From There To Here [Closed]

The day started off quite beautiful. Serenity woke up early, like she normally did, just to make sure that Alain was getting his breakfast. She cooked him a nice meal with eggs, bacon, and toast. She wouldn't eat until he was off to work. When he left for work, she gave him a small kiss on the cheek and wished him a wonderful day. Then she went to eat, fed Shiro, and cleaned up after they were finished. That's when Serenity's day actually began. They were running low on food, so she got herself cleaned up, dressed, brushed her hair, and made her way into the town market.

Serenity had made quite a few friends in the market since she arrived in Colburn. She knew the baker, the innkeeper, the butcher, the blacksmith, and most the local farming families. Because of this, her time in town always took a bit longer than she expected. She talked to the children, wives, and even a few students that she passed by. Most people knew her name and those who didn't would still recognize her in some way. She stopped by the bakery first and had a small conversation about someone who was asking for her. The baker had pointed the man the direction of Alain's house.

Realizing she had a guest back at Alain's house, she hurried through her shopping and went back to town. She rushed along the path that lead to Alain's house. Everything seemed normal until she opened the door and stepped inside. Her eyes widened in horror and she dropped the groceries, spilling everything she had bought. The couch had been turned over, the chairs knocked onto their sides, the kitchen was a mess, cabinets open and pots and pans pulled from them. She hurried over to Alain's chair and sat it back up and saw something out of the corner of her eye.

"Shiro...?" Serenity hurried over to him. The little guy was scared and hiding under the turned over chair. Serenity lifted the chair up and went to pick the trembling pup up, but Shiro suddenly started barking. Sensing what Shiro was barking at, Serenity looked behind her to see a large man she recognized standing there. "Carl...?" she gasped. Her eyes widened and she tried running away, but was grabbed and pulled back into him. She screamed and kicked, but her mouth was soon covered. Shiro barked more and Carl kicked him. The little pup got up and quickly ran from the house.

Alain was enjoying the last bite of the sandwich Serenity had made for him. It was ham and cheese. But that wasn't the best part. The watermelon slice he saw at the bottom of the brown paper bag was making his mouth water. This was from the first watermelon she had grown here in Colburn. He must be the first to try it. It was nearing the end of the semester, so the weather was finally starting to warm up. Alain had decided to eat lunch outside in the courtyard of the main building of Rydian. It was a beautiful, cloudless May day. And frankly? Alain was enjoying every minute of it. He could hear students chattering between classes, and he heard a few playing a game of soccer nearby.

Alain reached into the bag and pulled out the piece of watermelon. He stared longingly at it. The professor actually licked his lips he was craving it so much. Perhaps that was why he didn't hear a student yell "look out!" as a black and white ball slammed into his hand. His mouth dropped as time slowed. The watermelon was falling. Alain was unable to move. There was no way to catch it. He just had to watch it fall, and fall it did. It splattered against the concrete, dead. Alain stared. He was actually about to shed a single tear. This had ruined a perfectly good day. The next thing he knew, the watermelon was getting farther and farther away...

That was when he realized that he had been picked up. Not by a person, but by a black mass with wings. Alain was being carried away like a field mouse. He began to yell for help, his arms flailing uselessly. Olivia was walking out of a shop, holding Logan's hand. She heard the screams, and looked up. She shielded her eyes. A question mark appeared above her head. "Wasn't that Professor?" Logan looked up too, and had a matching expression of confusion on his face. "I think so..." Alain tried to call out for them, but they couldn't make out what he was saying.

Alain thought he could recognize the creature carrying him. It had scales, so it wasn't a dire eagle. It also had four legs, so it wasn't a wyvern. No, this was a full-blown dragon. And it was flying over Colburn. It seemed to realize something, then changed direction, taking him back over Rydian. Alain thought he could make out the splattered form of his watermelon even from up here. A familiar face with black hair stood on a balcony. He blinked, then waved. "...Alain? Alain!" Alain swore, then called out to Lucas. It didn't reach him either. Alain soon gave up on calling for help. He began to think of his options, but none would leave him safe. Unless this dragon went out over Lake Colburn... Wait, this dragon was heading in the direction of Lake Colburn. Haha! He had a chance!

