This is another story I published on the HL fanfiction site a very long time ago. At the time I was studying Japanese and this was a way for me to work it into my story, for practice. I have had it reviewed by some that said I did okay. For me...okay is better than money, well almost. Hope you enjoy this one.
I gratefully admit that I have only borrowed the HL characters. And will
eventually send them back only a little worse for wear. All other characters
are mine and I hope bear no resemblence to real people, either living or
dead. Because you asked JCM
m
Joe looked down at the disk in his hand as he sat down at the computer. He couldn't imagine sitting here and making a final entry about MacLeod. He thought back to the earlier part of the year, his trial. His "execution" All the watchers that had died. He shook his head. Turning on the monitor, he inserted the disk.
Sept. 11, 1996. Seattle, Washington
It is with tearful regret, I file this report. The final battle of my subject and husband Kyle Ferguson.
He read down on through the report, as usual Ronnie's reports were brilliant. Read like a novel, entrancing and exquisitedly detailed. He felt her pain as she stood in the shadows with a pair of glasses and watched the death of a man she had loved for more than twenty-two years.
He got to the last few paragraphs and stared, not believing what he was reading. Looking down at his lap, he finally raised his head to the monitor again.
Sept.16, 1996 Seattle
Funny, it wasn't as hard as I thought. I *did* hesitate. What if Kyle was wrong? Years ago, he offered to show me. But those vows I had taken. For the Watchers. I was afraid. Watching has been a part of my life for almost thirty years. So last Friday on September 13th, my fiftith birthday. I knew it was time. The pain was the most excruciating thing. Lancing through my wrists from the slashes, where I had used the knife. I sat there and leaned against the tub and watched the blood flow down the drain. I looked at my watch. It said 10:45.
Just for the record. It took thirty-five minutes for me to fully recover. I was conscious in five and fuctional in ten. In thirty-five. It was all gone. Not a trace.
I didn't have to include this. I'm not sure why I have. Too many years, I guess. Old habits die hard. I'm not going to inform you where I am. Watching is no longer a part of my life. It is however, I realize a function to now be the watched. I'd rather not know.
Sighing Joe got up and walked over to the window, looking out at the street. He stood there a long time. Thinking about the woman. No, he corrected, the immortal. Then walked back to the computer, he stared at it for several minutes. He considered deleting the last paragraphs. Then sighing, he punched send. Rhonda Ferguson's loyalty deserved his support. He could do no less.
Sitting in a window seat of the 747, Ronnie looked out the window. The clouds were gray today. In her mind it seemed perfectly fitting. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out a folder and opened it. With her eyes closed, she could see the face of the woman that had killed Kyle. Looking down she opened her eyes. Yes! Kara Tanner aka Tuwataten. Egyptian from the time of Darius II. Almost twenty-five hundred years old. Ronnie had seen her fight. Seeing as how Kyle had lost, did she stand a chance? She looked down again at the file and then took a piece of paper out of her pocket, and looked at the instructions.
In case of my death (it read)
Sighing, she leaned back in the seat. Outside the window, the world fled by as the plane winged out over the Pacific. At the moment, Chichishima Island seemed a long way away.
Chichishima Island, Sea of Japan
Ronnie looked out past the bow of the boat, watching for the first glimpse of the island. It had been three years, since she'd been here with Kyle. The two hundred miles from Iwo Jima had her drenched with salt spray and she was more weary than she could ever remember being. She sighed, as through the mist, she saw the old wharf in the distance.
