Written in the Stars

by Lady Arianna of Annwn

"Why did you leave?"

"Arawn, I'm not sure if it's a story you want to hear."

Arianna looked into his eyes. "I don't care whether I want to hear it or not," he replied. "If you are troubled by it, you should tell someone."

She took a breath, and began.

"The Fey are a proud race. They believe themselves to be...higher...than mortals. On a more advanced level, in a way. Mortals, to them, were in existance only to worship them. It was their rule. Their reason for being. I couldn't understand that, but I tried to avoid that subject. They do not like to be questioned, and will not tolerate from anyone other than Lord Oberon.

"One isn't supposed to love a mortal."

Arawn watched her intently. There was definite emotion there...she must have...

"I loved him. With a love very few beings ever know. He was ... different ... from other mortals. I've known many mortals in my day." She smiled. "But he was unlike any other. He was a child of the gods, mortal, yet, with that spark of magic that, could he have only tapped into it, would have been ignited into a flame that would have changed the whole of humanity."

"I recognized this magic in him immediately. He was one of Avalon's true children, one of those exiled, those who would never know their homeland. He was a wanderer on Earth. He had a way of knowing ... a way of sensing where he needed to be, and what he needed to do while he was there."

She stopped, clearly reliving the past which she had tried so hard to forget. Arawn respected her silence for a moment, then asked, "How did you meet him?"

Arianna stared off into the distance. "I met him ... when I was in danger. There was never any real danger, of course, but I was frightened all the same. For a moment," she paused, and shook her head in wonder before continuing on. "I honestly thought I was going to die. I had forgotten my own immortality! Later, I wouldn't even admit to being in trouble. Even though he didn't know what I was, at the time, I was embarrassed that a mortal had saved my life."

"Things moved fairly quickly on my part. I am easily intrigued by those who are like him." She sighed. "I should have known that our love would not be regarded as acceptable by the Fey."

"They did not approve?"

"As I said, they are a proud race. They did not think a mortal worthy of the love, the true love of one of the Third Race. I suppose it was my own fault -- I wished to bring him back with me, to Avalon."

"They would not allow you to bring him?" Arawn questioned.

"No, they wouldn't. They didn't want a mortal on Avalon. But there was one...he was more adamant than any of the others that my love not be allowed to live on Avalon."

"Did he bear a grudge against you?"

"Yes," Arianna smiled. "He had professed his love for me, and I had not accepted him. I couldn't -- he was so full of himself. I could never love a man like him."

"Who was it?"

"That does not matter. It was enough that he did not approve. Lord Oberon deliberated the matter himself."

Arawn thought he knew the rest of the story. "And he decided that it was indeed unacceptable."

"No." Arianna closed her mind, trying to keep back the pain that threatened to overwhelm her. "No, Oberon never got the chance to determine if he could come to Avalon. He died. In a war. I suppose that it was all for the best, but I couldn't believe that. They had won. I had fought the laws of Avalon, and I had lost. And it was an eternal loss, for I have never stopped feeling the pain of his death. He haunts me still, in the darkness of the night, when I am alone. I can still see him, and feel the love I had for him. It wasn't so long ago. For me, it will always be like yesterday."

"And so you came here."

"I did," Arianna smiled. It was not her usual smile, though. It was more sad than it was happy. "I came here, to Annwn, and I found what I thought I had lost. This place has been good for me. You have helped me, Arawn. Helped me find some measure of peace." She paused. "Helped me love again."

Arawn put his arms around her, and she rested her head on his shoulder. "You have changed me, as well, my love." Indeed, she had brought him out of his own darkness. If he had helped her even a little, she had literally saved him.

"I cannot forget, you know. I love you, Arawn, but I cannot forget him."

"Of course not," Arawn said quietly. "I wouldn't ask you to." I never could forget her, either.

Arianna stood up. "Where are you going?" Arawn questioned.

"Where are we going. The eggs in the rookery are supposed to hatch. We should be there." She turned and waited a moment before realizing that Arawn had as yet made no move to follow her. "Arawn, aren't you coming?"

"I was just thinking," he began.

"Of?"

He smiled and stood. "Nothing important. Now let's go."

I'm here to tell you we can never meet again.
Simple really, isn't it, a word or two and then...
A lifetime of not knowing where or how or why or when.
You think of me or speak of me or wonder what befell
The someone you once loved so long ago so well.

Never wonder what I feel as living shuffles by...
You don't have to ask me and I need not reply
Every moment of my life from now -- until I die
I will think or dream of you and fail to understand
How a perfect love can be confound and out of hand


Is it written in the stars?
Are we paying for some crime?
Is that all that we are good for ...
Just a stretch of mortal time .


Is this God's experiment --
In which we have no say?
In which we're given paradise...
But only for a day.

- Written in the Stars
Elton John and LeAnn Rimes
From "Aida", a musical by Alan Menken and Elton John

Disclaimer: All elements of Gargoyles (Oberon, the Third Race, etc.) included in this story are the property of Disney/Buena Vista and Creator Greg Weisman. "Written in the Stars", by Elton John and Alan Menken, sung by Elton John and LeAnn Rimes, is the property of Alan Menken and Elton John. It is reproduced here without permission. The story, however, is entirely my own. Pretty scary thought, isn't it. If you have feedback, my e-mail is serenaya@oocities.com. All feedback is appreciated.