July 2000

 Ok, Disclaimers, I don't own these characters or the song,
 and I'm not making money off of this, unfortunetly. The song
 is from the "Anastasia" Soundtrack. 

 The story however, does belong to me. 

This is a Songfic (obviously) about Serena and Darien.


At The Beginning

*We were strangers
Starting out on a journey
Never dreaming
What we'd have to go through
Now here we stand
And I'm suddenly standing
At the beginning with you.*

	Grubby hands, matted with blood and dirt, held the
 tattered edges of the worn shirt together, trying desperately
 to keep out the cold.  Bare feet, lacking any color or
 feeling, trudged through the high snow drifts, leaving a
 clear trail out behind.  A sob tore from a raw throat as a
 child of no more than thirteen collapsed in a deep drift,
 ebony hair glittering with frozen shards of water.  "Help."
 Rasped the child, the sound barely passing from between
 frozen lips.  Blood, dried and frozen, lined one arm and leg,
 his pants torn off below the knee on the left leg to reveal a
 large gash across his thigh.  One hand, the fingers obviously
 broken from the bones punching through the skin, lay limply
 cradled to his chest as he rolled onto his back.  His face
 was lined with streaks of crimson from a head wound that
 wasn't visible under his hair.  His features betrayed that
 one-day, should he live beyond this night, he would be very
 handsome indeed.  

	The child pushed himself with visible effort to his
 knees, wincing with each movement.  He rose to his feet and
 stumbled forward again, leaving a deep slash of crimson
 across the snow where he'd lain.  He fought forward, some
 instinct telling him to continue, to push on even in his
 battered and torn state.  His eyes rolled up in his head a
 short time after his collapse and he passed out, boneless and
 uncaring, on some kind of hard surface, the tinkling of
 distant laughter following him down into darkness...  


	Fire.  He kicked out as his feet felt like they were on
 fire, the sensations running across his nerve endings and
 causing him to cry out with a rasping shout.  Gentle hands
 pushed him back onto the soft surface where he lay, making
 him take into account that, even in his half delirious state
 of mind, he was warm.  His feet wouldn't be ignored for long
 though and they showed it with a vengeance as they suddenly
 flared to life and he writhed on the palate, tears of pain
 streaming down his cheeks.  Mercifully the pain was too much
 for him and a gentle, childish voice carried him back down
 into unconsciousness.  

	
	The gentle hands were back, he noticed as he flinched
 away from them in unconscious thought.  They were holding
 something unbelievably warm to his head, and something
 exceedingly cold to his right hand.  The unconscious thought
 of his right hand caused it to throb and he cried out again
 as he tried to flex it and found it immobile.  Tears streamed
 down his cheeks and he made no move to brush them away.

	"Do not move," a calming voice said from somewhere
 distant, "Please, you will be fine..." it trailed off as his
 eyes flew open, feverish and bright, and he sat up suddenly. 
 Delicate feminine hands grasped his bare shoulders and pushed
 gently, sending him back down with a minimum of effort, "You
 have been wounded, please, rest young man."

	The voice began to sing softly and he closed his eyes,
 focusing on it, as he drifted off into a healing slumber.


	"Is he going to be alright?" a childish voice, trying to
 be quiet, woke him from slumber.

	"He will be fine, little one, do not worry.  He seems
 strong but he needs his rest."

	The younger voice sounded unsure, "Are you sure, Emily? 
 He was badly hurt.  I thought you would have to take his feet
 off."

	A chuckle made him smiled slightly as the elder woman
 responded, her voice full of confidence, "He will recover,
 child, don't you fret about it."

	"Really?  He's been unconscious for a long time, Emily."

	"I know, dearest, I know.  Sleep will heal him, it is
 best he sleeps for now, his body couldn't mend it he was up
 and about."

	He chose at that moment to groan and open his eyes. 
 Images were blurry and spinning but he refused to close them
 as everything slowly settled into the way it should be, the
 nausea disappearing as things became focused.  He was lying a
 few yards from a glowing fire on a palette of furs that was
 amazingly comfortable.  He could feel a crude bandage wrapped
 around his chest, another around his thigh and yet another
 around his head.  The cabin, for the interior logs could only
 be a cabin, was homey and warm, decorated with an ancient
 rocking chair, a large bed in one corner and a small couch. 
 Rugs and furs decorated the floor, keeping the chill from the
 feet of the occupants.  

	His gaze focused on the two who had been discussing him. 
 An elderly lady was seated in the rocking chair, knitting in
 her lap.  A basket of yarn was at her feet as she gently
 rocked back and forth, smiling indulgently at a small girl
 child.  She was a woman with an air of refinement, though she
 was dressed in trousers, a jerkin made from doe skin and had
 her silver-grey hair piled in a bun on top of her head.

	The little girl who sat next to her resembled a forest
 nymph.  She was tiny, surely no older than six or seven, and
 dressed in a gown made from beaver skins, if he wasn't
 mistaken: warm but hardly fashionable.  Her hair was pulled
 back in a single ponytail, and for some reason, she had a lot
 of it.  The golden strands glittered like molten sunshine in
 the light of the fire and fell easily to her knees held up as
 it was.

	"Who are you?" he asked harshly, his voice still tender
 and raw and he winced from using it.  He could see the
 remnants of his clothes on a mending rack near the bed.

	Two pairs of eyes, one wise grey-blue, the other a
 curious and concerned robin's egg blue, turned his way.  The
 elderly woman put her knitting away and rose, coming over to
 kneel next to him and he was shocked at how fluidly she
 moved.  From her position in the rocking chair he'd judged
 her to be a lot older than her tread betrayed.  She smiled at
 him, raising one hand to feel his forehead and then nodded
 and grasped a small water bucket from where it lay cooling
 next to his palette.   She removed the dipper from the bucket
 and put it to his lips, sending a surprisingly cold flow of
 liquid into his mouth and he drank greedily.  She obliged him
 by letting him drink his fill and then sat next to him, the
 little blonde nymph peering over her shoulder curiously.

	"My name, is Emily," she told him in an amazingly strong
 voice, "This is my charge, Serena.  You gave us quite the
 scare young man, falling over our wood pile like that.  What
 is your name?"

	He shrugged, unsure what to tell her, as his brow
 knitted up in confusion and his eyes widened, "I.. I can't
 remember my name." He admitted.

	"Well, I guess we'll just have to call you something
 then.  How about Darien?  Dare for short, considering only a
 dare should have been able to get you out on a night like
 that one!"

	He nodded hesitantly, "That would be alright.  How long
 have I been here?" 

	Emily sighed, "Far too long, young man.  You've been
 asleep almost two weeks since we found you."

	He closed his eyes, accepting the blow stoically as
 Emily moved away and busied herself with something over the
 fireplace.  He sniffed once, smelling something like stew,
 and had the grace to blush as his stomach growled loudly. 
 Serena giggled, clapping a small hand over her lips as her
 blue eyes danced merrily.  Darien shot her a look full of
 venom and then apologized to Emily, "I'm sorry, Miss Emily,
 but I am really hungry."

	She chuckled, stirring the stew carefully once more and
 then grabbed a pewter bowl and filled it to the brim with
 stew, "As it should be, a growing boy like you.  Serena, get
 the water and don't be letting the heat out of the cabin as
 you do."

	"Yes mum," muttered the little girl and hurried to
 comply.

	Emily sat next to Darien again and then helped him sit
 up, propping him up with bunched and rolled furs.  "One of
 your hands is broken, but it will heal I wager.  If you don't
 mind letting an old woman like myself feed you, then you can
 conserve your strength for getting better."

	Darien smiled, "No mum, I don't mind at all.  I'm hungry
 enough to eat raw rattlesnake right now."

	Emily smiled and dipped the spoon into the bowl, holding
 both up to his mouth as he blew gently on the stew and then
 opened his mouth, "And you'd be dumb enough to try it I
 reckon," Emily returned smiling.  He only smiled and chewed
 carefully so not to burn his tongue.  

	Serena returned when he was halfway through the bowl,
 carrying with her a bucket almost half her size and a draft
 that came sliding through the warm cabin like a cold knife. 
 "Serena!" Emily reprimanded sharply as she hurried to bolt
 the heavy wooden door.

	Serena flushed and ducked her head, "I'm sorry, Emily,
 I'm still not strong enough to push the door and hold the
 bucket all at once." 

	Emily turned from the door and gathered the child in her
 arm, "I shouldn't snap so.  It's alright, Serena, I know
 you're still small.  Maybe if you're nice, and we're lucky,
 Darien here will help with the chores once he's able to
 move."

	Darien nodded, eyeing the rest of his stew hungrily,
 "Yes mum, of course.  I'd be happy to help."

	"There you see?  Come, help yourself to your stew, and
 don't be burning your dress like last time."

	Serena skipped over to the stew pot and quickly
 collected herself a bowl, mindful of Emily's instructions,
 and then retired to a warm nest of furs near the fire to eat. 
 She kept her intense blue eyes on their visitor as she ate,
 almost as if she expected him to bolt.

	Darien, mindful of her stare, did his best to ignore her
 as he was fed.  He worked his way through three bowls of stew
 before fatigue got the better of him and he asked Emily to
 help lie him back down.  Before his eyes closed, he heard
 Serena make some comment on hunting but couldn't pin point it
 as he drifted off to sleep again.

	

	"He doesn't like me,"

	"Nonsense, dear heart, he's just tired and hurting, he
 doesn't even know you yet."

