in flashes of red and yellow. As the drums beat and the claves struck, long shadows imitated the figures circling, dancing, singing around the center of the human camp.

In a tent not far from the fire, two pairs of eyes were watching the spring festivities through the open flaps.

"It is not often people from the towns care to come and observe our rituals and celebrations," the tribe's shaman commented to the young woman sitting beside her.

"It is a loss few are even aware of," the blond woman admitted.

"Progress," the shaman said almost wistfully. "Perhaps it is we who are stuck in the past while the rest of the world moves on without us."

The townswoman shook her head. "It wasn't very long ago that much of the world lived a similar way of life to your people's. We have forgotten the old ways and with it, valuable knowledge gained through the centuries. I wonder what else we have forgotten."

"More than we will ever learn again." The shaman's eyes fell upon the pup curled quietly by the fire. She had first spotted it sitting at the edge of the camp, a small shadow in the darkness, but as the night grew colder, watched it move closer to the fire, drawn to its warmth. "He is getting tired, waiting for his master. I have rarely seen patience like that in one of such tender years."

The woman beside her laughed. "Perhaps he is waiting for his mother."

The elder woman gave her a shrewd glance. "Then she needs to do a better job of keeping an eye on him. He has been alone the entire evening."

She smiled. "I doubt she's let him out of her sight once the whole night."

"Good." The shaman's eyes returned to the young canine. "It wouldn't do for someone else to realize that it is not a dog at all. Or a wolf, for that matter."

They spoke for a short while before the townswoman eventually rose from her seat and made her way through the dancers toward the boy warming himself by the fire.

"Little cub," she called gently, and her voice came over the music, pushing every other sound into the background.

The boy glanced up and upon seeing the woman, quickly sat up, lifting a hand to hide a yawn as he did so.

"I believe you are supposed to be in bed," she said, sitting down on the ground beside him.

He looked at her in contrition. "I wanted to come and see...and listen to them."

"You wanted to hear the songs."

He nodded. "They're like the old songs, aren't they? They're stories."

"Yes." Her eyes followed the graceful movements of a woman dancing near them for a brief moment before turning back to him. "They are one of the few groups that have kept the old traditions."

"I like it. The songs...they put pictures in my head. Almost like ours do."

"Almost," she smiled. "They are quite beautiful, aren't they?"

"Beautiful," he agreed.

"You're tired."

He didn't deny it. "I... This form is easier."

"I hear it takes practice," she acknowledged. "Your father said he was approaching his second century before the shape-shifting came more naturally to him."

"Did anyone see me change?"

"Of course not." She ran a hand through his gold locks. "I shielded you. But..." She glanced down at him and chastised, "you know very well you shouldn't be here."

"I didn't talk to anyone."

The woman let out a sigh. "In a way, I am glad you are curious about humans. They are a complicated race but no less deserving of love and respect and to be understood." The boy looked away and did not see the sorrow that flashed briefly across her face before she forced it aside. "But the next time you want to come along, let me know first."

"Mother..."

"You will take my place someday," she said, her voice quiet. "It was unreasonable to expect you to remain completely uninformed about the human world. But you are still young and I would prefer that you keep your distance from them. Some rules will remain in place, even for the future king."

"You knew I was here all along?"

"From the moment you first set foot onto our tracks," she confirmed. "Just as I did last time."

A small laugh came from the boy, earning a look of surprised pleasure from her face.

"Do you know," she said softly, "their songs are beautiful but the most beautiful sound in all the world to me is your laugh?"

Happiness radiated from the boy's face as he stared up at her and for a moment, all sound and movement ceased around them. Then he suddenly gave another yawn and it seemed to break whatever magic had been at work as everything began moving again.

"Dearest heart." She gathered him up into her arms. He protested but she shushed him. "Tomorrow is soon enough to act like the king you will be one day. But for tonight, you are a princeling and my babe. Let yourself be just that. Sleep, my darling." She touched her lips to his forehead. "I have you."

His eyelids fell and just as quickly as a flare of light and shimmering wings appeared in her arms, it disappeared and all that was visible was a woman cradling her child's sleeping form closer to her. Her pale hair gleamed like the moon in the firelight as she bent her head protectively over him.

Around the fire, the humans continued to dance and sing as if nothing had happened...

Aeris woke with a start, her heart pounding to the beat of distant drums that only she could hear, her breathing fast and shallow. Her pillow was damp and a sheen of sweat covered her brow. She turned her head and looked out the window of her bedroom. The moon shone bright, silvery-white in the night sky.

"What was that?" she whispered.

Maybe she'd dreamed a story she'd read somewhere. Except she knew she had never read any such story.

Her next thought had her sitting bolt upright in bed.

"Dear gods..." She lifted trembling fingers to her lips.

It all suddenly made sense. She knew how his injury had come about on the first day they had met. The hunter hadn't simply mistaken him for a young deer.

He had taken the form of the animal itself.

~~~ooooo~~~

Tifa blinked and looked again.

It was still there.

Had it always been so?

"Aeris?"

Her housemate stopped and turned around at the sound of her voice.

"I was just going to wash up," she said as she swept back down towards the kitchen where Tifa was standing in the doorway.

"Can I see that?"

"See what?"

"The flower."

"This? Sure." She handed the lily to her.

Tifa touched a petal cautiously.

"It's not going to bite," Aeris said, watching her with a curious smile.

She glanced up at her. "Did you get this from...?"

"From Cloud?" The shepherd girl's face closed. "Yes."

Tifa wasn't imagining it. The glow was gone the instant her friend had removed the blossom from her hair and given it to her. Either she and Zack had just never noticed the effect the flower had on her or their housemate was slowly becoming like them. But then again, the flower in question had always seemed particularly suited to her.

"I was just asking," she said, her voice tinged with worry. "I didn't mean anything."

"I understand."

She held the lily back out. "It's very pretty."

"Thank you, Tifa." Her smile returned but it was the moment Aeris's fingers made contact with the flower that her entire face seemed to brighten, enhancing her beauty further.

Tifa sucked in her breath and took a step back. "Dinner should be ready in a bit," she said with a forced smile and slipped quietly back inside the kitchen.

Note: I am so incredibly sorry for the long overdue update. I wasn't happy with the new chapters and wanted to change it up a little somehow but still stay true to the original outline I had written so I decided to set it aside and come back to it. Unfortunately, as time passed it became harder and harder to pick it back up. I don't know when I'll be able to update again but I still have every intention of finishing this story. Please enjoy!