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Post by Taya on May 15, 2011 10:44:49 GMT
5 years before Point of no Return and 4 years after Dish Best Served Cold, Link Star-Anise is 15 years old and the missing chapter of the Phoenix/ Darkwind saga. She is always there, but we never see her. This is her story and of those time forgot.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ New York in the spring is always my favorite. Everything so green and fresh from the melting of the snow as the sun warmed the earth, but still not hot enough for the humidity to set in the air. It also means that summer will soon be here and school will be out of session for 3 glorious months. My mother would be so proud to hear me talk like a normal 15 year old girl. It's all she ever wanted for me, to have a normal life. Like that would ever happen in this house. But she tries so hard it hurts to see her fail. Some days I indulge and try to play the part of a normal happy family, but others it gets to be too hard to hide the real me.
BBBBRRRIIINNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGG BBBBRRRIIINNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGG
There is the alarm clock no one in this house ever needs. Well expect for maybe Ian, but he's 5. Soon Mom will be knocking on the door to get us up and ready for school. It's like waking up before dawn is in my DNA. I'm already dressed and my homework is done (unlike Kiara's ). I've even eaten breakfast, started the coffee for Mom and gotten my own cup of tea, just the way Uncle James taught me.
KNOCK, KNOCK
"Link, honey. Time to get up." Jade, mother, wife, sister, star, rebel, priestess, former phoenix and mistress of magic called through the door.
"Your coffee should be done" Link called back. She could almost feel her mother's frown through the door. It was going to be one of those days.
Don't get me wrong, I love my mom. I just don't understand why she can accept everyone else for who they are and not me. I'm not that g--
"Link!" The 5- year old brunette With several red highlights screamed as he burst into his older sister's bedroom. "Save me! Save me!" He giggled and shouted. Link smiled as he jumped on to her bed. She was about to ask from what, when Kiara burst in scowling.
"Ian give it back!" she whined. Link tried to remember when she was 11, like her sister was now. She tried to recall if she was ever like her younger sister. Was this the way her mother expected her to act? Kiara dived for the bed and Ian. As he jumped out of her reach, Link caught a glimpse of what had Kiara so riled up.
Link easily caught Kiara's favorite headband in her hand as Ian tried to hide under the desk, still giggling. She handed it back to Kiara who left in a storm. Ian came out from under the desk with a big grin.
"You know that she doesn't think it's a game?" Link asked him. Ian looked slightly surprised by this new information. "Next time just ask to play." After giving him a big hug, she sent him on his way to go eat the bowl of cereal waiting for him downstairs.
Alone again, Link simply packed her journal into her back pack and went to look in her mirror. Long black hair and steely gray eyes stared back at her. She knew why she didn't look like anyone in her family. What she didn't know was if her parents knew that she knew.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
James glanced out the window of a rather large estate. The past four years had been the best he had ever known. They had been traveling and James employed various tutors to keep Emily up with her studies. Though the only way he got her to agree to this nomadic life was to agree to let Tylir join them.
The boy was decent enough, but his worry about them wasn't just for Emily. Tylir was an elf, like him, one of the immortals and a fairly young one at that. There had been a time when James had been that young and had fallen in love with a mortal girl. Losing her had hurt so much that he had avoided any commitment or real contact for centuries. But Tylir was luckier than he had been, Emily had Faery blood in her veins. Her life would be extended longer than a normal mortal, how long he did not know. James had watched the two quite a bit over the years. In that time he could tell that they cared for each other deeply. He could see it in a glance or a touch.
Though he didn't mind Emily and Tylir being together, it was cutting more and more into the time he spent with Emily and he knew that he only had one more year before she decided where she was going to university. After that, she would have to choose what she wanted to do. She could pursue a life in the mortal realms or she could claim her right to faery throne.
With one more glance outside at the iron wrought gates and the paved walk, James moved back to his cluttered desk. He began cleaning up the papers and books to lock them away. Emily would be home soon and he didn't want her seeing what he was doing. She had gone to Louvre with Tylir with the pretense of a history paper, but she had promised to have lunch with just him. James certainly didn't need his questionable research the topic when they had so little time together.
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Post by Mr Spock on Sept 28, 2011 22:33:47 GMT
Emily, lithe and willowy at 17 - an aspect she'd gained from her father's side of the family - slipped through the main gates to the estate and smiled to herself. She had kissed Tylir a farewell at the Louvre and walked back in the Parisian spring sunshine which had over the course of their stay dyed her skin a pleasant ochre colour which contrasted gently with her blonde hair, feathered at her shoulders. She glanced around once within the gates before transforming into a dark-furred wolf and bounding cheerfully towards the house.