Alain waited patiently as the dragon hugged the coast of Lake Colburn. It began to slow as it passed over a neighborhood. Wait. It was Alain's subdivision. They were slowing over Alain's house. He saw two figures outside, one practically dragging the other. The dragon lowered its altitude and Alain could see more of the figures. Serenity. And that was... Chad? Serenity's creepy assaulter from her old hut! He had found her! Of course. This dragon, it was Serenity's dragon. It was the one that had saved her along with Shiro. This time, it had brought Alain in. The dragon's claws released from Alain's shoulders, and he felt the air tense as he got nearer to the ground. He fell atop Carl, tackling the man to the ground, forcing him to let go of Serenity...

The large hand that covered her mouth was making it difficult to breathe. Serenity was panicking worse and worse as Carl dragged her over toward the couch. He tried flipping the couch with one arm while holding her and was succeeding until she bit into his hand. He yelled and let her go, holding onto his injured hand. "W-Why?! Why did you bite me?" he asked and Serenity just ran around him and up the stairs. "No! Come back! S-Serenity?" he sounded confused and upset, but Serenity kept running. "GO AWAY!" she screamed back to him as she hurried into Alain's room.

Serenity heard him rushing behind her and could feel him getting closer. As she went to shut the door and lock herself in, she was suddenly pushed back as he charged it. She screamed again. "Stop running from me!" he yelled and grabbed her ankle. "No, let me go! Please, stop!" she screamed at him, tears in her eyes. He looked back to her and picked her up and threw her over his shoulder as easily as she could throw a towel. He walked down stairs and back to the living room. She kept hitting his back and kicking wildy. She wasn't aiming for anything, but ended up hitting his face.

"OW!" he yelled as blood dropped from his nose, "Look what you did! I'm bleeding!" Serenity's eyes widened when he suddenly lifted her completely over his head. She looked around and noticed he was walking toward the window near the kitchen. "No... Don't!" she screamed louder than she had ever screamed before. "You hurt me! I hurt you back!" he said and he threw Serenity out the window with such force that her head hit the side of the shed. "Ow..." she whimpered and began crying. Carl came through the back door and she began crawling away, but she didn't get far at all.

As she went around the shed to the door, she felt his hand push her into the ground. "Stop running from me! You always run from me now!" Carl said as she tried pulling away. He held tightly onto her shirt and wouldn't let her move. After a few tugs, she slid out of her own clothing and crawled away. "Stop it! You're mine now and I'll protect you! I won't hurt you!" Carl said and walked up behind her as she turned the corner. He grabbed her and put her on her back, pinning her shoulders to the ground. "STOP IT! LET ME GO!" Serenity yelled and cried more, but he didn't let her go.

"We're friends, right? You are nice to me, so you're mine. I will protect you good, I promise. Come home with me." Carl said, shaking her with every word. She kept her head up after it hit the ground a couple times and suddenly got very angry. "You're not protecting me! ALL YOU DO IS HURT ME! I HATE YOU!" she screamed at him, reaching up and smacked him across the fact. He looked completely stunned and blinked at her. He then became very angry and wrapped his hands around her neck. He began choking her, "If you're not my friend no more, th-..." He was suddenly knocked off of her.

Serenity rolled over on her side and held her throat, coughing as she regained air. Carl stood up and looked toward Alain. "You... This is your fault! You took her from me, just like you took my hand before, but I got it back!" Carl lifted his right hand with a cocky smile, "I'll get Serenity back now too. She's mine. She was mine first and always will be mine. My friend, not yours!" "Alain..." Serenity muttered as she sat up, "I'm so sorry..." Serenity covered her chest and lowered her head. Her body was cut up, shards of glass sticking out. Her neck and ankle both had large hand prints on them.

