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rainbowfic2015-06-29 04:02 am
bookblather) wrote in rainbowfic2015-06-29 04:02 am
Octarine 18: A Beginning
Author: Kat
Title: A Beginning
Story: In the Heart - Spartacus AU
Colors: Octarine 18 (The moments that change your life are the ones that happen suddenly, like the one where you die.)
Supplies and Materials: Eraser (Spartacus again), acrylic (Will you marry me?), fabric (spring flowers), beading wire (peak of dawn), pastels (GYWO Setting Bingo-- I think this is actually sunset but w/e
Word Count: 569
Rating: PG-13 for swearing
Summary: The dawn before the day.
Warnings: none.
Notes: Or don't die, as the case may be.
The world turned pink as dawn approached, edging the Alps with color and light. Ivy, who had not slept, watched the first few rays creep over the flowered meadow they'd chosen for last night's camp.
Another few days and they'd be safe beyond the Alps, out of Rome's reach and finally free. So... what then?
Her family slept in the lean-to behind her-- all of them, reunited, in a miracle she couldn't even begin to thank the gods for. She would not be willingly parted from them again, but what did that mean for her? Her parents had each other, had in fact refused to leave each other's side since their reunion. Aaron had his wife and the child she would soon bear. Summer, always exceptional, had her two gladiators and her two little sons. And Ivy had...
Did she have Gina?
It was true that they'd been lovers, but what of that? People did things in war that they wouldn't ever do in peace. Perhaps freedom-- and Ivy did not fool herself; Gina had been in just as much danger as they had, for all she was a freeborn Roman woman-- would change her heart as it had changed them all. What then?
What nothing-- Gina would go her own way, and Ivy would not even try to stop her. Still, it would hurt, and she thought more than she would have ever expected.
She sighed. She had always been a reckless child, prone to acting before she thought. It appeared not even years of slavery had been able to change that.
"You haven't slept."
Ivy jumped, and spun onto one knee, reaching for a sword that no longer hung at her side before she realized it was Gina who spoke. "I... no," she admitted. "I wasn't tired."
"You will be," Gina said, but without judgment. "What thoughts kept you awake?"
Ivy considered and discarded several answers before she settled on, "Freedom."
"Ah." Gina turned away from her then and wandered several steps out into the meadow before she bent and picked a spray of flowers. They were pink and sharp-petaled, starry bursts against her skin. "What sort of freedom?"
That question Ivy had no answer for, and she shrugged, helplessly. "I don't know. I think that's the problem."
Gina looked at her over her shoulder, her eyes soft, and for a moment she looked like a statue of Venus, perfect and poised. "I've been thinking about that too."
Of course she had. She had four children to think about, without even considering herself. But Gina was coming back now, settling down beside Ivy in a swirl of cloth, the flowers laid loosely in her lap.
"I've been thinking," she said, quietly. "When I was married, I did not understand what I was doing. I don't know that any girl does. But I understood... I think I understood what it was meant to be."
None of which made any sense to Ivy, but Gina was obviously getting at something, so she sat quietly and waited.
Gina inhaled again, then lifted the flower and held it out to Ivy. "Ubi tu Gaia, ego Gaia."
Ah. Quite suddenly Ivy found it difficult to breathe.
She took the flower, and with it Gina's hand, and kissed her fingertips and the flower's stem all at once.
When she looked up, Gina's smile was brighter than the sun rising over the distant mountains.
Title: A Beginning
Story: In the Heart - Spartacus AU
Colors: Octarine 18 (The moments that change your life are the ones that happen suddenly, like the one where you die.)
Supplies and Materials: Eraser (Spartacus again), acrylic (Will you marry me?), fabric (spring flowers), beading wire (peak of dawn), pastels (GYWO Setting Bingo-- I think this is actually sunset but w/e
Word Count: 569
Rating: PG-13 for swearing
Summary: The dawn before the day.
Warnings: none.
Notes: Or don't die, as the case may be.
The world turned pink as dawn approached, edging the Alps with color and light. Ivy, who had not slept, watched the first few rays creep over the flowered meadow they'd chosen for last night's camp.
Another few days and they'd be safe beyond the Alps, out of Rome's reach and finally free. So... what then?
Her family slept in the lean-to behind her-- all of them, reunited, in a miracle she couldn't even begin to thank the gods for. She would not be willingly parted from them again, but what did that mean for her? Her parents had each other, had in fact refused to leave each other's side since their reunion. Aaron had his wife and the child she would soon bear. Summer, always exceptional, had her two gladiators and her two little sons. And Ivy had...
Did she have Gina?
It was true that they'd been lovers, but what of that? People did things in war that they wouldn't ever do in peace. Perhaps freedom-- and Ivy did not fool herself; Gina had been in just as much danger as they had, for all she was a freeborn Roman woman-- would change her heart as it had changed them all. What then?
What nothing-- Gina would go her own way, and Ivy would not even try to stop her. Still, it would hurt, and she thought more than she would have ever expected.
She sighed. She had always been a reckless child, prone to acting before she thought. It appeared not even years of slavery had been able to change that.
"You haven't slept."
Ivy jumped, and spun onto one knee, reaching for a sword that no longer hung at her side before she realized it was Gina who spoke. "I... no," she admitted. "I wasn't tired."
"You will be," Gina said, but without judgment. "What thoughts kept you awake?"
Ivy considered and discarded several answers before she settled on, "Freedom."
"Ah." Gina turned away from her then and wandered several steps out into the meadow before she bent and picked a spray of flowers. They were pink and sharp-petaled, starry bursts against her skin. "What sort of freedom?"
That question Ivy had no answer for, and she shrugged, helplessly. "I don't know. I think that's the problem."
Gina looked at her over her shoulder, her eyes soft, and for a moment she looked like a statue of Venus, perfect and poised. "I've been thinking about that too."
Of course she had. She had four children to think about, without even considering herself. But Gina was coming back now, settling down beside Ivy in a swirl of cloth, the flowers laid loosely in her lap.
"I've been thinking," she said, quietly. "When I was married, I did not understand what I was doing. I don't know that any girl does. But I understood... I think I understood what it was meant to be."
None of which made any sense to Ivy, but Gina was obviously getting at something, so she sat quietly and waited.
Gina inhaled again, then lifted the flower and held it out to Ivy. "Ubi tu Gaia, ego Gaia."
Ah. Quite suddenly Ivy found it difficult to breathe.
She took the flower, and with it Gina's hand, and kissed her fingertips and the flower's stem all at once.
When she looked up, Gina's smile was brighter than the sun rising over the distant mountains.
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I can't even quantify the noise I just made.
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