	Darien's head tossed back and forth as the voices
 flitted through his dreams, dreams that centred around a
 woman who's face he couldn't see but kept urging him to go to
 her and around a man who kept urging him to go home.  He
 groaned, frustrated as the new, familiar voices flitted
 through his consciousness and blocked out the old.  Faces
 appeared and he frowned as the nymph's complaint struck a
 chord within him.  Surely he was only dreaming this... wasn't
 he?

	"No, Emily, he really doesn't like me.  I don't think he
 likes anybody but you and I helped you with him!  Did you see
 him look at me? He really must hate me, I thought I was going
 to shiver up from the cold in his eyes."

	In his dream the elderly woman gathered the little one
 into her arms and held her tight, "Don't worry, Serena,
 Darien will come around, you'll see angel, no one is able to
 not like you for long."

	Darien's lips quirked in a mirthless smile as he blocked
 out the voices.  He didn't like the wining brat and she'd
 picked it up.  Good for her.  She'd do well to stay out of
 his path once he was up and about...

	
	"Come on, Darien, you can't lie there forever."

	"Get away from me," he snapped, not looking into her
 eyes and thus missing the flash of hurt that passed quickly
 through them.  

	Anger quickly masked the hurt, "Well, Emily and me can't
 do everything around here, we're going to need your help.  It
 is the dead of winter you know."

	"Someone should have taken the strap to your hide long
 ago." He retorted to back, "You're far too out spoken for
 someone your age, and a girl at that!"

	Serena crossed her arms over her chest defensively,
 "I've been out here for five winters with Emily and I
 remember every one of them.  If I can't stand up for me,
 nobody is going to care enough to take my part.  If you don't
 like it Darien, you can just go back to wherever it is you
 came from!" she turned sharply on her heel, leaving him
 speechless in the face of childish ire.


	'Five winters?' he thought to himself.  Emily was out of
 the cabin, and from what Serena had told him she was checking
 the trap line and hunting for dinner.  He sighed.  He didn't
 like leaving the trapping to Emily, for some reason that
 didn't sit well with him, but leaving Serena all alone at the
 cabin, as annoying as she was, wasn't an option in his mind
 either.  'Five winters...' he mused again, scratching
 absently at his smooth chin.  'Just how old is she?'

	"Serena?"

	"I am not talking to you," she told him coldly as she
 proceeded to clean up the cabin.  Tidy as the small area was,
 there wasn't much to clean but she then set about boiling
 water for washing and for supper later that night should it
 be needed.

	Darien sighed, running a hand through his hair.  If she
 was indeed six or seven as he'd first thought, she couldn't
 have the five year memory she claimed.  His curiosity gnawed
 at him until he unwound enough to offer an apology.  "I'm
 sorry, I don't like the thought of being bed ridden and
 having others look out for me, is all." He told her ramrod
 straight back, "And I don't like the thought of leaving Emily
 to do a man's job anymore than I like the idea of leaving you
 here alone all day."

	Her back unbent a bit as she looked back over her
 shoulder at him and his breath caught.  She really did look
 like a nymph with her golden hair falling in a cascade of
 burnished gold over her shoulders and covering her back.  The
 flickering light of the fire lent her an aura, almost like a
 halo, around her head and he had to blink to get rid of the
 effect.  "I've been here on my own ever since pa dropped me
 off here four or five years back.  My last memory of him is
 of curing furs for trading later in the season.  Not too many
 trappers out here anymore though, not with all of the fancy
 cities and everything shooting up.  'Course we get along just
 fine, me and Emily.  I think pa was taken with her but he
 choose not to stay.  I can't imagine why though, Miss Emily
 is a wonderful woman."

	Darien nodded, listening to her and waiting for a break
 in her rambling.  Finally she stopped to draw breath and he
 jumped in with his question, "So just how old are you,
 Serena, if you've been up here with Emily for so long?"

	"Somewhere between nine and ten, I reckon," she said,
 grinning when he looked like he'd been punched in the gut. 
 "I don't look very old do I?"

	"Not that old.  I didn't figure you to be more than
 seven and that was stretching it." 

	She laughed, reaching over to stir the pot hanging over
 the fire, "The way I talk probably shocked you then."

	"Well, just a little," he admitted, reaching up one hand
 to brush ebony locks off his forehead.  He idly noticed he
 needed a hair cut, "So why did your pa drop you off here?"

	She looked away and into the fire, the flames casting
 her face into shadow but reflecting tears that pooled quickly
 in her eyes, "Ma died." She told him softly, her voice barely
 a tear laden whisper, "Pa couldn't handle the thought of
 looking after me with my looks.  I guess I look exactly like
 her but I don't remember what she looked like.  Emily says I
 could have been her little twin but," she brushed the tears
 from her eyes with the back of one hand and stood, going to
 the fire and not looking at him, "Pa didn't want to deal with
 me.  Emily says he tried for almost two years but couldn't do
 it and ended up bringing me here."

*No one told me
I was going to find you
Unexpected
What you did to my heart
When I lost hope
You were there to remind me
This is the start*

	Darien sighed, leaning forward to wrap his arms around
 his knees as he looked at her back, "I'm sorry."

	"Why, it's not your fault," she turned back to him,
 something in hand, and then approached, offering him what
 looked to be a clay cup.

	He accepted it and raised it to his lips, blowing on the
 hot liquid carefully before taking a sip.  Goose Broth. 
 "This is good." He complimented her as she moved back to the
 fire to collect her own cup.

	"Emily has taught me a thing or two about depending on
 myself.  She still won't let me go check the traps with her
 thought," Serena curled up in the rocking chair and, settling
 down with her legs tucked neatly away underneath her, began
 to sip and blow at the rim of the cup, "I guess she heard
 that my mother was killed by a sickness caught while checking
 the traps.  Some day soon, though, I'll go with her just to
 learn everything I'll need to know to survive."

	Darien managed to cover a yawn with his cup as she
 talked.  Her voice was slightly melodious, with a comforting
 lilt he hadn't noticed before.  As annoying as she could be
 sometimes, he recognized now that she was fighting demons,
 even at her young age, he couldn't sympathize with.  

	She sighed, her gaze on the flames in the pit, "You must
 be tired.  Sleep. We have all winter to jaw about my past if
 you care to know."

	He nodded, watching her as his eyelids fluttered closed. 
 His last conscious thought was a hope that some day he could
 quench the tears that slid silently down her cheeks.

	
	Gentle waves of grey hair mixed with silver streaks
 reflected the dying light of the fire when Darien opened his
 eyes next.  "Emily?"

	The elderly woman knelt next to him and nodded, "Can I
 get you something?" she asked in a hushed tone.

	"No.  Just need to use the um... facilities," he told
 her, feeling a rush of crimson creep up his neck.

	Emily smiled and offered him her arm.  He looked at her
 doubtfully but she just smiled, snagged him around the back
 and helped him stand.  His eyes widened as her strength made
 a mockery of her petite size.  Standing he was nearly her
 size and he blushed as she helped him to the curtained off
 area to one side of the cabin.  She helped him inside and
 then closed the curtain behind her.  

	Inside the cubicle was a pot with a lid and a roll of
 some kind of white paper.  He shook his head and did his
 business, feeling slightly light headed from being up and
 about.  Finished, he pushed the curtain aside and leaned
 against the wall as Emily came back to his side and then
 helped him back to his palette.  She then moved to the
 curtained area and removed the pot, taking it outside quickly
 and then returned and locked the door behind her.  She
 replaced it and then came over to the fire to wash her hands
 in a small basin of heated water to one side.  "Fell better?"
 she asked, her voice still low.

	He nodded, his face still red, "Much.  Why are we
 whispering?"

	Emily nodded to the bed in the corner where blonde hair
 was barely visibly spilling through the side of the blankets,
 the small lump in the middle of the furs barely
 distinguishable from the rest of bunched furs.  "Serena's
 sleeping and it's late.  You and I should be in bed."

	He sighed, "Why did her pa drop her here with you,
 Emily?" he asked straight out.  

	Emily looked taken aback but smiled, reaching over to
 brush slightly damp finger over his forehead, "Some day, I
 will answer your question, Darien.  For now you must sleep.
 Heal.  Soon I will need your help walking the trap line for I
 am getting old and a young strong back would be helpful."

	He nodded, reclining back against the furs as he slid
 one hand, the unbroken one, under his head and stared at the
 ceiling.  Emily banked the fire and quickly walked over to
 the bed.  Darien adverted his eyes and retreated inward with
 his thoughts as she changed for bed.  He sighed.  These
 women, all alone in the mountains, were a mystery, almost as
 much as his own past was to him now.  He sighed again and
 curled up on his side, facing the fireplace.  He would need
 to regain his strength starting tomorrow if he ever intended
 to find out what it was they were doing up here and earn a
 place among them.


	Darien brushed her hands away as he forced himself to
 stand on his own.  His ribs ached terribly and his injured
 leg felt like it was going to give out but he managed to
 stand on his own.  His hand, bandaged and held at his side,
 felt numb and achy but he did his best to ignore it and the
 hurt look that flashed across Serena's face at his rough
 dismissal to her silent offer of help.

	He watched her flounce her way to the other side of the
 cabin and stuff her arms into a wolf skin jacket.  He
 narrowed his eyes as she turned her back on him and then
 departed the cabin.  It was daytime and for the first time in
 three weeks he didn't feel weak.  He carefully made his way
 to the one window at the front of the cabin, white lines of
 pain bracketing his mouth.  Outside the snow glittered like
 satin and a small pond down an incline and off to the right
 sparkled with reflected sunlight.  Serena was draped in grey
 wolf fur, her buckskin leggings looking two sizes too big. 
 He figured she'd grow into them, but he moved his eyes from
 her, the little forlorn figure descending to the pond not
 holding his interest beyond seeing that she had indeed left
 him completely alone for the first time since his arrival. 

