Beyond Time (closed)

[heartofcourage]

"What if we don't have a choice, Ash?" Dylan asked softly as he kissed her cheek. "What if I have to go back? What do we do then?"

 

[KieranSoares]

Ashien lifted his hands to her cheeks, making her meet his eyes. With no hesitation and no lack of determination, he whispered, "Not even time, Dylandra. I'll find a way. I'll abandon my own time if I have to."

 

[heartofcourage]

"No." Dylan said softly as he cupped her cheeks in his hands. "I can't ask you to do that, Ash. Never can I ask you to give up your family or Ballas. I know how much they mean to you."

 

[KieranSoares]

"They mean the world to me, but so do you... But Ballas would have Kayla, and my family would all have each other. With that knowledge, I'd follow you if you couldn't be here with me."

 

[heartofcourage]

Dylan let out a long sigh and pressed her forehead against his own, her eyes closing as she thought about what he had just said. He wanted to be with her, no matter what. It was a serious statement that made her feel as if she were floating on air.

"I love you, Ash." She murmured softly, kissing him gently before she wrapped him in a tight hug again.

 

[KieranSoares]

"And I love you, my dearest lady Dylandra," he whispered in return after her kiss.

Once they'd both calmed down, they returned to find Henry talking with John and Elizabeth about his journey, recalling with relief and laughter the odd situation in which he'd gotten hurt rather than with fear. Apparently it'd been an arrow aimed at a man more than twenty meters away, but the wind had had other ideas.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Papa, you told me that you would be careful." Elizabeth scolded as her father related the story as to how he got wounded in the leg. "That doesn't sound as if you were careful at all."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Careful doesn't account for the wind," Henry chuckled at his daughter and kissed her cheek. "Other than that particular battle... I really didn't see the front very much. I spent most of my time meeting allies and planning."

 

[heartofcourage]

"One time is just too much." Elizabeth insisted as Dylan and Ashien found a seat, Dylan's hand holding Ash's a little too tightly for comfort. "You have soldiers that can take up that kind of position from you, Papa. Perhaps you should use them more often."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I won't be a coward who hides in his palace, love," Henry insisted. "The tradition of the warrior king is dying... but it will not die while I still draw breath." He was a great believer in chivalry- the true chivalry, not the courtly relations- and in leading as an example, not as a driver from the back.

 

[heartofcourage]

Dylan struggled to follow along with the conversation that was happening in front of her. Her mind kept turning to what had happened just moments before with Ashien. She was trying to figure out what had happened. Was it possible that she really had gone back to her own time? It seemed impossible that time and space could have sucked her back in time so violently.

 

[KieranSoares]

Ashien knew Dylandra was trapped in her own thoughts and he wasn't far behind. So not long after dinner when Henry welcomed them to stay the night, Ashien politely declined, saying that he and Dylandra needed to speak with Van sooner rather than later. John opted to stay, knowing something was wrong. He'd return in the morning.

 

[heartofcourage]

Dylandra was quiet on the ride back to Darkwood. There was a lot going on in her head, not to mention being frightened that she could be sucked back to the future without warning. Talking to Van would be the first thing that they did, not to mention the most important thing that they would do when they arrived.

 

[KieranSoares]

When they returned, they found Van making tea in the kitchen with Ballas asleep on the floor nearby. When Van heard them come in, his brows furrowed as he stepped out to meet them. "Ashien?"

 

[heartofcourage]

"Van." Dylan said, Ballas raising his head with a mighty purr at seeing his two favorite people. "We need to talk to you about something."

 

[KieranSoares]

Van nodded slowly. "Alright... Go sit down in the parlor, I'll bring in tea. You would like you could use it."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Van, forget the tea. This is incredibly important." Dylan insisted as he told them to go and sit in the parlor. "I disappeared. Literally, disappeared back to my time. Ashien saw it happen, but luckily no one else witnessed it."

 

[KieranSoares]

Deep concern registered in Van's expression and he turned, motioning for them to follow as he made his way toward the ballroom, hand trailing along the wall to find the way. Once there, he opened up the top of the piano and felt over the strings and mechanics inside, wondering aloud and murmuring to himself about an interruption in the piano.

"Ashien, play something," Van spoke up, and Ashien came to sit down at the piano and began playing something Dylandra's grandfather had taught him. Van eventually told him he could stop, and he stood up straight to face Dylandra. "... It's not a problem with the piano as far as I can tell... I've experienced flashing between times before, but only when something was wrong with the workings of the piano."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Why was I pulled back? There is no problem with the piano." Dylan said, suddenly very worried about why she flashed between times so suddenly. "What if it happens again? What if I can't get back? Van, this is very serious."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I don't know, Dylan," Van told her firmly. "But panicking about it won't solve anything. I'll give it a full check tonight and investigate on the other side. It's possible something's happened in your time while I've been away."

 

[heartofcourage]

"That's easy for you to say." Dylan muttered as Van told her to calm down and he would investigate what had happened. "If I get trapped in time I'll be upset."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Go on and I'll check it over," Van shooed them out of the ballroom and set to work. Ashien drew Dylandra close once they were in the hallway and the doors were shut.

"He'll figure it out, love... I'm sure it's just a problem on the other side," he murmured.

 

[heartofcourage]

"What if it isn't so simple as that, Ashien?" Dylan asked him, looking at him with true worry in her eyes. "What if it's something that isn't an easy fix? I'm not asking you to give up your family for me."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I'll do whatever it takes. I love my family, but I've had twenty years with them. I've only had a few months with you and I would rather spend the rest of my life with you than stay here only seeing my family once every few years when I finally find time to visit them."

 

[heartofcourage]

Dylan had known that she was destined to be with Ashien. She felt it in her bones and knew that sh would be with him for the rest of her days. Hearing him say the same shook her to the very core and she stared at him with her eyes wide.

"You wish to be with me for the rest of your life?" She asked him in a soft voice, hesitant to believe that this wonderful man wanted her in his life. "You're absolutely certain about that? What if things don't work out between us? I don't want you to regret a decision."