Okay, this is an edit of a story that I wrote that was moved in the Fan Fiction Review. I've changed the names and title, but it's still the same basic ideas, so it may be very familiar to some here on the forums. I hope you enjoy it! (And if you want to understand the title, look it up on a baby names site, and then look up the character names )

Visala

Chapter One
“But, Alia, you can’t marry Skye! He’s nearly ten years older than you!” Leilani exclaimed. She reached out to touch her youngest daughter’s shoulder. Alia shook her mother’s hand off. “I don’t care how old he is, Mother, I love him!!” With that, she whirled around and ran to the cave at the northern edge of the village.
She often came to the cave to get away from the noise of the village. There were so many twists and turns that she could squirrel herself away and no one would bother her. She kept her diary, a bottle of berry ink and a parrot quill in the cave, and today when she wrote, she had to tear out a page because she pressed the tip of the quill right through the paper. Angry, she tore out the sheet, balled it up and threw it against the wall.
Then she picked up the quill and wrote:
Mother just doesn’t understand. Why can’t she see?
I love Skye, and he loves me. I don’t care what she says.
We will be married one day!

Just then, Alia heard a knock on the stone wall of the passage she was in. Then she saw her beloved Skye come around the corner. Alia’s face lit up with a big smile in the candlelight. She closed her diary and set it aside. She stood up and ran to Skye’s arms. Tears squeezed from her eyes as she told him of what had happened between her and her mother. “Oh, Skye!” she sobbed into his chest. “I don’t know what we’re going to do! I just love you so much!” Skye held Alia close. “There, now, it’s all right. We’ll find a way to be together. Just you wait!” They stood there for a few moments, not needing to say a word.

Alia stepped back and picked up her diary. She sealed the top of her ink bottle, tied her quill to the diary, and placed all three things in a bag that she kept there in the cave. She stowed it behind some rocks and began to walk out of the cave with Skye. They were walking quietly when Alia noticed a tunnel she hadn’t seen before. Tugging on Skye’s arm like she had done when they were children, she said “Let’s explore this tunnel, Skye!” Skye smiled down on her and nodded his agreement.
As they walked in, Alia held her candle up to the walls. The paintings were strange looking and unknown. “Wait a minute, Skye.” she said, running her fingers over the wall. She turned and ran to get her diary to make some notes. When she returned, she pulled the diary out and wrote down a few things. The pictures seemed to tell of a waterfall, but what was that? Alia looked closer. It appeared to be a person in the waterfall. Alia took a few more steps to the side, and felt the stones sliding beneath her feet. “Skye!” she shouted, as the rocks gave way.
Skye ran to where Alia was and caught hold of her hand just before she fell. Alia reached up and gripped Skye’s hands with both of hers. “Hold on!” Skye called. Below where Alia hung, rushing water fell and fell. Skye tried to pull her up, but he couldn’t get firm footing. “Skye, I love you!” Alia shouted over the water. “I love you! Don’t ever forget that.” She could feel their hands slipping apart. “I’m slipping!” she cried. “Skye, hold on to me!” A scream ripped from Alia’s mouth as she fell, their hands losing touch.
“ALIA!” Skye screamed. He threw all caution to the wind and jumped into the rushing water himself.
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Ahem, she can't exactly stay OR go after him... she fell, and then he jumped in after her.
Okay, here's another chapter!

