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Post by Rochelle Parnell on Jul 2, 2008 11:58:36 GMT -5
Rochelle opened her eyes once she felt her body not being pulled anymore. She looked around and noticed that they were back in Hogsmeade. Not letting go of Sully, she kissed him like he did her before they left. "I love you Matt," Rochelle whispered. She might as well get out what she was feeling at the moment, because now, she couldn't let emotions control her since they were back.
Swallowing hard and regaining the confidence she had, she took his hand. "Let's do what we need to do."
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Post by Matthew "Sully" Sullivan on Jul 2, 2008 12:34:19 GMT -5
Sully closed his eyes and held her close as she kissed him. For a very brief moment, it was as if he had ceased to exist as a separate entity from her. They were joined together as one, and he was more than happy to lose himself in her, and forget everything that was going on around them.
But the moment didn't last. All too soon, they pulled apart. When she said that she loved him, he felt a shiver up and down his spine. Why did everything have to be so complicated? Why couldn't they just be together, without the drama?
He cleared his throat and tried to focus on what they had to do next. "I guess... I guess we should go find Zander," he said.
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Post by Rochelle Parnell on Jul 2, 2008 12:54:27 GMT -5
Rochelle knew that Gretchen would be able to smell the fear off of Sully and her, with no problem, which was why she was working on pulling her fear apart and hope that what confidence she had would cover it. Before they started walking she turned to Sully. "I don't mean this to sound mean or anything but before we get to Gretchen, you need to try and get rid of your fear. I can smell it on you. If she smells it, she could use it. I promise, you'll do just fine. She's scary, but that's just how she looks and acts. You on the other hand know exactly what you are doing. Use that against her and use that to lose the fear." Rochelle smiled and started to lead him towards The Hog's Head.
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Post by Matthew "Sully" Sullivan on Jul 2, 2008 13:40:59 GMT -5
Sully nodded and squeezed her hand. "You're right. I know... Right now, I'm just consumed with the fear of losing you. If it was just me, I wouldn't be afraid to fight, or even to die. But you've got me distracted, and that's not helping. I'm going to have to focus my mind again... I just don't know how. Maybe it would be better if you didn't come when I go to meet Gretchen."
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Post by Rochelle Parnell on Jul 2, 2008 13:49:57 GMT -5
"You're not going to lose me," Rochelle stated confidently. "I can take care of myself. I've been doing it for awhile now. It's not like I'm going to just break at one hit. I'm tougher than that." She didn't want to be a distraction for him. She just wanted him to not think about anything but getting his sister back safely and taking care of Gretchen. Rochelle stopped. "I'm going with you Matt," she said defiantly. "I'm not going to let you go alone. I won't be a distraction because you're going to forget that I'm there at all and focus on getting your sister out of there. It's not hard to do that."
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Post by Matthew "Sully" Sullivan on Jul 2, 2008 14:08:38 GMT -5
Sully smiled and kissed her. "I knew you would say that," he said. "You just have to promise me that you won't be afraid, either. I may not smell the fear, but I'll sense it, and if I'm worried about you, I'll get distracted. Just stay strong... it will be OK." They were getting close to the Hog's Head, so he kept walking, willing his fear to fade away.
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Post by Rochelle Parnell on Jul 2, 2008 14:24:01 GMT -5
"I won't be afraid," said Rochelle. "I have a good feeling about this, believe it or not." She knew that they neared closer to the Hog's Head. "Don't worry about me at all, and don't worry about yourself either. Just do whatever you feel needs to be done. Go with your first instinct. That's what I've learned."
Once they reached the Hog's Head, Rochelle turned to Sully. "Remember, don't worry." She gave him a wink and walked inside.
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Post by Matthew "Sully" Sullivan on Jul 2, 2008 14:59:58 GMT -5
"I won't," Sully said simply. After all, it wasn't quite time to worry. They still had a day or two before he would have to face Gretchen. In the meantime, he hoped that Zander would be able to help somehow.
As they entered the Hog's Head, he waved at Zander, who was behind the bar. His expression grim, Sully walked up to the bar with Rochelle. "Well, we're back," he said.
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Post by Zander Smith on Jul 3, 2008 12:41:20 GMT -5
Zander was in the middle of pouring a drink for a customer when he heard Sully's voice. He looked up at them and nodded. "OK, I'll be right with you guys," he said. "We have a lot to talk about."
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Post by Matthew "Sully" Sullivan on Jul 3, 2008 14:56:23 GMT -5
Sully nodded. "OK, we'll just wait over here," he said, taking Rochelle's hand and leading her over to the entrance to the back room. It felt strange to be back in reality after spending all that time alone with Rochelle in Italy. It was like waking up from a dream. He wanted to grab hold of the time they had spent together, but it was gone. Now, back in Hogsmeade, it felt like the time in Italy had never happened.
