Remind me of Being Alive

((OoC: Bahh this wasn't great. Sorry. >.<))


“Maybe I should make some Lemongrass soup for old times’ sake?”

Upon hearing that, Allen couldn’t help but laugh. Oh, that day had been so amazing! Aside from the poison, the injured lungs, and the short argument that had followed, of course… but that had been the first time she kissed him. Maybe the first time had been to heal him, but he knew that the other time had been out of her feelings for him. The chuckling subsided to soft hum of a laugh as the thought crossed his mind, a smirk gracing his lips. That day had been the start of something and for as long as he lived, he’d never forget the details. “That sounds lovely,” he said. “Maybe afterwards we could go horse back riding?”

He wasn’t entirely being serious, and it showed in his tone; he was simply reminiscing. Getting bitten by that damn snake had almost been worth it for all the good things that had happened later. Still, there was almost a mischievous look to his eyes that always came up whenever he was talking about horsies or guitars. He was truly surprised that she had remembered that since…

… Wait.

“Allen… I remembered that. Maybe my memory isn’t so bad after all?”

His brown eyes widened slightly and he stared at her before a huge smile spread across his face. It was tempting to start screaming and jumping up and down because so far, the Haldis Team had two points and Death had zero. Death tried to take her from him and their family and had tried to erase her memories, and so far, it was doing a horrible – or, well, wonderful actually – job. “Oh, Enelya!” Allen couldn’t contain his excitement as he embraced her tightly, bouncing on the heels of his feet. “You’ll have it back in no time…! Soon you’ll be remembering the ocean, and getting caught in the rain, and getting married, and – ” He stopped, a smirk almost pulling at his lips. “Should I stop and let you figure it out on your own?”

“Agreed!”

As Enelya began to sing, Allen merely listened, his eyes still closed as he merely enjoyed the sound. Those twins were lucky to have such musically talented parents, even if Allen hadn’t displayed his abilities around them. He opened his eyes toward the end of her little verse, and laughed quietly when he saw Enelya’s lips pursed together. He made her wait a moment before giving her a light, brief kiss. “That was lovely,” Allen complimented before kissing her again. “Where did you learn it…?” He certainly hadn't heard it… that he remembered, at least.

“Allen! That’s wonderful! What power does Adelle have? Controlling plants?”

She was so proud; her enthusiasm made a smile come to Allen’s face. It was the reaction he had expected from her, but just seeing it with his own eyes made him overjoyed. It was going to be so fun watching the two of them talk to animals together, if in the end, it did turn out that Alderic would be able to talk to animals. Seeing them bond and become close because of it would be absolutely beautiful! Plus, it might prove to be a good bit of blackmail for when Alderic was older to make him behave. It appeared to him that most people were embarrassed by videos of them when they were younger. When she mentioned Adelle, however, a less excited look crossed his face. “Well, she hasn’t… exactly… showed anything that she has powers yet…” he said gently with a slight trace of hesitance. After how thrilled she had been because of Alderic, he didn’t want her upset at all. Powers didn’t matter, anyway, even if it would be an ‘added bonus’ of sorts. “But they’re only three, you know? She still has plenty of time to grow up and such.”

“Oh Allen, I wouldn’t want to give you another heart attack!”

She remembered! A high pitched, apparently excited little squeal came out of his throat and he couldn’t stop himself from jumping this time. She knew what he was talking about! She remembered the mare, the rain, the everything! “I wouldn’t mind as long as you kissed me and hugged me! Though spending the night in a tree again might be slightly uncomfortable…” He paused, a bit of a frown forming on his lips before it turned into a smile. “But I would if you want to!” He was so excited that she could remember that day. He’d been so angry with himself that day; the whole situation with the horses really never should have happened. But… he was glad it did. If it hadn’t, he might not be married to this woman right now. He might have gotten the courage to say something eventually, but that day was so very crucial and it had been so romantic…

“You can always help me though…”

Allen smiled as she rested her head on his neck and kissed him before she got up on her toes and kissed his lips. He almost felt bad for being so much taller than her, but that couldn’t be helped. “And I always plan on it…” he whispered with a smile. “But, promise me one thing…” Allen stopped, simply to cause suspense. Oh, how he hoped that saying what he had planned would prompt memories from even further back to return to her! “After everything you've forgotten… don’t ever forget how to hug me… please?” There wasn’t a day that had gone by that he didn’t think of that first day near the shore. She had so easily broken down his guard and made him rethink things so fast. It had truly been fate that the two of them fell in love and got married. The ocean couldn’t have been anymore right, and he was glad Enelya had decided to listen to the water.

