Current...Past...Sin...Alexander...Forum...Notes...Survey...D-land

Our family now completed.
2003-04-30 - 9:07 p.m.

When I arrived back at home, Ella greeted me at the door saying that Alexander had just left. "Where were you, Sindor? At the tavern?" she asked.

"Yes," I replied. "And then I went to feed."

"Did you see Adhemar?" she asked curiously.

"Yes; I fed with him, too," I replied. "Adhemar says he really misses you."

We then talked about the Adhemar and Henmi situation, how Ella and I wanted them both to live with us, but I was uncertain as to whether or not Alexander would allow it. We decided to ask Alexander about it when he got home.

I then asked her where Alexander had gone off to, so she told me that he had gone to Judas' house to find the key. I was relieved and hoped he would be able to get it back.

When Alexander did arrive, he did indeed have the key, and I was completely thrilled and relieved that he had found it. The sinking feeling that I had felt when I discovered the key to be missing had now been completely washed away.

Ella brought up the Adhemar and Henmi situation to Alexander, and he surprisingly said that they could move in with us.

We yelled in excitement and then raced out the door to go speak with Adhemar and Henmi.

"I can't believe it!" I exclaimed as we raced to the tavern.

"I cannot either!" Ella replied excitedly. "Hurry, Sindor; I want to tell them immediately!"

When we arrived at the tavern, we saw Adhemar sitting at the counter writing out the weekly inventory papers and Henmi stood behind the counter with his arms crossed, looking bored and with nothing to do, as there were not many customers at the tavern at that time. The both of them looked up at us with curiosity at first, and then with confusion, wondering, no doubt, why we were so excited.

Ella ran over and hugged Adhemar tightly, and Adhemar, still confused, hugged Ella back. Ella whispered into Adhemar's ear what Alexander had told us earlier, and Adhemar's face brightened. He kissed Ella's cheek and hugged her tighter in excitement, causing her to blush slightly. I wondered then how much Ella really felt for Adhemar.

I walked over to Henmi, who asked, "What's going on, Sin?"

I took his hands in mine and excitedly said, "Alexander has agreed to let you and Adhemar live with us!"

Henmi blinked in confusion and replied, "But what about the tavern?"

"We do not need it, Henmi," I said, still excited. "You will never have to work again. Oh, this is great; we will both be living together again!" I hugged him abruptly.

Henmi hugged me back, and said, "You'll� you'll live with me again?"

"We'll be in rooms right across from each other," I said. "We'll never be parted again, Henmi, I promise."

Henmi smiled and hugged me tighter.

When I released him, Ella came over to us, hand-in-hand with Adhemar, and said, "Come on, Henmi, we should go get you two packed. You can move in right now, if you like."

Henmi nodded politely and followed the rest of us into the back room.

Inside, Henmi gathered his clothes and stuffed them in a bag, while Adhemar and Ella placed all of Adhemar and Henmi's books and other random possessions in Adhemar's coffin so as to make the load more compacted. Henmi held his bear close to him, insisting that he carry it.

Once everything was packed, Adhemar said, "It will be strange to leave the tavern�"

"I'll miss it�" Henmi said. "This seems too� abrupt."

"Don't worry, Henmi," I soothed. "The school is much nicer, and it will be better for all of us to live together." He nodded in reply.

We decided to leave out the back door as to not draw attention to ourselves.

On the way home, Ella and I insisted that we carry Adhemar's coffin for him. Adhemar offered his thanks and then draped an arm around Henmi, pulling him close to better shield him from the cold.

"Why is Alexander letting us move in?" Henmi asked.

"I don't know�" I replied. "He must have changed his mind. I'm so glad! Now we'll all be together!"

When we arrived back at the school, Alexander was waiting to open the door for us. Once all of us were inside, Ella and I set the coffin down for a moment to give our arms a rest.

Henmi bit his bottom lip nervously and looked to the ground, and then said to Alexander, "Thank you for letting us stay here� now we�ll get to live with Sin� And I have really missed Sin, so� thank you, Alexander."

Alexander smiled and said, "It is no problem, Henmi. You are always welcome here." Henmi looked up and smiled gingerly back at him.

Adhemar crept forward cautiously, and then, when he determined it was safe, he grasped Alexander's hand in his own, shaking it firmly. "Thank you� It means everything to us to be with all of you, so� thank you very much for your kindness, especially towards me. I do not deserve it�" Adhemar looked into Alexander's eyes. "But thank you for everything."

Alexander stared back at Adhemar in silence for a moment, before nodding and shaking Adhemar's hand back. I smiled at their gesture of peace.

Ella said, "Why do we not take your things upstairs? Adhemar, you grab onto that end of the coffin, and I will take the other." They did so, and began walking up the stairs with it, Henmi walking behind them.

Once they reached the top of the stairs, I pulled Alexander into my arms and kissed him deeply. When I broke the kiss, I hugged him tightly and said, "Oh, Alexander, I love you! Thank you so much! I am so happy Henmi isn't working anymore; he'll be no trouble, I promise! And Adhemar will behave, I swear; he's calmed down a lot since being with Henmi. Oh, I'm so happy, Alexander!" I kissed him again.

After a moment, he pulled away and smiled slightly. "I did not see any reason to keep arguing with you and Ella. It is better that I do this to make you happy."