	It hadn't snowed, miraculously, since the night he'd
 stumbled into the clearing around the camp and he could see a
 faint trail of blood leading off in one direction, a larger
 red stain was off to the left of the door, near the woodpile. 
 He could see the stumbling path he'd taken and was just a
 little uneasy to see that if he'd been any further to the
 side he'd have missed stumbling on the cabin entirely.  He
 sighed, leaning his forehead against the clear windowpane and
 braced himself.  

	He closed his eyes briefly, but flashes of crawling
 through snowdrifts, chilling and piercing pain along with
 unbearable cold lanced through him and he shivered, leaning
 against the wall as his eyes flew open.  He wrapped his arms
 around his waist, feeling cold and clammy even to his own
 hands.  He ran gentle fingers over the bandage around his
 chest and sighed.  Other than crawling through snowdrifts he
 couldn't remember anything.  Everything before that was
 blank.  He sighed and pushed away from the window, making his
 way slowly over to nest of furs that was his bed.  He sank
 down and looked at himself critically.  He'd lost weight,
 both in fat and muscle, the last few weeks. His lips thinned. 
 It was high past time he did his share of the work around the
 cabin.  

	He grasped the edge of his torn shirt but couldn't bring
 himself to slide it over his head.  One sleeve was in shreds,
 looking more like fringe than a sleeve.  The body of the
 shirt had dark splotches where Emily and Serena had been
 unable to get the blood stains completely out.  He sighed and
 pulled one of the furs up around his shoulders, mindful of
 using his broken hand.  It was tender and sore and still
 wrapped in the makeshift bandage so he couldn't move it but
 there were some things a person could do in a cabin as small
 as this with just one hand.

	His hand went, as if in reflex, to the middle of his
 chest and he suddenly felt, for some inexplicable reason, the
 weight of a great loss.  His good fingers searched up towards
 his neck and he sighed, consciously stopping them.  From the
 motion he guessed he must have been wearing something awful
 important.  His brow furrowed and he shook his head.  His
 memory was gone.  He probably wouldn't even recognize
 whatever it was he'd been wearing if he saw it again.  Darien
 pushed himself up and out of his furs, grasping one around
 his shoulders, and began to clean up his little area. 

	The door closed behind him but he refused to turn, to
 acknowledge the one cabin mate who seemed to have the
 capacity to get on his nerves.  He shook out his furs
 clumsily and then rearranged them, folding them as best he
 could before walking carefully over to the fireplace and
 adding another log to the fire.

	"You don't have to do that," came the childish voice
 from behind him, "Emily or-"

	"I can do it myself," he snapped, not turning to look at
 her as he cut her off.  "Emily has done a lot for me already,
 this is the least I can do.  It's long since past time I
 should have been up and about helping out."

	"But, Emily said with your head wound-"

	"Think for yourself once, Serena," he spat, turning on
 her, "I am perfectly capable of helping with supper or the
 chores around the cabin with one hand.  I'm not crippled as
 you seem to think.  Just back off and leave me alone."

	She caught her lower lip between her teeth as it
 trembled and then whirled on her foot and ran to the door;
 throwing it open and slamming it shut behind her.  Darien
 caught the glimmer of tears in her eyes and swore softly.  He
 didn't know where the words came from, Emily never spoke like
 that, but it fit his mood.  He hadn't meant to make her cry,
 as aggravating as she was.	He turned back to the fire and
 lifted the pot easily over the coals and onto the metal ring
 set there for just that purpose.  He left it and then turned
 away and ran a critical eye over the room.  

	Everything, save for a few furs and clothes near Serena
 and Emily's bunk, were in place.  He walked over to the
 rocking chair, eying a small shelf he hadn't seen before in
 the corner of the room.  It was lined with books.  He sighed
 and sat in the rocking chair, his head feeling a little light
 from being up and around too much all at once.  Maybe, just
 maybe tomorrow he'd be better.  He curled up and set his head
 on his knees, closing his eyes.  His last thought before he
 fell asleep was of cerulean blue eyes glittering with unshed
 tears.

	
	Summer came to the small mountain cabin over torturous
 months of winter and spring.  Outside the world was green,
 showing its colors long thought lost in flowing trees and
 flowers.  Rabbits and deer flourished along with bears.  In
 the small clearing holding the cabin, the pond was calm, the
 occasional fish and beaver showing itself before disappearing
 below the surface again.  Any animals that frequented the
 cabin site, were well away this day.  The noise from inside
 was almost unbearable.  "Out!" snapped a sharp voice
 suddenly, "Both of you."

	The front door opened and two figures spilled into the
 clearing.  One was petite, tiny and blonde, the other had a
 mop of black hair that curled over the back of a buckskin
 shirt and fell just below his shoulders.  They bolted from
 the cabin as an elderly woman appeared brandishing a broom. 
 "And neither of you come back until you learn to get along! I
 will have no more bickering in my cabin!" she shut the door
 with a bang, the locking bar on the inside slamming into
 place.

	The petite angel with the mop of blonde hair spun on the
 boy, "Thanks a lot Darien," she spat, her hands fisted on her
 hips.  She'd turned eleven a week ago, according to Emily,
 but her stature hadn't changed yet.  She was barely came up
 to his chest but the fire in her eyes was real, "We could be
 eating lunch but no, you had to go make a big deal about me
 not doing my part for one lousy day! This from the boy who
 came to us bleeding and broken during the winter and sat
 around for two weeks while we did everything for him!"

	"You're able bodied, I wasn't," he retorted, "All I said
 was that you could help with the dishes, considering Emily
 and I had made lunch."

	"Emily didn't need your help! She's quite capable of
 taking care of herself and making lunch for all of us!"

	"Well if some little blonde brat would give a hand
 around the cabin once in a while, Emily could have a day off
 for once!"

	"A day off from what? Life?  Emily wouldn't know how to
 take a day off, except you always do all of her chores,
 unless she beats you too them!  Just for one day I wanted to
 take it easy and read, we go into town tomorrow and you
 couldn't just let me relax for one day after spending my
 winter looking after you!"

	Darien clenched his jaw, "Emily took care of things more
 than you ever did, she deserves some time to take it easy! 
 Besides, she's an old lady who should be taking it easy, not
 trapping out here in the wilderness!"

	"You think she would do something else if she knew how? 
 Shows what you know, she's been in this cabin for fifty years
 taking care of herself, she doesn't need you to be doing her
 chores for her!"

	Darien took a step towards her but she didn't back down,
 even though he was bigger than she was, "You listen to this
 and you get it good, Darien, Emily took you in by choice
 because you were hurt, not because she needed someone to do
 everything for her.  If Emily wants or needs help she's the
 type of lady who knows how to ask for it.  She's just too
 sweet to say anything when you try to smother her!"

	"If I wanted to smother her she wouldn't be leaving the
 cabin at all, and I am not trying to do all of her chores,
 I'm just trying to help out!"

	"By cutting the wood," 

	"Which should be my job in the first place.  That stuff
 is getting too heavy for someone her age to carry around."

	"Alright, I'll concede that one, but making lunch for
 her so she can sit and knit?  Checking the trap lines so she
 can stay inside and be warm when you know she loves it
 outside?  Fetching the water when you know she likes to go
 down to the lake and watch the ducks?  Shaking out the
 blankets on her day?  Carrying the furs and packing her bag? 
 Darien, she is not an invalid, she's a woman with a lot of
 pride and by doing her share of the work you're not leaving
 her that!  Be considerate for a change and mind someone
 else's pride.  Grow up!" She turned on her heel sharply and
 stalked away to the lake to sit on a fallen log, her braided
 hair curled around her head and still falling to her waist as
 it sparkled in the sunlight.

	He sighed, his anger leaving him as he looked back at
 the cabin.  The worst part of it all was that he knew the
 pint-sized twerp was right.  He shook his head and ran his
 fingers through his hair, feeling the long strands and then
 shook his head, heading back towards the cabin.  Emily was
 standing in the window, a sad expression on her face when he
 turned but she quickly masked it as he approached.  He
 knocked on the door, "Emily?  May I talk to you?"

	"Have you made your peace yet?" her muffled voice asked
 through the door.

	"You know we haven't, but I owe you an apology,"

	The lock undid and the door was pulled open, but Emily
 exited the cabin and stood in the doorway instead of inviting
 him inside.  She motioned to the logs to the side of the door
 and he sat, shifting over so that she could join him.  They
 sat in silence for a few minutes, watching as Serena rose
 from her spot on the log and went down next to the pond,
 bending down every now and again to collect rocks and skip
 them across the surface.  

	"I didn't realize until today exactly what I've been
 doing," he began, twisting the fringe on the cuffs of his
 shirt in his hands, "but a certain yellow haired twer- er..."
 he blushed and amended quickly, "blonde angel, pointed out to
 me that I've probably been causing more harm than good by
 doing more than my share of the chores." He looked at Emily
 and took her strong, weathered hands in his own and smiled at
 her, "I'm sorry if anything I've done has been harmful,
 Emily, I really am.  I just didn't know any other way to
 thank you for taking care of me this winter."