Chapter Two
What felt like hours later, Skye woke up on sand, with his feet in a pool of water. Groggily, he touched his throbbing head. Slowly, he remembered what had happened. His eyes began to fill with tears as he remembered that Alia had fallen. Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned his head quickly and found that Alia was lying on the sand beside him. “Alia!” he exclaimed. “You’re alive!” Alia smiled and nodded. “I am.” A concerned look came over Skye’s face. “Your head!” he said. Alia touched her forehead. “Oh, Skye, it’s just a bruise. I’ve survived worse.” She smiled again and softly kissed Skye’s forehead. “One more thing you should know. We aren’t alone.” She gestured with her head and Skye looked up. Standing around them were five children! They were thin, dirty, and frightened looking. Slowly, Skye and Alia stood up, Skye helping Alia by holding her hand. Alia tried to balance on one leg. She had injured the other one in the fall.
“Who are you? What do you want?” barked the eldest child, a girl. “I am Skye, and this is my...” Skye glanced at Alia. “Wife, Alia.” He said. The girl eyed him. “We fell down the waterfall from a cave on our side of the island. We don’t mean any harm, don’t worry.” The girl relaxed. “I am Diana, but you can call me Di.” she said. Gesturing to the little girl peeking out from behind her, she said, “This is Aaliyah, my baby sister.” Gesturing to the dark haired girl that seemed to be close to Di’s age, she continued. “This is Celia. And the boys are Zion and Aki.”
Alia tried to take a step forward, but “Ouch!” she cried out. She stumbled and fell to the sand. Tears welled in her eyes. “I must’ve hurt that leg more than I thought! Oh, it really hurts!” She bit her lip, fighting to keep from crying. “Celia, go get the box of cloth strips. Aki, find two strong sticks.” directed Di. Suddenly both kids had taken off running, one for a hut and the other to the edge of the woods. Di knelt beside Alia, and picked up the sore leg. She rubbed it gently to find the problem. “This may hurt a little,” she told Alia. It wasn’t long until both children had returned with bandages and sticks. Di found the source of the pain. “Ow!” cried Alia as Di pressed the spot. “I’m pretty sure it’s broken.” Di said. “I can splint it and bandage it, and that’ll help, but you’ll have to avoid walking on it for a while.” Alia nodded, and Di had to pull gently on the leg to get the bones aligned, and Alia just barely kept from howling in pain. Di wrapped the leg, put on the sticks and wrapped two more pieces of cloth around it. Then she helped Skye get Alia off of the sand, and helped Alia to the fire pit.
“Oh dear!” exclaimed Di. “The fire went out. Skye, would you help me get some wood? I’m not strong enough to carry much at once.” Skye nodded and walked to get the wood. Di went in the opposite direction to get some dry grass. Soon the fire was blazing again.

The first thing that had to done was that food was needed. Di started trying to catch fish, and Skye tried to build some shelter for them.
Later that day, Skye was walking past the table by the hut, and a wild child was sitting on the table! They coaxed him away with food, but he ate up all that was available! The child was named Mahak. Alia still couldn’t walk, but both Di and Skye started fishing to bring up the food supply. When there was a good amount of food in the bin, Skye started work again on the new hut he was building.
That night, everyone except Alia and Skye went to bed early. Skye and Alia sat by the fire in the flickering light. Alia leaned back against Skye and he put his arms around her. He bowed his head down and lightly kissed the top of Alia’s head. “Alia?” He whispered. “Yes, Skye?” replied Alia, whispering also. “Will you be my wife?” asked Skye. Alia laughed quietly to herself. “Yes, Skye,” she said. Nothing more was necessary. She turned her head and looked up at him. Skye smiled, and kissed his beloved new wife. Alia put her hands on Skye’s, and leaned into his embrace. She closed her eyes, and they fell asleep, holding each other, beside the fire.
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Yes laurence, it is a revision of Ivy and Deer, but it's not an exact match... I jump around and skip bits and stuff.
Whew, I had to do a lot of work on this (super long) chapter for it to make sense... please overlook anything that isn't quite right...

