Biting her lip, Megan closed her eyes briefly. “Thank you for being here. No matter what happens, I’m pleased it’s you that’s here.”
My chest burned at her words. Putting my forehead to hers, I kissed her nose. I would always be there for my best friend, no matter what happened. But, for some reason, I couldn’t find the strength to say the words.
“Always,” I whispered instead.
The doctor came in and all became a blur, yet again. He spoke to Megan throughout, telling her what they were going to do. I stayed by her head so I couldn’t see what was going on. It took no longer than a few minutes from them saying they were going in to when they were pulling the baby out.
“Okay, she’s out. I’m afraid she’ll have to go straight to the intensive care unit.” The doctor handed the prone, silent child to a nurse, who wrapped her in a blanket and whisked her out of the room. Megan burst into loud tears. Holding her, I closed my eyes as she clung to me. It wasn’t until a drop of water on my hand made me open them that I realised I was crying too. My friend’s heart was breaking…and so was mine.
“She’s going to be okay.” I tried to reassure her.
Megan nodded against my shoulder, wiping her tears on my surgery gown at the same time. She trusted me so completely. I really hoped I was right. If Megan lost her child now, I would never forgive myself.
Chapter Thirteen
“She’s alive!” I announced to my family and friends as I walked out of the lift.
A cheer went up around the room. They had all been waiting patiently since I had phoned Virgo the night before. Taurus told me that he had let everyone know what was going on with Megan. I had scowled at first, but I quickly realised that my life was never going to be private. Ever. And, that was something I had chosen.
“Leo, I’m so glad you’re okay.” Virgo flung her little arms around me, hugging me tight.
I hugged her back, pleased that she had forgiven me for blowing fire at her accidentally. The whole tribe was there, waiting for news on Megan. Why did they care so much for someone they had never met?
“What are you all doing here?”
Even my mother and father were hovering at the back of the crowd, hiding so I didn’t make a big deal.
“Cancer told us about Megan. Whoever is important to you is important to us. You know that.” Pisces came forward, placing her hand on my arm. Antony stayed back, giving us our space.
My other siblings moved forward, leaving their partners behind. They surrounded me so all I could see was them. Every single one of them. All eleven. Capricorn, with her fuzzy black hair. Libra, with her long thin legs. Saggie, with her flame red hair.
“You’ve blocked us out of your journey, Leo. We know something is going on, we can feel it.” Aries stood by my side, his presence strong and masculine.
Glancing over their heads, I made eye contact with our father. He nodded, telling me that he was there. Ready to help.
“I’m sorry. I…you’re going to hate me, but I can’t unite with my twin flame in this lifetime.”
The room was deadly silent. It sounded like no one even breathed. I kept my gaze lowered, staring at the ground. Considering I was so tall, I was technically looking down on Virgo’s head.
“Why?” Virgo’s question wasn’t full of hatred or anger like I expected.
Looking up, I kept eye contact with her. “Because I’ve put her through hell in our previous lifetimes. I can’t do that to her again. She wants a normal life. And, so do I.”
“You’re prepared to put our mission at risk? When it’s going so well?” Capricorn wasn’t one to hold back her words.
I glanced at her. “I don’t have a choice. It’s not the same for us as it is you. We don’t feel…” I didn’t want to go into too much detail. The risk of hurting them with my fire made it hard to say anything at all. I didn’t know what I could and couldn’t say.
“I need you all to leave us,” Father announced in a booming voice to get everyone’s attention when they all started to talk at once.
They went quiet, staring at him before they wandered off to their bedrooms. Some of the single siblings still shared a room, which made it harder for them to function. Scorpio shook his head, going to the lift instead.
“You don’t want to stay and find out how we’re going to work around this?” My father confronted the grumpy water sign.
Scorpio’s face stayed deathly blank as he shook his head again and stepped into the lift, not taking his gaze away as the doors closed. I understood why he was so upset. I would be furious if I was in his shoes.
“Let’s sit.” Father went towards the kitchen area.
I followed him, suddenly noticing that my mother was still in the room. She moved around, making tea. How typical of her to make tea. All the females in the house did the same. I lowered myself on to a chair as an image of Megan’s tiny baby came into my mind. They had let me see her before I left the hospital. She would have to stay in for a long while, but they had high hopes for her.
My father sat down next to me, facing me straight on. “There’s something you can’t tell me, isn’t there?”
I nodded, my mouth clamped shut so no fire could escape. Just in case the universe or Moron thought that I was telling them something.
“It’s okay, I’ve seen this before.”
“You have?”
Mother came and sat on the other side of the breakfast bar, putting hot mugs of tea in front of us. I thanked her, not taking a sip, but instead staring at my dad.
“Yes. I can’t give you any details, just like you can’t give me any. But, know that I will try my best to help you.”
He knew. Well, he didn’t technically know, but he knew that something stopped me from telling them what was going on. A long deep breath exhaled out of me as tears came to my eyes. Just having him understand that there was something I couldn’t speak about made my shoulders relax for the first time that day.
“You have no idea how much of a relief it is that you know I can’t talk.” I didn’t say anymore, just in case the fire decided to erupt out of me.