The captain handled the old scow with precision and brought the boat around to the dock. Waiting for the mooring lines to be tied off, Ronnie finally stepped onto the surface of the wharf and looked around., Waving at the departing boat, she yelled, "Arigato gozaimashita Shino-san. Sayonara," (Thanks very much, Shino. Good-bye)
She turned and walked up the graveled road to the village of Shoyama. Wondering if Kusatsu-ojisan (grandfather Kusatsu) still lived on the hillside. Several times, people stopped her and said hello. Some even asked after Kyle. It was tearing her apart to tell them he was gone. Before she reached the end of the road and the path that lead to Kusatsu's, everyone in the village knew she had returned and without Kyle-san. Coming up to her, they touched her gently and expressed their sorrow.O-ki-no-doku sama (I am so sorry for you). They told her. Smiling at them, she continued on the dirt path to Kusatsu sensei, Kyle's teacher.
Standing in front of the gate, she stood for a moment and remembered.
1986, Spring
"You have to remember, darling." Kyle said as he knocked the wooden sword from her hand. "Never let an opponant get you angry."
Grabbing his arm, she had turned and thrown him over her right hip.
From the shadows, Kusatsu said. "And also remember Kyle-san, women are deceptively soft. Mizu suku. (Like water)"
Getting up from the ground, Kyle had laughed. "Good throw, Ronnie."
Blinking away the tears, she closed her eyes and felt the tingling that told her another immortal was near by. Standing with her head bowed, she waited.
"Dekiagarimashita (It is finished)." said the quiet voice from the inside of the gate.
"Hai! Ojisan, so desu,. (Yes! Grandfather, it is.)" she said as she stood, waiting for his invitation.
Opening the bamboo panel, he waited for her to step across the threshold. She picked up her bag from the ground, the handle of Kyle's sword plainly visible. Bowing her head again, she entered Kusatsu's home.
Same ole, same ole. You know where, and you know who
m
by mhm
THHHWAACK., "Damn" came the soft curse.
"Mata (again)." came the stern command. "You must react without thought, Ronnie-san."
Leaning on the wooden sword, Ronnie Ferguson gasped for breath. She backed up and held the sword with both hands. Facing the Japanese man that stood calmly and stared at her. Looking to be about forty-five, he had died younger than she. But at that time, 967, he had been an old man. Far outliving normal mortals for his time.
She held up the sword and turned slightly sideways as she faced him again. They had been doing this all day, every day since she arrived. Almost two months ago. She shifted her weight slightly and Kusatsu nailed her again, this time with a solid thud on her right side.
"It is enough." he said, throwing down his own sword. "You are not concentrating."
Picking up his sword, she followed the older immortal back into the house. "You are right, Ojisan." she said. "I still see Kyle in my mind.""That is as it should be, Okosan (child)." he said quietly. "But you must not let a face cost you your head."
Later, they sat around the table and Ronnie reached to pour the tea for Kusatsu. He reached out using a feather, tickled her nose. She never moved, but continue to pour. Smiling to himself, the old man put the feather away.
"Ojisan." she said. Her voice just a whisper.
"Hai!" he replied, looking into her face.
"Dozo (please)." she said. "Can I beat her?"
The older man rose from his mat and went to stand on the porch, looking out over the garden. "Kyle-san was not dai-ichi (the first)." he said. The saddness showing in his voice. " It is I for whom she searches. She does not know where I am "
"I don't understand Ojisan." Ronnie asked.
"I know this person." he said, turning to face her. "We fought a long time ago. She killed my sensei, Kozen-roshi."
"She has no honor?" Ronnie asked him, as she stood and faced him.
Turning to her, Kusatsu smiled. "Dake ichi asoko dekiru desu. (There can be only one), Okosan. It is all she lives for. It is what drives her."
Standing there, the two looked out into the night. The chill of the night air, blowing off the harbour below. Turning to the older immortal, Ronnie bowed. "O-yasumi nasai (good night). I have much to do in the morning."
Kusatsu stood for a long time after she had gone. Remembering the first time Kyle had brought her to the tiny island.
Summer, 1980
"You think I should not tell her, Sensei?" he had asked.
"She needs to live a full life." the older man had argued.
"Do you think she would chose otherwise?" Kyle had asked.