Chapter Three
The next day, the hut was finally completed. Then everyone could work on gathering food. It just so happened, Celia turned fourteen and could begin to help on that very same day. That day passed rather uneventfully. Alia felt a little guilty that she couldn’t help catch the fish. Part way through the day, Di helped her over to the pond so she could dip her leg in the cool water. The break was healing, and it would be good in a week or two. Alia sat by the edge of the pond and carefully removed the bandages and the splint. She winced at the sight of the swollenness. She dipped her hands into the water and splashed some water over her leg. She carefully turned and dipped her entire leg into the water. She tilted her head back and closed her eyes. “Ahhhhhh...” she sighed. She leaned forward and carefully massaged her leg and found that it hurt less than before. She pulled her leg out of the water and examined it. It was a lot less swollen. She massaged it some more and found that it didn’t hurt at all. She dipped her leg in the water again, and when she pulled it out the swelling was gone! She carefully got to her feet and attempted to put weight on the leg. She found that she could walk easily without any pain! She went to find Skye and tell him the good news.
Skye was very happy that his wife was healed. The next thing that Alia did was tell Di that the pond seemed to have healing powers. When she said that, Di sputtered and coughed. “Are you all right?” asked Alia. A quivering smile came across Di’s face and she said “I’m fine, but the pond has no special powers at all. I made a mixture of all the healing plants I could find and put it in the water near where you were soaking your leg. You were basically dipping your leg into a healing tea!” She started to laugh, while a dumbfounded Alia stood before her, mouth agape.
In the late afternoon, while Di and Celia were preparing the evening meal, Alia noticed that Skye was walking around the old broken-down hut near the woodpile. She walked over to where he stood. “What are you doing?” she asked. Skye looked down at his wife. “Well, I’m trying to see how long it would take to fix this hut. I think tomorrow I’ll start working on it. I wonder is Celia would help. She loves running so much she goes a lot faster than I.” Alia smiled. “I’m sure she wouldn’t mind. Now, come on, it’s time to eat.”

The next day, Celia and Skye began working on the hut. Alia and Di fished for most of the day. Work on the hut went well. Though she had a wonderful life with the man that she loved dearly, Alia felt strangely empty, somehow. She was not sure why, but she wanted to find out the answer.
When Alia took a break from fishing, Mahak came up to her and asked “How old am I?” Alia had to think about that for a while. Then she said “Well, how old do you think you are?” Mahak thought for a moment and said “I think I must be at least as old as Celia.” Alia smiled. “Well, if that’s the case, then you are old enough to work with the adults. What would you like to do?” Right away Mahak replied “I want to help repair that hut.” Alia had her suspicions why he made that choice, but she kept her thoughts to herself. “Okay, then!” she said. “You go ahead and tell Skye that you want to work, and he will help you get started.” With that, Mahak was off and running to help build. Alia smiled to herself, recognizing the fact that Mahak liked Celia, and that was why he wanted to be around her.
Now with three people working, the building job went even faster. Things were going to well in the tribe, and everyone was prospering, but Alia kept thinking about the empty spot in her heart that she couldn’t seem to fill. It was like when you lose a tooth and your tongue can’t leave the space alone. She eventually managed to forget about it, and go about her daily life normally.

The next day at the evening meal, Skye said that the inside of the hut was finished and completely solid; they just needed to work to make the outside steady. That night, Skye and Alia sat together alone by the fire again. Skye was very animated and excited about the progress on the hut, but all Alia could think about was that empty part of her heart. She stared into Skye’s sparkling eyes and suddenly she realized what she needed to fill it. She sat closer to Skye and leaned against him, smiling at how happy he was. When he stopped speaking and put his arms around her, she tilted her head up to look at him. He was watching her, too. Slowly they drew even closer and kissed. Alia got to her feet, pulled Skye along with her. She led him to the partially finished hut and knelt by the doorway, which had pieces of palm frond hanging in front of it. She pushed them out of the way and crawled inside. Skye followed her.

The next day, the people in the village found it impossible to fish any longer. They were plagued with clouds of algae floating in the water. Now Skye searched for a new source of food, and indeed found one! He found that there were coconuts growing at the tops of tall trees. He tried to reach them, but he couldn’t climb the branch-less tree trunks. He decided to think about it and try again in the morning.
That night, however, just before sunrise, Di woke up abruptly. She had an idea. She walked to the coconut trees and pulled the sash from her waist. She looped the sash around the tree and held onto it with both hands - one on either side. She pulled on the sash and pulled herself up. Then she moved the sash up, gripping the tree with her knees, and pulled herself higher. She did this twice more, but then she slipped. “Whoa!” she exclaimed. Undeterred, she continued as the sun started to come up. The higher it Aaliyah, the higher she climbed. As she reached the top, she saw Skye coming from the hut. He neared the trees and she dropped a coconut at his feet. He looked up, and she smiled precociously and waved from her perch in the tree. Skye laughed aloud and took the coconut to the food bin.
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I did say that I jump around and skip stuff. Lots of time is covered in a short story.