The transformation was a leisure she took as often as possible since the travelling, which often put her in a position where she wasn't able to. She loved the moments where she was able to, padding gently through the house, following the scent of James and bounding into his office at speed, pouncing on him.
She had grown swiftly in this form and was a medium sized creature now, roughly the size of a dog.
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Post by Taya on Sept 30, 2011 14:34:20 GMT
School was a pretty typical day, even when she left early because of the uneasy feeling she got, was typical. Link got to the house just as a vase flew through the window. She caught it just before it hit the pavement.
"Summer" It was a mantra Link used whenever she felt the breaking point nearing and she knew she had to be strong. Summer meant she could stay with Emily and Uncle James. She could be her and free. Walking in the door was always the hardest part. It would be so easy to just take off and never come back.
Why couldn't she summon the courage to runaway from her mother like everyone seemed to be able to do? But even that wasn't true. Yes, they ran, far and fast even, but they always came back. No one could truly leave The great Jade Star-Anise. She had her own gravitational pull. Vaguely she wondered where Aunt Ki and Aunt Phoebe were.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
James had finished putting away his things just as he heard the wolf padding around the house. He had just enough time to place a pillow on the floor and turn towards the door. His head was now on the pillow as he laughed and tried to push the dark wolf off of him.
"Yes, I missed you too." he said. "But now I am covered in fur." He teased.
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Post by Mr Spock on Sept 30, 2011 20:51:00 GMT
Emily nuzzled into his face and licked his nose, growling in a playful way.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ki pinched the bridge of her nose; something she'd gotten so used to that she was surprised she had any skin left. She took a deep breath and then looked up the small staircase again.
"KAIYA STAR-ANISE, IF YOU ARE RUNNING THE TAPS, I SWEAR TO GOD!"
There was a small giggle from upstairs, and then the sound of taps being rapidly turned as Ki took the stairs two at a time. By the time she reached the very small bathroom, the door had been shut and a slightly soggy four-year-old in bunches beamed up at her. She was holding a toy boat and smiled angelically up at Ki's thunderous expression. Her hair was tied into two low bunches, avoiding the sweet little brown ears which poked out of the top of her head, matching the tail which she swished gently behind her. From her nose, abnormally small and pink, there were little grey whiskers.
"Watashi iki shitomeru omaesan..." she muttered under her breath, lifting Kaiya off her feet and carrying her into her bedroom.
"Stay here," she said, the tone of warning rich in her voice, before she braced herself and went into the bathroom.
The sink was filled to the brim with water, where previously there had obviously been waterfalls down all the sides which had soaked into the carpet, which made an unpleasant squelching sound under Ki's feet as she unplugged the sink with a vicious scowl and crossed the corridor back into Kaiya's room.
"Right, I-" Ki cut herself short at the sight of the empty room.
"KAIYA!"
Growling lowly, she stalked around the house looking for her daughter - another typical day.
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Post by Taya on Sept 30, 2011 21:28:51 GMT
"Why aren't you at school!" Logan, Link's step-father yelled the moment she became visible. Calmly she set the vase back where it belonged on the mantle.
"Don't yell at her!" Jade shot back.
"Someone had to remind you that Ian will be off soon. If you want to keep your fighting from the other two I suggest you stop it. But if you insist on tearing the house apart with your arguments, I can take Ian to the park until Kiara is off. That should be sufficient time?"
It was this quality that unnerved her mother and most of those around her. This plain statement of the truth without sugar coating it with lies. She looked between her parents. Shattered glass covered the floor and fresh tears caused by something still glistened in her mother's eyes. It had been bad this time. It hadn't been this bad for a while and Link had a guess why. With a sigh she asked,
"How long do you need?" No one said a word. "Fine I'll be back at 4:30 with Kiara and Ian." Link was going to leave without another word but Jade looked close to collapse, so Link embraced her mother and whispered, "I know it hurts. We all do. I love you"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
James scratched Emily behind the ears with a grin. He loved her so much that he knew he would never love anybody else the same. And that thought scared him. How would he handle losing her? But those were worries for another day.