“Leo, this might sound a little…”
“Airey fairy,” Mother added when Father tried to find the right word.
She was on the same wavelength, which helped. Having the pair of them to help me in whatever way they could would make life so much more bearable.
“Oh dear, here we go,” I said, smiling at them when my mother pretended to slap me around the head.
“Do you ever try to talk to…the universe? You know that you’ve signed up for this mission. You know that you’re a love warrior, here to defeat Nick and the Dysfunctionals, but do you ever wonder who put you here? Who made all this possible?
Clearing my throat, I stared at him, unable to look away. “Please don’t get all…”
He waved his hand in front of him. “No, I don’t mean that. Just…the universe is a very big place, made up of a lot of energy.”
“Actually, I have spoken to…” My throat burned, so I stopped talking.
Telling them about Moron was impossible considering he was involved with my time travel trips. I would have to be really careful going forward.
“Well, speak to whoever it was again. Ask him for the answer to your problem. There’s answers out there when it seems like there’s no solution. Trust me. Look at me and your mother. We love each other, but we’re not together, because that love changed. Our mission regarding our relationship in this lifetime has ended. That’s not to say we’re not united, we are. Even though it might not look like it.”
Father must somehow know what was going on in my life. I had announced to the family that I wasn’t going to unite with my soulmate, but he hadn’t said a word. He hadn’t even blinked now I thought about it. And, both parents were the ones I was really worried about. The ones I felt I was letting down the most, even with everything that had happened with them.
“That helps more than you know.”
“I thought so. Leo, we don’t know all the answers. We have no idea how each lifetime plays out, but we remember each pattern. There are other ways to unite with your twin flame…if you’re not destined to be together in a lifetime.”
Letting out my breath, I glanced between the two of them. Mother gazed at my father, a small smile on her face. They respected each other now, more than they had done when they were together. It changed the whole dynamic of their relationship. Bev, our father’s wife, seemed to help with that.
“You might think that because we lost our way, we don’t care anymore, but our mission is still clear. You mean everything to us. Everything.” My mother’s eyes watered as she took my hand and squeezed. “More than anything, we want you to be happy.”
Just their words meant a lot. For a while, I had felt like they were more interested in their lives. Which was fair enough, but their dictation of our own lives at the same time was too contradictory for me.
“I know what I need to do,” I announced, getting up from my chair. “Thank you.”
Hugging them both, I waved goodbye as I made my way up the stairs. Virgo hovered on the top, looking down at her feet. Reaching her, I was about to apologise when she threw herself against me and wrapped her arms around my waist.
“Don’t even say it, I know it was an accident.”
Taking a deep breath, I held her tight, letting her know without words how grateful I was to her for protecting me earlier. The outcome of our conversation could have been so much worse. But, there was no point worrying about something that hadn’t happened.
“I need your help.” Her whisper was so silent, I almost didn’t hear it.
I pulled her away from me to look down into her eyes. “What is it?”
My petite sister blinked as she looked up at me. Her face dropped as she stared at the floor, instead of telling me what was wrong. It wasn’t like the down to earth woman to be shy about talking. Usually she knew her own mind better than anyone.
“Not here,” she whispered. “At work.”
Frowning, I nodded. If she needed me to visit her work, I would step in and help her. She had always been independent, scarily so. Yet, I wouldn’t ignore her if she needed help. Why she asked me, I didn’t know.
“Don’t worry,” she said, looking up at my face. “I don’t mean right away. Just, when you have a free day. It’s not important.”
“Oh, that’s okay, then. I thought my level headed sister was losing her grounding. We can’t have that, can we?”
She frowned before a smile blossomed on her face. “You’ve been so serious lately, I’ve forgotten how annoying you really are.”
Smacking my arm, she pushed me gently. I smiled, nodding in agreement. I was a joker usually, but life had got more serious recently. Once I sorted my union, I would be able to get on with everything else. Including fame.
“You’ve got somewhere to be. I can tell…go.”
Tapping the end of her nose, I left her and went to my room. Locking the door, I lowered myself to the bed. Amelia had said that I just needed to relax and think of Moron. A snort escaped me as an image of Moron with long flowy hair, flicking in the wind, came to my mind. That wasn’t the type of thought Amelia had meant.
Opening my eyes to clear the image, I grinned to myself. I was ready to get back to singing. To follow my dream. The last thing I needed was a creepy figure and lovely woman hanging around. Amelia was fantastic, but she was right, we couldn’t be together in this lifetime the way the others were.
Trying again, I closed my eyes and thought of Moron and the dark cave. The wind whipped around my body and when I opened my eyes, I shouted in excitement. The dripping walls were there, so was the dank smell. Moron stood below the glass, not next to it.
“Leo, you finally listened.” His slow eerie voice echoed throughout the chamber, but for once, I wasn’t creeped out by it.
“I’m good at listening…to myself.”
His chuckle was long and loud. I blinked at the odd sound coming from him. The figure actually had a sense of humour. That was something I hadn’t expected. Not in all the years I had known him.
