The Carpenter and the Lady

[Ian McCorrmick]

"IAN! LOOK OUT!" The scream hit him justbefore the hammer did. "OW! God almight Scotty, what was that for?" Ian swore as he picked up the hammer on the scaffolding next to him that had just hit him in the chest. "Well it would have been for you to catch if you were PAYING ATTENTION, stupid!" Scotty said angrily as he lowered himself down on the rope to hang next to the scaffold Ian was sitting lazily on. "What gives? All day you've been out of it. If I didn't know any better I'd say your mind was on the girl instead of your work." Scotty said in an accusatory way. Ian's stupid smile returned and he leaned back against the ship that they were repairing. "I can't lie to you Scotty, she has been on my mind since I met her."

Rolling his eyes, Ian's compatriot set his foot on the scaffolding, but before he could start his scolding Ian started up again. "Do you think she's thinking about me too? I wonder where she is, what she's doing right now. Maybe she's playing with her daughter... " He paused and his face contorted for a moment. "Hey, Scotty, you think I would make a good dad?" He took a minute to think it over. "I suppose that depends on how old her daughter is. I've always wanted a daughter, and it doesn't really bother me that it wouldn't be my own. Besides, any child of a woman like that has to be perfect. I could be a good father, don't you think, Scotty?"

Scotty sighed. "Yeah, Ian, you'd be a great dad, but you're not going to be an employed potential dad if you don't get back to work. It's a right fine mess you're in... you haven't done a damn thing all day and no matter how much I like you I'm not taking the fall if Bill finds out you've been lollygaggin'." Ian waved him off with a chuckle. "Bill's too hungover from last night to find out much of anything, don't worry about it." Scotty grit his teeth. "My point is you have to get your head back in the game. I hit you with a hammer, doesn't it worry you that you're going to fall or something?"

"How am I going to find her again? There must be a hundred Kahlan's in this city... and I don't even know her last name! I could always ask around I guess... do you think she'll come back?" Scotty couldn't take it anymore and lowered himself down to the next scaffold. "Greg, I don't know how much more I can take of this. We have to find this girl to shut him up." Greg chuckled. "Come on Scotty, I've never seen Ian so happy. Let it run its course. You were the one always bugging him to get a date anyhow." Scotty sighed again, because he knew there was nothing he could say to that.

"I'm sure she'll turn up, Ian, you're a good guy, and you did take a beer bottle for you. The girl owes ya at least a second date for that!" Greg called up and Ian's blue eyed face popped over the side of the scaffold and grinned down. "Come on down from there ya moron, it's almost quitting time anyhow!" Scotty said, annoyed. Ian began to lower himself to the dock, hammer in hand. When he got to the bottom and shoved it into Scotty's hands with faux annoyance. "That hurt, you bastard." Scotty grinned. "That'll learn you not to daydream on the job, loverboy." Ian play punched him in the shoulder and just began to coil the weigh lines. Maybe she'd come back, but no matter what he would find her sooner or later.

[Kahlan Lothair]

The day had been one full of distractions. Kahlan had barely been able to concentrate on anything that needed her express attention. However, unlike Ian, Kahlan was the boss and could do as she pleased. The attitude never made a great leader, but Kahlan was allowed a few days reprieve from being the Queen, wasnt she?

Lazily Kahlan wandered around the town proper before realizing her feet were set for the Docks again. By heaven above, she couldnt possibly see him again! Yet her heart spoke volumes for her and she had to refrain from racing to the docks like a young school girl.

Today, instead of pants and a shirt, Kahlan wears an off the shoulder pale green gown with a corset top and fluted skirt. Thankful for the short short sleeves, Kahlan wanders along the Wharf until she comes to the docks. She hadn't thought to hide herself under a cloak today. Absolutely aglow in the late afternoon sunlight, Kahlan hurries toward the area she'd run into Ian the evening before.