	She pulled one of her hands free and gently raised it to
 cup his cheek, "Darien, darling, you remind me of my
 grandson.  Or what he would have been like if he had lived
 past his eight birthday.  I know your intentions were good
 and that's why I've tolerated them.  Serena is right though. 
 If you want to come back with us this winter things are going
 to have to change.  No more of this 'I owe you' stuff.  Here
 in the mountains we'd do the same for anyone that fell at our
 door as you did.  If it was me, you'd help me out the same as
 I did you.  It's the unspoken code of the mountains."

	He sighed, "I don't remember anything besides collapsing
 at the cabin," he admitted, "Even the code seems familiar but
 I don't remember it all.  I know I've been acting badly
 lately with Serena and you, but I'd really like to come back
 with you next winter if you'll let me."

	She smiled and nodded, patting his cheek.  "Make your
 decision after we've been to town.  Come, it's better if you
 speak to Serena and make your peace with her before we leave
 tomorrow.  Otherwise I'll make you both sleep outside
 tonight."

	Darien nodded, leaned forward to kiss her cheek and then
 stood.  "Thank you, Emily," He told her sincerely.

	"Your welcome, Darien, dear.  Now shoo, you have to make
 peace with her before she decides to get it into her head to
 disappear into the mountains for the night!"

	He nodded and turned away, making his way swiftly down
 to the lake.

	Serena sat on another log, just out of view of the
 cabin, tossing pebbles into the water.  "Serena?"

	She turned her face away, refusing to look at him, the
 stubborn tilt of her chin warning him that she was in no mood
 for talk.

	He sighed, "I don't blame you for not wanting to talk to
 me, I've been nothing but a heel all winter."  Her head
 whipped around, her mouth falling open in surprise at his
 admission and he took a small measure of pride in being able
 to leave her speechless, "I just wanted to say I'm sorry for
 treating you so badly.  I was kind of hoping that it would be
 alright with you if I come back with you ladies when we're
 finished in town for the next winter."

	She sighed, turning her face away from him and closing
 her mouth with a snap.  "I'd rather you didn't." she
 admitted, "Emily and I were just fine without you, and you
 made my winter miserable."

	"But exciting," he put in, trying to coax a smile out of
 her.

	One corner of her mouth kicked up slightly but she
 didn't smile, "Exciting in a bad way.  Next winter I'd rather
 it just be me and Emily again but it's her decision."

	Darien shook his head, "No it's not.  You have a say in
 this too.  Much as I hate to admit it, I don't like to stay
 where I'm obviously not wanted."

	"If you have nowhere else to go, Darien, I'll try and
 understand but I'd rather you didn't come back with us."

	He nodded and grasped her small shoulders in his hands,
 turning her towards him, "I won't come back next year Serena,
 but I owe Emily and you too, much as I don't want to admit
 that part.  I'll be coming back eventually."

	She made a face and then smiled at him, "Well, just be
 sure you learn some manners wherever you go." 

	He bowed to her and then offered her his arm, "Of
 course, madam,"

	She giggled, slapping a hand over her mouth when she
 took in the picture he made.  "You look funny."

	He grabbed her by the waist and helped her off the log,
 "Only for you.  Come on, Emily must think we've killed each
 other by now."

	She skipped ahead of him and Darien found himself
 thinking of how much he was going to miss both of them when
 it came time to leave.


	Serena looked down at Darien from on top of the horse
 where she sat.  Emily was next to her, on another horse, the
 two creatures almost an identical uniform brown, save for a
 black star on one's forehead and a white sock on the other's
 foot.  She leaned forward on the horn and looked at him.  His
 hands were stroking the neck of her horse rhythmically,
 keeping it calm while he stood at its head.  "Ride safe," he
 told them, his package of belongings sitting at his feet.

	"Are you sure you won't come back with us, Darien?"
 Emily asked again, for the seventh or eight time in the last
 half hour.

	He nodded, "I need to find out who I am, Emily.  I need
 to know what I was doing in those mountains so close to your
 cabin so I'm going to go explore.  I'm going to winter here
 in town though and learn some of their fancy trades.  We'll
 see you next summer, alright?"

	She sighed, leaning over to squeeze his shoulder, "You
 take care of yourself, ya here?  And we'll see you next
 summer when we come back down for supplies."

	He nodded, "Take care, ladies.  May the winter prove to
 be as good this year as it was this past season."

	Emily smiled at him once more before moving her horse
 away from him.  Serena made to follow but he continued to
 stroke her horse's neck, "I will see you in a few winters
 Serena, and I intend to keep my promise and pay both of you
 back."

	She looked at him, "You already have, Darien," she told
 him softly. "Goodbye." She nudged her mouth forward and he
 was forced to step away or be stepped on and she quickly
 kneed the animal away and after Emily.  He watched them go
 until they disappeared into the mountain trails, away from
 view.  He scooped up his bag, and without a backwards glance,
 headed back into town to see if he could find a trade.

*Life is a road 
And I wanna keep going 
Love is a river 
I wanna keep flowing
Life is the road
Now and Forever
Wonderful journey.*

	Six seasons passed as Darien worked his way out of the
 small town and down into the cities.  Diligently, he learned
 the art of the blacksmith and worked his way up.  In six
 short years he managed to scrimp and save enough for his own
 horse, a small rented room and three meals a day.  On top of
 it, he had nice new clothes and managed to put enough in the
 bank to start himself off someplace new if he chose too. 
 Through the tough years he never forgot the golden haired
 pixie and he found himself wondering what kind of a woman
 she'd grown into, out there in the mountains.  Emily came to
 mind too, though not as often, and at the start of the summer
 season that year he quit his job and headed back to the small
 town where he'd last seen them all those years ago... 

	Darien reined his stallion to a halt just outside the
 post.  A lot had changed in six years.  The Mounties had come
 and built walls to the trading post, for all of the fur
 trappers in this area, to turn away the infrequent, but
 devastating Indian raids.  He smiled, leaning forward on his
 stallion, wondering if Emily and Serena were trapping in the
 mountains still or if they'd maybe moved into one of the
 post's small huts.  He nodded to the Mounties who stood guard
 at the gate as he rode through and took his first look
 around.  He'd been through a lot in the last six years and he
 was a lot stronger than the last time he'd been through here. 
 The fort was solidly built, the walls reinforced, the
 surrounding walls of the fort itself braced in many places
 and without cracks.  He nodded, swinging down from the saddle
 with a creak of leather as he looked around and then looped
 the reigns over the hitching post.  He scratched the neck of
 the animal and then let it drink as he went inside.

	The gentleman inside was setting up shop for the day and
 Darien recognized the old coot as the same man who'd been the
 main fur trader all those years back.  "Maverick, you old
 boot, how's it going?" he asked, coming up to the desk.  This
 was also the man who'd got him started in the blacksmith
 trade after learning furs about five years back.

	Maverick, or Silent Sam as he was known in the
 mountains, turned and offered him a toothless grin, "Darien,
 boyo, why, I'd recognize ya anywhere!  How ya been son?"

	Darien clasped hands with him smiling, "Doing good, Sam. 
 You been here all this time?"

	"Uh huh.  I always said a person should do what they
 know best."

	Darien chuckled.  Mick dropped most of his g's in his
 speech but he had an easy enough time figuring the speech
 out.  He'd grown up around it after all, right here in this
 post.  "You know if Emily and Serena still come and do their
 trading at the post here?" he asked, "I've got a debt to
 repay and I think it's high and mighty time I paid it."

	Maverick grinned impossibly wider, "Oh, boyo, you're
 goin' ta have your hands full, yes sirre!  Them's both
 lookers now.  The little one sure did blossom right purty." 
 Darien raised an eyebrow as Maverick continued, "They're due
 in here any day now, ya plannin' on stickin' around and
 sayin' hello?"

	Darien nodded, "Sure, I might as well.  All of the
 traders are here already, I might as well see what I can
 trade while I'm here."

	"See ya around, boyo.  Watch out for them ladies, when
 they show up, they cause quite th' stir."

	"If Serena is anything like she was when she was little,
 Sam, that doesn't surprise me.  Take care, I'll talk to you
 later." He ducked out of the building and collected his
 horse.  "Come on, boy, let's go find us a place to camp."  He
 led the dappled grey stallion away from the post, taking his
 time to browse between the wigwams and other little tents
 where the wares were being laid out for the day of trading
 and selling.  He found himself a small clearing near a back
 corner of the fort and set up camp.  It was right next to a
 small pond and afforded him drinking water and a place to
 bathe.  After his long trip nothing sounded better than a
 bath.  Quickly he collected his soap and a fresh set of
 clothes and headed to the pond to bathe.


	Serena looked at the fort, sighing heavily.  She turned
 to the elderly woman who was seated on a white mare, "Emily,
 I swear, this is the last time you make this trek.  Next year
 I'll come bargain for the price on the furs myself."

	Emily shook her head, smiling at the young woman. 
 "Serena, you know better than to try that with me.  You are
 much too beautiful to be wandering about this trading post
 alone.  With the coming of the Mounties it's gotten better,
 but you know a lot of the men would take advantage of you if
 you were by yourself."

	Serena tossed her head proudly, flinging the braid that
 was wound four times around her head and hung to her waist,
 over her shoulder.  "Let them try, after doing most of the
 trapping this winter, I'm stronger than I look."

	"You're also a woman dear." Emily said patiently, "And
 living with me has given you now idea on how to deal with
 men, I'm afraid."

