LOTS - CARA/KAHLAN

Binding

racethewind10

Title: Binding

Pairing: Cara/Kahlan (Though mostly a Cara centric fic)

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: The Legend of the Seeker and its characters are not mine. No infringement intended.

Summary: A companion piece to “Unbound” Cara’s point of view of the events of the episode. I just had to explain how Kahlan got pulled onto Cara’s lap.

Binding

racethewind10

“You’ll be fine once the spell is removed.” She says the words, but Cara isn’t sure who she’s trying to convince.

“Its Richard I’m worried about. Once the spell is broken, Nikki will be able to use her magic.”

Cara feels the familiar heat of frustration crowd her chest. “Richard can handle Nikki,” she says. And he can, its just…that’s not what she really means,

She snaps at Zed to hurry, even though a part of her – the part of her that has become harder to ignore the longer she travels with the motley group – tells her he is doing her best and she shouldn’t take her anger out on him.

She knows that, and she doesn’t care. She needs to do something, to fight something. She can’t just sit here and watch…

What, exactly?

Because there is another part of Cara that knows this wire tightness in her muscles and this pounding of her heart is irrational. After all, Kahlan is merely an asset: A valuable one of course, but an asset nonetheless. What does Cara care if the Mother Confessor is central to the prophecy to defeat the Keeper? She doesn’t, is the answer. Cara’s purpose – a Mord Sith’s purpose – is to serve the Lord Rahl.

Nothing less.

Nothing more.

And yet…

“If I die, make sure Richard knows it wasn’t his fault.”

She wants to shake Kahlan, to scream at her not to give up, to fight. She wants to hit her until that familiar heat flashes in eyes the color of glacial pools and Kahlan threatens her because at least then…at least then Cara would know that Kahlan was going to be alright. But she does none of that.

Instead she hold’s Kahlan’s gaze, and her hand, and promises, “You’re not going to die.”

She just doesn’t know who she is promising.

When the Confessor collapses, and fear – a terrible, wrenching fear the likes of which Cara has not known since she became a full fledged Mord Sith – steals her breath, tearing Kahlan’s name from her lips, Cara thinks it might be herself.

That fear and anger tear wounds inside her, and the warrior snarls at Kahlan’s father when he tries to get in her way. Very carefully not looking at the man, or Zed, she pulls Kahlan’s too still form onto her lap, knowing it is futile, and yet unable to ignore the need to protect the other woman, even in this small way.

She feels helpless, and suddenly very alone.

She wants to hate Kahlan for that; for this weakness that is now a part of her. But all she can do is hold the unconscious woman and count each unsure rise and fall of her chest, measuring the agonizing seconds until…

Eyelids flicker, revealing sky blue irises, and Cara could swear that time seems to resume its normal pace.

~*~

After that it’s over quickly. Zed pulls off the spell, Kahlan has a lovely chat with her mother, they reunite with Richard, and it even appears that Nikki is out of the picture for a while.

Richard is relieved, Zed is happy, and Kahlan is all smiles. Everything is fine.

But Cara sees the flinch, quickly suppressed, when Zed goes to clap Kahlan on the shoulder.

Cara can sense the brittleness when Richard wraps his arms around her.

Cara can see the hunch of proud shoulders…as if the Confessor is waiting for an invisible blow.

Its why that night, while Richard and Zed sleep, their soft snores carried into the night air along with dancing sparks from their fire, Cara watches Kahlan, and when the other woman rises from her bedroll and wanders away from the fire’s light, Cara follows.

“Shouldn’t you be asleep, you’ve had a long day.”

Fin