More Things in Heaven and Earth

Althea and Galen had moved their huddled bodies against the tree that had saved them from the river for protection while they both recovered. It wasn't much cover if they needed to hide, but at least it provided security behind them given the tree and the river at their backs. Galen's body went limp against hers as he regained warmth and passed out from the physical exertion. His breathing was strong and steady; he would be alright, she thought. She let him lay his body on top of hers as they reclined against the tree so she could keep a look out for anymore Immortuos as well as more easily pass her heat onto him.

The trees were thick where they sat, and the sun barely penetrated the canopy in patches. The air around them was very cool still without the sun, so they continued to share their combined warmth together as the sun could not reach them. Althea held him tight against her, and as time went by and she felt more assured that he was regaining strength, her mind started to try and unravel what she had done in the river. What exactly was that? How did she do what she did? How did she have the knowledge of what to do without consciously knowing?

Galen started to rouse slowly back into consciousness against her chest. Althea relaxed her hold around his body to let him sit back if he felt strong enough. She realized instantly that she missed the warmth as he started to pull away, and not just the heat of his body.

Galen wasn't fully aware yet of where he was, and it was purely instinctual movements that moved him to sit up away from where he lay. He became more cognizant by the time he was fully upright that he had taken the blanket around his shoulders with him. As he sat up, he realized he had left her exposed beneath him. He looked down on her with her upper body bare save for a wrapping around her breasts, and he found he was unable to react. For a moment he couldn't remember what had happened or how they got there in this position, and he just looked with a million sensations, thoughts, and feelings further muddling his brain. Most of all, there was a strong regret that he had not stayed laying down longer.

Althea had forgotten that she was mostly undressed when he moved back until he saw him looking strangely at her. Inside she was shocked for a moment, but then she reminded herself that she was covered (if just barely) and that she had done this to save his life. Embarrassment from her wouldn't do either of them any favors. She calmly rose to her feet and walked over to her pack and her dry clothes. After she donned a top, she walked over to him and looked him over asking, "How are you feeling?"

Galen's sluggish reflexes delayed a response. He didn't know if it was from the residual cold or what he had just seen. He had never seen a woman so exposed before, not even his mother. He'd never had a lover before. At least not one serious enough to have their relationship progress that much. He wanted to punch himself for his delayed reaction feeling like a base, mindless creature easily distracted and made foolish by her stunning physcial beauty. "I think I'm ok. I'm not sure."

Althea used her hands to probe his limbs, checked for a fever, felt for breaks and bruises. He saw that his legs had born most of the river's beating, and they were going to show some remarkable discoloration for a while. But nothing that he wouldn't recover from or even be badly hindered with, and there was certainly nothing much she could do to help it. He didn't have a fever, so she was glad of that.

"What happened to me?" Galen asked.

"I would say this was mild cold sickness; not a severe case. Your body's temperature dropped too low. It causes your blood to stall and your heart to slow making you confused. In more prolonged cases, you could seriously damage your body. But you're fine now."

Galen thought back to all he could remember. "That makes sense. The confusion, I mean. I thought I saw the strangest things," Galen paused embarrassed at his thoughts that she was a heaven-sent angel figure. Though, in many ways, he knew that she was.

"Like what?" Althea wanted to know.

Galen thought it best not to further look like an ass, so he decided not to mention his vision of her. "I know it sounds a little deranged, but I thought I saw the river defend us. It reached out with – I don't know, sounds crazy– like a hand reach out of the river. Wait, more like the hand figure I saw WAS the river, and it grabbed that Immortuo and carried her away."

Althea sat back against the tree at his words with the strangest smile mixed with fear and confusion spread across her face. "Then I didn't imagine that. I thought I had been seeing things too. But that's what happened."

Galen finished spreading his clothes out against a patch of sun near them and sat in front of her wrapped in the blanket. He sat in silence for a time thinking more on what he could remember. More details started to come clearly back to him. He looked at her when the sudden, clear recollection of all of it flooded in. "There was light. There was light coming off of you like ribbons in wind. I know that sounds crazy, but I could swear that's what I saw." He leaned into her then, "Did you do that? Did you call the river somehow and make that happen?"

"I don't know." She honestly couldn't say. She couldn't logically justify it, and she didn't think she could do it again if she even had done it in the first place. But the fact remains that she did something, that there was a force that came from her. Something deep inside of her pushed forward through something like instinct took over. She could remember that now. "I think I did."

Galen looked on at this woman with even more respect and awe. He had never in his life heard of a Healer being able to do what he had seen her do. Even most Enchanters couldn't pull off a feat of that magnitude. "I don't really understand," he admitted. "I didn't know a Healer could do that."

Althea had been giving this some thought, for she didn't realize this was a possibility either. It was certainly uncommon. "I guess, in a way, it makes sense. A Healer's power is drawn from the earth. We take from our world the plants and herbs to make our medicines, and our songs come from deep within the life force of the earth. I wonder if that' what happened. I was able to connect with that life force and manipulate the elements."

The two of them thought on what she had just said and couldn't fully believe it was possible. But the proof was there; she had done this feat, and the world seemed more complex and wonderous now because of it. Maybe this world could be saved. Maybe it was possible. And maybe she was the one to do it.

"Oh," Galen began to add, "thank you very much for saving my life back there." Althea felt her face blush as she remembered what she had done for him. She blushed even harder when she remembers HOW she had done it. "I know that it might not have been easy to...do what you did for me given what you've been through."

Althea looked at him surprised at his empathy. She was even more surprised at how easily she had held onto him, both of them nearly naked and vulnerable, without the natural traumatic responses she would have expected. Maybe she was stronger than she had thought or gave herself credit for. Maybe he was just so filled with honor and purity that could be felt coming from him at all times that she was able to trust him and care for him easier. Maybe it was both.

Regardless, fate had brought these two together. And together there was hope.

…........

"You've studied so long, Althea. Don't you want to play outside just a bit before the light leaves? You can't study all day; you'll hurt yourself."

"But Momma, what if I forget? What if I forget these songs and let you and grandma down?"

"Althea, baby, never in all the ages of all the world would you ever disappoint us. We love you so much."

"Still…I have a job to do, Momma. Playing isn't important. Remembering the songs is what matters."

"Althea, as long as your heart is gentle and good and your love is deep, you will always be able to reach into yourself for the songs. Your bond with the Healer magic is very special. You are uncommonly strong, sweetness."

"Do you really really think so Momma? Truly?"

"I know so."