“I’m not quite sure. I might have made it up… just for the twins…”

That was sweet. Knowing Enelya, she probably had made it up. She had always been creative and making up a song for the children was very much like her. Her memory seemed to waver in and out; it was strange that she remembered some things and others she didn’t… it puzzled him. “They’ll love it,” he told her. “I should play guitar to it!” They were quite a pair. She sang, he played guitar; he just hoped she wouldn’t mind that he had suggested that. It was her little creation, of course. “If that’s all right, of course.” She probably wouldn’t mind. The thought of her singing while he played reminded him of that day in the music room when she had danced and put the flowers on his head… they had such a beautiful story. Allen really couldn’t have asked for things to have happened a better way.

“It’s just because she hasn’t had the opportunity I bet. Do you keep plants around the house?”

His face paled slightly and a nervous look fell upon him when she inquired such a thing. Everything had reminded him of her, but plants and animals had reminded him too much of Enelya for obvious reasons. Seeing those things broke his heart all over again and it was a pain he tried to spare himself. “Not… really…” he replied reluctantly. Maybe it was selfish to be worrying about himself instead of his children more, but really he tried to give them everything he could that was within reason. Besides, even if plants hadn’t reminded him of Enelya, he was almost sure he would end up killing the poor things. Either he would forget to water them or feed them or give them sunlight, or whatever else plants needed. “I didn’t think about that…” At least, not in the sense that it might show whether Adelle had powers or not.

“She just needs her mother’s touch is all…”

Ah, that was true. Adelle did need her mother… and having plants around the house probably wouldn’t be a bad idea, either. The pain had eased now that Enelya was back, and he didn’t mind everything that had really burdened him once before. Just seeing the trees of the forest had torn him apart coming out here, but walking out of the place didn’t bother him very much. “Yeah…” Allen agreed. “You have such wonderful timing.”

Allen opened his arms as Enelya leapt into them, wrapping his forearms around her waist as she wrapped her arms around his neck. She kissed his neck, which he responded to by pressing a light kiss to the top of her head. As she said the two of them would need to share a horse, he simply laughed, though he wouldn’t mind. The first time had gone wrong, so he understood why she would say that. “Of course,” he agreed.

“I’ll always know how to hug you… But I think I’m missing something…”

A frown pulled at the corners of his lips in disappointment; she didn’t know. He couldn’t help himself from feeling that way, since it had been such a lovely part of their history. She tightened her arms around him, which made him smile slightly as he walked with her in his arms. “‘Depending on how much you like the person you’re hugging, is how tightly you squeeze,’” he quoted softly from their first meeting, kissing her forehead. Saying that brought a smile to his face; he had stiffened at her embrace, because back then, any sort of affection was foreign to him and he didn’t enjoy it and he had truly forgotten how to show it. “And you put your arms around me, and I put my arms around you… you taught me that when we first met.” He wondered if she remembered how cold he had been at first, instead of the warm, goofy person she had turned him into. There was a part of him that hoped she would never remember that man, since Allen was no longer that person, but there was also a part of him that wanted so badly for her to recall how she had changed him. People only changed when they had someone to change for, and Enelya, without question, was that person.

“Will you play for me when we get home?”

She was so excited to hear about his guitar! Allen grinned from ear to ear, ecstatic that she approved of the idea. She asked him to play when they returned home, to which he gave her a look that said ‘do you really have to ask?’. “Of course I will,” Allen responded cheerfully. “I may be a bit rusty, though.” Oh, he was so glad to have a reason for music back in his life. Music had been the driving force of his existence in the past and what had been the very thing that kept him waking up in the morning. After he had fallen in love with Enelya, however, that had changed; she had become the most important thing to him, the only thing that could keep him going. Music had meant little to him after she had died, so much so that he hadn’t even really bothered playing his instrument. He was so glad to finally have a reason to bring music back into his life… he had missed it.

