The Lost: A Mother's Heart

The mist here was thick...so thick it obscured her vision. Ever swirling, and then retreating only to return full force it seemed to have a life of it's own. No regular fog was this, but ethereal, magical, and controlled by something far larger than Skye dared to speculate upon. Stepping carefully through the underbrush, the dead leaves and twigs softly rustling beneath her feet, Skye pressed onward toward what she hoped was a place to stop and catch her bearings. But all the while, the mist played tricks upon her until all she had left was her own intuition and sense of direction as to where that place may be. Stopping for a moment, Skye somehow sensed a clearing ahead and heard voices.

Small and delicate...like the tinkle of tiny silver bells, or of the elven music Ian had taught her to listen for. Staying perfectly still, she concentrated on the voices alone.. hoping to use them to draw her to a more secure heading in her journey. She closed her eyes only for a moment or two, blocking out everything except those voices, and upon opening the emerald orbs found that the mist had gone. Before her, only a few steps ahead was a clearing, and in that clearing stood two small figures, bundled up against the early spring chill. Skye stepped forward and two sets of eyes watched her, unmoving and unblinking until she stood not five paces from them.

They were small...that stood to reason, being elven. Her lips curved into a soft smile as she regarded them silently.... waiting perhaps for some sort of recognition from them. Her eyes raked over the two, taking in every detail as something deep within her unconsciously pulled towards them, almost fervent in it's prayer for them to speak. She was not to be disappointed.

"He loves you, doesn't he?"

Skye smiled at the question and nodded, her own reply soft. "Aye, and I him. How could I nae?"

A shrug was her answer, however Skye saw the shared glance between them. The second spoke, "And the boys?"

"Oh yes...the boys. Them too. All of them."

Again a barely perceptible nod and the blue eyes now fastened upon her more intensely than before. She was being scrutinized, there were more answers needed, and now it was Skye's turn to start the volley of conversation between them. "And you too.... surely somehow you must know that."

The blue gaze deepened slightly and a ghost of a smile flitted over the tableau. "But how? Somehow you do.... perhaps even better than the other before you. But how?"

"You are a part of him. As are the boys, and Ashe, and luckily as am I. And as all of you are a part of him.... he is a part of you and of me. My family is my entire heart and soul. So you see? You are my family, and as much a part of me as the air I breathe, and everything I feel."

The tension seemed to leave the scene then, although Skye dared not move. With a soft smile, and a heartwrenching mix of maturity and childlike tenderness the words washed over the three, setting in stone what she had somehow felt all along. "It will be good to have a Mama. You will tell him to hurry, won't you? Both of you?"

Skye nodded, her voice a whispered "I promise." as she stood drinking in the sight of them, so blonde and blue eyed. So much like Shane that her heart contracted painfully in her chest. Taking a step forward to embrace the two girls, suddenly the mist swirled again, surrounding Skye, obliterating all in her sight. The girls' voices washed over her, echoing over and over again "Hurry Mama.... Hurry Papa.... Hurry.... please hurry." Skye turned, but they were gone, nothing was left but the waning voices and the mist, now thicker than ever and pressing her down, pushing her deeper and deeper into the blackness. Skye fought, she couldn't breathe, couldn't call for help.... she was drowning.... drowning in the horrible mist.

With a gasp she sat bolt upright in bed, her copper hair wild around her now perspiration-drenched face. Her eyes were wide, unfocused. Blinking, her vision cleared and settled on the figure outlined at the window. Bathed in moonlight, her husband sat watching her as he gave her a moment for her breathing to calm and for her heart to stop pounding. The soulbond between them had played her dream out for him as if it were happening directly in front of him. He knew her feelings, her terror and her now cemented love for his two lost little girls. As he moved forward to offer a comforting embrace, her words stopped him. Her voice thick with the residual sleep and perhaps a touch of fear, and underlying it all was her typical determination.

"We must hurry Ian. I promised my daughters we would hurry."