Kahlan fussed with the loose braid over her right shoulder as she picked her way through the crowd milling about on the docks. A few narrow brushes with the edge of the dock and after pushing through a few crowds Kahlan emerges near to where Ian had been working. Meandering along the dock, Kahlan searches for him looking more like a gentle beacon with her sun kissed flesh and delicate shoulders bared due to the make of her dress. With a fist full of skirts she gets on her tiptoes and searches for Ian until she comes to the boat he had been working on.

As when they met Ian's back was to Kahlan and she smirked. "Do you walk like that out of habit, Carpenter?" Kahlan waved from where she was on the dock and smiled brightly. She hadnt caught the relieved looks on the faces of all present as she made her presence known. She had eyes for Ian alone.

[Ian McCorrmick]

Ian turned around with a start. He thought he recognized the voice, and his heart leapt at the prospect. When his blue eyes met the golden haired beauty of his dreams he thought he might explode. Scooping her up in a giant hug he swung her around in a circle and kissed her just as he let her toes touch the docks beneath her. "I thought you wouldn't come back, I had no idea how to find you!" He exclaimed with absolutely no intention of releasing her. Scotty looked on with the near bitter taste of jealousy in his mouth. "I can't help but wish I was in his shoes, Greg. Look at that woman... she's beautiful." Greg nodded. "Ian will treat her well."

Looking around Ian spotted the foreman swiveling his head. "He's probably looking for me... come on!" He said as he grabbed a hold of Kahlan's hand and took off weaving through the crowd down the docks. At one point the rocks came up high enough for him to step down onto them and help her afterwards. Down at the bottom of the jetty towards the underside of the pier was a small pebble beach. It was only a thin sliver of land under the docks almost completely consumed by the black sea rocks on either side of it. The receeded tide revealed a cornicopia of little shells and polished stones left as a secret treasure by the ebbing waves.

"I come down here after work sometimes... well, before I met you that is. It was the only place I felt really peaceful at. I used to come down and play a few bars of some of the songs from back home once everyone cleared the docks because it's peaceful. It goes away when the tides come in, but it's good enough at low tide. Mainly I just like it because the sunset is spectacular..." He trailed off and looked up towards the pink shafts of light filter through the cracks in the pier down onto the shells of the pebble beach.

The waves were lit up with purples and corals as the fading sunlight danced on the water. "My dad, he was an old sailor before he settled down. A few times a year he would take me to the faires in Camelot and to see the bay. I know he settled down on the farm for my mother, she was born out there, and I don't think he regrets a day of his decision... but I also don't think there's a moment that goes by that somewhere his mind is on the ocean. That was part of the reason I first got a job in Camelot... So I could be closer to it. And now it brought me here..." He looked down with a smile and squeezed her hand.

Stooping down he picked up a shell. It was small and flat with a shiny mother of pearl surface and looked well worn from the waves. It was some kind of spiral shelled mollusk's top half. "Here." He said placing the shell in her hand. "Throw it in, and make a wish..." The silly little game provoked another smile on his face like he was remembering something pleasent. The vitality in that smile was overwhelming. It was not so much that Ian was that attractive, or that charismatic, or even that charming... it was the sense of life, the energy he held inside of him that burned like a constant fire warming everyone and everything around him with that handsome smile.

Picking up a shell of his own he held it in his palm for a moment, kissed it once, and then drew his arm back. The shell went sailing out over the waves and landed midway down the pier with little more than a ripple and it was gone. Ian put his hands in his pocket with a contented look and lifted his eyes once more to the brilliant sunset.

[Kahlan Lothair]

Her reaction to the kiss had barely gone away before Ian hurried her along the dock to where they might be alone amid the flocks of crew and captain. As Ian spoke Kahlan listened and nodded where applicable. When Ian laid the shell in her hand, Kahlan gazed down at it.

In the fiery hues of the sunset the shell gleamed with promise as Kahlan brought it to her lips before tossing it out after Ian's. The two shells landed very nearly side by side in a silent show of effort. The ripples of the water catch the sun's dying light and Kahlan's eyes are diverted to the sunset. Moving nearer to Ian, the fiery haired woman rests lightly against him, her head just touching his shoulder as she watches the sun slowly begin to receed.