Serenity had absolutely no idea what to think right now. The massacre that was taking place right in front of her was horrifying to say the least. The scared expression that she had went up about ten levels. Words could not describe the terror that trembled in the eyes of this normally innocent and sweet woman. Her body began to shake. She covered her ears and cried more as she heard Carl yell. He even called for help, her help, but she was too scared to move. She was scared of Carl and the way he was acting, but that wasn't it. For the first time, Serenity was actually scared of Alain.

Serenity did as she was told and closed her eyes, but that didn't take away the sounds. The screamed went through her hands as well. She curled up on herself and cried, streams of tears falling down her face harder than ever. She tried to block it out, but her own mind was messing with her by repeating the screams she had already heard, even the calls for help. "No more, no more, no more, no more." she said up until she felt Alain touch her shoulder. Her head snapped upwards and she looked him dead in the eyes. That look. His expression was too much. She didn't know what to do or think.

Alain didn't pull Serenity tight into a embrace. But he wanted to. With that glass in her, it would only endanger her life more. Instead, he kissed her cheek. Tears went down her face. But they were not hers. "I'm sorry you had to see that..." Alain's mouth twitched like it wanted to smile. It wanted to re-assure her. But that wouldn't happen. His mouth stayed firm in a line. "But more than that... I'm sorry I couldn't protect you." Alain's violet eyes were turning red from his tears. These weren't tears of sorrow over Carl. These were tears of regret for not being there sooner. "Serenity, I love you." His voice cracked as he said it, tears still falling down.

A small bark broke the tension for a moment as Shiro ran from around the house. He padded up to Serenity and Alain, then curled up beside them. Alain stared relaxedly at the little pup. The little ball of fluff's eyes were on Serenity, worry in them as well. Alain petted Shiro. The little bastard nipped at Alain, but he kept doing it. "This might be a tough thing for us to deal with, like when we first got Shiro... But I want you... no, I need you around, Serenity. I love you, and I don't want you to go." Alain's eyes were pleading as he looked into hers...

Serenity's confusion came from the lack of knowledge. She had no idea that Alain's powers could be this destructive and frightening. She had no idea that he could be this destructive and frightening either. It tore through her horribly and in truth it wasn't her fault. Normal people would be so happy that their love came in right on time to rescue them, but Serenity wasn't allowed to feel that way. Her power only allowed her to feel fear. The anger she wanted to feel towards Carl would only hurt her more. The anger she wanted to feel towards Alain's brutality was the same. She was stuck.

When he kissed her cheek, she didn't tense. She didn't move at all. She listened to him speak, hearing him apologize and even feeling his tears, but she was frozen in a state of fear and uncertainty. And when he looked straight at her, begging her not to leave, Serenity turned to him finally able to muster up a bit of self-awareness. She swallowed nervously and went to speak, but her words were caught. It took her a moment, but she finally nodded at him. "Y-Y did." was all she could say. Her stomach was in knots, but she was visibly trying to get her thoughts together by grabbing her own head.

Before anything else could be done or said, Logan burst through the back door. "What the hell happened!?" Logan shouted after a moment of looking around, "Oh shit..." Logan quickly moved to Olivia, covered her eyes and walked her back in the house. "Uh... Don't come out here and don't you dare be sneaking and look through the damn window. Just... Just don't." Logan said seriously and hurried back over to Alain and Serenity. He put a hand on Alain's shoulder and pulled him back, whispering to him, "Alain, I got her and I'll deal with the body, just get inside and calm down."

Alain glared at Logan. He didn't want to leave Serenity's side. He barely trusted anyone but himself around her right now. And even that was a stretch. Serenity needed to be protected, and right now, Alain didn't feel like he could do it. Sure, he stopped Chad from carrying her away. Sure, he made sure that Brad couldn't get to her again by killing him. Sure, he did what he could. But that wasn't enough. It wasn't enough to keep her safe. Logan's hand was close to getting torn off, but it was just enough to cool him down. He nodded, and stood. Inside, he went.