Chapter Four
One afternoon, as Celia walked through the center of the village, she suddenly stopped. She stood for a moment before dropping to her hands and knees. Mahak saw her fall and he started walking towards her. Celia coughed a few times and then she was sick on the sand. Mahak picked up speed and ran to her. “Celia!” he called. “Celia,” he said again as he knelt beside her. Concerned, he put his hand on her back. “Mahak, get Di,” Celia said weakly. She was sick again just after getting out the last word. Mahak jumped to his feet and ran to the edge of the water. “Di!” he yelled. “Di, come quick! Celia is very ill!” Di dropped the fish she had been carrying and splashed through the water as fast as she could. She ran to where Celia lay. Celia had managed to move over a short way to the side before collapsing.
“Mahak, help me move her into the hut.” Di said. Together, Di and Mahak half carried, half led Celia into the newest hut. Mahak supported Celia as Di pulled back the blankets on the bed. Then he led Celia to the bed, and helped her sit down. Celia lay down and Di said “Mahak, go get Alia and my medicinal kit from the research hut.” Mahak obeyed, but as he and Alia walked towards the hut, Alia took the bag and said to Mahak “I think you’d better stay out here.” Although he didn’t want to, Mahak stayed outside. He waited a couple of yards from the door. In a few minutes, Di came out. Mahak got to his feet. “Is she going to be okay?” he asked. “I think so,” said Di. “She is very, very ill. Someone is going to have to stay with her at all times, to make sure she doesn’t get worse. I don’t know if we can spare anyone, though.” Mahak didn’t have to think twice. “I’ll stay with her.” He said. “If Aki works with Skye and you and Alia fish, we’ll have two people working at each job. Besides, I can’t work knowing that Celia is ill. How could anyone really concentrate when one is worried about someone they lo—” He cut off. “Anyway, I’ll stay.” Di smiled knowingly, and said “Okay, if that’s what you want.” Mahak nodded and entered the hut.

Celia was barely awake when he entered. “Mahak?” she asked, her voice barely a whisper. Mahak rushed to her side. “Yes, it’s me.” Celia smiled vaguely. “I hope...” she began, but then her body was wracked with a fit of coughing. Mahak sat on the edge of the bed and put his arm around her as he helped her to drink some water. Soon the coughs had subsided. Celia leaned back against Mahak’s arm. “I hope I didn’t scare you too badly,” she said. Mahak smiled. “Oh, don’t worry about that, Celia. Right now I just want you rest and get better.” Celia smiled and rested her head on Mahak’s shoulder. “Celia, I have something I want to tell you.” said Mahak. “Hmm?” asked Celia. “What’s that?” Mahak swallowed. “Well, I... I... love you, Celia.” He paused for a moment. “I know we’re still only 17, and barely that, but will you marry me, Celia?” Celia looked up at Mahak and said “Yes, Mahak, I will. I love you, too.” Then she drifted to sleep in Mahak’s arms.
It took a long time for Celia to recover, but she finally did. Mahak stayed with her almost constantly, nursing her back to health.

Weeks later, while Skye and Alia were walking, Alia noticed that she didn’t seem to feel the empty place in her heart any longer. Just as she was realizing this, she felt a strange sort of stomachache. She started breathing hard, and was a little dizzy. She was going to be sick! She glanced around and then ran into the bushes and heaved. She coughed a couple of times. “Ohh...” she groaned. Just then Skye pressed through the bushes in search of her. “Alia?” he called. “Alia? Oh, there you are. Alia, are you all right?” He then noticed that she was on the ground. “Alia!” he exclaimed, kneeling beside her. “I think... I think I’m going to have a baby. Skye, you’re... you’re going to be a father!” Skye beamed as Alia accepted his offer of a hand to help her up. They walked together into the village.
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Thank you both. This is a short chapter.