"I do not know." the older man had said. "Will you train her? Tell her all of it?"
Kyle had sat down on the edge of the pond, and reaching quickly into the water, held up a large blue koi. Releasing it back into the water, he smiled at Kusatsu. "I was hoping you'd help me with that."
And he had. At least a dozen times in the last sixteen years, they had come. Working with them both, Kusatsu had to admit. She was good. It also amazed him that she never sought her immortaliy sooner. He watched as the light went out in the little hut she slept in. Turning he went back into the house and to the face that had walked in his nightmares for almost a thousand years.
Tuwataten, his wife.
Please see part 1 for disclaimers and etc.
m
The sunrise found Ronnie running down the beach. Then up the steep hill behind Kusatsu's house. Standing on the hill, she pulled the earphones off and looked to the east. She sat down in the grass and looked out over the bay
Summer 1980
"Why are you telling me this?" she asked, tears streamimg down her face.
"Because I love you and I cannot imagine my life without you." Kyle said, putting his arms around her shoulders.
"I thought you never told someone before they actually became an immortal." she said, looking past him, out over the water.
"You are 34 years old." he said. "You have the right to chose your time or wait until it comes. Just believe me, Ronnie. I know. And so will every other immortal you come in contact with."
She had turned away and walked inland away from him. She had to think. The sun was hot, the gulls flying overhead. The sky a tourquoise blue with hardly a cloud to be seen. Late into the day, she had returned and given him her answer. She had never been sorry.
Till now. It hurt, his not being here with her. She'd deliberately kept a low profile after he had told her. She hadn't attended a Watcher function in almost seven years. And she had waited. Sitting in the grass now, she knew she'd made the right choice. She roamed freely. No one ever questioned her. A little make-up, a little hair dye. And she could go from appearing to be 35 to 65. She sat and watched as the sun came up over the water.
It hadn't been easy, but she had to admit, it had been fun. So many places, so much training. Everyday for the last sixteen years. Switzerland, and Kyle had taught her to ski. Australia, and they had gone diving on the Great Barrier Reef. Japan, they had climbed Fujiyama. China, they had walked the Great Wall. Thailand, they had explored Ankor Wat on their tenth anniversary. Daydreaming, she almost missed it when Kusatsu suddenly swung at her from behind. Rolling to the side, she came up with the staff she always carried.
"You cannot afford the luxury of dreaming, Okosan." he told her and struck again.
She deflected the blow and twisted the staff. It broke into three sections. She faced him, twirling the weapon around her. "Ojisan." she said. "A new exercise?"
He brought the sword down towards her as he slipped to the left. She felt the sting as the metal bit into her flesh. "Now, Ronnie-san it gets itai. (painful)" And he struck at her again. She blocked him and swung at his legs, but he neatly avoided her. Coming around behind her, he laid a slash across her shoulders. She started to fall, and he stopped her on her knees.
She stared at the sword under her chin. "I must be firm with you." he said. "It is no longer a game." Sheathing the blade, he walked away.
She knelt on the grass and watched him go down the slope. Her heart beating so loud in her ears, it blocked out everything else. Her mind swirled and twisted. The pain rose as if to engulf her. Clinching her hands and closing her eyes, she saw Kyle's head roll away onto the pavement, his sightless eyes staring up at her. Bowing her head, she started to cry.
From then on Kusatsu surprised her at every turn. For the next several weeks, she was black and blue, and she hurt everywhere. She had broken almost every bone. Died and come back so many times, she quit counting. Still he didn't let up. Over and over, he hammered at her. Requiring her to do exercises she was sure would kill her. And some of them did. After a while, she quit flinching and learned to move. Learned to expect. No longer watched, but was aware.
All this time, she had used Kyle's sword. A long sword almost a thousand years old. The hilt and guard made of chased silver. It was a work of art. Beautiful. Perfectly balanced, yet it was so long and heavy. Wielding it for any amount of time, left her exhausted and her arms sore and painful.
