The Caravan of Hope

Chapter 10: You can always be forgiven

Jarred rubbed his eye (that one that could see) and looked again. It was Bella. She had a string in her hand; he could see one end but not the other, for it led to some unknown distance.

Jarred could only think of one reason of why Bella would be there. "You're dead, aren't you?"

She was confused. "What are you talking about?"

Jarred was confused. Then he thought of one other reason of why Bella would be here. "You surely can't mean that.... You want to die?"

Jarred thought at first that she died to be with him, but he shook it from his mind because it was impossible. He went to Bella, grabbed her shoulders, and started to shake her. "Bella, don't commit suicide! You have so much to live for! And I don't!" He wanted to stop himself, but no matter how painful it was, he didn't.

Bella was now very confused. "What are you... Jarred, I'm trying to bring you back to life!"

She explained to him what Daiko told her. "And I'm using this strong so I won't get lost."

Jarred was still doubtful. "Bella, please go! Why are trying to bring me back to life after all the times I've hurt you?"

She looked at him incredulously. "Good grief.."

And grabbing his shirt, she pulled him down to kiss him. That was when the whole atmosphere changed, as if there was now a candle in this darkness. The kiss was what they both dreamed of; warmth and dreams all combined.

She slowly pushed away from him and said, "That's why. I love you, always have, and I know you do too."

Jarred was amazed, happy, and confused, and possibly other emotions that can't be described with words.

She ran a finger over his scar. "Can you see through this eye anymore?"

He shook his head and she smiled sadly. "I guess that I have to apologize for that."

He started to protest. "Bella, compared to what I've done-"

"I know, it's worse. But just like you forgave me for that, you can always be forgiven."

Jarred paused for a moment, then hugged her. "Thank you," he said, crying.

Bella smiled, then noticed mini Jarred, who was huddled up in a ball position, facing away from the couple. "Who's that?"

"That's-" Jarred turned toward his mini self, which he then noticed was acting weirdly. "Err...That's a younger version of me. Mini me, are you alright?"

And all you could hear Mini Jarred say was: "I'm kissing Bella, I'm kissing Bella, I'M KISSING BELLA!" With his cheeks flaming a nice reddish color.

Bella smiled and went over to him, patting his head. She said, "It's very nice to meet you."

That only made him blush even harder.
"You're going to life again, correct?"

Jarred smiled sadly. "Yes. I know that you can't come. You were only supposed to be there while I was imprisoned. Now that I'm free..."

Mini Jarred nods. "Good bye, me. Till we meet again."

And he was gone.

"So he's a version of you?" Jarred couldn't help but think that Bella was asking that in a sort of suspicious tone. He nodded.

Bella smiled in a scary way. "Aww, you're so cute. And if you get excited over kissing me... Then that means I've got to do it again.

And she kept kissing him a lot after that. Not that Jarred complained.

After a little while, he asked, "Bella, are you really in love with me?"

She gave him a little peck on the cheek. "Yes, of course I love you and I don't want you to doubt that."

He gave her a hug. "Say...May we go back? Your friends might be worried."

She smiled up at him. "They can be your friends, too."

And so they walked down the string into utter blackness.

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They woke up on the living side.

They tried to stand up, but found it hard. "How come we can't..."

"For Bella, it's because this is the first time she's using this spell, so it took a lot of energy out of her," Daiko replied. "For you Jarred, it's because you've been dead and your body isn't used to being alive again."

"No problem!" Bella put her arm around Jarred's shoulders, and he around hers. They smiled at each other, hinting to the others that something else happened besides a revival of the body.

Daiko looked at Jarred suspiciously, then said, "Do you have somewhere to go? Like a house?"

Jarred sighed. "No."

"That's great! You could join the caravan!"

Everyone turned to look at George.

"You idiot! He used to be evil!" Hearthfell hit George, again.

"No he's not! That was another dude! Besides, I forgive him for not trying to stop the evil dude, even though it isn't a crime!" They kept arguing.

You can always be forgiven.

Jarred thought of what Bella had said earlier. He looked at Daiko and nodded, meaning that he was going to join. She clapped her hands and "started" to read.

Daiko stayed behind the group a little, then her smile was wiped off her face as she glanced up and thought, I know you're there, Zaecondis.

In a niche formed the shadowy figure. But then he formed his form that he had when he was human: late 30s, tall, broad shouldered, and with the unruly black hair that she'd loved ever since she was a little girl. He was leaning against the wall.

He shrugged. Of course you would know. Surprise Alex hasn't figured it out yet.

He doesn't know that you're alive. Kind of.
She scrunched her eyebrows. Why are you calling him "Alex"? Don't you like "Alexander"?

I wanna respect his wishes. And what do you want, Miss Know It All?

I'm going to ignore that. But.. She puts on a face that could scare anyone except Zaecondis. If you hurt one of my friends again, I'll kill you.

But I'm already dead. Kind of.

I'll just kill you again when you come back to life.

But you don't know how to kill me.

Putting her sad face on, she looks off to the side. You're right.

"Anything wrong, Daiko?" Alex was a little worried about her.

She looked up at Zaecondis, and thought,
He can't see him. She said, in an exciting tone, "Nope! I'm fine!"

She turned around and closed her book. Alex gave her the look, but didn't say anything as she skipped over to him.

Zaecondis took one last look at her, and vanished.

------------author note--------

Ooo, how did you like the conversion between Daiko and Zaecondis?

Well, now you've met all seven members of the caravan of Hope. Which one do you like best? Which one do you think is the most powerful? Let me know!