Fan Fiction ❯ Illusia ❯ Terran - A Love Found 11 ( Chapter 42 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Serenitychan13 
Chapter 11: Brothers Reunite
Anime/Manga: Fan Fiction | Genre(s): / Suspense / Supernatural / Romance / Fantasy / Action / Angst / Drama | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 01.25.2004 | Updated On: 01.27.2004 | Pages: 3 | Words: 2.3K | Visits: 164 | Status: Completed
Chapter 11: Brothers Reunite
Anime/Manga: Fan Fiction | Genre(s): / Suspense / Supernatural / Romance / Fantasy / Action / Angst / Drama | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 01.25.2004 | Updated On: 01.27.2004 | Pages: 3 | Words: 2.3K | Visits: 164 | Status: Completed
Chapter 11
Gently, I tightened my hold on her shoulder.
“Illusia… Stop… You can’t hurt him…”
She shrugged my hand away. I shifted my gaze between her and Koura.
“Why not?” she snapped. “He’s a threat!”
“Honey, please… Don’t hurt him…”
Slowly but firmly, I wrapped one arm around her, turning her to face me.
“Terran, what’s wrong with you?” she asked exasperatedly.
I took hold of her free hand and stared into those sparkling silver eyes. I hoped she could see the pain in mine.
“Illusia… Listen to me…”
“I’m listening,” she said impatiently.
“He’s my brother…”
Her eyes went wide. Slowly, she looked at me, then at Koura, and back at me. My brother and I look nothing alike. She looked like she was trying to decide if she should believe me or not. She looked up into my eyes, begging me to tell her what in the hell was going on. I nodded to tell her it was true and a single tear trailed down my cheek.
“Please, love… Don’t hurt my brother…”
She slipped her knife back into its sheath and closed her eyes. When she opened them, they were once again that soft lavender that could switch my rational mind off just by looking into my eyes. Softly, she pressed her hand against my chest, right over my heart.
“Terran,” she said softly. “I’m so sorry… If I had known, I never would have -”
Gently, I placed a finger on her lips then wrapped both arms around her, ignoring the pain in my shoulder.
“It’s alright, sweetheart… I know… It’s alright…”
“Terran,” she whispered. “I would be honored to meet your brother… I need to apologize for being so rash.”
“Of course, honey,” I whispered back.
I took her hand and slowly led her towards my brother. He looked so much better than the last time I had seen him. He had lots of scars, including one that had sealed his left eye shut and led to a long slash scar down his cheek, but that was alright. I was just glad my brother was still alive. I stopped about six feet away from him and turned to Illusia.
“Stay here for a second… It’s been so long since I’ve seen my brother… He hasn’t changed much, but I have… So in case he doesn’t recognize me…”
“I understand,” she said softly.
I turned back to my brother and looked up at him. He was almost exactly like I remembered him, only the brother in my memory didn’t have so much pain in his eyes.
“Koura?”
He tilted his head, confused. His eyes held a hint of recognition but a lot more disbelief.
“You look familiar,” he said quietly.
“I do? From where?”
“I just have this strange feeling that we’ve met before,” he said, looking hopeful for a second. Then he looked sadder than before. “But it’s just impossible that you would be who I thought you were.”
“Who did you think I was?”
One dark, pain-filled green eye stared out into space.
“I thought that maybe I had seen a miracle,” he said, his voice low and almost toneless. “I thought my brother might be alive again…”
“Koura, look at me.”
Apparently, even the memory of me was killing him inside.
Now I’m standing in front of him and he doesn’t recognize me…
He looked at me, now becoming a little suspicious.
“How do you know my name?”
“What was your brother’s name?”
He stared hard at me, looking me up and down. Probably trying to decide whether to pound the living hell out of me or to just pretend he hadn’t heard me. But his response stunned me.
“His name was… … … Oh my Lord!” His right eye went wide as realization dawned on him and he whispered “Terran.”
“Koura, I’m right here.”
I never expected my brother to throw his arms around me and break down crying on my shoulder. It hurt me just as it had before to see my brother cry. I had tears on my face as well. But this time, I could comfort him.