Sitting in her room, she was cleaning it, when Kusatsu knocked on her door.
"Haitte mo ii n' desu ka?" (May I come in?) he asked.
Laying the sword on the floor in front of her, she smiled to herself, "Hai! Ojisan." (Yes, grandfather.)
Slipping off his shoes, he slid open the door and stepped into her room. The sun was starting to set and the fiery rays, sinking behind the mountain, played around the small room.
"Suwatte kudassi." (Please sit down) she invited.He knelt on the cushion facing her, laying a bundle at his side.
"O-cha nomitai desu ka?" (Would you like tea?) she asked.
"Hai!" he answered, bowing to her.
For a long time, they sat. Drinking the frothy green tea and talking about Kyle and then the game. Finally Kusatsu told her about Tuwataten.
Bowing her head, she whispered, " O-ki-no-doku sama. Ojisan" ( I am very sorry for you, grandfather)
Shrugging his shoulders. "Kamau-sen (it doesn't matter), I have learned to live with it, Ronnie-san."
He picked up the bundle and presented it to her.
Raising the parcel to her forehead, she whispered. "Domo arigato."
Laying it across her knees, she unwrapped the cloth. From it's shape, she had already guessed it was a sword. But she gasped as the weapon came into view. Lifting it in her hand, she removed the scabbard. "It is too much." she said, tears in her eyes.
"You are Seito konomi no ( favored student). Dozo. (Please)." He told her.
Holding it in her hand, she felt the weight. A lot lighter and shorter than Kyle's long sword. The blade a bare thirty inches long. Holding it in her hand, she curled her fingers around the hilt. A feeling of warmth, of belonging, ran up her palm. Till her whole arm burned with the sensation. Sheathing the sword, she bowed to him.
"Anata no watakushi da. (I am yours)." she said, as he rose and left the room.
Time flowed smoothly and in her heart, Ronnie could have stayed in this place forever. Every day she rose with the sun and ran. Then she trained with Kusatsu till he felt it was time to stop. In the afternoons, she went down to the village with him and walked along the packed dirt streets.
"It is easy to cause pain." he told her one night. "Easy to kill." She nodded as she listened to him. "Much harder to heal. Much more difficult to forgive."
"I understand, Ojisan." she answered.
"I have lived on this island for five hundred years." he said. "I take care of them and they in turn protect my secret."
"I must ask, Ojisan." she bowed her head and sighed. "Tell me more about Tuwatanten."
Leaning back on his heels, Kusatsu considered her request. Then he began to tell her,
Lower Egypt 998
"I was atarashii (new). Just slightly over thirty years, and I longed to ryoko suru (travel) the earth. To see gaikoku to gaikokujin ( foriegn lands and peoples).
The storms that year were horrendous, leaving me shipwrecked on the shores of what is now the Arabian Peninsula. Imagine my amazement. The people, the endless sand. The smell in the air. I roamed there for several years. Meeting several immortals and winning my first few heads. I do believe I was yumei (famous), for my skills, by the time I met Tuwatanten.
She was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen . And I loved her. Unfortunately her beauty was only visionary. Her heart was black and cruel. I lived with her till 1494.
Walking out into the grove, one evening, as it was my habit. I saw a quickening. Thinking it was my beloved. I rushed past the trees to find her kneeling in the dirt. The body of my student at her feet. I still find it hard to believe, Okosan. She had killed my student. I was so furious so enraged. I held my katana to her throat. She told me all of it.
She had heard of my reputation and knew I was a skilled swordsman. So she enticed me into her bed and her life. I had had six students in the time we had been together. Kneeling in the dirt, she told me, she had killed them all.
I should have killed her. Watakusi dekimashita iya (I could not). So I walked away and came back to Japan. To this island. Kyle was the first one I've trained since I left Egypt. But I have known she was still alive and searched for me, since she killed Kozen-roshi twenty years ago.
