Operation Darkness: Reunited
By Dour Watcher and Sylvana Lorrdain 


-Watcher-

I could take it no longer, her crying was tearing me apart. Since I
had found out just who she was, it had become the most difficult
mission I'd ever faced to be by her side, and yet unable to reach out
to her. The universe was on the brink of distruction, who knew if the
end would come before I ever got my chance.

Sometimes you have to make your own chances. I peeled back the
tapestry of light I had woven about myself to make myself invisible to
the naked eye, and slowly moved to where Sylvana huddled, weeping,
upon the great bed. She looked up sharply as I approached, startled
out of her cry. Recognition, after a sort, dawned on her as I
silently sat on the far corner of the bed. 

"Why are you here?" she sniffed and wiped at her eyes with the back of
her left hand. "How'd you get in here?"

Now the time had come, what was I going to say? "I've always been
here." That had to have been one of the less brilliant phrases that
had passed through my brain to my tongue unchecked.

"What are you, some kind of stalker?" she edged back away from me, a
hand surreptitiously reaching for the weapons lying beneath her pillow.

This wasn't going well. "No, I'm your brother."

She raised her eyebrows and smirked, "I've only two brothers, and
they're both dead."

I sighed. "It's me... Salmar Anorhen," I tried my two first names. I
knew for a fact that she hadn't told anyone them.

She frowned, trying to assimilate what I'd said. I realised I still
wore the bluing contacts, and put my hands to my eyes a few moments. 
The charade had to end, completely, here and now. When I looked back
up, I could see her tilt her head as she looked at my gold eyes.

"So you have gold eyes, big deal," she said unconvincingly. "Anor
wasn't blonde."

"Well, hair dye is something that can't be reversed quite as quickly
as coloured contacts can." As a reluctant second thought, I brought a
hand up to my right cheek and rubbed at it to where I could grab at
the synthflesh, and pulled it off, revealing the double scar slashed
down my cheek.

Taking one of her weapons in hand, I suppose she still wasn't certain
what to think. I wouldn't either had I been her and a strange man had
suddenly appeared in my room. She painfully scooted closer, eyeing me
carefully. I sat still, my hands flat on the coverlet to either side
as she visually inspected me. When the grin broke on her face, and
she lunged, I was caught off balance and fell to the floor beneath her
weight. She pulled back and hugged me so tightly, I was afraid I
might lose the ability to breathe. "It really is you!" she cried.

*

-Sylvana-

I couldn't believe it, I thought he was long dead, I'd seen it myself,
and there he was, *right there* only a few feet from me. He'd been
startled as I lunged at him to hug him, and we ended up falling to the
floor. I pulled him back to a seated position, and held on as though
I were afraid to let go. After a moment I could feel him hug me back,
nearly as tightly as I was hugging him, but he pulled away.

"That's quite a grip there, sis," he gasped as he pulled from my clutches.

I couldn't help but laugh nervously, but I didn't care how silly
things seemed. Things were right again!

Almost.

I found myself bursting into tears within moments. He held me again,
as he had when we were children and I had my nightmares... the ones
before my life was changed forever. "What is it?" he asked quietly.

*

-Watcher-

"Arrek's dead," she said blankly, when her tears had finally subsided.
But I shook my head. I'd felt our brother's pain, but I could tell
as I traveled along the web of the flows that he yet lived.

"No, he isn't."

"How can you be sure?"

"I can feel that he's still out there."

I could feel her sense of hoplessness disappear beneath strong
determination. "Can you fly?" she asked suddenly.

"Yeah..?" I looked at her as though she'd grown an extra head. What
was on her mind?

"How do you feel about stealing a ship?" she grinned.

"Stealing a-" then it dawned on me and I couldn't help but smile
myself. "We don't have to, I've got one hidden off the coast."

She stood and started winding her hair up, placing the stilletos,
vibroblades, and laser scalpels in her braid before grabbing a sword
resting by the bed. "Let's go."

"Now?"

"Is later a better time? I'd rather not leave Arrek to those monsters
any longer than he has to be."

At that I sighed, "Unfortunately, he'll have to look out for himself a
little longer. You have a responsibility to defend Terra, and that
comes before family."

"But-"

"No, Vanni. We have to stay long enough to put up a good fight in
this coming battle. After that, we'll see if we can't get away for a
rescue mission."

*

-Sylvana-

"How could you? He's our *brother*!" I couldn't believe him. Yet,
somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew that duty would have to come
first in something as big as this. "I want to go after Arrek. Maybe
you don't feel as loyal to him as I do, having been gone for the last
twenty years or so, but he's probably being tortured out there, *right
now*!"

"I do care," he sighed. "But some things are bigger than ourselves. 
That much I've learned."

I grumbled and moved back to sit at the head of the bed, fold my arms,
and frown at him like a small child. "It's not fair," I pouted.

"Life rarely is. We both know that." He moved forward, "Let me look
at your wound."

"No." I felt betrayed, and the only way I could retaliate just now
was by being stubborn.

"Vanni...."

"No."

"Tough luck, sis." With that he held me still with one hand, while
holding the other above my hip. He tore off the bandage, and I
quickly ceased struggling against him as I watched in fascination
while a sun-like glow eminated from his hand to soak into my skin. I
watched the burn knit itself together and the pain evaporated.

He took his hands away and sat on the end of the bed, "There, was that
*that* bad?"

I sighed, arms still crossed, "No."

*

-Watcher-

We sat in silence for a while, and I waited for her to quit stewing so
we could talk again. Finally she got bored with it and put her hands
down and grabbed her pillow to hug it and look at me. "What now, then?"

I shrugged, "We defend, and then destroy."

"Sounds like fun," she smiled. "Now we just have to think of a way to
put them off guard."

"Oh, that's easy."

"How's that?" she asked curiously.

"I was looking at some information about the Vong today...."

"And?"

"I found out they're obsessed with twins."

"Why?"

"Something to do with their gods. Anyhow, if we let it become general
knowledge that you and I are twins, it may offset them when they see
what we're capable of."

"What... we're capable of?"

I sighed, "That's right... you don't remember everything yet, do you?"

She shook her head, "I do, mostly, but I can't seem to access hardly
anything."

"Let me help you relearn, and unstop those governors for you?"

She grinned, "Gladly."

I smiled, "The sun and moon rise again."

"Rising bright and terrible indeed," she replied. We used to say that
as children when we were sparring in lessons with older, full blooded
Elenari. Sometimes being a half-breed was okay.

We huddled up in the bed then, just as we had when we were children,
and soon fell into a memory-shared sleep. In those shared memories, I
retaught her all she used to know. Then, the teaching rest turned to
complete rest, and we lay huddled together; fast asleep and safe for
the first time, and possibly the last, in decades.