Chapter Five
Months later, after Alia retired to bed rest for the sake of her child, she had left the hut for a moment, and on her way back, just outside the door, she collapsed and cried out in pain. Skye heard his wife’s cry and ran to where she lay. “Skye, get Di, it’s time!” Skye helped Alia into the hut and onto the bed, and then ran to get Di. Di came running to help. Both Skye and Di went inside and they closed the door to the hut behind them.
Alia yelled out again. Celia, Mahak, and the others waited not far from the hut, anxiously. Suddenly Celia and Mahak realized that they were leaning into each other, and their hands were clasped together between them. They dropped each other’s hands and winced at the sound of another cry from Alia.
Then they heard another sound. It was a cry, but it was higher pitched, more piercing. Alia’s baby was crying!
“What are you and Skye going to name her?” asked Celia, tickling the baby’s toes. Alia smiled at the gurgling laugh of the tiny baby. “We haven’t decided. We’re still thinking.” She learned forward conspiratorially. “But I like the name Leilani. It was... my mother’s name.” She started to cry. “Oh, Alia, are you okay?” asked Celia, moving to sit beside Alia on the bed. Alia looked at her caring friend. “It’s just... just that my mother and I had a fight before I came here. She didn’t think that Skye and I should marry. I didn’t care what she thought, I loved Skye, and I would do anything to be with him. We ran away and wound up coming here. I just wonder if my mother ever forgave me.” She sighed. Celia put her hand on Alia’s shoulder and said “Oh, I’m sure she did.” Alia looked up and smiled. Just then, the baby’s laughter stopped and was replaced by a wail. Alia picked her up from her lap and bounced her gently. “There, there,” she cooed. “It’s all right... Are you hungry?” She fed her baby and then the infant calmed and promptly fell asleep.
Each day the trees growth of coconuts grew sparser. Finally there were none left. Mahak, Celia and Skye began to block off the stream so that the water would flow onto the good soil nearby. If they could only make the soil moist enough to plant crops in. Food was desperately needed. The only food coming into the bin was mushrooms that Zion and Aaliyah found.

The dam progressed, and finally Mahak and Celia both turned 18. A few days later, they were married. That night they were the only ones that stayed up late. The newlywed couple sat beside the fire for hours, just holding each other.
I will now pass ahead in time to a future date.
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All comments are appreciated... thanks for the support.

I'm not sure I'm really liking this story as much as I did when I wrote it... and when it's done I'm going to let it fade into nothingness..... it can curl up at the back of the section and sleep for a thousand years.


Chapter Six
Di and Alia were cooking a meal over the fire, but when it was time to cook the salted fish, Alia realized that there wasn’t enough. There was more in the bin, but both she and Di were busy tending other food as well. Alia leaned over to Celia and asked “Celia, I don’t mean to trouble you, but could you please get some more fish for me?” Celia, glad to have something to do, nodded and said “Sure, I’ll get it, but, um, could you help me up?” She giggled, putting a hand on her belly. She was heavy with child, which made it difficult for her to stand up. Alia laughed lightly and held out her hand. Celia took it and Alia pulled her up from the sand. Then Celia started for the food bin. On her way back, she felt a slight pain. She put her hand on her belly and said to herself “My, you’re really kicking tonight, aren’t you, Baby?” She smiled and continued towards the warm glow of the fire. Suddenly she felt another pain, much sharper this time. It was strong enough to make her cry out and drop the fish she was carrying. The baby was coming! Early, early the next morning, the village heard the cry of the new infant.

Macaw was already 22 years of age, but he had been enjoying being free as an adult for the past two years. Then one day, he pulled Di aside to talk to her. When they were alone, Macaw said “I have something to say. I love you, Di. I always have, even if I didn’t always know it. I want us to be together forever. Will you be my wife?” Di accepted immediately. “I love you too, Macaw. At first it was only the way I would love a brother, but now it’s so much more.” Di and Macaw kissed. Then they walked into the village and announced that they were to be husband and wife.
The night of the wedding, as usual, Macaw and Di were the only ones awake late. Everyone else made excuses as to why they needed to go to bed early. Having only eyes for one another, the couple didn’t realize what terrible liars the others were. They barely noticed that the others were gone. The two just sat and stared into the fire, holding each other. Macaw softly kissed Di’s hair and she turned her head to look at him. Then she stood up and pulled Macaw to his feet. She led him to the moonlit beach, and there they danced together.