	"I had to deal with that boy that one winter, that was
 enough for me, thank you very much." Serena retorted sharply. 
 She didn't like discussing Darien with Emily, but secretly
 she'd hoped to see him every time for the past six years. 
 Emily said she had just turned seventeen a few short weeks
 ago, and in any world she was a woman.  That still didn't
 stop her from wanting to see the black haired boy who loved
 to do nothing more than snap at her.  Though why she wanted
 to see him she couldn't be sure, but if she ever saw him
 again she was going to drag him over the coals for not
 keeping his promise five years earlier.  She never had
 understood why it had hurt so much when he never appeared
 that summer to say hello.

	"Darien wasn't a man at the time, he was a boy starting
 to turn into one.  That in no way equipped you to deal with
 the male of our species."  Emily kicked her horse into a
 trot, leading a pack horse by the lead rope as she approached
 the fort, hailing the Mountie as she and Serena passed
 through the gates, frowning at him when his eyes followed
 Serena's straight back.

	Emily looked at her charge and smiled sadly.  She truly
 was a beautiful woman and she would always attract attention,
 her hair ensured that, but she was growing up with a posture
 and poise that stole Emily's breath whenever she looked at
 her.  Serena was looking more and more like her mother and
 every day she feared her father would come back to claim her. 
 She had classic good looks, those of a model, and the
 physical labour she did all winter kept her trim and fit, not
 an ounce of fat on her bones.  She made her own clothes now,
 and the buckskin shirt and leggings emphasized her curves but
 hid them enough to keep men wondering.  Emily was sure Serena
 hadn't meant it to do so, but she'd inadvertently made
 clothes that were designed to draw attention.

	They dismounted near the front of the fort, in their
 usual spot and set up camp.  Serena went through the motions
 quickly and efficiently, taking the task of Emily's hands. 
 Truthfully, she was grateful for the assistance.  The past
 two years had been harder on her and she let Serena take up
 more and more of the duties when it came to trapping and
 tanning the hides.  She swung down off her horse as Serena
 was kneeling to start a campfire and stretched her back,
 hearing the bones creak and crack under the tension.  

	"Would you like me to go scout the tents to see who's
 trading what this year?" 

	Emily shook her head, "Let's get the furs unpacked and
 everything unloaded first.  Then we'll both go check out the
 tents."

	Eagerly, Serena helped Emily unpack the pack horse and
 set up their tents.

	
	Darien was frying some venison in a pan when the ruckus
 near one of the booze tents drew his attention.  He frowned
 and stood, placing the pan on a rock to the side and stood as
 he looked through the nest of trees he'd chosen to camp in. 
 A slash of yellow drew his attention and he made his way
 towards the tent.  It sounded like a fight from where he was
 but as he approached, he realized it was more of a lesson.

	"Come on missy, yer here ever' year with yer missus,
 surely ye've seen the way we men look at ya.  Of course ye
 have, otherwise ye wouldn't be wearing them clothes.  Don't
 you want a big strong man in yer life?" demanded one liquor
 slurred voice.

	"Not one that smells of liquor and treats his women
 worse than dogs," came back the snappy retort, the voice
 holding something of a light lilt even when raised in anger,
 "Get your hands off me, sir, or I will remove them for you."

	Darien pushed his way to the front of the jeering crowd
 and stopped, stunned.  A young woman, no taller than five
 foot three, if that, was glaring ice from blue eyes the color
 of a mountain's stream.  Her honey colored hair hung to her
 waist even after most of it was piled on her head.  She was
 slim, trim and muscular, as the form fitting buckskins
 showed.  He bit back a curse, seeing the man who held her. 
 He remembered having to step between her and this very same
 man six years back when the man, named Mad Marlow or
 something like that, had offered to buy Serena from Emily.

	"Let her go, Marlow," he told the man, who was half
 dressed and holding a jug of rotgut whiskey.

	Serena's eyes narrowed with fury at the intrusion, the
 deep unfamiliar voice cutting through the jeering and leaving
 the crowd oddly silent.  "Stay out of this stranger, this man
 has had this coming to him for a long time.  I've put up with
 his innuendoes as long as I intend to."

	"Oh, I agree Marlow has had it coming, darlin', but I'm
 hardly a stranger."

	Serena didn't dare take her eyes off Marlow, whose face
 was flushed with rage.  She drew a wicked looking knife from
 her belt and pricked at one of his wrists in a fast movement. 
 He howled and retracted his wrist, but didn't release her and
 she shrieked, as much from surprise as anger, as he threw her
 into the spectators.  Strong arms caught her around he waist,
 stopping her fall as her knife clattered to the ground a few
 feet away.  "Careful, little one, he is a lot bigger than
 you," commented the man who held her, the same that had
 spoken before, "Your temper hasn't changed after so long I
 see."

	She spun out of his arms and got her first real look at
 the stranger, her biting retort dying on her tongue as she
 took in his appearance.  Black hair that fell in soft waves
 over his forehead, slightly damp, down to below his shoulders
 in the back caught her attention first.  He was a good foot
 taller than she was, his chest powerful muscled beneath the
 tight fabric of his buckskin shirt, but he wasn't as big as
 he should have been.  He was classically built, the epitome
 of tall dark and handsome, and it stole her breath to look at
 him.  Awareness and recognition hit at once and she swayed on
 her feet.  "Darien." she breathed.

	He nodded once, flashing her a smile that stole her
 breath, "Easy, Sere.  Watch out!" he reached out for her with
 a lightning quick arm and pulling her back into his arms. 
 Marlow swept by, headlong into a tree and a loud crack could
 be heard as he knocked himself senseless.  Darien shook his
 head, releasing the golden haired vixen that was twisting in
 his arms to be free.  

	"He's a jackass," commented Serena, shaking her head in
 disgust and smoothing out her garments.

	The crowd began to disperse as Darien threw his head
 back and laughed loud and long, "My my my... You haven't
 changed a bit, Serena."

	She crossed her arms over her chest as she regarded him,
 her eyes blazing.

	"Well, alright, maybe just a bit," he admitted, his eyes
 twinkling as they met hers, "But your temperament sure
 hasn't!  Is Emily around?"

	"Why should I take you to her?  You'll just leave again
 and break m-her heart."

	He raised an eyebrow, mimicking her stance, "How did I
 break her heart by leaving?  She expected it, Serena, and so
 did you, though I had no intentions of hurting you when I
 left.  I just did what you wantd me too."

	She adverted her gaze from his, "You didn't hurt me, I
 was glad you were gone," she snapped, "I just wish you'd
 stayed gone."

	"Lying now, Serena?" he asked softly, "It doesn't become
 you."

	Her gaze snapped to his and she snorted, "Hardly.  Why'd
 you have to come back now, of all times.  You should have
 just stayed under whatever rock you crawled under all those
 years back."

	"How can I keep a promise if I disappear?"

	"The same way you did six years ago," she snapped back
 angrily, blinking rapidly, trying to clear the moisture out
 of her eyes.  "Just leave, Darien, we don't need you."

	Strong fingers grasped her chin and forced her to look
 into his eyes, "I'm sorry I hurt you, Serena, that was never
 my intention."

	"You didn't hurt me," she denied, jerking her face out
 of his hands and stalking away.

	Darien followed, matching her furious pace and casting a
 wary glance each way to make sure they would pass unmolested. 
 Serena quickened her pace, trying to loose him but he matched
 his pace to hers, his longer legs keeping up with her easily. 
 She finally spun on him, her eyes flashing fire, "Will you
 just go away, we don't need nor want you around!" 

*I'll be there 
When the world stops Turning
I'll be there
When the storm is through
In the end I wanna be standing
At the beginning with you*

	"What if I don't want to go away, what will you do?"

	"I'll make you want to leave, like I made you leave 6
 years ago."

	"You didn't make me leve, you asked me to leave because
 you didn't want me around, because you couldn't handle me. 
 I've got news for you, darlin', I'm not going anywhere this
 time because you want me to go.  I'm going to repay a debt I
 owe both you and that marvelous woman who took me in and
 nursed me back to health after whatever it was got a hold of
 me."

	Serena muttered a nasty curse under her breath, drawing
 a chuckle from him, "Alright, fine, Emily and I are camped
 over here.  But, if you even try and do more than you're
 asked to do I'll take my skinning knife and skin you while
 you're sleeping!"

	Darien shook his head as she stalked off, reluctanlty
 leading him back towards their campsite.  Darien's gaze
 followed the soft sway of her hips for the first few feet
 before he caught himself and shifted his gaze ahead of her,
 his blue eyes scanning ahead.  A smile split his face as the
 elderly woman he remembered came into view.  

	Emily looked up, her grey-blue eyes falling on her
 charge and then on Darien.  She straightened unconsciouly,
 "It cannot be," she said, smiling as she rose to her feet. 
 "My my, Darien, is it really you after all these years, my
 boy?" she asked, stratching her arms out to him.

	Darien smiled back and enfolded the older woman in a
 firm hug, "Yes Emily.  It's good to see you."

	"Likewise, young man.  Come come, let me look at you."
 she pulled back, holding him at arm's length, the lines
 around her eyes crinkling as she looked over his shoulder at
 a sullen Serena.  "You have certainly filled out since we
 last saw you.  You have obviously seen Serena.  Hasn't she
 become a beauty?"

	Darien looked over his shoulder at the young woman
 before looking back at Emily, "Certainly hasn't lost that
 temper of hers.  She has indeed grown up into an eye catching
 young woman.  You, Emily, have become even more beautiful
 than when I last saw you as well.  The mountain life agrees
 with both of you it would seem."