"Are we dinning like this or do I ever get to see my beautiful daughter?" he teased, perfectly happy with any form she chose.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In another part of the world, Phoebe Corwyn let her head wearily slump on to the desk of her office in Tokyo. It was far too late for anyone to be left except the night guard and Phoebe wanted nothing more than to throw the reports she had been going over out the window and fall asleep on the couch in the corner.
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Post by Mr Spock on Sept 30, 2011 22:02:40 GMT
"If I have to superglue you to the floor, child, I am going to do it."
As Ki spoke, she scrunched her eyes shut and opened them again. Over the past few years she had adapted to sleeping for much less than 4 hours a night, and it had created dark circles under her eyes. She'd taken to growing her hair much longer so she could tie it on top of her head, mostly so she didn't have to go through a stupidly long hairstyling process every time she wanted to buy a pint of milk, since it was so thick it disguised a large part of her own soft grey ears.
Kaiya was sat on the sofa, gazing at Ki in a gentle, sweet manner. If she hadn't been watching her for the past four years, Ki would be convinced she was a little angel. Unfortunately, she had been around for the past ten minutes, and knew it wasn't the case.
"Can we go to the park?!" Kaiya piped up, continuing to grin. Ki sagged, as if preparing herself for the inevitable argument that would ensue.
"Sweetie..."
Upon hearing the tone of her voice, Kaiya's face crumpled and Ki braced herself.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Emily transformed back and giggled, rolling off the top of James as she did and lying on the floor. She blew her hair out of her face.
"What's for lunch, then? I'm much more fussy like this," she teased in retort, brushing her hair from her face.
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Post by Taya on Sept 30, 2011 22:19:29 GMT
The Mozart that poured from her soul to the keys to the air protected her heart and her head as her mantra continued to voice itself. So involved with the notes that swirled and seemed to be the only thing that made sense, that Link jumped when the practice room door in the music store opened sending jarring noise from the outside in to her sanctuary.
"You missed history" The person said.
"And now you're skipping Chem." Link said before glancing at her watch.
"Picking up your brother?" he asked.
"I was just about to but..."
"You needed the music." Link looked up into those chocolate brown eyes that seemed to be the only ones that could reach her at times like these. His boyish grin seemed to warm her like nothing else could. "they were fighting." Why did he just know? "You do know that you don't have to be strong with me."
"How much time?"
"10 minutes" Link let his strong arms hold her while she cried.
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"Whatever you want, princess." James said touching his finger to her nose. "advantages to being rich and royal." He stood and took a handkerchief out of his pocket to wipe his face. "However, I did convince Hénri that we didn't need his services this afternoon. Which means we have the kitchen to ourselves. I also gave Madamosile the day off, so no lessons today."
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Phoebe hated being responsible and adult. She needed fun and free. What she needed was not to be alone. Her eyes looked longingly at her phone.
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Post by Mr Spock on Sept 30, 2011 22:30:15 GMT
Emily arched her back as she stretched on the floor, pushing herself into a sitting position and crossing her legs. "This is sounding more and more like you want me to cover you in flour," she said, a twinkle in her eye. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Scowling, Ki placed the now screaming Kaiya on the second step of the staircase and pulled her phone out of her bag, slumping against the wall as she checked it. Frowning to herself as she checked the time, she began to compose a text. "I am a terrible parent when you're not around, I hope you know that. AND I hope this wakes you up. It is punishment for making me reliant on your abilities with my child. Speaking of which, iloveyouwhenareyouback? xx" She sent the text to the contact saved as Phoebs, then crouched down next to Kaiya, who was still screaming at a higher decibel than Ki could hear. "Kaiya. Kaiya. KAIYA. KAIYA. OKAY WE'LL GO TO THE BLOODY PARK!" At this, Kaiya went silent instantly and jumped up, throwing her arms around Ki's neck as she scowled to herself.
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Post by Taya on Sept 30, 2011 23:04:59 GMT
"perhaps," James said smiling and offering his hand to Emily. "shall we try out Hénri's panini press for starters?"
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Phoebe hit her head on her desk lamp as she heard her phone go off. She rubbed her head while grinning at the text message. Her fingers flew across the keys.
'Lucky you, I'm awake. Never if this mountain of paperwork has anything to say about it. But I want to see you two. How fast can you pack? Call me, if the kitten gives you any trouble.'
She sent the reply off with a grin as she found the number of her private jet. Sometimes the mountains of paperwork was worth it.
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With her face freshly washed and Teddy's arm around her waist, Link stood in front of Ian's kindergarten looking as if nothing in the world was wrong. The little scamp tried to tackle her, but Link was faster and picked him up in her arms and whirled him around.