Weeks later, Di felt a sickness that, while not being one she had experienced herself, was well known. Di was going to have a baby. She was all jumbled up, trying to figure everything out. Okay, she had to make some clothes for the baby, and make a blanket and a pillow -she'd need feathers for that- and... Oh, there was so much to do! In her flustered state she forgot to tell Macaw. One night she sat in bed with a very large candle beside the bed, sewing in the thankfully bright light. Macaw came in to go to bed, and saw her sitting there. “Di, what on earth are you doing? You’re going to wear your eyes out, working in this light.” Di looked up. “Oh, Macaw, I just have so much to do!”
Macaw sat beside her on the other side of the bed. “What are you making, anyway?” he asked, snatching up a piece of fabric that she had only basted together. She was working on finishing the seams. Macaw had picked up the tiny dress she had made for if it was a girl. He chuckled. “Di, I think you’re a little off here. There’s no way you could ever fit into a dress this size.” Quickly, Di answered “Oh, that’s not for me.”
Macaw looked into his wife’s face, not quite understanding. When their eyes met, all was clear to him. He gasped slightly and said “Are you…?” Di smiled softly. “Mmm-hmm.” Macaw smiled lovingly at his wife and kissed her.
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Chapter Seven
One day Macaw surprised Di with a gift. He had made a chair with bent branches connecting the legs. Di sat on the chair and rocked back and forth. She closed her eyes and sighed. It was so comfortable she could hardly believe it. Suddenly she felt weight on her legs. She opened her eyes. Lying on her lap was a thick, fluffy quilt. She looked up at Macaw questioningly. He was smiling. “Alia made that for you at my request. I made the chair.” He expected her to smile and thank him, but she didn’t look very happy. She groaned quietly. “Di?” asked Macaw concernedly. “Are you okay?” Di couldn’t speak; she was being borne away on a wave of pain. Vaguely she registered Macaw saying “I’m going for Alia.” Then he was gone.
A few moments later, Di was being moved towards the bed. Oh, the pain was so intense. Just make it stop, thought Di. Oh, it hurts! What was that sound? Someone was screaming. Wait, that was Di herself. The pain grew worse and worse, but then… it was gone. There was only peace, and Di found herself drifting to sleep. A few hours later (or was it minutes? Days?) Di awoke to a small cry. She looked about the room to find out where it came from. In the rocking chair she saw Alia, holding a bundle of cloth. Alia noticed that Di had woken, and she carried the bundle to the bed. She carefully gave the baby to Di and said “See your little daughter, Di.” The baby was still crying. Di knew instinctively what her child needed, and fed her baby.
Alia was gazing at the baby from where she was standing. Di looked up and recognized the look on her face. She reached up to touch Alia’s arm and said “Alia, you’re with child, aren’t you,” as a statement, not a question. Alia flushed slightly and said “Yes, I am. Skye doesn’t know yet. I’m going to tell him tonight.”

That night, Alia did just that. She didn’t come right out and say it, though. She pieced out the fabric for clothes for the coming baby, and then sat in the bed and humming softly to herself as she sewed. Skye came into the hut and lay down on the bed. “Ahhh,” he sighed. “It’s good to rest.” Alia looked lovingly at her husband, and continued sewing and humming. Skye sat up. “And what, may I ask, is going on with you?” he asked his wife. Alia looked up from her work innocently. “Why, whatever do you mean?” she asked. Skye smirked. “You know perfectly well what I mean. You usually hate to sew, and yet here you are, stitching away. And you have been humming. I’ve almost never heard you sing or hum. In fact, the only time I ever heard you hum was....before...Leilani...was born.” I look of recognition dawned on Skye’s face. “If that’s the case, then...... Alia, are you... are we...?” Alia smiled impishly. “...Going to be parents?” she finished for him, resting a hand on her stomach. “Yes, we are. I’m going to have another baby, Skye.” They were about to kiss when Leilani piped up from her bed across the room. “I’m gonna be a big sister?” Alia chuckled. “Yes, that’s right, Leilani,” said Skye, stepping over and swinging his daughter up the air. “Ooh, you’re getting heavy, there girl! You’re what, 12, now?” “No, Daddy!” Leilani shrieked in laughter. “I’m only nine!”

