The quiet can be disconcerting ((tag Clark))

[slayers_desire]

It has been a few hours since Clark took April home. In that time, she fed. She bathed. And she tried to lie down for a little bit.

But she can not close her eyes for long. She can not go into a deep slumber. The quiet in her mind is like a blank canvas. Plus, it just gives her more time to go over and over again everything that she experienced.

Slowly, she is remembering the others using her fears against her. The claustrophobia. The flames and the heat of the fire. The fear of losing her children.

"Clark?" He was checking on the children for her, when she got cleaned up.
But April knows that she doesn't have to call out loudly to get his attention.

Comments

[kalel_ofkrypton]

Once the acorn is planted into the earth, and covered up, Clark shows her how to water it. "And now, we wait for it to grow."

[slayers_desire]

"How long do you have to wait?" Daphne's hand are covered with dirt, and she sits down to study the mess on her fingers.

"A seed could take month to grow... but here..." April concentrates, thinking of her children, of Jonathan and Laura, and sends her love into the ground where the acorn is buried.

[kalel_ofkrypton]

Clark senses what she's doing through the bond, and adds his own loving thoughts of their children.

[slayers_desire]

Their love does what they intend, and within moment, the buried acorn produces not one -- but two little sprouts. Daphne claps her hands in excitement, and throws her muddy hands around Clark's neck out of pure joy.

"You did it. You are amazing!"

"Atropos was the most confusing. She said that pain must be paid, and it must hurt."

[kalel_ofkrypton]

Well that sounds... slightly more ominous. He frowns a little. "Did she give you anything?"

[slayers_desire]

"No. Nothing at all." Daphne bites her bottom lip nervously.

"Atropos was the crone. And while the crone does represent death... she can also represent sacrifice. It would tie into the others... innocence. Love. Sacrifice." April suggests softly.

[kalel_ofkrypton]

Clark certainly hopes that doesn't mean someone will have to die in the mindscape. Maybe they can just use their own memories of that sort of sacrifice instead. "I know which two of the three I liked better."

[slayers_desire]

April thinks for a moment. Then after a moment, she comes up with a suitable sacrifice. "Every time I need it, you sacrifice for me, by letting me feed off you. The fact that you are willing to give of yourself for my survival..."

"Maybe that would work?" She knows the bite doesn't actually hurt. But there was a time when she had mental pain from taking the blood from him.

[kalel_ofkrypton]

"Yes." His answer comes without hesitation. And in the mindscape, they won't need kryptonite either. This is one sacrifice he'll gladly make over and over again.

[slayers_desire]

It is a little strange with Daphne watching them, even though she is just a part of April's mind. So she just concentrates on that knowledge. Then leans in to bite into his neck, so Daphne can see the sacrifice for herself.

The dryad gives a confused little gasp. But she does truly understand what Atropos was trying to say to her.

April can't see it, but both the dryad and the tree glow soft purple.

[kalel_ofkrypton]

Clark closes his eyes a little at the bite, so familiar to him now, giving of himself to his love. It is a bit weird to be watched during the process, but it's a part of April, and he supposes there's little reason to be self-conscious about it.

[slayers_desire]

After April releases the bite, she looks at the glowing tree and the glowing Dryad. "The power of the voices. It is here."

"Only the good part. The innocence. The love. The sacrifice." Daphne smiles, standing to rock on her toes again. "Those nasty bats tried to steal our true essence. They couldn't."

((bed))

[kalel_ofkrypton]

"Of course they couldn't," Clark says. "It's hard to steal what you cannot understand."

[slayers_desire]

"Am I going to be able to use them, through you?" April is very nervous about the question. So much depends on it.

"Once they blossom fully.... yes." Daphne answered.

"Blossom?" April looks up to the leaves of the tree, that are yet to bud. She has a feeling that the statement might mean they have to find a way to get the leaves open.

[kalel_ofkrypton]

Clark thinks so too, and he doubts it will be as easy as willing it to be in another season, like before. "The tree needs to grow."

[slayers_desire]

"It does." Daphne touches the tree tenderly. When she does, April sort of realizes that there is more significance to Daphne's own apparent age.

"She is a teenager, because that is the stage the tree is stuck in right now."

[kalel_ofkrypton]

"So she needs to grow, too." It makes sense.

[slayers_desire]

"The significance of innocence, love and sacrifice has already helped her mature a little today. But maybe there is something more we can do. How do you help a teenager to grow?"

[kalel_ofkrypton]

Their children aren't teenagers yet, so he can't speak from much personal experience, but he remembers well what it was like to be one himself. "Teach and guide them, encourage their triumphs and help them work through their failures, give them the space they need to discover what person they're going to be."

[slayers_desire]

"So a lot of time and dedication on our end." April knows that it can't be too easy. But she just really wishes it could be.

[kalel_ofkrypton]

"Just like with real kids. But it's well worth it."

[slayers_desire]

"It is worth it, to not have to deal with that doll." April leans on him. Daphne has occupied herself by braiding a few roots/hair strands together.

"I just hoped to have things go back to normal, a little faster."

[kalel_ofkrypton]

Clark hugs her, in full agreement. "Me too. But I'll take what we can get."

[slayers_desire]

She strokes her fingers through his hair. "It is good news. That there is a path available to us."

"I might not be complete for awhile, but... with your help, I will get there."

[kalel_ofkrypton]

"I guess... in a way, your voices had to grow up too. We'll learn about them together."