Olivia was already righting furniture. She had gotten the living room chairs with little problem, but she wasn't strong enough for the couch. She kept trying to lift it up, but it was simply too heavy. Alain stepped over, and without warning, helped her lift it up. Olivia looked at him, eyes wide. Blood and tears speckled his face and jacket. The shoulders were torn, and his glasses were gone. Olivia never saw Alain without his glasses. He napped with them on for Rydia's sake! "Professor," Olivia said calmly. "Why don't you sit down? I'll get you some tea..." Alain nodded, and sat in his chair.

Olivia rummaged through the remains of the kitchen until she found a mug that wasn't broken. She also grabbed a bottle of liquor. She made tea appear in the cup, then handed it to him. She then handed him the liquor. He blinked, then shook his head. A smile somewhat came upon his lips, but it soon disappeared. Alain didn't pour the liquor into the tea. He kept the bottle though. Alain took measured sips of his tea. He couldn't taste anything. Then a thought occurred. "Olivia... make some tea for Serenity... Green tea. It's her favorite." Alain's voice was almost raspy. He truly didn't feel like talking. But that was something important, and so he had to say it.

"Aye..." Logan sighed and rubbed the back of his head as Alain went inside and then turned to Serenity. He moved over and grabbed her shoulders gently, turning her away from the body. Logan sat in front of her now that her back was to the house and ignited the body in a silent flame. "Well, congratulations Serenity, you've got his heart in the palm of your hand, don't you?" he said with a chuckle and began removing the bits of glass he could see. She winced every now and then as some of the deeper ones were removed. "Pretty scary, huh?" Logan said and Serenity nodded, her body trembling.

"Why?" Logan asked suddenly and stared rather darkly at Serenity. She looked to him, a little frightened of his expression. "Alain would never harm you. He'd probably kill himself if he ever did." Logan said and Serenity's eyes widened in shock. "Explain what happened here." Logan demanded. It took her a bit, but she explained everything. She even explained everything that happened back at her old cottage. And some of it Logan really didn't want to hear. "Ugh... I... Uh... Okay, so..." Logan grabbed his own head and shook it, "Agh, sometimes there are things you don't need to hear."

"Sorry." "No. I get it, but there's something you need to understand about Alain. He despises killing. He's not a violent guy at all, so the fact that he went that far with that prick..." Logan glanced back toward Carl's now completely incinerated body, but Serenity did not, "It means something. Take it from another man who's falling in love just as hard as Alain, I would have done the exact same thing to that man. He didn't deserve to live for what he did to you. Men have a natural possessiveness... It's like an animal having a certain territory, you don't cross into it unless you're a challenger."

"Don't be scared of him." Logan said as he got the final bit of glass and used a ripped piece of his shirt to wipe the blood off, "It'll break him." "What do you mean?" "What would you do... and how would you feel if you ever got Alain hurt? Or if you weren't able to protect him? And then he reacted the same way that you did today?" It was then that Serenity realized what she had done. She began crying again. "Is he gonna be mad at me?" "Hahahahaha... No, no he won't be. But realize that he needs you now just as much as you need him. My brother's a softie... Needs to toughen up, but not today."

"Okay!" Serenity stood up and shoo'd at Logan. He realized what she meant and turned away so she could put her shirt back on. She had been using it as a barrier for most of the conversation. He hadn't even noticed. "Most of these are just cuts, right?" Serenity asked, seemingly back to normal. "Yeah, but you're gonna need bandages on quite a few." Logan said, turning back around to a dressed Serenity, "Now get in there." Serenity nodded and hurried up to the door. She stopped for a moment, looking at where Carl's body was, but was surprised to find that it wasn't there anymore.

