{"id":3733,"date":"2018-09-28T00:00:46","date_gmt":"2018-09-28T04:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=3733"},"modified":"2018-09-27T20:26:32","modified_gmt":"2018-09-28T00:26:32","slug":"one-01-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=3733","title":{"rendered":"One – 01"},"content":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Teague’s point of view.]<\/em><\/p>\n

Water rasped against stones, almost a whisper as the breeze pushed the lapping waves up against the shore. Beyond the sound of birds in the trees, the wind whispering through branches, the world was quiet. He stood and stared off across the water, letting his eyes relax, gaze unfocusing. He listened to the quiet, even breath of his son, not yet a year old, heavy against his chest as he stood near the shore, the boy\u2019s head resting against his shoulder.<\/p>\n

In, out. In, out. Teague Vaughan matched the pattern of his own breathing to his son\u2019s, shifting him slightly into a more comfortable hold. Kira would come looking soon. She worried when they were out this long and it was only a matter of time before realized they weren\u2019t back yet. She worried about him and he loved her for it, especially because he still wasn\u2019t quite certain he deserved it.<\/p>\n

After all, he still blamed himself for the fate that had befallen the world almost a year before.<\/p>\n

If Phelan were here, he\u2019d tell him that there wasn\u2019t anything more he could have done. He\u2019d tried. They\u2019d both tried\u2014them and so many others, Teague had come to realize in the months since.<\/p>\n

None of it had mattered.<\/p>\n

\u201cTeague?\u201d<\/p>\n

A faint smile curved his lips at the sound of her voice.<\/p>\n

Not <\/em>none of it.<\/em><\/p>\n

He turned to see her coming down the path from their lodge, her footsteps as silent as his own would have been. Teague smiled and lifted his free hand, finger to his lips, nodding to their sleeping son.<\/p>\n

Kira smiled as she came to him, dressed in faded denim and a plaid shirt. Her hair had gotten long and for all that she made noises about cutting it, she never seemed to do it. Their fingers laced together as she stopped by his side, leaning her shoulder against his.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve been gone for a while,\u201d she said softly. \u201cI was starting to worry.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou do that a lot,\u201d he murmured, pressing a kiss to her temple with a faint smile.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, you\u2019re worth worrying about,\u201d she said, then smiled back, squeezing his fingers before she wrapped her arms around his waist. \u201cAre you all right?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy are you asking?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve got that look,\u201d Kira said, resting her chin on his shoulder and looking at him for a few aching heartbeats. \u201cThe one I\u2019ve seen before too many times to count. You\u2019re wrestling with something and you\u2019re not sure if you should tell me\u2014or anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Teague smiled faintly. \u201cYou know me too well.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I\u2019ve only been dreaming about you my entire life.\u201d<\/p>\n

His heart gave a painful squeeze, though it was less than it might have been a year before. He\u2019d never meant for her to go through even half of what she\u2019d faced, never meant for her soul\u2014bound to his millennia ago\u2014to suffer as it had for so long, never meant for her to dream of his face for her entire life<\/em>. And yet, that had been what had happened, it was what was<\/em>. There was no way he could ever change that, and in hindsight, he wasn\u2019t sure if he would even if he could.<\/p>\n

He knew that she wouldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love you,\u201d he murmured softly, then kissed her again.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love you, too,\u201d Kira said, squeezing him. \u201cIs that a dodge?\u201d<\/p>\n

Teague laughed quietly. \u201cNo. No, it\u2019s not a dodge.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThen what\u2019s bothering you?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve just been thinking.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMm.\u201d She sounded amused and concerned at once and he nearly laughed aloud. \u201cAbout what?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a dream last night.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kira stiffened slightly, her brow furrowing. It was a few moments before she asked, \u201cWhat kind of dream?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe kind that scares both of us,\u201d he murmured. \u201cThe kind that I haven\u2019t had since I fevered when you brought me here a year ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought we were past that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cit\u2019s a gift and a curse.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can return gifts,\u201d Kira whispered. \u201cYou can break curses. This is something else. Something different.\u201d<\/p>\n

He rested his cheek against her head and exhaled a sigh. \u201cI don\u2019t have another word for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know,\u201d she said. \u201cNeither do I.\u201d Another pause. \u201cWhat was it about?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThem,\u201d he said simply, knowing she\u2019d understand.<\/p>\n

A breath escaped her that wasn\u2019t quite a gasp, not quite a sigh. Her voice came as a whisper. \u201cWhat did you see?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re all right,\u201d he said quietly. \u201cFor now, at least.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor now?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing\u2019s ever certain, Kira. You know that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her arms tightened around him. \u201cSome things are.\u201d<\/p>\n

A chill crept down his spine, unbidden, then he forced himself to relax. \u201cYou\u2019re right,\u201d he whispered back. \u201cSome things are.\u201d Like this. Like us.<\/em><\/p>\n

Kira\u2019s fingers brushed along his cheek and jaw and he smiled faintly, tears stinging for a second before he blinked them away.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you,\u201d he breathed.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor what?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor loving me.\u201d<\/p>\n

She smiled. \u201cLet\u2019s go inside. I made lunch.\u201d<\/p>\n

Teague nodded and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. There would be time enough later to tell her everything he\u2019d seen\u2014to tell her about all that had changed, how different it all was now from what he\u2019d originally thought, from the stories, from the dreams, from all of it.<\/p>\n

There was time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Teague’s point of view.] Water rasped against stones, almost a whisper as the breeze pushed the lapping waves up against the shore. Beyond the sound of birds in the trees, the wind whispering through branches, the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[299,300,14],"tags":[150,171,170,302,149,148,303,168,147,165,301,146],"class_list":["post-3733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-7","category-chapter-01-book-7","category-story","tag-awakenings","tag-fantasy","tag-fiction","tag-kira-thomlin","tag-original-fiction","tag-post-apocalyptic","tag-seamus-michael-vaughan","tag-serial","tag-serial-fiction","tag-story","tag-teague-vaughan","tag-web-fiction"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-Yd","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3733"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3733\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3734,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3733\/revisions\/3734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}