The laughter died away and the figure’s hood regarded me. “You’ve come so far.”
“How far is it to here?”
I genuinely wanted to know more. Who was the figure? Where was the cave? Was it on earth? Or, some other place in the universe?
“So many questions that you’ll never have the answer to. Like all humans, Leo. Remember one thing…you may be a love warrior, able to do things that normal humans can’t, but right now, you’re also mainly human. So, you’re learning as much as everyone else. And, that means there’s questions you’ll never know the answer to in this lifetime.”
Getting to my feet, I approached the figure. He didn’t move away as I came close to him. The dark hood hung low over his face, shielding what he looked like underneath. The urge to reach out a hand and fling the hood back was almost too much. But, I resisted.
“You better not be some hot woman with a deep voice under there. I could’ve done with a nice face to be greeted by every time you dragged me here.”
His chuckle was short. The smell of him was as musty as the cave. There was no way he was anything other than a pasty man. Or, the spiritual equivalent.
“You said I had come so far. I have learnt a lot. And, now I need your help. I need to know how to unite with Amelia without being in a relationship with her. Without cheating on Freddie when we go into a past life. You have the answer for that, I know you do.”
My father’s prompting had made me believe that Moron would be able to tell me how to achieve my goal. I didn’t want much, just my freedom at the same time as working something out. I was happy to be united with Amelia somehow, but she didn’t want the typical love relationship. I had to respect that.
“It’s good that you respect her,” Moron said, obviously reading my mind. “You’ve grown so much since you met her in this lifetime. Before that, you never took life seriously. I know you’ll go back to your old ways soon, but it’s been refreshing to see this other side to you.”
I was about to roll my eyes when he laid a hand on my arm. It poked through the long cloak he wore. His fingers were long, old and thin. Yet, the warmth surprised me. I expected him to be cold. Maybe even dead. It was funny how I had perceived him to be something he wasn’t, just because he hid himself.
“Can we do it? Is there a way for us to unite without being in a romantic relationship? Without feeling like we’re being unfaithful when we travel back?”
Moron’s hood nodded. My breath rushed out of me as he took his hand away and moved to the glass. “You have learnt what you needed to in regards to Amelia this lifetime. You’ve not tried to force her to do something she doesn’t want to do. You’ve not given up at the first sign of her either. You could have sabotaged your trips back to the past, but you didn’t.”
To ruin our missions in the past had never even entered my mind. I knew when something was my duty. I wouldn’t go against that if I had signed up for it. Yet, that was my own choice. Uniting with Amelia in a romantic relationship…that was the choice of two people. And neither of us felt that way about each other in this lifetime.
“Please will you tell me how we can do this?”
Moron sighed, his shoulders slumping slightly. “I knew this day would come, yet, I find that I grieve the idea of not seeing you anymore. Well, not physically anyway. I’ll always guide you obviously.”
“You’re my guide? Seriously?”
As he nodded his agreement, I knew it was the truth. Why else would he be the one I saw when I travelled back?
“I am. Always have been, always will be. But, let me tell you how you can achieve your ultimate mission in this lifetime.”
I nodded, keeping my mouth shut. I was ready to know, and hopefully achieve, my union with Amelia. I wouldn’t be letting anyone down if we could still unite our souls in this lifetime.
“Your lessons
are done in regards to your time travel, although you still have many lifetimes to visit, so don’t think it’s over. However, the way for you and Amelia to unite is for you both to keep going back in time to change the outcome of the past so you’re united then. By agreeing to that, you will automatically unite in this lifetime.”
“But, that will feel like cheating every time.”
Moron held up his hand. “I haven’t finished.”
Snapping my mouth shut, I waited for him to go on. My skin burned as I held back all the insults I wanted to throw at him. He was supposed to be helping, not waffling on.
“If both of you agree to it, you’ll no longer remember your travel. At night, in your dreams, you’ll work in the past, on your mission. When you wake, you will have no idea what happened. It will be as if you don’t have dreams.”
If we couldn’t remember, we wouldn’t feel like we were being dishonest to our partners. It would be as if it hadn’t happened. Because it would be the past life playing out, not our current one. As a thought came into my mind, Moron answered it before I could even open my mouth.
“When you travel back, it will be completely different. You’ll have no idea that you’re Leo and Amelia. You will be grounded in that life fully, so neither life is technically effected.” Moron tapped the glass with his finger and a picture came up on it.
Flashes of the different lives I had visited played out in front of me. Me and Amelia in other bodies, other times. It was a reminder of all that we had shared together.
“Will I forget everything in this lifetime? This? Meeting Amelia?”
Moron shook his head. The air rushed from my lungs as warmth flowed all over me. I didn’t want to forget absolutely everything. It was a part of me.
“You need to remember this, so if you come across Amelia in the future, you know what’s happening. Remember, the learning doesn’t stop just because you’re united. Life still makes you grow somehow. Look at your mother and father. They’re still constantly going through their own lessons.”
That was true. My mother and father had hurt each other, even though they knew their mission. Aries’ and Natalie had many experiences coming up for them that would test their love.
Leo Page 14
