Mature: Desert Moon

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad released the book he'd been holding and jumped to his feet. "Tenele? Does it hurt?" he asked, not quite touching her as he bent to see her face.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele shook her head. "No," she replied quietly. "I just remembered yesterday. For a second in my dreamy state it all seemed like a terrible dream. And then, I tried to recall the day after yesterday and couldn't. Then, I remembered it wasn't a dream at all. So I thought, if I squeeze my head hard enough, I'll forget yesterday too." She lifted her face and smiled at him. "It didn't work. I'm sorry if I startled you."

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad sat back down slowly. "You're safe. We're going to get it all back."

"Lady Dracul, is there anything you'd like me to bring you?" the nurse asked helpfully. Vlad shot a glare at her, thoroughly confusing the woman.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele blinked at the woman. "I, ugh, no. I'm okay. Thank you," she whispered, settling back against the pillows again. She closed her eyes. "Tenele. Tenele Dracul. That's my name. You are my husband. I have a daughter named Tenara and a brother named.... named... Damn it. Talon! That's it. Talon... I'm the adopted daughter to a Queen, but I'm not in line for the thrown. I'm a warrior..."

Tenele flinched, taking a ragged breath. She shook her head, like forcibly shaking a bad thought from her mind. "Okay. Okay..." Her eyes darted around until they settled on the stack of books near him. "What are you reading?"

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad looked at the heavily dog-eared books strewn all over the floor. "I saw an animal...just before I got to you yesterday. It was unfamiliar, so I started looking for its name."

[Emora Deen]

Tenele nodded. "Do you think that's why I can't remember anything? If we find it, maybe we can figure out how to get my memories back!" Tenele grew instantly excited. Her heart swelled happily. "I won't have to be afraid anymore. I'm sure the regular me is a much braver person. She married you." Tenele smirked at him.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad smiled at that. "Well, the good news is that I have some leads. The bad news is that it's only in these," he shoved the cryptozoology pile with his foot, "Not in these," he gestured to an abandoned pile of zoology indexes.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele scrunched up her nose. "Oh," she muttered. "Well... it might take a little while..." She fiddled with the sheet. "I guess, if it takes a while.... we should get to know each other in the mean time. I mean, we have a daughter together... And we shouldn't make this hard on her..." Tenele rubbed her arms. "How do we have a daughter, exactly?"

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad smirked. "It's complicated. Think you can handle it, or will you need a nap again if I tell you?"

[Emora Deen]

"I can handle it," she replied, nodding. At least, she strongly hoped she could. But, then a thought jolted her and she blinked her gaze into focus. "It didn't... I mean, she isn't a result of..." Tenele wrapped her arms around herself.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad blinked, not understanding at first. "She is mine," he assured her. "How do you think she got so clever?"

[Emora Deen]

"That is good," Tenele breathed, blinking the misty look from her eyes. "I am glad she is yours and not the result of something like what happened.... yesterday." Tenele was working very hard to erase that from her memory. She was determined to make it just a small little dust compared to the overall picture of her life. She believed that once she got her memories back that would be made easier. There would be more things to drown it with. "Well, I'm not sure how she can be yours, but I am happy for it. Miracles happen in very unlikely places."

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad smiled. "She has a second father also. The god of darkness was pestering you because he had a nonexistent relationship with your birthmother, the goddess of life. So a friend of ours teamed up with me to join our souls. That let us destroy the god that was bugging you, and as a bonus, it made it possible for us to have children." He smirked and prepared to watch her digest that little tidbit.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele blinked at him and then started laughing. She wrapped her arms around her stomach and leaned back into the bed with a wince. "Oh, wow," she sighed. "That was an interesting story. Really, the Goddess of Life? Did I marry you for your imagination?" She reached over and tapped his temple lightly.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad smirked. "I'm pretty sure I gave you some other reasons as well," he teased, slipping into a bedroom voice before he could stop himself. He hoped this Tenele had a sense of humor about such things, after what she'd been through.