	Emily laughed merrily, the years seeming to fall away
 from her as she smiled up at him, "Still the charmer, when
 you want to be.  Come come, you must join our camp.  Will you
 be coming back to the cabin with us this winter?"

	"From the sound of it, I doubt I'm still welcome," he
 nodded his head towards Serena, "I've been told in no
 uncertain terms that if I do more than my fair share someone
 is going to take my skin for a trophy."

	"Not a trophy, Darien, just a blanket," Serena piped up,
 putting a huge pot over the fire.

	Emily cackled with laughter, "She likes you, she only
 threatens people she likes."

	"And that is supposed to reassure me?  I saw her pull a
 knife on Marlow and-"

	Emily's face hardened as she cut him off, "Is Marlow up
 to his old tricks again?" she stepped past him and he caught
 her arm, holding her easily.

	"Easy, Emily, Marlow knocked himself senseless on a
 tree, he'll be out cold for a while yet.  You can tear strips
 off him after he comes too... and after we've done most of
 your trading.  From what I remember of Marlow he's going to
 take most of the coming winter to get over the indignity of
 being bested by a meer slip of a girl."

	Emily grimaced, "You are right of course.  Comes, sit by
 the fire.  I am, of course, going to insist you camp with us
 from here on out.  Will you be coming back to the cabin with
 us this winter?"

	Darien smiled, "If it's not too much trouble, I'd like
 that."

	"Then it's settled, once we're finished trading here,
 we'll head back up to the cabin and you can come with us. 
 With the three of us working the traps, I'm certain we'll be
 able to bring in a huge amount of skins."

	Serena looked at Emily's smiling face, "I don't get a
 say if he comes or not?"

	Emily smiled, "With the way you've been moping about
 each winter since he left us, I'm going to insist he comes."

	Serena felt her face flush and spun away, stalking off
 to the other side of the camp.

	It was a less than promising beginning, Darien found
 himself thinking, but a beginning none the less.


*We were strangers
On a crazy adventure
Never dreaming
How our dreams would come true
Now here we stand
Unafraid of the future
At the beginning with you.*

	Darien pulled his horse up short as the cabin came into
 view and a smile split his face.  He felt like he was coming
 home, something he's never felt in all his years away.  "It
 looks just the same as it did the first time I saw it," he
 marveled, looking about the clearing and down towards the
 lake.

	"What, you didn't think Emily and I could manage the
 place on our own?" Serena asked scornfully.  On their trek
 back to the cabin at the end of the summer, Serena's attitude
 towards him had become increasingly hostile, as if she
 resented his prescense.  Or just didn't know how to deal with
 it.

	"Oh, it's not that, I just thought my memories were
 twisted, that's all," Darien told her plesanty.  He'd taken
 to difusing her attempts t get on his nerves by either
 compliments or just being friendly.  From what he could tell,
 she was getting more confused by his actions and seemed to be
 having to retreat more and more to try and understand him. 
 He found it amusing, to say the least.  

	Emily kicked her horse into a trot, the animal needing
 next to no prodding to continue towards its winter haven.  It
 stopped at the gate entrance to the corral and Emily swung
 down, "I hope you two youngins aren't going to be arguing and
 sniping at each other all winter.  If I have too I'll lock
 you both outside until you settle your differences, I won't
 have either of you bickering and making my home miserable, is
 that very clear?"

	"As crystal, Emily," Darien agree.  He looked at Serena,
 "I'm willing to call a truce if you are."

	Serena nodded, but avoided looking at him as she kneed
 her horse forward and into the corral.  She dismounted easily
 and quickly went about pulling her packs off the animal. 
 They must have weighed easily half her small weight but she
 didn't buckle under their weight and Darien couldn't help but
 marvel at how mountain living had made her stronger than any
 city female he's encountered.  It was a very stimulating
 thought.  What else could she do, and did she do, that he
 hadn't thought about?

	"Are you coming?"

	He jolted as she looked at him, the packs slung across
 her shoulders, more supplies in her arms.  He followed their
 lead and led his mount into the corral before dismounting and
 pulling off the gear packed on his horse.  He waited until
 both women entered the cabin before entering himself.  He
 paused in the doorway and looked around the small cabin,
 "It's smaller than I remember."

	"You were a lot smaller, Darien," Emily motioned for him
 to put the supplies he was carrying on one of the bunks to
 the left.  He noted that there were now two, one above the
 lower one and he assumed that Serena slept there.  

	He dropped the supplies he was carrying on the bottom
 bunk, "Well, it's good to be home,"
	
	"This isn't your home," Serena told him sharply.

	He looked at her and then to Emily, who was frowning,
 and motioned to the door, "Shall we settle this outside
 before Emily kicks us both out?"

	Serena glanced at the woman who had raised her and
 sighed, exiting the cabin and stalking over to the horses,
 pausing to grab the curry brush.  Darien followed her and
 Emily closed the door behind them both, the locking bar
 thumping into place.

	Darien grabbed a curry brush from their bucket and moved
 to the corral to brush his own horse down.  Serena was
 already brushing hers with swift, angry movements.  "Why do
 you hate me so much?"

	She didn't spare him a glance, her lips thined and
 colorless, "I don't hate you."

	"Then why do you insist on trying to provoke me?"

	She remained silent, refusing to answer the question. 
 Darien sighed, "Serena, I don't want this to be the way we
 live through the winter.  I'm willing to be amiable if you
 can put asside your prejudices and do the same."

	"Amiable?"

	"Civil," he amended.

	"Oh." She looked at him then, "Why didn't you come back
 the year after you left?"

	"I was working, trying to find out who I was."

	"Did you ever?"

	"No.  I don't even remember my real name and all I have
 is a sensation that something I should have is missing. 
 Something important.  I never could put the pieces, of what
 happened before I stumbled on you and Emily, together."

	Serena was quiet as she continued to brush down her
 horse.  She finally stoppped and looked at him, gently
 stroking the forehead of her horse, "I missed you that
 winter," she admitted, "I was glad you were gone, but Emily
 was right.  I just didn't want to admit it.  I'm not too sure
 about having you back now though.  I thought you would come
 back after a season of being away, when you didn't, I felt
 betrayed."

	"Why?" He looked at her over the back of his horse as he
 continued to brush the animal down.

	Serena shrugged, "My childish notions I guess.  You said
 you'd come back and see us the next time we came to the post. 
 When you didn't, I thought you were either dead or hated me
 so much you didn't want to come back.  The last five seasons
 have been hard, Emily is getting older and I can't work the
 lines on my own and make quota for supplies come the summer."

	"I'm sorry I didn't come back.  I wanted too, but I
 couldn't get away from my employer.  Can you forgive me for
 not coming back?"

	"I don't know, I'm still hurt you didn't keep your
 promise.  Will you stay for the whole winter?"

	He nodded, "This is where my journey started, this is
 where I'll have to search for my clues, even if they are six
 years old."

	Serena looked away from him, "I need some time to accept
 that, to see if you're going to stick through it this time,
 Darien.  I'm sorry, but until you prove you're not going to
 abbandon me... us, I can't forgive you."

	Darien nodded and took the halter off his horse,
 "Alright.  When you can answer either way, come and find me,
 I'll be around."

	Serena left the corral and made her way down to the
 lake.  She stood at the edge, a silent, lonely figure in the
 setting sun.

*I knew there was somebody somewhere
Like me alone in the dark
Now I know my dream will live on
I've been waiting so long
Nothing's gonna tear us apart*

	Darien stacked the wood next to the cabin and wiped the
 sweat from his brow.  The ladies were down at the lack
 checking the beaver traps while he spent most of his day
 chopping wood for the coming winter months.  If they were
 anything like he remembered, you could never have enough
 wood.  His hand twinged and spasmed, drawing a muffled oath
 from his lips.  The bones had healed well enough but
 sometimes the muscles and tendons jerked without warning and
 caused him to drop things.  Thankfully he'd already put the
 axe down.

	The sun was setting in the sky, the days seeming to be
 getting shorter thanks to their elevation and the season. 
 Leaning his back against the cabin to rest, he took up the
 waterskin Emily had left him and took a long drink.  The
 weather was nice enough that he'd removed his shirt long ago,
 glad that the ladies weren't around to see his scar ridden
 flesh.  His body had never fully recovered from the night
 he'd stumbled upon them.

	Darien took a seat on a log and leaned his back against
 the wall of the cabin, his eyes scanning the area around the
 logs.  Whatever it was that he felt was so important had to
 be somewhere in these hills, surely he wouldn't have just
 dropped something like that on purpose.  He put his good hand
 to his forehead and rubbed, trying to remember something,
 anything, from before he'd come across these two women.  He
 sighed in defeat a few minutes later and looked about him
 again.  

	Emily and Serena were working their way up from the lake
 now, pulling a sled laden with furs and meat behind them.  He
 grinned, shaking his head in admiration as Emily paused to
 check the rifle on her back and Serena continued to pull,
 almost as if she were unaware that the older woman had
 stopped helping.  

	"Would you like a hand?" he called, standing and walking
 towards them.

	They raised their heads as he came, a smile lighting
 Emily's face, Serena's remaining impassive.  "Of course, my
 boy, any help you care to give would be appreciated, these
 old bones just can't keep up with hers."

	Darien grinned coming over to take up Emily's harness. 
 He kept his gaze on Serena as he took up half the slack and
 saw her breathe a sigh of relief.  Tough little woman, that
 was for sure.

	"What happened to your chest, Dare?"