"I took care of it, now go." Logan told her and she perked up. She grabbed the door handle and took a deep breath. They were outside about fifteen minutes before Serenity finally reentered the house. She walked inside, but was nervous about it. She didn't know what she wanted to say. She saw that the house was a mess and practically wanted to cry about the amount of time that she was going to have to clean this place. She walked around the chair to see him sipping at some tea. "Olivia." Logan called out to her and motioned for her to come over, "Let them have a bit of time together."

"Alain..." she said nervously, but that faded with a deep breath, "Thank you for saving me again." She took the tea from him and set it on the table, now that it was put back where it belonged. She then sat in Alain's lap, whether he liked it or not. "Now you listen! I'm not leaving. I don't want to. I want to be with you forever, so unless you tell me to, I'm not going anywhere. And you did protect me. You're the only one who does. No one else was here. If you weren't, I'd be hurt really bad and stuck with Carl. You are the one that prevented that, no one else. And that is what matters, Alain."

"You can't expect to keep every bad thing from happening to me, but every. single. time. that I have needed you, you've been there. So no apologizing for not being able to protect me since that is exactly what you did. You protected me and kept me here where I'm happy. SO! You did exactly what you were supposed to. Got it?" Serenity said and crossed her arms with a playful pout. If he chose to disagree with her, she'd put a finger on his lips and repeat, "Got. It?" She wasn't taking no for an answer, not this time. Once he finally agreed, she'd smile and kiss his cheek, "I love you too, Alain."

After a couple of moments, Logan stepped up and put his hands together, mocking their cuteness, "Oh, isn't that adorable... Now where the fuck is the dragon that swept you up?"

Her planned pout and seriousness didn't have to get through on a second try. Alain got it on the first! Serenity giggled playfully and wrapped her arms around his entire head, nuzzling her face into his hair. When Logan's antics came into the picture, Serenity added to Alain's rude gesture by sticking her tongue out at him. "What!? I came here for the dragon! We wanna see it." Another dragon? No, Alain explained it was Serenity's dragon, but didn't she send the big guy off with Reina? Serenity's though process was luckily interrupted by the disappointment Alain had in his voice and then a loud thud.

Serenity wanted to comment on the watermelon. She felt bad that Alain didn't get to eat it, but there was a dragon on the porch. And the look on his face was hilarious. "I don't think my dragon friend cares much about the loss of a watermelon piece. We have more." Serenity kissed Alain's cheek and hopped off his lap, "I'll get you some in a bit. I have to make the dragon go back to Reina." Serenity went out and tried to make the dragon go away. He seemed excited to see her at first until words started exiting her mouth. Then he turned his attention to Alain and gave the most irritated scowl.

"Why is she making the dragon go away? Didn't you just say that it brought you here?" Logan asked and cross his arms, "Sending the guy off seems stupid. One hell of a guard dog. Now, I'ma go try and ride it! Wanna come with?" Logan asked that to Olivia, but before he could make it to the door, the glass door was opened, but not by Serenity. Instead, the dragon opened the door and put one foot in the door way, then took it out, then one in, then took it out. Then he did it with his tail and his head, repeating these processes multiple times or until Alain got his ass up and did something about it!

All of these conditions infuriated the dragon, but he was going to comply. He mimicked Alain throughout his rule stating. Once Alain was done, the dragon pat Alain on the head with the very tip of his tail and stood up. He glanced back to Serenity, smiled, and then waddled himself happily over to the trees where he could stay hidden in the shade. He understood Alain's conditions and was fine with them, though he was still a dragon and would likely do what he wanted and he wanted to stick around Serenity and Alain, so there. "He's determined to make you like him." Serenity said with a giggle.

"Well, since I don't think there is any dragon riding going on here, why don't we return to the market? Finish up our shopping and then head home?" Logan wrapped an arm around Olivia and lead her out of the house, but before he left, he glanced toward Alain, "I'll be back for a ride, man." and then left. Serenity looked to Alain and then glanced back inside the house, sighing sadly. "This place is a mess." she said and began picking up a few of the smaller fixtures, some broken and others not. "I'll get it cleaned up as soon as I can..." she said trying to sound cheerful, "Might take a while though."