And now she's killed Kyle.*Ronnie thought as she listened. "If I take her head, Ojisan." she asked. "Will you forgive me?"
"Do you forgive?" he asked. "That I could not?"
They sat together for a long time and listened to the sound of the frogs coming from the garden. "I must leave." she told him.
"I know Ronnie-san." he said as he raised his eyes to her. "But you will return."
Bowing to each other, she rose to her feet, and left the room quickly. Hiding her tears in the sleeve of her kimono.
June, 1997 Seattle
Rhonda Cole Ferguson sat once again in a window seat on the 747. But this time she was coming instead of going. Unfastening her seat belt. She waited for the plane to taxi up to the terminal.
Joe stood in the lounge and waited for the passengers to disembark. He's been scanning every report he could since she had disappeared the year before. Had drove Adam to distraction with his questions. But no one had heard a word. She had not been seen by anyone. Then last week, a telegram, asking him to pick her up at the airport. She was back. Looking towards the door, he waited.
He almost missed her, she looked so different. He hair still brushed against her shoulders as she walked. The color still the soft blonde streaked with silver. But she sported a deep tan. Like she'd spent a lot of time in the tropics and she walked different. A lot different. He sighed and went to meet her.
Walking up to him, she put her arms around his shoulders and hugged him. "Hi Joe." she whispered. Then slipped her arm through his.
"You look good." he said as they walked to the baggage claims.
"So do you." she said and reached to pick up the bag and the case from the conveyor. She stopped with her hand on the case and looked around. The familiar feeling had warned her of another's approach. She turned as a young man walked up to them.
"Joe." he said. "How did you know I was here?" Watching Ronnie as he did.
"I didn't Adam. I came to meet a friend of mine." he said. "Adam Pierson, meet Rhonda Ferguson."
The two immortals stood there, and then Ronnie held out her hand. "It's nice to meet you, Mr. Pierson." she said.
Shaking her hand, Adam reached past her and grabbed his bag. "Same here." he said. Straightening up, he looked from Joe to Rhonda. "Well even if you didn't come to meet me. Can you give me a lift to MacLeod's?"
"Sure." Joe told him. "No problem."
Sitting in the front seat with Joe, Ronnie looked out the window. She really hated what she had to ask Joe. She didn't want to get him involved. Adam's voice from the back seat interrupted her thought. "You have been driving everyone crazy, Rhonda." he said.
"Ronnie." she said. "Please call me Ronnie. And who is everyone?"
"Just a certain mortal man with silver gray hair and magic fingers." he answered.
"Where have you been?" Joe asked as they sat at the red light.
"I can't tell you." she told him. "I had to finish my training."
"So how is Kusatsu?" Adam asked from the back seat.
"What?" she asked.
"Relax." Adam told her. "We're old aquaintances. I know he taught Kyle."
Shaking her head, she smiled. "He's fine. You guys don't play fair."
Joe pulled up in front of MacLeod's dojo, and Adam got out. "Life isn't fair." he said, as he grabbed his bag and shut the door. "Not fair at all." he repeated as he walked away.
Joe watched as Adam walked away, then putting the car in gear, pulled back into traffic. He glanced at Ronnie. "That was a damn dirty trick you did to me." he said as they turned the corner.
Ronnie smiled at him, then turned to look out the window. "Yes it was." she told him. "But it was necessary."
"I gotta report you're back." he replied.
"I know." she told him. "But what are the chances I can get you to give me twenty-four hours?"
"Why?" he asked.
She shrugged her shoulders, "Just give me a chance to catch my breath."
"On one condition." he answered.
"What?" she asked.
"Give me an up close and personal interview." he smiled. "From a watcher's point of view."
"Deal." she said. "Some one has to."
She told him to take her to a storage company on the outskirts of town. There she had a man load a huge trunk into the backseat of Joe's car. As they drove away, Joe looked at her. "You gonna tell me?"