"It is beautiful down here. Very romantic indeed." She says and smiles briefly before casting a glance up at the now virtually desolate pier. "Ive some place to show you. Come, before the tide rises and we have to swim." Another smile lightens her features as she takes hold of Ian's hand and hurries to climb back up onto to the dock with surprising agility. A hand down for aide denies every inch of what Kahlan appears to be in the sultry colors of the summer sunset. Were it not for the modest neckline of her corset, Ian might have had an eye full of clevage (but Kahlan was ever the matriarch and mother).

Thankful to have worn soft leather boots with the dress, Kahlan hurries with Ian in tow through the wharf. Once through the town the lively woman takes a not so well worn path that leads down past the ensconced city proper of Emain Macha. Once they were alongside the city walls, Kahlan detoured down onto the rocks that made the cliff upon which the Castle and City began and ended. Beckoning Ian on, Kahlan wisely picks her steps along the rocks until a sandy beach presents itself. Still unsatisfied with the location Kahlan promises Ian that what is sought shall soon be found.

When they near a sharp angle of the cliff face a dull roar might be heard. Kahlan's face, now illuminated by the oranges and reds of the evening, sports a devilishly beautiful smile as she pulls Ian along by his hand. Around the corner touched by the tide waters Kahlan pulled Ian and then she stopped.

Behind where that particular wall jetisoned out into the water was an oasis in its own right. It appeared as if the sea might have crashed against the walls of the cliff, but now in its place there was a rushing waterfall crashing down into a tide fed pool. There was some greenery surrounding the farther edge of the pool, marking to where the tide rose. A closer look at the pool revealed some strange if wonderful creatures. A fish with spines, and a blue green crab, among some of the more colorful creatures. Kahlan let go of Ian to examine what she might find in the pool since her last visit.

"This is where I come to relax and get away." Kahlan smiled to Ian before looking back into the pool. Moments later she had her boots off her feet and was wading into ankle deep water with her skirts held high enough up to not be splashed.

"Isnt it beautiful Ian?" Kahlan asked in a gentle but wonder filled voice as she found some creature particularly intriguing.

[Ian McCorrmick]

Ian didn’t follow. He hesitated at the edge of the tide pool and let his hands find their way into his pockets, and watched her. She waded back and forth just like a little girl looking for crabs and crawldads and other such interesting sea creatures and Ian could only smile and the childlike innocence she seemed to thrive in. She was truly perfect at this moment, he thought, but to tell her so might scare her away.

What else might scare her away? The little voice inside his head chirped. Why are you hesitating by the edge of the water, Ian? The smile faded for a moment. Looking down he saw that the tide, though a foot away from him a few seconds before was now a breath of an inch from his boots. He frowned. Should he tell her? The decision was easy to make. It was almost as if he already knew her, and he had the feeling deep down that she would understand his… unique gift.

Taking off his boots he felt the water grow warmer every place he stepped. The further out he got the more calm the water in the tide pool became until there were virtually no waves left at all in the shallow alcove, though the rest of the ocean surrounding the rocky outcrop behaved as normal. “Would you like to see something?” He asked as he crouched on a rock next to her. For a moment his eyes seemed to reflect some of the ocean’s color, but it could have just been a trick of the light, for his eyes were naturally a vibrant blue. “I have never shown anyone this before…”

Reaching a hand down with the palm turned towards the ocean those brilliant blue eyes now focused on the water. Eyebrows knit together in anxious concentration as his fingers splayed out and hovered a few inches above the pool’s surface. The water rose up to kiss the palm of his hand as if on command, then ebbed down slightly to form a shimmering, raises lump on the otherwise flat surface. Slowly but surely Ian lifted his hand from the tidepool and against all odds of gravity and physics, the water followed.

He moved like he was coaxing it to follow him, and it did all of the way up into the air in a long column. Placing his other hand underneath of it he ran his hands along it several inches above the actual water, shaping it like he would a wad of bread dough until it made a single, clear, sparkling ball. In the light of the setting sun a small silver fish inside could be illuminated.