"do you want to go to the park while we wait for Kiara?" Link asked. "and we'll buy popsicles from the ice cream man."
Ian grinned and then climbed on to her back and they were off.
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Post by Mr Spock on Sept 30, 2011 23:23:22 GMT
Emily grinned and let James pull her up, heading out of his office and towards the kitchen like a woman with a purpose.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ki raked her hair up restlessly as she grabbed the rucksack she carried everywhere and took the hand of the child bouncing around next to her. They left the house, Ki pocketing her keys as she shut the door behind her and walked through the gentle sunshine, Kaiya skipping on the end of her arm.
She checked her texts and smirked, running through to her contacts and putting the phone to her ear with the one free hand.
"You could've just asked me to call, you know. You know the kitten is ALWAYS giving me trouble."
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Post by Taya on Sept 30, 2011 23:53:13 GMT
"Well put her on then." Phoebe said grinning. "You know she loves her Aunt Phoebs. Everyone does." her voice was happy even if it was filled with exhaustion.
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"You should go back." Link said to Teddy as they watched him go down the slide for about the hundredth time.
"Nah, it's boring anyway." She sighed and leaned her head on Teddy's shoulder.
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James followed Emily easily through the big house. He loved this house. Not because of it's size or location, but because he had let Emily decorate every room. Their personal chef, Hénri, hated it because he thought the kitchen to be his. But James had softened him up to the idea by buying thee chef any kitchen appliance he wished. This was the house he planned to gift to Emily when he thought the time was right.
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Post by Mr Spock on Oct 1, 2011 0:04:14 GMT
Ki shook her head, despite the fact she knew Phoebe couldn't see her, and looked down at Kaiya.
"D'you wanna talk to Aunt Phoebe, baby?"
She nodded profusely and Ki handed her the phone, giving Ki the ability to push open the park gate.
"Hi Aunt Phoebe! We're going to the park. Mama said I could."
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Emily padded into the kitchen, comfortable with the whole house. She knew the layout and the design intimately - it felt so homely to her that she felt warm and free within it.
The kitchen was very open. The floor was black and shiny, with marble counters which didn't interfere with how bright and big the kitchen seemed. It was all very modern in appearance - sleek and smart, with windows on the west side which stretched from the ceiling to the floor.
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Post by Taya on Oct 1, 2011 0:44:54 GMT
"Aunt Kitty! Aunt Kitty!!" Ian cried from the top of the slide when he saw her. Link ran for the slide as the little jumped up in down with excitement. She was just in time to catch him as he fell backwards.
"Ian! You could have gotten hurt." Link scolded her face still pale from fear.
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"That sounds great, Kitten." Phoebe said back. "After the park, do you want to help me talk your Mommy into coming to visit me? You want to come see me, right?"
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"oOk, Ems, what shall we have?" James asked her as he went over to the fridge.
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Post by Mr Spock on Oct 1, 2011 1:50:51 GMT
"Yes!" Kaiya yammered excitedly. "BeCAUSE if we dud it then we could go on a PLANE."
Ki let Kaiya into the playground and let go of her hand, heart pulsing as she saw Ian fall from the slide and allowing herself to slow down as she saw Link holding him. She glanced around, seeing Kaiya sit herself down on the bench whilst chattering in an animated manner down the phone, and crossed over to Link.
"That's an impressive catch," she said, cocking a smile.
"And THEN I played with the ball and it was good because I like playing with the ball, it's ORANGE aunt Phoebe!"
The chattering continued in the background.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Iiii sayyyy... Prawns. We'll need salad too. And to bake some bread. And make dressing." Emily spoke with a reasonable authority; she clearly knew what she wanted and how to get it.
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Post by Taya on Oct 1, 2011 2:05:00 GMT
"what happen to my sweet little girl that only wished for a bowl of Mac and cheese?" James laughed as he pulled out various ingredients. "there is already some fresh bread from this morning. Why don't you start slicing?"
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"oh, that's brilliant." Phoebe said over the phone while she contacted her pilot with her work cell. "Now, Kitten, if we want your Mommy to say yes. You have to promise to be extra good on the plane."
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"Aunt Kitty!" Ian said throwing himself at Ki. His near fall clearly hadn't phased him at all.
"Well, if he hadn't been jumping up and down it would have been just fine." Link said still scolding the boy. "and how is your little rugrat?"
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