"Just some personal things, Joe." she sighed. "After Kyle was killed. I just packed them all away. Thought this would be a good time to go through them and make some *donations*. If you get my meaning?"
Thinking of all the things he had stored in the basement of his bar, Joe smiled. "Yes I get your meaning."
She looked back out the window. "Joe if I give you a personal account of how and why." she said. "Can you get a copy to my watcher? When they assign one to me."
"I think so." Joe told her, "Why?"
"Cause I don't want to be just a bunch of words in a report somewhere." she smiled.
"No chance of that." Joe told her then smiled.
When they arrived at her hotel, Ronnie sat and talked to Joe for a few minutes before she turned to go up to her room. "Tomorrow, Joe." she said as she stood and turned to the elevator. "When you file your report. Tell them to get someone fast, at least temporaliy. I'll be leaving in a few days."
Shaking his head, Joe said. "Sure Ronnie, I'll tell them." He stood there and watched as she walked across the lobby. Turning, she smiled at him, then stepped into the compartment. Shaking his head, he went out to his car.
Upstairs, Ronnie threw her bags on the bed and opened the trunk. Digging down through the things, she took the laptop out and set it up on the desk.
An hour later, she sighed. It's a good thing the organization was so predictible. She waited for the file to emerge from the printer. After Joe filed his report tomorrow it might become more difficult. She tossed the sheets on the bed as she walked to the bathroom.
She took a long hot shower, then changed into a silk kimono and sat on the bed to read the file. Tuwataten. Skimming down through all the sheets, she tried to skip the report of Kyle's death, but it jumped off the page at her. Tears dropped onto the papers as they quivered in her hand. Seaching on she found what she sought, Tuwataten's present location.
Walking to the phone, she dialed the desk and made her request. "Yes, Mrs. Ferguson." said the clerk. "I understand. Friday. Rome. I'll call you as soon as the arrangements are made."
Sighing she hung up and went to sit on the edge of the bed. Staring at the old trunk. So many years, so many memories. Laying down on the bed, she held the pillow to her chest as she let the tears come again. Sometime late into the night, she fell asleep. Dreaming of a man with long blonde hair and bright blue eyes. That smiled and called her "darling".
"No." said Adam. "Absolutely not, Joe."
"You have to." said Joe, sitting down in the chair.
"I dina see the problem." Duncan said as he brought them both a beer.
"I do not work in the field." Adam said. "You know that."
"Well I'm afraid you're going to have to. At least temporalily." Joe told him as he opened his beer.
Duncan smiled and then sat on the end of the table. Cocking his head, he grinned at the older immortal. "Damn." Adam groaned. "Rome?"
"Yep." Joe said. "Friday afternoon. Tourist."
"Great." groused Adam as he drank the beer. "You know if you are going to ask me to stick my neck out. You could at least send me first class."
Joe rose from the chair and walked to the lift. Turning he grinned at Adam, "Didn't ask." he said. "Told. Remember, tourist."
"Damn," muttered Adam as the lift gate slammed shut. "Not a word." he glared at Duncan. Holding up his finger, "Not one."
I hate to fly. thought Adam as the plane sat down on Rome, early Saturday morning. Come to think of it, sometimes I hate to travel. Period.
Customs wasn't too bad. He had left his sword in his bag in the cargo hold. Collecting his things, he walked out of the airport and looked for a taxi. As he stood on the sidewalk, running all the reasons he *didn't* like Rome through his head, a car pulled up in front of him.
Immediately he felt the tingling rush that said another immortal was near. Leaning over, he looked into the car.
Rhonda Ferguson stared back at him. "Need a lift?" she asked.
Sighing, he opened the back door, and threw in his bags. He slipped into the front and glared at her. "Thanks."
She pulled out into the traffic and headed into the city. "I'm sorry, Mr. Pierson." she said. "I guess you were the only one available."