“It’s alright, brother… I’m alive and I’m here now…”
Koura lifted a tear-streaked face to mine.
“My brother,” he whispered.
“Koura…”
For the first time in so long, far too long, I saw my brother smile… Seconds before he spun me around and picked me straight up off the ground with my arms pinned to my sides, making my ribs feel like they were cracking. My shoulder burned in pain and I yelped.
Damn it! … … Ow! … … He used to- OW! - do that to me ALL the time!
Just like when we were younger, he dropped me from about a foot off the ground. I never could land right and somehow, I always wound up with a very sore backside. My balance hadn’t improved much and yet again I was on the ground. I glared up at him, one hand on my shoulder.
“You haven’t changed much…”
“But you have,” he said quietly. Then I saw his gaze focus on Illusia for a moment. He grinned evilly. I was in for it now… “Who’s the girl? She sure is cute…”
Argh! My brother never failed to find SOMETHING to tease me about. I looked behind me to see Illusia laughing but trying to hide it behind her hand. Koura picked me up by the back of my shirt and set me on my feet. How he still managed to do this when I had grown to where I was almost as tall as him is beyond me.
Brushing myself off, I did the best I could to regain some shred of dignity. I held my hand out to Illusia, smiling at her. Still giggling softly, she took hold of my hand and let me pull her close to my side. Koura rolled his eye.
“Oi, you’ve finally managed to find a girlfriend,” he said teasingly. “So come on, introduce me!”
I turned bright red and shot a sideways glance at Illusia, who was obviously trying her best to keep a straight face. She took a few deep breaths and stood up a little straighter. I opened my mouth to introduce her, but she beat me to it.
`“Allow me to introduce myself,” she said in that serene, quiet Princess voice. “I am the Supreme Princess of Kerahneeah, Illusia of the Planet Heart.”
For once, my smartass brother couldn’t think of anything to say. His one working eye went wide and he choked for a second. Finally he managed a quiet “Hi” and turned redder than I had, staring at the ground. Illusia seemed to think the whole thing was just very funny.
“Nice to meet you,” she said lightly. “And your name is?”
Koura couldn’t answer, he just choked again.
“That’s Koura… My older brother by eight years -”
“And don’t you forget it,” grumbled Koura.
“- and my best friend.”
Said best friend punched my arm, not enough to really hurt but enough to tell me he could if he wanted to. I just did what I always did when we were younger: I hit back. In a few seconds, we were just punching each other back and forth. Illusia stopped the approach of chaos by stepping up behind me and popping me sharply in the back of my head.
“Ow!”
Damn! She hits hard… I never would have guessed…
“If you two are through,” she said impatiently. “We need to keep going this way.”
She indicated “this way” by holding out the Detection Crystal at arm’s length, pointing the glowing red tip to the southeast. And she looked extremely irritated as she stalked away in the indicated direction. I just gave in and let Koura twist my arm behind my back, though not enough to really hurt. My shoulder protested painfully. He let me go without starting something else. I turned to follow Illusia, but turned back to my brother.
“Koura?”
“Terran?” he replied.
“Aren’t you coming?”
“Hang on, I’m not through with you yet!” he said firmly, taking my upper arm in a grip that told me he was serious. I tried hard not to wince as he took hold of my shoulder and turned me around to face him. The pain was coming close to blinding…
“Ok, ok! What is it?”
“I just have to give you that little talk about how to treat a woman,” he said, rolling his eye and clapping a hand on my shoulder. (Ow!) “Basically, all there is to it is 1) if you love her, tell her and show her, 2) be gentle, and 3) if she’s sad/angry/PMSing/upset/hurt, you can always make everything a little easier on her; just hold her and kiss her as tenderly as you can.”
My jaw dropped.
Did my brother really just say that? In those words? About… THAT!?
He saw my reaction and grinned at me. I felt the urge to either thank him or sock him in the jaw. I opted for the former, since I really did want to live…
“Heh… Thanks, Koura… … I think…”
“I saw the way you looked at her,” he said quietly. “You’d do anything for her, wouldn’t you?”