	He grimaced.  He'd forgotten to put his shirt back on. 
 "Scars from the night I ended up here, Emily.  I've got a 
 bunch more on my legs.  Plus one blacksmith I worked for had
 a heavy hand with a lash when he saw something that wasn't up
 to quality.  He never hit me after the first time though, I
 taught him not too."

	"Such adventures you've had my boy, are you sure you
 want to settle with us womenfolk?"

	Darien grinned as they parked the sled in front of the
 smoking hut, the curing shack a few feet from that.  "I
 wouldn't be here if I didn't want to."

	Serena rolled her eyes, "And if you didn't have a load
 of guilt on your shoulders.  Did you finish chopping the
 wood?"

	He crossed his arms over his chest, "Yes, ma'am. 
 Anything else you'd like me to do?"

	Emily shook her head, "You two, acting just like you're
 married.  Serena, get those pelts unloaded, Darien, you can
 help me get the smoking started."

	They went to work silently, Emily setting a pace Darien
 had trouble following.  "You have a lot of practice with
 this," he accused when she finally let him take a break,
 sweat sliding down his chest and back.

	"Not bad for an old woman, is it, youngester?" she
 teased, "You finish up here, I'm going to go give Serena a
 hand.  Ah ah ah," she shook a finger at him when he opened
 his mouth to protest, "you said you'd pitch in like everyone
 else, I'm just doing my part, now do yours."

	Darien smiled ruefully, "Yes ma'am."


	
	A couple of nights later Darien was tending the horses
 while Serena was cooking stew over the fire.  

	"It's nice to have him back," Emily commented from her
 rocking chair, her knitting needles in her hands.

	Serena refused to say a word, continuing to stir their
 dinner.

	"Nice to have an extra pair of hands to help out with
 the trapping, the wood cutting and the smoking.  Are you
 going to give it to him?"

	Serena looked at the older woman, sighing as she replced
 the lid on the pot, "I don't know if I should.  When I found
 it the spring he left I wanted to give it to him then, but he
 never would have come back."

	"You didn't want him to come back," the older woman
 pointed out, pointing one of her needles at her, "you should
 have given it to him then."

	Serena looked out the window towards the corral and
 jumped, "It's snowing, and Darien is still out there." she
 dashed for the door and grabbed her wolfskin jacket, slipping
 into it hurriedly.  She grabbed his jacket from its peg and
 opened the door, the snow swirrling inside as the sound of
 the wind screamed across the opening.  

	Emily was beside her suddenly, tying a rope around her
 waist, "I've got the other end, make sure he's alright."

	Serena nodded, barely making out the words over the
 storm's fury.  She stepped outside, keeping her head sown and
 made her way towards the corral and the lean-to that
 sheltered the horses in bad weather.  She head one of them
 scream and swallowed hard, knowing they were suffing as much
 as Darien had to be.  "Darien!" she screamed, coming to the
 unlocked gate.  She swung it open and stepped inside.  She
 could barely make out a few feet in front of her, let alone
 the horses' stable.  She placed her hand on the fence and
 walked along it, calling out Darien's name as she felt her
 way towards the shelter.

	"Serena?"

	She froze, hearing his voice from the center of the
 corral, "Darien?  Where are you, keep talking, I'll find
 you!"

	"I'm in the center of the corral," his voice was strong
 but she could hear the effect the cold was having on him. 
 His words were beginning to slur and slow, though stuttering
 hadn't started yet.  

	She picked her path carefully, seeing large blurs in the
 corral through the white sheet surrounding her.  Finally,
 after what seemed like an eternity she found a hand reaching
 out blindly and grasped it, feeling the icecold skin.  She
 tugged and he stumbled towards her, all of his weight
 suddenly bowling into her.  She staggered before finding her
 footing and staying on her feet.  Barely.  "Here's your
 coat," she yelled at him.  She could just barely make out his
 face and his lips were blue.  She grabbed one of his arms and
 shived his arm into it before making sure she still had his
 weight and doing the same with his other arm.  She forced him
 back to his feet, ready to catch him if he fell again and
 quickly closed the garment.

	Darien staggered.  He could barely feel his hands and
 feet, the familiar freezing sensation from all those years
 ago coming back again and he shivered violently inside his
 coat.  His hand and legs ached, the old wounds pucking in the
 cold.  He felt Serena's arm slide around his waist and
 support him.  He marveled at her strength as she forced him
 to move with her.  He couldn't see where they were going, but
 he trusted her.  After a few minutes that seemed like forever
 they were standing at the door of the cabin as Emily opened
 it and stumbled, both of them, inside.  Emily closed the door
 and bolted it before turning to them both.

	"Darien?"

	"Emily," he gasped, feeling the pins and needles already
 begining to start in his face.  The warmth of the cabin
 washed over him as they helped him out of his coat and over
 to the spot in front of the fire.  Emily covered him with his
 jacket as Serena removed hers and undid the rope around her
 waist.  

	Serena busied herself with pulling their steaming dinner
 off the fire and replacing it with a pot of water.  She added
 more wood to the fire and paused for only a couple of moments
 to warm her own fingers as Emily pried Darien's boots off and
 took a look at his toes, "Any longer out there and you would
 have lost most of these," she commented.  "It's a good thing
 Serena found you."

	Darien met Serena's gaze, "Thank you."

	She shrugged it off, "Emily would have done it, but I
 saw the snow first.  These walls are pretty thick otherwise
 we would have heard the screaming of the wind."

	Emily chuckled as Darien lay shivering in front of the
 fire, the warmth soaking quickly into his cold skin, "That's
 twice she's saved your life from the snow now, boyo, I'd say
 you owe her big time."

	Serena blushed and turned away, dishing up three large
 bowls of stew before it went cold, "Here, eat up, this should
 help warm your insides."

	Emily shook her head as the girl changed the subject. 
 Soon enough, she'd have to face all those fears she kept
 hidden.

	Darien graciously accepted the bowl and ate up, going
 back for seconds and even third before he announced he was
 full, and warm.  Emily inspected his feet again and did a
 cursory check of his toes before allowing him to stand.  She
 returned to her rocking chair, but only after collecting a
 book from the shelves.

	Darien insisted on doing the dishes because Serena had
 done dinner, it was, after all, the least he could do since
 she'd saved his life yet again.  Serena laughed it off,
 telling him that it was the way of mountain folk to help each
 other out.  He'd have done the same for her.  Finally she
 left him alone with a basin full of dishes and retired to
 Emily's bunk, her back to him, and pulled something out of
 the folds of her clothes.

	"Serena," Emily's voice was soft in the cabin, "Come
 here child."

	Serena glanced over at Darien before hiding the object
 again inside her clothes and going to sit on the edge of the
 bed nearest Emily, "Yes?"

	Emily opened the book she held in the middle and pulled
 out three sheets of paper, "I encountered a man at the
 trading post who asked me to give you these when the first
 snows claimed the mountain.  I hope you don't mind but I have
 read them through and would have given them to you sooner but
 I feared you would leave without thinking." She smiled
 slightly, "You tend to be impulsive when something affects
 you greatly.  This way you must wait for a break in the snows
 and have time to think about your actions."

	Serena hesitantly reached for the pages.  Emily's eyes
 were sad.  "Climb up to your bunk to read them, dear."

	She nodded wordlessly and took the suggestion.  She sat,
 crosslegged, the sheets in her lap.  Each had her name
 inscribed on it by a different hand.  She took the one with
 the most feminine looking handwriting and opened it
 carefully.


 My darling Serena,

 If you are reading this, it is because I am no longer with
 you.  I wanted to watch you grow, to become a young woman I
 am proud to call my daughter, but it is not to be.  I have
 become sick this past year, the sickness of the lungs and I
 know I will not live out this winter.  Your father is a
 wonderful man, one that will look after you and teach you to
 the best of his abilities.  I am writing this to let you know
 who you are, my sweet.  You were born on June 14th, though in
 what year I am no longer certain.  Living in the mountains
 does not give me the luxury of a calendar I am afraid.  Your
 relatives will undoubtedly look for you and try to bully you
 into coming with them.  You, my sweet girl, are the heir to a
 very large empire in Britan.  

 You are probably doubting these words as you read them, but
 it is the truth, my father was a Duke of a large estate.  The
 Moonwalker name is a very well known and respected name.  The
 choice, if you wish to claim your birth rite is yours.  Your
 full name is Serenity Anna Mary Moonwalker Jones.  My family
 thought your father was below my station so I ran away with
 him, my darling Mitch Jones.  You were named for our feelings
 here in these mountains. Listen to him, my dear, he will
 guide you, and is wise beyond his years.

 I am sorry I am not there to watch you grow into the
 beautiful young woman your small frame already promises.  I
 love you, my darling Serena, never forget that I am with you
 even if you cannot see me.

 With love, your mother,

 Amanda Jones.


	Serena looked up from the note, tears in her eyes,
 "Serenity?" she whispered softly, trying out her full name. 
 She wiped at her eyes, picturing a woman who was very much
 like Emily, but with golden hair, starting to fade away as
 she watched her daughter grow.  She brushed her tears off her
 cheeks and refolded the letter.  Taking a deep breath, she
 reached for the next one, her name written boldly on the
 outside.

	
 Serena,

 Well, your mother was wrong.  I can't help you grow, and I
 can't be there for you.  I don't expect you to understand,
 but I can't look at you and not miss her.  I tried.  You were
 five summers when I left you with Emily. Emily understands
 why I cannot take care of you myself, if you need to ask
 more, ask her, she can probably answer your questions better
 than I, but I will try.