Serenity went over to the kitchen and looked in the fridge. "HA!" she shouted cheerfully and pulled out a partly cut watermelon, "Hey, honey! He didn't do anything to the watermelon!" She hopped around excitedly, like a chipmunk who found her favorite nuts. She put it on the counter, swiping anything else that shouldn't have been there away, and cut Alain a massively sized piece. "There!" she said happily as she put it on a plate that wasn't broken. She walked out with it and two forks and then set it on the table. "I'm gonna get myself cleaned up and then I'll come down and share it with you, okay?"

Serenity made her way upstairs to the shower and washed herself up. The soap burnt the more open cuts, but it seemed the bleeding on everything had actually stopped. She was thankful for that since she didn't want to be wrapped up in bandages, though the idea of pretending to be a mummy had come to her mind a couple of times. Once she finished, she threw away the clothes she had been wearing, now that they were torn through and bloodied. She got dressed in a little green summer dress and put on some shoes to avoid the broken glass. She went down stairs, sat down, and relaxed.

Serenity was surprisingly happy, even with everything that had taken place today. "Today was a good day." she said suddenly, kicking her feet happily. She could hear Shiro barking outside, obviously playing with their larger scaly friend and it only made her smile more. "Your power is cool. We never talked about it before, do you think we can?" Serenity asked as she took a bite of the watermelon, "Logan said you don't like to kill and I completely understand that, but he also said that as a man, you guys get possessive and Carl, not Chad, was trying to take me away. I kinda like it."

"This means I get to be possessive too. So no other girls are allowed to try and take you away. Lillianna taught me about equality and true feminism, not the kind that woman want to be treated better than men, but the kind where woman know their jobs and accept the man's need to be dominant, leading, and a provider." Serenity was being awfully chatty. She had a point she was getting to and trying to lead up to, but it was harder than she thought. Every second that passed, Alain could see her face getting redder and redder. Finally she gave in, "Alain, would you ever have sex with me?"

The question was odd and did come out suddenly. Maybe the excitement of the day got to her a bit more than she realized? Either way, she was serious, but felt she needed to amend her question with a bit of an explanation, so she continued. "Well, I mean... Men and woman do the sex, right? And they are supposed to do it when they love each other and I've loved you for a long time and I know you love me too, cause you said so. I've been reading books on how to do it. It's very strange, but it's a strong union, like marriage. And I guess... I just want to know if you ever think of me that way."

Serenity couldn't help but smile and laugh at his reaction. It was so cute. She covered her blushing face and laughed into her hands. She was embarrassed about the subject too, but wasn't expecting to catch him off guard so strongly. When he calmed down, he said exactly what she was hoping to hear. "Okay then." she nodded with the sweetest smile and blush on her face. She looked proud over what had just occurred and relaxed into the chair even more, but that only lasted a moment. She walked over to Alain and kissed his cheek, "When that special day comes then, I'll be ready for you."

"But first..." Serenity pushed him back in the chair and sat back down in his lap. She wrapped her arms around him, set her cheek against his, and just held on very firmly. She kept holding on for a while, her embrace tightening over time and then giving him a kiss on the cheek when she finally loosened her grip, but the embrace did not end. "I don't want you to feel ashamed of anything, especially the power you've been blessed with." she whispered sweetly into his ear, "Don't feel bad when talking about it. It's a part of you, and even if it's concept is scary, you are not and that is what matters."

Serenity leaned back to look him in the eyes. There was a change in her today, a good one. The sweetness was there. The love was stronger, but there was a new maturity in her eyes. She had been taught a lesson, one that she would cherish. "It's all about who you choose to be. Your power doesn't make you." Serenity looked him lovingly in the eyes and leaned in. She pressed her lips against his in a passionate kiss. She held it for a few moments and then broke it. Serenity held herself to him again and laid her head comfortably on his shoulder, "Today was a good day... I love you Alain."