章節 28: The Wedding Night

Every moment passed like an eternity for Tony as he waited for her answer. Her warm breath on his arm gave him no comfort as he wished for her words.

He heard a soft groan and he looked at her. Her eyes were closed and she breathed deeply.

She is asleep. She must have been too tired she was mumbling something inaudible. He patted her head gently. She needs this rest. He couldn't keep his eyes off her. Her hand was inside his and it gave him a sense of relief.

But…

Tony took in a deep breath.

What will you do if you find out the truth? Will you still look at me the same?

-----

Marcella couldn't sleep well. She had a lot of nightmares.

She had a dream where she was at the top of a mountain. Her sister was in front of her with a pretty smile, teasing her to follow her. Marcella ran behind her sister as she always did.

But suddenly, a vulture flew right at her head holding something in its claw. Marcella cried for her sister only to find her sister's lifeless body on the ground. Her fingers were missing.

The vulture now chased Marcella. It dropped the thing that it was holding in its claw on Marcella. It was her sister's ring finger.

Suddenly, everything around her turned dark.

Screeching in fear, Marcella ran. She ran and ran until her feet bled toward the light she saw at the far end. But it was a cliff. She was trapped. The vulture was chasing her and in front of her was a deep chasm.

The light in front of her turned red and as she observed, she figured it was an eye of a raven. With darkness and uncertainty around her the raven appeared to be her last hope. She just wanted the raven to be with her even if it didn't fight off the vulture for her. She needed someone by her side.

The raven looked at her and with a quick flutter of its wings it turned to leave.

"No!" Marcella screamed as the only hope she had was leaving her. "Don't leave me!" she cried. "I do not want to be alone."

As the flickering light retreated, from the abyss, rose a bird with a large wingspan. It invoked fear in her heart of its sheer size. It was a giant eagle—majestic as it rose to the clouds and strong as it descended at her! And when it opened its beak, it made a noise like that of a bald eagle.

Marcella didn't get the urge to run from the eagle although it looked more terrifying than the vulture and the darkness around her. The blue eyes of the eagle, bred peace in her heart.

She saw the vulture that was terrorizing her until moments ago trying to fly away to save its life. One call of the giant eagle… Poof! The vulture burst out like an overblown balloon. Even its feathers didn't touch her as the mighty flap of the eagle created a gust of wind that blew them away from her.

"I'm here," the eagle said.

She held out her hands unable to control her grin. The rough claws of the eagle held her hands. Before she knew it, she flew with the eagle high up the mountains above everything that breaths.

Amazing!

-----

Tony kissed her forehead. "Yes, I am here. I am not going to leave you…" he blew on her face. The baby hair falling on her forehead waved in glee and her lips curved up even in her sleep.

Sleep well, Birdie!

He thought he was the one who couldn't sleep. But she was having a disturbed sleep the whole night. She kept on mumbling something inaudible.

Except when she said not to leave her alone.

Yeah, no one would want to be alone. Everyone thought she wanted to be alone after she left her home. But he always knew that she missed her family.

"I will never leave you, birdie… I'm going to take you to higher places. We are going to fly high…" he hugged her.

He couldn't believe that he was on the bed with HER! It's their wedding night and he is on her bed! He was stopped back then. She was so cute then.

After all these years, he finally got to sleep together.

He pressed his cheek on her arm. He was spooning her and she didn't let go of his hand even when she fell asleep. For some reason, she went silent after that.

He tried to stay awake in case she got scared. But he couldn't keep his eyes open. He tried to sit on the bed to keep himself awake but she was holding his hand. He couldn't move.

Before he knew it, he fell asleep too. After a very long time, he had a dreamless sleep. He could rest well.