They reached the edge of the forest. The trees were thinning and he could see the path clearly that led from the forest to the school and to the city. He probably should have brought the car… he hadn’t really thought about it. After calling the baby sitter he had left in such a daze that the car seemed worthless. It wasn’t a bad thing, at least; walking meant he would have more time with Enelya in his arms. She had asked him in the past if he would carry her forever, to which he had responded that forever is a long time… right now, he wished she would ask him again, so he could say that he would carry her for even longer. It was such a shame she didn’t remember, otherwise he would have brought it up himself. A sad look came to his brown eyes as he thought about it, but he smiled as he held her. All it meant was that he would have to save it for another time…

A branch reached down and grabbed Enelya, threatening to tear her away from him. Immediately his grip on her tightened and he stared down at the branch with contempt. What right did that stupid twig have to be holding his wife in such a way? He wished he had his sword with him. He would have dealt with the nuisance in a heart beat and any other branch that wanted to do that if he had.

“please… don’t take me away… Let me be with him…”

At that point in time, a look of distress crossed the former knight’s face and he glanced at Enelya before turning once more to the branch, refusing to let her go. “What’s going on?” he asked, his voice shaking. There were times when he wished he could understand plants and what they said and what they wanted. If they wanted his wife, they couldn’t have her! He had been without her for three extremely long years… surely the tree had to understand that! “What do they want?”

Allen looked right back into her eyes, locking their gazes. He loved those beautiful lavender colored eyes… he loved everything about her. It was slightly saddening that she hadn’t responded to his explanation of never forgetting how to hug him, but that was fine. He kind of preferred the silence and simplicity of just holding her in his arms. A bit of a smirk formed on his face as she looked away and blushed. “My dashingly good looks get to be too much for you?” he asked, wriggling his eyebrows. So maybe that was cocky, but he was only teasing her. The fact that so much time had passed and they still couldn’t keep their eyes off of each other was wonderful.

“That’s okay dear, we’ll surprise Adelle and Alderic with our performing excellence together.”

It was going to be so much fun! Those kids were going to have such an amazing life with their happy, musically talented parents. He hoped the kids would love music as much as he did… hey, who knew – maybe they’d make a family band! Okay, okay, that was stretching it. But he could dream, couldn’t he?

“They… brought me back… to protect the forest… I can’t leave…”

She couldn’t leave. For a moment, Allen seemed numb to the words, but when they finally sank in, an incredible amount of fury started pumping through him. They brought her back just so she could protect them?! They didn’t need protecting! They were trees in a forest near a school, for heaven sakes! There wasn’t a mad man with an axe swinging and yodeling and cutting them down like crazy! There might have been a few oddballs at this school, but they were just trees – who even cared about them? Why the hell did they need protecting?! And of all the people they could have chosen, why Enelya? Why the woman he needed more than anyone? He and their children needed her so much more than twigs!

“Like hell you can’t leave…” Allen snarled. The trees that supposedly needed her to watch over them and care for them weren’t repaying the favor very much. Keeping her a prisoner against her will wasn’t going to motivate her to help them in any way, shape, or form. They needed her and yet refused to see any other standpoint about what she needed. Trees were such deranged creatures… hm, maybe there would actually be a madman with an axe soon enough! No trees meant Enelya wouldn’t be a slave to them. Maybe they had brought her back, but it had been for so many wrong reasons. The thought of getting rid of the blasted forest, burning it down and chopping all of the wretched twigs down didn’t seem like such a bad idea right now. He hadn’t hesitated to kill for Esme; he’d been a knight and joined two wars for her. Getting rid of pesky green plants wouldn’t be very hard for him to do. It would teach them a wonderful lesson on where their boundaries were… but then again, his efforts hadn’t worked in the past and he knew how much Enelya cared about the earth. Even so… wasn’t their family more important?

“But I have a family, twins! I must go to them… Surely you understand that?”