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Post by Rochelle Parnell on Jul 6, 2008 12:07:17 GMT -5
Rochelle followed Sully, glancing towards Zander, then back again. The trip to Italy was now at the back of her mind. Peace never lasted too long. Something would always come and tear it apart. That's how it would always be, but nothing would stop anyone from clinging to what peace they could find. Right now, she was clinging to that peace. Even right now was a moment of peace. No fighting, but she was sure that they would speak of it.
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Post by Zander Smith on Jul 6, 2008 12:23:18 GMT -5
Zander finished up with his customer, then dried his hands before walking over to them. He could see how much in love they were, and he felt bad that he hadn't been able to rescue Ashura, so that they wouldn't be stuck facing such a perilous situation. "Come on, let's go into the back room and talk for a bit. Then, when we're done here, you can head over to Chloe's house and wait."
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Post by Matthew "Sully" Sullivan on Jul 6, 2008 22:04:13 GMT -5
Sully followed Zander into the back room and headed over to the couch to sit down. "All right, so what's going on?" he asked. "Did you find out anything about Gretchen that we need to know? Where's the camp?"
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Post by Zander Smith on Jul 7, 2008 13:10:54 GMT -5
Zander sat down across from them, his hands tightly gripping the edge of the faded old armchair. "We tried to rescue Ashura last night, but we failed. I'm afraid it was a tactical mistake on my part. And now, because of it, Gretchen and her pack are going to be on high alert... there's really no chance we can get anywhere near her at this point. I even tried to make a trade... we ran into a girl from Gretchen's pack, who wandered away from her camp and collapsed in front of Karl and Chloe and the others. But Gretchen knew we wouldn't hurt the girl, so she refused to make the trade until after she faced you. Rochelle, what do you know about Dawn?"
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Post by Rochelle Parnell on Jul 7, 2008 13:32:14 GMT -5
"Dawn? Gretchen wouldn't trade for Dawn," said Rochelle with a slight bitterness. She couldn't really believe that Gretchen wouldn't trade for her. After all, Dawn was sick. There was no telling how she was. Rochelle shook her head.
"Well, Buck found her awhile back. She was in one of those places with the people in white, is what he said. Then, we looked after her. She's sick. Dawn gets headaches, and then she blacks out. If she thinks to hard, or tries to remember something, she passes out. I don't know what's wrong with her, just that she's sick." Rochelle looked back to him. "Is she OK?"
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Post by Zander Smith on Jul 7, 2008 13:41:52 GMT -5
Zander nodded. "Yeah, she's doing pretty well, considering the circumstances. She has developed a friendship with Karl, and he's been trying to help her. We just let her sleep in one of the spare beds, and she stays there most of the time. It's really a shame what happened to her... she's a pretty little thing. I understand that the healers at the hospital messed her up pretty badly... but I'm tempted to have Madam Pomfrey come over and take a look at her. I trust her, and I won't let her do anything that would harm Dawn. I just know she really can't continue as she is now."
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Post by Rochelle Parnell on Jul 7, 2008 13:54:28 GMT -5
"We tried to make her take it easy," said Rochelle. "None of us wanted her to over do it. I don't understand what's wrong with her." She sighed and then tilted her head to the side as he said Madam Pomfrey. Who was she? "Gretchen never let Dawn go back to the people in white. She said that they would hurt her, but if you trust Madam Pomfrey, then do what you think is best. I trust you to do what's right."
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Post by Zander Smith on Jul 7, 2008 14:07:51 GMT -5
Zander nodded. "I won't take her back to the hospital... I'm not even sure she would go. I can understand the fear, believe me. But Madam Pomfrey is a good healer, and she knows her stuff. I think, even if she can't help her, she may be able to figure out what's wrong with her. And again, we won't give her anything unless we're sure about it. The last thing she needs is something else to mess her up."
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Post by Rochelle Parnell on Jul 7, 2008 14:14:17 GMT -5
Zander was kind, the way a leader should be. Rochelle had to admire that, because there weren't many leaders that would. He took in Dawn with no problem, and didn't ask any questions. He was going to help her, which was more than Gretchen ever would have done for her. "Thank you Zander. I feel like Dawn is in better hands in your pack than she has ever been, with the way she is. If Madam Pomfrey can help her, then I don't have a problem with it. I just want her to get better."
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Post by Zander Smith on Jul 7, 2008 14:30:11 GMT -5
Zander smiled. "All right. So we'll try to do that before you guys have to meet Gretchen. If she's going to go back to the pack, I want her to be well, as much as possible." He looked to Sully. "You still have a few days before your deadline. What you should do when you get back to Chloe's house is send her a letter, saying that you're here and that you'll meet her the day after tomorrow. That should give us all some time to do a little training, so that we'll all be ready for her. We're going to come with you, because we need to make sure that Ashura is safe. She's one of us, and taking her means that Gretchen is threatening our territory. We can't have that... especially after the disastrous rescue attempt."
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