It was a particularly blustery November morning; thick, fluffy snow blanketed the ground, but not even the frightful weather could dampen her determined attitude. She was going to see the love of her life, the captor of her heart: Lucius.

The thought of him made her numb face warm up and the corners of her lips turn up in a small smile. How she loved that man.

She remembered when she was very young, before she lost her sight, what he looked like as a boy. He had been older than her, but she was always very intrigued by him and loved to watch him when he wasn’t looking. She remembered his appearance: Raven hair and chocolate eyes. She could imagine what he looked like now, older and more learned.

When she had wrapped her arms around him that night on the porch, when they had kissed, she had felt the broadness of his shoulders. The thought of holding him so close caused her already wind-reddened cheeks flushed even deeper and she walked more briskly in the direction of her destination, until she heard Mrs. Walker’s voice and something heavy being draped across her shoulders.

“Ivy, what are you thinking? Out in this frightful weather!” she pulled Ivy’s numb body into the warmth of the Hunt home. Ivy could hear the crackling of and feel the warmth radiating from the fireplace to her far right, “You’ll catch your death!”

Ivy smiled brightly at her future mother-in-law, rubbing her hand together to heat them up. “I’ll be alright, Mrs. Hunt. I had to come see how Lucius is doing,” her face darkened a bit, “This snow has kept me from him for far too long.”

Mrs. Hunt smiled at Ivy and rubbed her shoulder comfortingly, “Well dear, he still hasn’t regained consciousness. You may go see him, but first, let’s get some porridge and hot cider in you,” the older woman sat Ivy down in a very comfortable chair and placed several thick blankets on her lap.

“Thank you, Mrs. Hunt,” Ivy twiddled her thumbs and bit her lip in thought, “Mrs. Hunt?” she asked nervously.

“Yes, Ivy?” She asked patiently, putting a bowl of porridge in one of Ivy’s hands, and a large mug of cider in the other.

“Do you think, I mean, would it be possible…” Ivy bit her lip in fear of the reaction she was bound to get, “Could I stay here, well, taking care of Lucius, until he wakes? I would be glad to just sleep on the floor in his room or and I’ll be no trouble! I promise!” By the end of her speech, Ivy was almost in tears from fear of being rejected.

“Of course, dear,” Mrs. Hunt stated warmly and rubbed Ivy’s back in a motherly manner, “It’s been so tiresome, taking care of him, it’ll be nice to have someone to help me around the house, it’s been much more difficult, without Lucius…” her voice trailed off.

“Oh, thank you, Mrs. Hunt! I promise I will help you all you want! I will do anything! Thank you so much!”

Alice Hunt laughed at the younger girl’s enthusiasm, “I will inform your father in the afternoon once it has warmed up a bit. Now why don’t you go check in on Lucius?”

Ivy didn’t need to be told twice, she quickly drank the rest of her cider, took a large bite of porridge, and wiped her mouth with the cloth napkin Mrs. Hunt had supplied her with.

“Yes Ma’am, where should I put these?” she asked, motioning to the mug and bowl in her hands.

“Here, I’ll take them, you go tend to Lucius.”

Ivy smiled in the direction of Alice Hunt’s voice appreciatively and made her way through the familiar path to Lucius’s bedroom, humming quietly along the way.

Lucius Hunt felt very groggy. He felt as if he’d been hit on the head with a boulder and had a horse sitting on his chest. His tongue was a lead block in his mouth, contradicting his desire to call out for his beloved and his eyelids felt as if they had been welded shut, so he merely lay in what he guessed was his bed, as frustration and confusion enveloped him.

When Ivy Walker stepped into Lucius’s room, her heart sank and all of her previous cheer left her as she was flooded by melancholy. Her love’s color was dull, hardly more than a dreary grey.

She made her way toward the middle of the room, feeling for Lucius’s bed. Once she felt the wood of his footboard, she felt her way toward the top of the bed, and gently reached out to touch the frightfully still body before her.

“Oh, Lucius…” she whimpered into the crook of his neck, stroking his arm tenderly, “I love you so, Lucius.”