The branch began to pull on her, and with an absolutely dark look on his face, Allen lifted a leg and kicked at it, snapping it in two. “Tell your little friends to go screw themselves,” he said, his voice laced with anger. They couldn’t have her. He had been without her for three years… he wasn’t going to allow her to be confined to a forest for the rest of her life. It was no way to live, and no way for the trees to treat her after everything she had ever done for him. What kind of knight – what kind of husband – would he be to let her stay in a predicament?

It didn’t even make sense to him. Why were they restricting her to the forest when she had done nothing to deserve it in her prior life?

“If you run, I’ll take care of them…” Allen whispered into her ear, inwardly forming a plan. It would have been easier if he had some sort of pointy weapon. Cutting branches and vines and whatever else decided to try and hold her back would be hard without it… but he would free her. Maybe he wouldn’t be able to do it now… or even a month from now… but he would do it. He would. Enelya was his entire world, and he wouldn’t rest until she was finally free.

“Honey… Let me talk to them, alright?”

He wanted to scream that it wasn’t all right, but he bit his tongue, giving a few of the trees a death glare. Enelya had dropped from his arms, which he allowed for the moment, simply staying near her. Oh, if those trees tried to grab her while she was unprotected or throw apples at him, they were so going down. Personally, he really didn’t see what good it would do to talk to the trees. Clearly they had already made up their minds; the only thing to do was get violent here.

So… maybe Allen had forgotten a few things over the last few years. Oopsie?

“Please, can we discuss this? I have twins at home, three-year-old babies that need their mother. They need me, don’t you understand?”

She was taking this so calmly while all he was doing was getting angry. Allen folded his arms over his chest, beginning to grind his teeth. The trees already made it obvious she had to stay there and still she was trying to change their minds. He hoped she would be able to; though he would be completely willing to get an axe or some sort of pointy object to take them all down, it would be rather time consuming. Leaves began to fall to the ground and Allen’s left eye twitched as a leaf fell on his head, and he quickly reached up and swatted it away, letting it fall to the ground. He hoped that hadn’t been intentional.

The man was beginning to grow slightly impatient, unable to hear the trees and whatever they wanted. Enelya wasn’t saying anything, and frankly it worried him and was only proving to get him even more edgy. Trying to keep himself from fidgeting, Allen’s fists began to clench and unclench as he stared at Enelya, waiting for something – anything – to be said.

The explanation came and his brown eyes widened in horror. She had to come back to this place and, from then on, could only leave about once a month?! It was preposterous! He’d never heard such absolute crap in his life… some things had come close to it, but a husband and wife unable to see each other topped the list at number one. No, no, no, no, no! He wasn’t willing to negotiate! She was his wife; he didn’t have to share her! No… no, no! He wasn’t going to!

“Does that sound reasonable, Allen?”

“Not really!” the immortal exclaimed, throwing his arms into the air. “I shouldn’t have to share you with a bunch of arrogant twigs!” He was so frustrated; he just didn’t even know how to speak or properly voice everything that was infuriating him at the moment. Again, he scanned the trees, wondering if he could guilt trip them in some way. Surely he was much older than all of them… maybe he could force them to respect their elders? Bah. That wasn’t going to work. Allen was going to take a wild guess and say that the trees weren’t very different from the kids of today, which meant they were disrespectful and always had to have their way. Already they had grabbed Enelya and tried to pull her back… how unkind was that?

Of course, it was better than never seeing her at all like he had had to deal with for the time during her death, but even so, if she was back, he wanted to be with her permanently. While he entirely would have preferred having her with him in the home they had originally moved into, if he had to live out here in the forest with her, he would do it. The twins might not really like it, and he wasn’t sure he would enjoy having trees around watching him and seeing everything their family did, but if Enelya was restricted to the forest, then all of them would be!

Which, sure enough, Allen decided to say to the trees. “You know, if you don’t let her come with me, I’ll just come here. And our kids will cry and I’ll always play guitar and we’ll make tons of noise and build a house on you and you’ll never ever sleep again!” Did trees even sleep? He had no idea. It was a childish, almost temper-tantrum-esque threat, but he was being completely serious. “Now what do you all say to that?”

He had to admit, he was feeling a bit smug at the moment.