"They will make you happy, too," I replied. "It will be fun, Alexander. We'll have so much that we'll all be able to do now that we're all together."

Alexander nodded, and then brushed a few stray locks of my hair away from my face. "You should go upstairs to help, Sindor. I will be up in a minute; I am going to bring Sebrine up so she can use the other bedroom, so that she does not have to be constantly in the dark basement. Maybe you should warn the others. Sebrine will not hurt them, but Henmi may be startled, nevertheless."

I smiled and nodded, and then ran upstairs.

Ella had picked the room next to hers in the back for Adhemar and Henmi to sleep in. When I entered, I discovered that Adhemar had already placed his coffin inside the closet. Ella and Adhemar were now placing the books on the shelf in the bedside stand, talking and laughing amongst themselves while they were doing so.

Henmi simply looked at the room with slight angst, and said to me, "I� I can't live here, Sin. It's too nice�"

"Henmi, Alexander wants you to live here," I said to him. "It will be like before, Henmi, with father. Life will be easy for you, Henmi, and I promise you won't have to work like you did before anymore."

"But� I can't repay Alexander for anything�" Henmi said regretfully.

"Alexander doesn't expect you to pay for anything," I said simply. "But if you insist on doing something, you can help the rest of us clean up around here when necessary, like cleaning the classroom after the lessons."

Henmi nodded vigorously.

"Oh, Henmi, Alexander is going to bring Sebrine, his pet tiger, upstairs in a moment," I said. "He just wanted you to know so you wouldn't be startled."

Henmi looked at me with wide, confused eyes. "Pet what?"

"Tiger," I said, smiling. "Don't worry; she is very nice. She won't hurt you at all."

Ella and Adhemar finished placing Henmi's belongings on the shelf and walked over to us. Ella said, "What is wrong, Henmi?"

"Alexander has a� a tiger?" Henmi asked with astonishment.

Ella smiled and nodded.

Adhemar said, "Really? How'd he get it?"

"I do not know, really�" Ella replied.

Before anyone could saying anything further, we heard Alexander slowly walking up the stairs, leading Sebrine along side him. I hurried into the hallway to open the door next to mine and Alexander's, the room that would be Sebrine's. Ella, Henmi, and Adhemar came to the door of the room they were in to watch Sebrine go into her new room.

When Alexander reached the top of the staircase with Sebrine, Henmi took a step back and held onto Adhemar's arm in fear.

Sebrine looked up at Henmi questioningly and growled slightly, not recognizing Henmi or Adhemar.

Alexander patted Sebrine's head and said calmly to her, "Sebrine, this is Sindor's brother, Henmi and this is Ella's friend, Adhemar. They are going to be living with us from now on, so you must treat them well."

I knelt down in front of Sebrine and petted her gently. She purred slightly. I said, "Henmi, you want to pet her?"

Henmi shook his head 'no' quickly. He was still very afraid.

Adhemar, however, was more fearless, so he knelt beside me and stroked Sebrine's back and head, and scratched gently behind Sebrine's ears as well. Sebrine purred and pushed the top of her head up into Adhemar's palm, wanting more attention. Adhemar smiled up at Alexander and then turned his attention back to Sebrine, who was quickly taking a liking to Adhemar. Henmi still refused to budge, and he reminded me of when Alexander had first introduced me to Sebrine, which seemed so long ago.

After a moment, Adhemar and I stood up and let Alexander lead Sebrine into her new room.

Ella said to Adhemar and Henmi, "Would you like me to show you around the house?" They both agreed, so the four of us walked around until all of the rooms had been seen.

Afterwards, Ella said to them, "If you are tired, perhaps you should get some rest now, especially you, Henmi. Today has been very exciting, but tiring as well. You may go back to your room if you like, and tomorrow evening we can talk again." They agreed and went back to their room, and Ella went back to hers as well.

I walked into Sebrine's room and found Alexander lying on the bed next to Sebrine, stroking her back gently. I sat down next to him on the bed and asked, "Are you alright, Alexander? You could have joined us if you wanted�"

"I know, Sindor," he answered with a sigh. "I am just not used to having others in the house. I will become accustomed to it, though; do not worry."

I held his hand in mine. "You should have told me� I would have tried to make you feel more at ease�"

He squeezed my hand lovingly. "I did not want to ruin your excitement, Sindor. You looked so happy this evening� I just did not want to alter that."

I felt a my chest tighten with emotion. "Alexander, but I want you to be happy, too. You do not have to do everything that pleases me. You shouldn't put my happiness over yours�"

"But your happiness means the world to me," Alexander said simply. "I can not stand it when it has diminished. I want you to be happy always."

I could feel myself trembling slightly from his speech. I immediately held Alexander to me, whispering to him that I loved him and that he did always make me happy. He wrapped his arms around me and echoed my statements.

A moment later, Sebrine stuck her head between us, demanding more attention, breaking off our embrace. Alexander and I both smiled and began to pet Sebrine again.

We remained in Sebrine's room for the rest of the evening, talking quietly to each other. Just before daybreak, we walked back into our room and climbed into our coffin. I made a mental reminder to myself to remember to visit the tavern the next evening to settle matters with Christian, as I had decided I would give the tavern to him, as he was the hardest worker Henmi and I had. Alexander and I slept peacefully together that evening.

*All the rights to Sindor (the graphics and text included) belong to Leah Jenner. No reproduction or republication without written permission.