I nodded mutely. He still knew me almost as well as I knew myself and could always tell when something was different. My brother smiled, his dark green right eye lighting up.
“You love her, don’t you?” he asked softly, more statement than question.
I nodded again. He threw an arm over my shoulder, grinning at me again. I flinched as he hit the place that had taken most of the impact when I fell. Quickly, he pulled his arm away, looking worried. But then he smiled again.
“Then go for her,” he said firmly. “Give it everything you’ve got.”
“I will…”
“Good,” he said, smiling. “Now why don’t you go over there and see what she’s so mad about.”
Illusia was standing farther up the path, glaring at both of us and holding the Crystal still pointed to the southeast.
“I think your talk took too long…”
“Sorry,” he said, still grinning at me. “Now you go catch up with her!”
He pushed me towards the path. I was just a little bit hesitant to go near Illusia when her eyes were flashing like that. She was probably just tense, and for good reason, considering that the Gem that could be used to create the most destruction was in the hands of that psychopath vampire. Still, no need set off her temper.
“Illusia, hold on. Do you have any idea where we’re going?”
“Yes,” she said shortly. “We’re going this way.”
“What I meant was where are you saying we’re going to end up?”
“You’re the one who said he was heading for the river,” she said, impatience giving her voice an edge.
“Well at least wait for us!”
Koura was leaning against a tree behind me, obviously trying not to laugh. I turned around to face him.
“You’re not helping, you know.”
“She’s your girl,” he said, raising an eyebrow at me. “Not my problem.”
“Well if she’s headed where I think she is, she’s going to get us all killed!”
His face turned pale. Any mention of death must have still had that effect on his mind. He pushed up off the tree and stalked past me, his right eye looking wild. My brother, still so impulsive, was heading straight for trouble: he was going to try and reason with Illusia while she was angry. Or at least I thought he was. I figured I’d better go keep the two of them from killing each other, so I just rolled my eyes and followed him.
He stood face to face with her, his shoulders back and his one working eye darkened in rage. That scared me… This couldn’t turn out good. But for now, there wasn’t much I could do.
“Princess,” said my brother in a low voice. “You need to stop and think. If you keep going this way, you could get the whole lot of us killed.”
Her eyes went wide and she let her arm drop by her side, the Detection Crystal still held loosely in the palm of her hand.
“What?” she said quietly, her voice wavering.
“Just listen to me,” he said in that same low voice. “I lost my brother once. I’m not going to lose him again because you won’t slow down and think this through.”
Gently, I tightened my hold on her shoulder.
“Illusia… Stop… You can’t hurt him…”
She shrugged my hand away. I shifted my gaze between her and Koura.
“Why not?” she snapped. “He’s a threat!”
“Honey, please… Don’t hurt him…”
Slowly but firmly, I wrapped one arm around her, turning her to face me.
“Terran, what’s wrong with you?” she asked exasperatedly.
I took hold of her free hand and stared into those sparkling silver eyes. I hoped she could see the pain in mine.
“Illusia… Listen to me…”
“I’m listening,” she said impatiently.
“He’s my brother…”
Her eyes went wide. Slowly, she looked at me, then at Koura, and back at me. My brother and I look nothing alike. She looked like she was trying to decide if she should believe me or not. She looked up into my eyes, begging me to tell her what in the hell was going on. I nodded to tell her it was true and a single tear trailed down my cheek.
“Please, love… Don’t hurt my brother…”
She slipped her knife back into its sheath and closed her eyes. When she opened them, they were once again that soft lavender that could switch my rational mind off just by looking into my eyes. Softly, she pressed her hand against my chest, right over my heart.
“Terran,” she said softly. “I’m so sorry… If I had known, I never would have -”
Gently, I placed a finger on her lips then wrapped both arms around her, ignoring the pain in my shoulder.
“It’s alright, sweetheart… I know… It’s alright…”
“Terran,” she whispered. “I would be honored to meet your brother… I need to apologize for being so rash.”
“Of course, honey,” I whispered back.
I took her hand and slowly led her towards my brother. He looked so much better than the last time I had seen him. He had lots of scars, including one that had sealed his left eye shut and led to a long slash scar down his cheek, but that was alright. I was just glad my brother was still alive. I stopped about six feet away from him and turned to Illusia.