 Your mother told me she would be writing you a letter about
 who you are and what you are heir too, so I won't go into
 that, but because she and I ran away to be together we have
 had a hard life.  Raising a baby in these mountains is
 difficult, almost impossible, for someone as alone as I.  You
 look so much like her, an angel stolen from heaven to grace
 us on earth and I am proud of you.  I love you, never doubt
 that, but I cannot raise you myself.  Emily has been on her
 own in these mountains for over ten years and can give you
 the support you need to grow into a strong young woman.  I
 have no doubts that you are that now.  

 When you turn twenty summers I will be back to see you and I
 hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me for not
 being there to watch you grow.
 
 I love you, my daughter, never forget who you are.

 Mitch Jones.


	She folded the note along with her mother's, smoothing
 her hands over them both.  People she didn't remember much
 about except for very distant memories.  A song, a whisper, a
 chuckle, all seeming like a long forgotten dream.  She picked
 up the last of the letters, very precise writing on the
 outside of it and felt reluctant to open it.  She finally
 opened it and scanned through the words, her heart in her
 throat.


 Dear Miss Jones,

 I hope this reachs you promptly.  A trapper in the hills has
 informed me he knows of your where abouts and will try to
 deliver it to you, and your guardian this year at the trading
 post.

 I regret to inform you that your father's body was found this
 spring outside of his cabin.  It appears that he was mauled
 by a bear on one of his trapping excursions.  I regret I am
 unable to bring you this news in person, but my schedule, and
 my paitents, do not allow for it.  My deepest condolences.

 Sincerely,

 Dr. Frank Edwardro
	

	Serena closed her eyes as tears slipped through and
 burried her face in the pillow at the end of the bed.  Her
 shoulders heaved in silent spasms as her silent crying made
 no sounds.  Now she was alone, truely alone, her family
 having given into the harsh life of the mountains.

*Life is a road and I wanna keep going
Love is a river I wanna keep going on
Starting out on a journey
Life is a road and I wanna keep going
Love is a river and I wanna keep flowing
In the end I wanna be standing 
At the beginning with you.*

	Darien helped skin and dress the carcass of the wolf in
 the trap before putting it onto the sled.  In silence, Serena
 grabed the handle for the sled as he reset the trap in a new
 location a couple of feet away.  They were on their last trap
 for the day, the sun already sinking low over the mountains. 
 He glanced at her as they walked, concerned about her silence
 the last few weeks.  She had barely said two words to him, or
 to Emily, and he was starting to get annoyed at her seeming
 inconsideration of them.

	They came into view of the cabin just as the sun
 disappeared and quickly unloaded the sled.  

	Serena disappeared inside the cabin for a few moments
 before coming back out to help with the sled, as if she'd
 simply forgotten about it.  Darien shook his head, "Alright,
 what's going on?"

	She glanced at him, "Nothing."

	"Yeah right, nothing, you've hardly said two words to
 me, or Emily, in  over a month.  What is going on?"

	She didn't even bother to spare him a glance this time
 as she pushed the sled into its spot next to the cabin door. 
 A light snow fall was already covering their tracks and she
 made for the door, and the light, shining from the cabin.

	Darien grabbed her from behind, "I want to know,
 Serena." he told her sternly, "You're starting to worry me. 
 Maybe Emily can put up with being treated like an inconvience
 from you but I sure as hell can't."

	"What, don't like a taste of your own medicine?" she
 asked acidly, breaking his hold on her and opening the door.

	Darien looked after her, shocked.  Is this what it had
 felt like for her when he was being inconsierate of her
 feelings?  He'd never felt so helpess, or so unwanted as far
 as he could remember.  Not even the first winter he'd been
 here.  He followed her into the cabin, careful to close the
 door quickly behind him to keep as much of the warmth inside
 as possible.

	Emily looked up from her rocking chair, "Looks like it
 could get nasty the next couple of days," she said, smiling.

	Darien nodded, "My hand is aching, so the weather is
 probably going to change.  Though I couldn't tell you which
 way." he glanced at Serena, who was as far away from them as
 one could get in the small cabin, before he knelt next to
 Emily's rocking chair, "What is wrong with her?" he asked
 softly, careful not to be overheard.
	
	Emily sighed, "She's having trouble accepting some
 things about her past she just learned aout, give her time,
 Darien, she'll adjust and she'll be back to her normal self
 again.  Soon, I hope."

	Darien looked at Serena, "I'm going to see if I can get
 her to talk to me, just pretend you can't hear what we're
 saying alright?"

	Emily grined wryly, "What'd you say sonny?" she asked,
 cupping a hand around her ear.

	Darien smiled his thanks before going to join Serena on
 the far side of the cabin where she was pearched on a bench. 
 "Can I sit down?" he asked, keeping his voice low and gentle.

	"If you want."

	Darien slid in next to her, trapping her between the
 small table and the back wall of the cabin.  She didn't seem
 to notice.  "Can I ask a few questions?"

	She shrugged, "Can you handle the answers?"

	"I think so.  What's on your mind?"

	Serena looked at her hands, refusing to lok at him and
 remained silent.

	He sighed inwardly, "Alright, bad topic, how about this. 
 How can I help?"

	She looked at him then, "You could leave me alone."

	"Not a chance, princess-" Darien caught a flash of hurt
 in her eyes at his casual comment, "What, what did I say?"

	"Don't call me princess, please,"

	"Alright.  Anything else I should, or shouldn't call
 you?"

	She shook her head, "Just Serena,"

	"Alright, what can I do to help?"

	"Are you a good listener?"

	He quirked an eyebrow at her, "I can be.  I'm here if
 you need someone to listen to you, Sere.  To be your friend."

	Her eyes glazed over, "Friends, huh?  That's all I have
 left now.  No family," she took a deep breath, tears clouding
 her eyes, "My mother died when I was little, do you remember
 me telling you that?"

	He nodded.

	"Well, during the first snowfall this year, Emily gave
 me three letters.  One from my mother," she cleared her
 throat before continuing, "one from my father and one from a
 doctor.  My pa passed away this last spring.  He went to join
 ma, but ma's letter told me that I'm the heir to some
 property over in some place called Britan."

	Darien whistled, "That's across the ocean.  Pretty far
 away," 

	Serena put her head in her hands, "My real name isn't
 even Serena, it's just a pet name that everyone calls me.  Ma
 wrote that my name is Serenity.  But don't you even think of
 calling me that, ya hear?  I'm still Serena."

	Darien grinned, "Serenity.  It suits you.  But I won't
 call you that if you don't want me too."

	"Good.  Pa told me that I was left with Emily here when
 I was five summers old.  That means I am seventeen summers. 
 He said he was going to come and see me when I reached twenty
 summers and now I'll never see him again. Plus I just don't
 know what I'm going to do if ma's family comes looking for me
 and tries to convince me to come back with them.  I could
 never leave Emily.  She's the only family I have left."

	Darien nodded, wrapping an arm about her shoulders,
 "You're strong, Sere, nobody could ever make you do something
 you don't want to."

	"You can." she whispered.  She glanced at Emily, and
 then back to Darien when she saw the older woman had retired
 to her bunk, her back to them.  "I don't know how, or why,
 but you make me do things, say things, nobody else could."

	"Likewise, Angel."

	"Angel?" she echoed, surprised.

	Darien nodded, "An angel sent from heaven to grace the
 earth with her prescense."

	Serena smiled, a tear slipping down her cheek, "My dad
 wrote that in his letter, almost exactly."

	"He was right."

	Serena reached into a flap next to her heart and pulled
 a silver and black chain out of the pouch, a strange pendant
 hanging from it.  She offered it to him, "I found this the
 spring that you left us.  I remember you telling me that you
 felt like you were missing something important.  I think this
 is it."

	Darien accepted it, running his fingers over the chain,
 feeling a sense of peace wash over him.  "This is it," he
 said softly, his gaze going to the pendant.  Silver, laced
 with gold, onyx and jade, it formed the word 'Endymion'. 
 Surrounding it, done in ruby, was a flowering rose.

	"Endymion?" he whispered, confused.  The word was so
 familiar but he couldn't place it.  "I still don't
 understand."

	Serenity gently took the pendant and clasped it around
 his neck, "Maybe you're not meant to yet.  Just promise me
 one thing."

	He met her gaze, "Anything."

	"Don't leave me like last time.  I couldn't bare another
 seperation like that.  Whatever we do, we do together."

	"You want me to stay?"

	She nodded, a tear slipping down her cheek.

	"Why?"

	She bit her lip, "Because you and Emily are my family,
 Darien.  I love you.  I love her.  If either of you left it
 would destroy me."

	Darien hugged her close, "You have no idea how long I
 have been waiting to hear you speak those words.  I love you,
 Serena, I have since I met you all those years ago.  Leaving
 the first time nearly broke me."

	Serena closed her eyes and hugged him back, relishing
 the strength in his arms.  "Promise me.  We started this
 together, we'll end it together, no matter what happens?"

	"It's a promise." he bent his neck, his lips settling
 over hers a means of sealing his promise.  A promise of new
 beginnings, budding love, and a journey that was beginning,
 and going to continue, forever.

 The End


 Author's Note: That's it for the latest work of mine.. Let me know what you
 think, it was kinda spontaneous considering the content (I got insired one
 night).  Write me at :

 Jademax@hotmail.com

 Look forward to hearing from you, no matter what you've got to say!

Thanks for Reading.
Jade_Max