A few days after Zion turned 19, he woke up and found a rolled up parchment on the pillow beside his head. Always the early riser, he was the only one awake. He picked up the parchment and unrolled it. It was a poem. It read:
“The stars shine on me
telling me we're meant to be
without you I can’t go on,
I truly love you, Zion
we are supposed to be together”

At the bottom of this one was another message. It said “Zion, I have been thinking of it for a long time, and I really do love you. You may not love me in return, but I really don’t mind, and I want to know your feelings. Meet me in the ancient place south of the dam tonight to find out who I am. Come very late, after midnight but before sunrise.” Zion didn’t recognize the handwriting, and there was no signature on the poem, but this girl evidently had fallen for him, and he wasn’t going to disappoint her, whoever she was. That night he sneaked out of the hut.
The girls all slept in another hut, so Zion couldn’t tell who it was by which bed was empty. In the early morning there was a mist hovering low to the ground. As Zion made his way to the ancient place, he thought he saw the glow of a candle in the distance. When he reached the edge of the ancient place, he knew he was right. In the light glow he saw the faint shadow of a female figure. The figure moved closer and Zion thought he recognized her. Then she came through the mist, and Zion couldn’t believe his eyes.
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Oh how I do love a cliff-hanger!

(and the dam has been finished, I just didn't mention it... heh.)

Chapter Eight
“A...Aaliyah?” he asked. “Is...Is that you?” Aaliyah smiled. “It is indeed, Zion.” she said. Zion shook his head lightly. “But... I thought you couldn’t care less about me.” “Well,” Aaliyah said. “You thought wrong.” She looked at her feet. “I know I’m only 17, but, like I wrote to you, I can’t help it.” She dreaded to ask the question that was on the tip of her tongue: ‘Do you love me as well?’ She set down the candle for fear her trembling hand would make her drop it. She noticed that Zion had stepped closer. Assuming that he was only doing this to see her better in the faint light, she began to gather what nerve she had. But before she could say anything, Zion leaned forward and down (being taller) and kissed her. At first, Aaliyah was shocked, but then she kissed him back. He put his arms around her, and she circled her arms around his neck. After the kiss, they continued to stand there, with their arms around each other. Aaliyah started to hum softly. She rested her head on Zion’s chest and they stood together in the mist. Suddenly Aaliyah stopped humming. Zion gently pulled Aaliyah away from him to see her face. She was crying. “Oh, Aaliyah,” he said, taking her hands in his. “What’s the matter?” Aaliyah pulled away one hand and wiped away her tears. “Zion, I just wish I was eighteen already. I love you so much, and I now know you love me too. I really want us to be together forever. But...” She hiccupped. “But we can’t be married for two years! I don’t know what I’m going to do!” She began to sob. Zion pulled her close and held her in his arms. “Aaliyah, I love you too. My heart belongs to you, and no one else, forever. I promise.” Aaliyah smiled up at him. “We should go. We don’t want to worry the others.” She sniffled a little but then smiled again and they parted. Zion went right back to the hut that he slept in, but Aaliyah first went to the stream and cleaned up her tear-stained face. Then she went back to bed, hoping that the next months would go by quickly. She didn’t know how she would make it.

The next day, she must have been acting dreamy, because Di came up to her. “Okay, what’s going on with you?” Aaliyah tried to act shocked. “What—what do you mean?” “The way you’re acting,” Di explained. “I’ve never seen you so distracted. And I saw you slip back into bed last night.” Aaliyah blushed. “Alright, you caught me. I went out for a walk.” Di raised an eyebrow. “And…?” Aaliyah looked at her defensively. “’And’ what?” “Aaliyah, I’m your sister, I know you. That’s not all you did, is it?” Aaliyah rolled her eyes and raised her hands in defeat. “I met Zion in the ancient place. I’ve been in love with him for a quite a while now, and I left him a poem and asked him to meet me. He returns my love, and we want to marry when I’m old enough.” Di’s expression softened and she gasped in delight. “Really? Oh, Aaliyah, that’s fantastic! I’m really happy for you!” She put her free arm around her sister’s shoulders. “I think you two will make a great couple. I’m glad you realized it.” Aaliyah smiled. “Thanks.”

The End
Adieu


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