TEN YEARS, The Kenny Ackerman Story BOOK TWO~ FUTURES, by Melly O'Hara

DISCOVERY

CHAPTER  2  DISCOVERY

His long, black coat hung casually from his broad, muscular shoulders; emphasising his tall, lean frame. His white shirt, carelessly unbuttoned; revealed a tuft of hair on his tanned, athletic chest. The belt, which held Silver Lady, was slung low across his narrow hips.
He was breathtaking. And he stood there, waiting for me.

I smiled at him, and giving Ginger one last pat; I walked into his waiting embrace. His scent enveloped me, and I felt my defences crumble as his arms encircled my waist and he held me close. I was home.

In the lamplight we stood, the horses whinnying softly in their stalls, and held each other. The last four years had ceased to exist, as if the night on the Palace turret had happened only yesterday. I had waited, as he knew I would. And I had been proven right.
The relief on his face showed me that he'd found what he had been looking for. And now he'd come for me.

Releasing him from my arms, I took his hand and led him to the end stall that we used to store the fresh hay for the horses. Settling ourselves in the voluminous, mountain of soft straw; I waited as he lay down, tilting back his head, as if contemplating the wooden stable ceiling, the look of optimism and wonder still on his face. Sitting beside him, gazing at his face, it amazed me at how much younger that hope made him look. It was like looking back in time, to a Kenny I'd never met. A Kenny before the betrayals, before the killings, maybe even before The Power.

Plucking a strand of hay from the stack and proceeding to chew on its end, he placed his arm behind his head and looking at me, he began.

"Uri, he's not gone. He's not dead", Kenny smiled. " He told me he wouldn' be, but I didn' believe him! Sounded too much like a fairy story from someone afraid ta die. I mean,  shit like this ain't even possible! But it is! He were tellin' the truth. He's not dead. I could see it in her eyes".

"What HAPPENED at that ceremony? What could possibly cause such a change in you?" I asked, dumbfounded by his rambling.

He turned his face toward me and his eyes searched mine. "Ya remember what I tol'  ya that night on the turret, Owl?  'Bout the King an' titans an' his power?" he asked, finally.

"Of course I do", I replied. "And how there was so much you DID know - especially compared to the rest of us. But that there was still so much more that you needed to understand. Yeah, I remember".

"An' I s'pose that ya mus' have guessed why I've been spendin' so much o' my time with the King, then?" he asked.

"Well, looking at it now, it's because you knew that he was going to die", I answered.

He turned his head to gaze at the wrought iron lantern that stood on the corner shelf, built into the stable wall; its light illuminating his profile in the shadows. His body lay prostrate in the hay, and he was as relaxed as I'd ever seen him. Self control held me in place, as I remembered that this wasn't a romantic reunion, but a confession.

"You're right. I did know his time was running short", he answered wistfully. "From near  'bout the time I returned, me an' Uri got real close. Don'  get me wrong, he were still a mysterious one; a ball o' twine that can't be unraveled. But he did tell me he were glad I came back ta stay,  'cause his reign were near its end. That he wanted the time tagether so's he could try an' make up for his cruelty ta the Ackermans, an' his failure ta humanity.
Again an' again I would tell him ta change it, ta fight for it, but he jus' smiled.
An' when he looked so's ol' an' frail, like he was 'bout ta break, I tol' him it were well past time ta see a doctor. Well, he jus' laughed an' said that though he'd die soon, he'd still be here.
Tell the truth, Jas, I thought he were full o' shit! I don'  believe in all this hocus-pocus crap. But he were right. Goddamn it, he were right!" Kenny laughed.