(Story Fragments for Keiiii) By: Amber Michelle K. - myaru@etherealvoid.net I wrote this very quickly, so... something may be a little off, like Karellen/Krelian... hopefully not. Krelian and Igraine: "Gift?" Igraine fiddled with her cuff, eyebrows rising ever so slightly, as she stared fixedly at Krelian's shoulder rather than meeting his eyes. "Really?" A soft, amused chuckle drifted past her ears; his smile, pale though it was, was visible to her at the edge of her vision. It was a precious thing, that smile -- he so rarely showed any emotion to her, no matter that she could sense it under his facade. "Yes, a gift. Did you think I would let your Confirmation pass without any acknowledgement?" He turned, slender fingers resting on the box he had placed upon his dresser. "I'm not so detached that I would miss this..." She watched silently, clasped her hands before her patiently -- the action, conveniently enough, stilled her nervousness, at least in appearance. Thre was something... strange about him today. He was calm, his feelings felt almost soft... none of the underlying tension she was used to seemed to be present at all. It was as if for once, just once, walking into her church -- it was her church, now -- soothed his soul the way it was meant to. But there was still pain, there... like a fine mist of red over a calm blue sky. It felt very old, and tired, but strong. She wanted to wash it away, suddenly, very badly... it was her fault, after all. He was doing this for her, and somehow this gift, or the giving, was harming him. How could she accept something that so obviously cost him to give? The box opened, under a shift of his fingers. But his shoulders blocked her line of sight - though she tried, she could not see what it was he was drawing out of confinement. It clinked, skittered; metal? Perhaps... "I'm... very proud of your accomplishment, Igraine." Krelian spoke almost inaudibly, his back still to her. The object, whatever it was, fell silent. "Even when you were a child, I could see in you... the makings of the person you are now. You..." He finally turned around, the 'gift' cradled in his hands. Her eyes were drawn to his gaze, but the minute she met it she wanted to look away. It likely would have been filled with emotion, had he been another man; but Krelian's eyes were wells into the depth of emptiness... a shaking emptiness, the kind caused by loss, grieving... She'd never seen that in him before... and wished it had stayed that way. "You deserve this. I never thought I would say that about another living soul..." Igraine lifted her hand at his unspoken command, and she saw, finally, what the 'gift' was -- it was a pendant that he placed in her hand, heavy and large enough that it didn't quite fit even across the length of her fingers. The metal was fine, burnished gold, antique, yet still seeming to shine with an innter warmth. The jewel at its center, red, almost crimson, eclipsing every fragment of light present in the room... As she examined it more closely, other things became apparent -- fine, hair-thin ridges, like scars, and tiny, tiny chinks that seemed darker than the pendant was meant to be. A Nisan cross. A very, very old one; Igraine could feel its age, feel the years etched into the metal and the facets of the jewel... It was... Her pendant. It was... Igraine lifted her gaze slowly, hesitantly; but the expression was gone from Krelian's eyes. It was felt, she sensed, deep down... but something, that odd sensation she could never quite identify, seemed to have taken precedence. He nodded, and without explanation lifted the heavy weight of the cross from her hand, gliding from his place to stand behind her. A moment later, she felt the cool tingle of the chain about her neck, and the shift of her hair -- the pendant slid over her shoulder to hang nearly to her waist, glittering with its own light. "This... belonged to someone very important to me, in the past." Krelian's arms slid around her shoulders, and he clasped her to his chest. "And so it does once again. I want you to have it..." Her lips parted to say something, but the sudden tightening of his embrace, however brief, halted the flow of words before she could utter them. The pendant shifted, still an unaccustomed weight... but a precious one. An important one. "It's yours, Igraine. It belongs to you, now." Shitan and Igraine: I... *guilty look* I couldn't think of any particular scene for Shitan and Igraine... But if you've read Shadows Falling (I think you did Kei, didn't you?), then it shouldn't be hard... they were supposed to be together, even though that didn't work out in the new version... so I suppose something where they look happy together would be nice. Like a photo or a memory sort of thing.... *mind goes blank* I'll let you decide..... ^_^;