“Stay here for a second… It’s been so long since I’ve seen my brother… He hasn’t changed much, but I have… So in case he doesn’t recognize me…”
“I understand,” she said softly.
I turned back to my brother and looked up at him. He was almost exactly like I remembered him, only the brother in my memory didn’t have so much pain in his eyes.
“Koura?”
He tilted his head, confused. His eyes held a hint of recognition but a lot more disbelief.
“You look familiar,” he said quietly.
“I do? From where?”
“I just have this strange feeling that we’ve met before,” he said, looking hopeful for a second. Then he looked sadder than before. “But it’s just impossible that you would be who I thought you were.”
“Who did you think I was?”
One dark, pain-filled green eye stared out into space.
“I thought that maybe I had seen a miracle,” he said, his voice low and almost toneless. “I thought my brother might be alive again…”
“Koura, look at me.”
Apparently, even the memory of me was killing him inside.
Now I’m standing in front of him and he doesn’t recognize me…
He looked at me, now becoming a little suspicious.
“How do you know my name?”
“What was your brother’s name?”
He stared hard at me, looking me up and down. Probably trying to decide whether to pound the living hell out of me or to just pretend he hadn’t heard me. But his response stunned me.
“His name was… … … Oh my Lord!” His right eye went wide as realization dawned on him and he whispered “Terran.”
“Koura, I’m right here.”
I never expected my brother to throw his arms around me and break down crying on my shoulder. It hurt me just as it had before to see my brother cry. I had tears on my face as well. But this time, I could comfort him.
“It’s alright, brother… I’m alive and I’m here now…”
Koura lifted a tear-streaked face to mine.
“My brother,” he whispered.
“Koura…”
For the first time in so long, far too long, I saw my brother smile… Seconds before he spun me around and picked me straight up off the ground with my arms pinned to my sides, making my ribs feel like they were cracking. My shoulder burned in pain and I yelped.
Damn it! … … Ow! … … He used to- OW! - do that to me ALL the time!
Just like when we were younger, he dropped me from about a foot off the ground. I never could land right and somehow, I always wound up with a very sore backside. My balance hadn’t improved much and yet again I was on the ground. I glared up at him, one hand on my shoulder.
“You haven’t changed much…”
“But you have,” he said quietly. Then I saw his gaze focus on Illusia for a moment. He grinned evilly. I was in for it now… “Who’s the girl? She sure is cute…”
Argh! My brother never failed to find SOMETHING to tease me about. I looked behind me to see Illusia laughing but trying to hide it behind her hand. Koura picked me up by the back of my shirt and set me on my feet. How he still managed to do this when I had grown to where I was almost as tall as him is beyond me.
Brushing myself off, I did the best I could to regain some shred of dignity. I held my hand out to Illusia, smiling at her. Still giggling softly, she took hold of my hand and let me pull her close to my side. Koura rolled his eye.
“Oi, you’ve finally managed to find a girlfriend,” he said teasingly. “So come on, introduce me!”
I turned bright red and shot a sideways glance at Illusia, who was obviously trying her best to keep a straight face. She took a few deep breaths and stood up a little straighter. I opened my mouth to introduce her, but she beat me to it.
`“Allow me to introduce myself,” she said in that serene, quiet Princess voice. “I am the Supreme Princess of Kerahneeah, Illusia of the Planet Heart.”
For once, my smartass brother couldn’t think of anything to say. His one working eye went wide and he choked for a second. Finally he managed a quiet “Hi” and turned redder than I had, staring at the ground. Illusia seemed to think the whole thing was just very funny.
“Nice to meet you,” she said lightly. “And your name is?”
Koura couldn’t answer, he just choked again.
“That’s Koura… My older brother by eight years -”
“And don’t you forget it,” grumbled Koura.
“- and my best friend.”
Said best friend punched my arm, not enough to really hurt but enough to tell me he could if he wanted to. I just did what I always did when we were younger: I hit back. In a few seconds, we were just punching each other back and forth. Illusia stopped the approach of chaos by stepping up behind me and popping me sharply in the back of my head.
