BY: Riverwind
e-mail: riverwinde@juno.com

Disclaimer: I own none of these characters except for 
Cecily and I will treat them all kindly. :)

The Return 

Cecily sighed, dropped her bag on the ground and sat
down beside it. She was thirsty and exhausted and felt 
like she wanted to die. She had gotten into a small fight 
with 5 Roman soldiers and had taken a sword slash in
the shoulder. Fortunately she knew she had only a little 
more ways to travel till she got to the Sanctuary. "Soon 
I will be there, " she said quietly to herself. 
Cecily forced herself onto her feet, picked up her bag 
and continued through the forest. She soon saw two 
people heading towards her and began to make her way 
towards them.  She got only a little ways before her
knees weakend and she collapsed to the ground.


Conor and Fergus were running after the big buck that 
they intended to have for that night's dinner when 
Fergus caught sight of the girl walking towards them. 
He broke into a sprint when she collapsed and ran 
towards her, Conor trailing a few feet behind him. He 
dropped to his knees beside the still form and gently 
turned her over. Fergus brushed the long dark hair off 
her face and gasped. Conor reached his side and looked 
down. "It's Cecily," he said and the shock could be 
heard in his voice. 


Tully and Catlin came running up when Conor and 
Fergus arrived with Fergus carrying Cecily. They 
stopped in their tracks and looked at Cecily. 
"Who is she?" Tully asked. Catlin said nothing, but 
there were questions in her eyes.
"Her name is Cecily. She is my twin sister," Conor 
said. Tully and Catlin stared at him in shock.
"I didn't know you had a sister," Catlin said finally.
"She ran away when we were 15 and we never knew 
why. It was like one day she was here and the next 
day she was gone. My mother was heartbroken.
Cecily was her only daughter and though my mother 
wanted her to be a lady and not a warrior I know that 
inside, my mother was proud of her. My father had 
people sent out to search for her but nobody ever found
anything and she was given up for lost. My parents 
disowned her for the pain she had put them through 
and speaking her name was forbidden. We got on with 
our lives and she was forgotten by everyone except 
me. " The sadness was evident in Conor's voice. 
"Where should we put her?" Fergus asked.
"In my cave," Conor said. "I'll sit by her until she 
wakes up."
"I'll get a healer," Catlin said as she rushed off. 
While she was looking for Kylynn Fergus carried Cecily 
into Conor's cave and set her gently on the bed. "I'll be 
right outside," he told Conor. Conor nodded never 
taking his eyes off Cecily.

Catlin returned a few minutes later with Kylynn the 
healer. Conor was pushed outside to wait while Cecily 
was attended to. 
"I don't know what to do Fergus. For the past five 
years I have dreamed of seeing my sister again, dreamed 
that she would come back and now that she is here, I 
don't know what to say. I am angry at her for leaving us
and not being here when our parents died..." Conor's 
voice trailed off. 
"If she had been there, she would have died too," Fergus 
said softly. "At least this way she is still here."
"But for how long? She is badly injured and she might 
die before I get a chance to talk with her. I can't lose 
another person that I care about!" Conor's voice was shrill.
Fergus grabbed him by the shoulders, "Look at me! Cecily 
is not going to die. She will have the best care. Kylynn is 
the best healer on the island."
Conor took a deep breath. "You're right."
Fergus smiled, " Of course I am right. When have I ever 
been wrong?" Conor looked at him straight in the eye. 
"Do you really want me to answer that?"
Catlin stepped out before Fergus could reply. "Cecily is 
awake and would like to see you two," she said.
Conor squared his shoulders and went into the cave with 
Fergus following at his heels. 

Cecily sat up as  Conor walked in and sat down 
beside her on the bed. Fergus stayed by the door 
shifting from foot to foot. 
"How are you feeling?" Conor asked hesitantly.
"Better," Cecily nanswered, "It feels good to be off 
my feet. "
"That's good, " Conor said his voice trailing off. 
Both of them sat there neither knowing what to see. 
Finally Cecily looked at Fergus and with a small smile 
said," Hello Fergus. You still keeping Conor in line for me?" 
"Conor can take care of himself," Fergus said. His voice 
was clipped. Cecily's smile faded and she looked at 
Conor with a question in her eyes. Conor looked down 
avoiding her gaze.
"Oh. I see," Cecily said softly. "I'm tired I think I'll try to 
sleep some more."
"Well good-bye. I'll see you later." With those words 
Conor walked quickly out of the cave.
"Sleep well lass," Fergus said then he followed Conor out.
Cecily lay back down after they left fighting back tears 
and losing. Conor didn't want her back in his life. She 
was truly alone. 

Cecily was startled out of her tears when a soft voice 
asked," May I come in?" She looked up and saw Catlin 
standing in the doorway. "Please," she said. 
Catlin stepped in and walked over to the bed and sat 
down beside her.
"How are you feeling?" she asked
"I feel better. It's nice to be waited on," Cecily said and 
tried to laugh. Her laughter soon turned into sobs. 
Catlin leaned over and put her arms around her and just 
held her while she cried. 

