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New beginnings
It had been several months since that night. I couldn't
exactly say normality had fallen over our household, considering we never had
normality to begin with. Our family prided on being abnormal. But we were getting
used to the changes in life, and in some way, enjoying it.
It was a pleasant summer day, not too hot, but
warm. I was sitting in the shade of the front door, whilst Jero and Drushii
were taking it in turns to fly Lae around the garden.
Jero was a lot calmer since that night. There
was something different about him, I wasn't sure how, but he was a different
Gelert to that fateful day the Faerie had presented me with a hyperactive bundle
of fluff and warned me of his legacy. He had grown up, and yet still retained
that childish side of him. He stuck up for himself a lot more, and was definitely
becoming more like Lae each day.
Lae didn't seem to act any different, although
I noticed she thought before she spoke. She also seemed to… look after Jero.
Rather than complain about Jero she would play with him. She acted more like
a big sister than a friend now.
Drushii spoke more, she was more opinionated
and wasn't as afraid to speak of her opinion. Though I would never have described
Drushii as timid but she was more outgoing.
And me? Well, I had learnt to keep a tighter
reign on my emotions, especially after I almost burnt the house down when I
lost my temper shortly after the event. More than once I had had to run for
a bucket of water to try and douse a burning piece of furniture. I'd also discovered
that it had a tendency to rain if I was particularly upset or down.
But apart from that, I was handling the whole
jewel thing okay.
"Sari," Lae said as she walked up to me. "You
are aware you're glowing."
I also found out if I was particularly happy,
I tended to glow. I hadn't glowed in a long while; I guess I was finally happy.
"Really?" I asked, holding my hands up. As Lae
said, there was a faint glow around them. It was barely noticeable in the light,
just a faint yellow glow. I grinned.
"Wanna play catch?" I called to Drushii and
Jero, who were having a furious race around the garden. Jero immediately dived
towards us with a war cry. Lae and I shrieked and dived to the side. Jero gave
a gasp of surprise as he flew into the door.
"Ow," he moaned, rubbing his head. He turned
to look at me with an evil glint in his eye. "Why did you move?" he asked.
"Why not?" I grinned. Jero took off, and with
a grin at Drushii, he dived down. I felt a sharp tug on my arms at the same
time Drushii grabbed my legs. I screamed as they pulled me into the air.
"Stop it!" I shrieked as they carried me over
the garden.
"3! 2! 1!" Jero said, and dropped me into the
pool. I fell into the water with a resounding thwack, yelling as I broke the
surface.
"JERO! DRUSHII!" I yelled as Lae laughed hysterically.
I could see the funny side of it immediately and started to laugh, much to my
amazement. Hauling myself out of the water, I mock glared at Jero. Suddenly,
a sharp gust of air pushed my wet hair back, brushing against me.
"Was that you?" Drushii asked curiously.
"I think so," I replied with a shrug. "Who knows?"
***
I'd just got changed when she appeared. I had been brushing my (dripping)
hair when she'd appeared behind me with a small grin.
"Hi!" I exclaimed, picking up the brush I'd
drop in surprise.
"Good day Sari, how are you?" she asked. The
Faerie was no different to the last time we met - I hadn't seen her since the
whole fiasco with Mr. Brown. Her hair was the same shade, her eyes sparkling
with the same humour and her whole posture projecting calmness.
"I'm fine, you?" I asked.
"I am well," she replied.
"You know," I said slowly. "Being the Jewel
isn't all it's cracked up to be." I paused. "I almost burnt down the house once!"
Sighing, I continued, "Why me? I'm not the smartest, or the bravest -- I'm definitely
not truthful."
"But you are worthy," the Faerie replied. "No
matter what, you would put others before yourself. That is the real mark of
the jewel."
"Thank you," I replied solemnly.
"I shall depart now Sari," she replied and touched
my arm briefly. Slowly, her feet began to disappear, as though someone was painting
her with an invisibility paintbrush, from the feet upwards.
"Hey," I called. "This has been bugging me for
a while. What is your name?"
"Kaela," she replied, and disappeared. Slowly,
I processed what she had told me. No matter what, you would put others before
yourself. That is the real mark of the jewel. Her words replayed inside
my head.
Outside, it began to rain, but in a parting
through the clouds, a rainbow shone bright. I watched for a few minutes. "Hope
after the storm," I whispered. "No matter what, we'll always have hope." And
it was true, no matter what, no matter who stood in the path, tried to destroy
us, we'd always have hope. With that, I really was the Jewel of the Desert.
The End
Sari still lives with Laeyan, Drushii and Jeronik. She's starting to get
to terms with her powers, now managing to conjure small fires by willing it.
Despite that, the Neopian Fire officials have been summoned to 20 fires in the
last year, when Sari lost her temper.
Lae now has her hopes set on a Faerie paintbrush, although the chances
of that happening are small - Sari prefers to let Lae ride on the back of either
Jero or Drushii, although both have developed an unfortunate habit of dropping
Lae in the pool. Sari has yet to punish either of them for it.
Life has finally hit some sort of normality for the four of them. Well,
as normal as it could be anyway.
Fin.
***
Fwee! It's over at last. I can't believe the response I've had from it
- It's just amazed me how much feedback I've had, good and bad. It's been amazing
-- thanks to all of you. Also, big thanks go out to my beta's (Proof readers)
: Nic, Christine, Lindz and Kate. You guys were just great at pointing out the
(many) grammar and spelling mistakes (And the parts where it made no sense whatsoever!)
I'd also like to thank Chris and Dani for helping me with the Faerie's name
(Chris: I personally think something like bubba would be better) and all their
input. ^^ And one last thanks to Orieyl for being a great inspiration when I
was stuck writing the Aisha Thieves 2 earlier parts. I wouldn't have made it
this far had she not helped.
Thank you one last time, and, as the usual saying goes, Neomails will be
stuck on a pedestal and worshipped by Chia gods for a while before being replied
to.
~Stormydreamer
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