“Ow!”
Damn! She hits hard… I never would have guessed…
“If you two are through,” she said impatiently. “We need to keep going this way.”
She indicated “this way” by holding out the Detection Crystal at arm’s length, pointing the glowing red tip to the southeast. And she looked extremely irritated as she stalked away in the indicated direction. I just gave in and let Koura twist my arm behind my back, though not enough to really hurt. My shoulder protested painfully. He let me go without starting something else. I turned to follow Illusia, but turned back to my brother.
“Koura?”
“Terran?” he replied.
“Aren’t you coming?”
“Hang on, I’m not through with you yet!” he said firmly, taking my upper arm in a grip that told me he was serious. I tried hard not to wince as he took hold of my shoulder and turned me around to face him. The pain was coming close to blinding…
“Ok, ok! What is it?”
“I just have to give you that little talk about how to treat a woman,” he said, rolling his eye and clapping a hand on my shoulder. (Ow!) “Basically, all there is to it is 1) if you love her, tell her and show her, 2) be gentle, and 3) if she’s sad/angry/PMSing/upset/hurt, you can always make everything a little easier on her; just hold her and kiss her as tenderly as you can.”
My jaw dropped.
Did my brother really just say that? In those words? About… THAT!?
He saw my reaction and grinned at me. I felt the urge to either thank him or sock him in the jaw. I opted for the former, since I really did want to live…
“Heh… Thanks, Koura… … I think…”
“I saw the way you looked at her,” he said quietly. “You’d do anything for her, wouldn’t you?”
I nodded mutely. He still knew me almost as well as I knew myself and could always tell when something was different. My brother smiled, his dark green right eye lighting up.
“You love her, don’t you?” he asked softly, more statement than question.
I nodded again. He threw an arm over my shoulder, grinning at me again. I flinched as he hit the place that had taken most of the impact when I fell. Quickly, he pulled his arm away, looking worried. But then he smiled again.
“Then go for her,” he said firmly. “Give it everything you’ve got.”
“I will…”
“Good,” he said, smiling. “Now why don’t you go over there and see what she’s so mad about.”
Illusia was standing farther up the path, glaring at both of us and holding the Crystal still pointed to the southeast.
“I think your talk took too long…”
“Sorry,” he said, still grinning at me. “Now you go catch up with her!”
He pushed me towards the path. I was just a little bit hesitant to go near Illusia when her eyes were flashing like that. She was probably just tense, and for good reason, considering that the Gem that could be used to create the most destruction was in the hands of that psychopath vampire. Still, no need set off her temper.
“Illusia, hold on. Do you have any idea where we’re going?”
“Yes,” she said shortly. “We’re going this way.”
“What I meant was where are you saying we’re going to end up?”
“You’re the one who said he was heading for the river,” she said, impatience giving her voice an edge.
“Well at least wait for us!”
Koura was leaning against a tree behind me, obviously trying not to laugh. I turned around to face him.
“You’re not helping, you know.”
“She’s your girl,” he said, raising an eyebrow at me. “Not my problem.”
“Well if she’s headed where I think she is, she’s going to get us all killed!”
His face turned pale. Any mention of death must have still had that effect on his mind. He pushed up off the tree and stalked past me, his right eye looking wild. My brother, still so impulsive, was heading straight for trouble: he was going to try and reason with Illusia while she was angry. Or at least I thought he was. I figured I’d better go keep the two of them from killing each other, so I just rolled my eyes and followed him.
He stood face to face with her, his shoulders back and his one working eye darkened in rage. That scared me… This couldn’t turn out good. But for now, there wasn’t much I could do.
“Princess,” said my brother in a low voice. “You need to stop and think. If you keep going this way, you could get the whole lot of us killed.”
Her eyes went wide and she let her arm drop by her side, the Detection Crystal still held loosely in the palm of her hand.
“What?” she said quietly, her voice wavering.
“Just listen to me,” he said in that same low voice. “I lost my brother once. I’m not going to lose him again because you won’t slow down and think this through.”