Looking out over the ocean, the little silver fish laid its little beady eye on Kahlan and swam in a few circles, marveling at the view it had never seen before. Ian smiled and used his finger to spin the ball of water slowly. As the sunlight it the water it acted like a prism and spouted a few tiny rainbows out the other end that danced over the rocks as the water moved. “It’s something I discovered I could do as a boy. My sister could do it too. We would spend whole days in Camelot by the bay finding new ways to play with the water. Dad knew, but mother never did. I don’t know what it is or how I got it. All I know is that I can’t stand to be away from the water for very long or I get depressed.”

He looked up to her and smiled. This time it was evident that his eyes were far more blue than when he had started to weave whatever magic he used to lift the water from its home. They were blue like a Caribbean sea, and on an already handsome man, it was very becoming to say the least.

[Kahlan Lothair]

With cat-like movements, Kahlan settles onto a nearby rock in the tide pool to watch Ian with fascination. It was all she could do not to giggle like a little girl as the fish was presented to her in the perfectly orb shaped globe of water. The surreal landscape begins to darken as Kahlan moves her gaze from the fish to Ian.

"You have a wonderful gift, Ian." Her voice, though not awe-stricken, held a new found reverence and understanding for the man standing before her. Kahlan dropped from the rock not minding if the ends of her dress mingled with the brackish water about her ankles. Tenderly, Kahlan brushes Ian's cheek with the backs of her fingertips.

A man of Water.

Wasn't that how it always turned out? While pondering her attraction to the element Kahlan stepped closer. The water swished and swirled about her as she pressed the palms of her hands against Ian's chest. Her hands, though having been in the chill water, were surprisingly warm.

So many secrets, so very little time. Kahlan smiled at Ian once more before glancing around him to see the sun sinking even lower below the horizon. "Isnt it just beautiful Ian?" Kahlan's voice held a little wonder to it as she used Ian as her pillar of stability, so that she might move in the slippery pool. The world could wait for her and wait they would.

"Lets stay out here a little longer." Turning to Ian, Kahlan reached for both of his hands and smiled again. With a few splashes the Queen that was, made it out of the pool with her dress dampened from the knees down. This seemed not to bother her in the least as she gathered sundried drift wood along the beach. As she stooped to gather the wood she hummed a soft melody before actually singing. In truth her voice was not all that bad.

On the day I was born,
Said my father, said he
I've an elegant legacy waiting for ye.
Tis a rhyme for your lips
And a song for your heart
To sing it whenever the world falls apart

Look, look , look to the rainbow
follow it over the hill and stream
look look look to the rainbow
follow the fellow who follows a dream.

'Twas a sumptuous gift
To bequeath to a child
Oh, the lure of that song kept me feet running wild
For you never grow old
And you never stand still
With whippoorwills singing beyond the next hill.

Look, look , look to the rainbow
follow it over the hill and stream
look look look to the rainbow
follow the fellow who follows a dream.

So I pondered my heart
nd I roamed the world free
To the east with the lark
To the west with the sea
And I searched all the earth
And I scanned all the skies
But I found it at last in my own true love's eyes.

Look, look , look to the rainbow
follow it over the hill and stream
look look look to the rainbow
follow the fellow who follows a dream.*

Kahlan's voice rose and fell with each successive note that spilled from her mouth. It was almost as if she sang from her heart. Her voice though, with its haunting beauty, rang clear and strong through the evening air. She did not think that Ian would be listening to the old Irish diddy she'd learned as a child so many hundreds of years ago.

When the driftwood was in place Kahlan motioned for Ian. "Watch..." she breathed the word as she reached out for the drift wood. Making a gentle motion with her fist closed then springing open in a spritely manner, a fire burst to life. A small flame in the heart of the driftwood that glowed with promise soon sought the sky and leapt for it. A smile spread across Kahlan's illuminated face as she glanced to Ian.

"We are not so different as you think."


*Lyrics from Look to the Rainbow