She rose up, wiping away the pesky tears that had fallen down her cheeks and sighed. She stroked Lucius’s face lovingly and placed a kiss on his lips, only to be interrupted by an amused cough.

“Here dear, he needs to eat and drink,” Alice Hunt’s voice said kindly, “And these are the pills he takes, sometimes its hard to get him to take them, I’ll help you this time.”

Ivy nodded in agreement and listened carefully as Alice explained to her, step by step, what needed to be done and how to go about doing it, Mrs. Hunt being careful to do the more personal things and leave them out of what Ivy needed to do.

Once Lucius had taken his food and water, been cleaned up and had his bandages changed, Ivy and Alice cleaned their hands and the older woman said quietly, “I’ll go see your father now, Ivy. I should be back shortly before dinner, I believe Mrs. Percy is bringing us dinner tonight.” There was a sign of bitterness in Mrs. Hunt’s tone and Ivy’s eyes widened significantly at the mention of Noah’s mother.

The plaguing guilt Ivy had been experiencing from the death of Noah Percy multiplied tenfold at the thought of seeing his very grief-stricken mother.

“It’ll be alright, Ivy.”

“Yes ma’am,” Ivy lowered her head and her eyes darted from each side of the room quickly, a sign of her distress.

Much later, after Ivy had sat idly by Lucius bed for a few hours and Mrs. Hunt had returned (her father had hesitantly agreed to letting his daughter stay with Mrs. Hunt) she sat in a wooden chair, still beside Lucius, eating the meal that Mrs. Percy had brought over.

When she finished her chicken and green beans, she placed her plate on the small table in the corner of the room and made her way to his bed.

“Lucius, I know that deep, deep down, you can hear what I’m saying to you,” she whispered and began stroking his face lovingly, “Please wake up Lucius,” she began to cry softly, “I love you so much, I want to marry you and be with you for the rest of my life.”

She lay her head on the bed next to his face, and wept until she was asleep.

Alice Hunt walked into her son’s room later that night and smiled at the sight before her. Ivy Walker was asleep with her head resting right beside Lucius’s, her hand atop his. Taking a blanket off of the trunk at the foot of Lucius’s bed, she draped it over Ivy and blew out the candles that were uselessly burning.

“Goodnight Ivy, Lucius.”

Well past midnight, Ivy Walker woke with a start. She couldn’t quite remember what it was about, but she remembered Lucius being in it, his voice.

Lucius.

Ivy reached out to touch his face and sighed when she felt his bristly flesh. (He hadn’t had a proper, close shave in quite some time.)

“Lucius…” she sighed melodically. She then began humming the tune to a song she had made up in her head and sung from the time she was a young girl. Her sweet, alto voice drifted through the air in a comforting cloud. She continued to hum as she felt the muscles in Lucius’s face change. She stopped abruptly and gasped audibly.

“Lucius? Lucius? Are you awake?”

Lucius Hunt drifted in and out of consciousness, that is, until he heard what sounded like an angel humming. ‘I know that song…’ he thought to himself. ‘Ivy…that’s Ivy!’ With a great deal of determination he opened his eyes and waited for them to adjust after being closed for so long.

After the blurriness faded, he saw the tear-streaked face of the woman he loved more than anything in his life. He smiled as she continued to hum.

“Lucius? Lucius? Are you awake?” her voice asked frantically.

“I…Ivy?” his raspy voice questioned, “Is that really you? Are…are you really here?” he coughed a little and reached out to touch her face.

“Oh Lucius!” Ivy exclaimed, carefully wrapping her arms around him and sobbing into his bandaged chest. He gently pulled her into a teary embrace as they cried together, holding each other, each afraid that they may break the person in their arms.

“Ivy…Ivy, I love you,” Lucius whispered into his beloved’s silky hair, stroking her back.

“Lucius, I love you so much,” Ivy carefully raised her head and leaned toward the place his voice had come from. Lucius met her half way, and their lips met in a kiss of thanksgiving and tender love.

TBC!

Author’s note: Ok, all that has happened HAD to happen, so if you’re a bit bored with this first chapter, fear not! It DOES get better. Haha. If you enjoyed it, please leave a review. If not…sorry.