So... Horatio is trying, but will Ehliena let him back in?
Enjoy
Lucy
Chap 66
Horatio cradled her cheek with his free hand and gently wiped away the tear “You already have some of my energy within you from when you touched me – can you control it?”
Ehliena’s tears began to flow more freely as she shook her head, “Barely, but I’ve had to do it on my own. If you had told me what was happening, you would have been around to help me. I would have been better prepared – more able…”
Horatio gave her a sad smile, “I couldn’t risk that. You might have taken on too much, I was worried that… I was worried that it would overwhelm you and I would lose you.”
Ehliena pulled a face, “and because of that, we are where we are, having to follow a course of action that might not work… That might result in you returning to your Symehk form anyway. At least the other way we might have stood a chance…”
As the tears began to fall in earnest, Horatio pulled her close, “Sweetheart I’m sorry, I thought I would manage, but the negotiations drained my human side more than I thought they would. I didn’t mean to do this to you.”
As he held her, Horatio suddenly realised that Ehliena’s pain and bitterness did not only stem from the fact that he had not spoken to her, but also from fear. Fear of what needed to happen. Fear of the next few days. Horatio took a deep breath, Ehliena needed to release that fear or the merge would not be successful.
“Nelson said he spoke to you.”
Ehliena caught herself a little, and the tears began to ease but she did not pull away, drawing what comfort she could from the man she loved. “He explained what would help – not in great detail, but I get the idea. He said there was a risk.”
“That it may not work.” Ehliena nodded. Horatio sighed, “It’s possible, but that is the least of my worries.”
The empath sat up to look him in the eye, curious. “What do you mean?”
“My worry is that it will work, but that your mind would be overwhelmed by the energy that is my Symehk half; that I would complete the transformation only to find that you are badly hurt and would not recover. I could not live with myself if I thought that you would spend the rest of your life insane or in pain.”
“Ehliena, I would rather return to my Symehk form than see that happen to you.”
The empath’s tears began to flow once more as she voiced her fears. “Don’t… I won’t hear of it. For you to become Symehk, without anyone to help you renew yourself, you would… I would lose you.”
“You would find someone else to look after you…”
“No! I don’t want anyone else.”
Horatio gave a soft smile, “Then it looks like I’ll have to trust you as I know you have always trusted me.” He dropped his head until his chin came to rest on her shoulder. “But for now I think we should sleep, we’ll be better able to think and sort ourselves out after a rest.”
Ehliena turned a little in surprise, giving Horatio the opportunity to stand and change out of his clothes, “but we don’t have a lot of time. Don’t you think…?”
Horatio silenced her with a gentle kiss, “There is a time and a place sweetheart, and while I think the place is perfect, now is definitely not the time.”
As Ehliena snuggled in closer, he could feel most of her fear slipping away, what remained was her fear of the unknown – which could not be removed, he too felt uncertain. Slowly, the two of them began to slide into a gentle restful sleep – a sleep that had been hypnotically put into their minds by a concerned aunt and brother.