  Cecily picked up her head as her sobs quieted. She 
looked into Catlin's concerned face adn managed a 
wobbling smile. Catlin smiled bace in return. The two 
just sat there for a moment, the bond that was now
between them evident. 
  Finally Catlin broke the silence. "What was it like to 
be a little girl?" she asked.
  Cecily sat back and thought for a moment.
   "It was like any normal childhood I guess. Conor was 
slightly older than me and he never let me forget it. He and 
Aiden would torment me unmercifully. I used to run to 
my father crying and then he would get stern with them. 
That of course made things worse. I finally decided one
day to stand up for myself," she said grinning. 
  "What did you do?" Catlin asked.
  "I was about 7 years old. One day Aiden had picked me 
up and was dangling me over the river threatening to drop 
me in. Somehow I got free and pushed him in. I remember 
him sitting in the river with a shocked look on his face. After 
that I guess they accepted me into their little group. And 
that was the end of my mother trying to mold me into a 
lady. I could rival any boy when it came to wrestling. In 
fact I was better than Conor."
   Catlin smiled. "Well I don't think that would be too 
hard. You should have seen him against Vorgreen," she 
said laughingly.
   "What was your childhood like?" Cecily asked her.
   Catlin stiffened and her face filled with pain.
   "I didn't have much of a childhood. My parents died 
when I was very young. I was taken in by an older man 
who sold me to the Romans as a slave." Her voice trailed 
off as her head lowered.
  Cecily crawled across the bed and sat down next to 
Catlin, putting her arm around her. 
  "Sometimes it is better to talk about it," she said softly.
  Catlin looked up at her, seeing the compassion  in her 
eyes, hearing the sincerity in her voice. She began to 
speak, telling Cecily about the beatings and the rapes.
  "My hope died a little each day," she said. "Until Conor 
rescued me, I thought I would die a slave doomed never 
to be happy."
  "Are you happy now?" Cecily asked.
  Catlin replied, "I am. I am surrounded by my friends. 
People love me regardless of what happened to me. I am 
not ashamed of my past anymore."
  Cecily stared down at her hands. "I have forgotten what 
it is like to be happy."
  Catlin put her hand on her shoulder. "What happened to 
make you run away?" she asked.
  Cecily stared off into the distance and then unfolded her story.
  "It happened when I was fifteen. I was out by myself just 
walking through the forest like I did every day. I was on my 
way home and it was really dark out. I remember thinking 
that my parents were going to be worried that I had stayed 
out so late, because I had never done that before. I remember 
coming across two Roman guards. They grabbed me and
threw me down on the ground. I tried to get away but I was 
not strong enough." The tears came again.
   Catlin just sat there silently as Cecily fought to control 
herself.
   "After they were down, they left me and went away. I 
remember curling up and silently crying. I could not go back 
to my family. I was afraid that they would be angry with me 
for letting that happen. I lay there all through the night and 
when the morning came I left."
  Catlin looked into Cecily's eyes. "It was not your fault. 
Your parents would not have blamed you. They were 
stronger than you. There was nothing you could have done. 
Believe me I know."
   "Thank you for believing me. I want to tell Conor and 
Fergus why I left but I am afraid. I know that Conor must 
have been hurt when I left, and Fergus must have been 
angry with me for deserting my family."
   "If you want me too, I will tell them. You needn't 
explain anything," Catlin offered.
   "Would you do that for me?" Cecily asked eagerly.
   "Aye and now you must sleep."
  Catlin silently left the room as Cecily's eyes closed and 
she drifted off to sleep.


  Outside Conor was waiting for her. "What did she say?" 
he asked stonily.
  Catlin whirled around anger flashing in her eyes. 
  "Cecily has been through so much and you sit there and 
condemn her for leaving! She told me why she left and it 
is not because of a foolish whim!" she stormed.
   Conor was taken aback. He had never seen Cat like this. 
He was even more startled when tears glistened in her eyes 
and started to drip down her face.
   "Where's Fergus? Cecily asked me to tell you her story 
and Fergus needs to hear it."
   "I'll go find him," Conor said.
   He got up and went to find Fergus, leaving Catlin sitting 
on the rock, her heart aching for a girl who had been 
through so much pain. Pain that Catlin knew well. 

Conor soon returned with Fergus. They took seats near Catlin and 
waited while she gathered her thoughts. 
"You both have been treating Cecily like she is the enemy," Catlin said.
"She abandoned her family," Fergus said angrily.
"She told me why she left," Catlin said spitting the words out her eyes
flashing.
"Well tell us why she left then,"Conor said folding his arms.
Catlin closed her eyes for a moment and then began. 
"She said she was out walking by herself through the forest. When it got
dark she started for home. On her way home Cecily came across two 
Roman guards," Catlin stopped for a moment stifling a sob. She fought 
to control herself before she continued. "They grabbed her and threw 
her on the ground. She tried to break free but she was not strong 
enough."
"Sweet Brigid. The poor girl," Fergus said shock in his voice.
"She was so ashamed even though it was not her fault that she decided
that she couldn't return home. She was afraid that she would be blamed
for what had happened," Catlin said. "I can understand her feelings." Her
voice trailed off and she stared off into the distance.
"I must go see her," Conor said getting up. He rushed to Cecily's cave
leaving Fergus and Catlin behind.

As soon as he entered the doorway, Conor stopped. Cecily lay on the 
bed asleep. He stepped forward and gazed at his sister's face so much 
like his own. 
As he sat down beside her, Cecily's eyes opened. She stared at Conor 
with haunted eyes. Eyes that had seen to much. 
"I know," was all he said.
Cecily's eyes filled with tears. "Do you hate me?" she asked.
Conor leaned over and kissed her forehead. "I could never hate you.
Especially for something that was not your fault."
Cecily smiled shakily. "Then if it is all right with you I would like to
stay here. My wondering days are over."
Conor smiled. "There is nothing I would like better"

End of part 4

To be con't


 Power to the Rejects
Peace Love and Flower Power
May the Schwartz Be With You
Riverwind