"You're right." he said, staring out the window. "I was."
"I'll drop you at your hotel." she said. Then reaching down beside her, she handed him a case. "Here, you'll need these."
He looked at her, then opened the case, to find a very strong pair of binoculars. he examined them, then told her "Thanks."
"No problem." she said. "I had to use them when I watched Kyle. You can be far enough away, immortals can't feel you."
He looked at the glasses and then at her as she manuvered the car through the city streets. "Why?" he asked. "Why'd you tell them?"
"Cause it's what I do." she answered. "All these years. It's meant more to me than just a game."
"How long have you known?" he asked.
"Sixteen years." she answered.
Shaking his head, he looked at her. "You could have died earlier." he said. "Younger."
"I thought about it." she admitted. "But after living with Kyle, and knowing a few others. I thought a more mature physical appearance would be easier to deal with."
"Were you right?" he asked.
"Yes." she told him. "I was."
She pulled up to the door of his hotel and watched as he reached in to get his bags. "I really am sorry." she said.
Shaking his head he backed out of the car. "Yes," he told her. "So am I."
Two days later Ronnie sat on a hill, above a villa. Watching as people came and went. On the notebook in her lap, she made several entries. Feeling the quivering she had come to associate with another immortal, she reached inside her coat for her sword.
"Are you sure you're good enough?" Adam asked from behind her.
"That's a good way to loose your head, Mr. Pierson." she said.
"Not very damn likely." he told her as he sat down beside her. "And please, called me Adam."
"Ok, Adam." she said and turned towards him. "What are you doing here?"
"Watching." he answered. "And you?"
"Hunting." she said, and wrote a couple of sentences on the pad.
"Are you sure you're good enough?" he asked again.
She took off the sunglasses she wore and looked at him, as he leaned back in the grass. "I have to be." she answered.
"Why?" he asked.
"Because the alternative is not acceptable." she told him, and turned back to her study of the building below.
Sighing, he sat up and turned his attention to the scene unfolding below.
The white Mercedes pulled up in front of the house and a woman emerged from between the tall pillars that stood next to the twin front doors. Adam could see the blackness of her hair as she walked to the door of the car. It flowed down her back against the white of the linen suite she wore. Even from so far away. Adam could remember the face. Closing his eyes, he could even remember the smell.
Alexandria 250 b.c.
She was a young immortal when Methos had met her. Less than three hundred years old, and hungry. Hungry for power, she had almost taken his head.
He was standing on the steps of the great library. Considering the vast amounts of knowlege that were housed here. When she had approached him.
She was scared, and she ran. Thinking she was brand new, he chased her down and caught her. He had become her teacher and later her lover.
Unconsciously he rubbed his hand across his throat. "Old friend of yours?" Ronnie asked.
Shrugging his shoulders, Adam looked at her. "Closer to an old enemy." he said.
"Then you're lucky." Ronnie told him. "I hear most of her *male* aquaintances are dead."
They sat there and watched as the car left the drive and headed out onto the road. Standing up, Adam offered her his hand. As she took his hand and stood up, he looked over her shoulder to the car driving off in the distance.
"Luck had nothing to do with it." he told her, then turned and walked down the hill.
Getting into their own cars, Ronnie and Adam left the hillside above the swank Italian villa and headed back into Rome.
As he followed her down the winding road, Adam thought about the woman that drove in front of him. To him, the watchers had been a place to hide. A place to keep his identity safe from the rest of the world. And here he was following another immortal. And even worse she was going after Tuwataten. He sighed and let himself be carried back.
Alexandria, 240 b.c.
"I love you, Taharka." she had said. Tears running down her cheeks. He turned and looked at her, as the sea churned outside the ship they stood on.
"I cannot believe you." he had said. "You killed Lucius."
"I swear," she sobbed. "He wanted me. Tried to force me. I had no choice."
"In my HOUSE?" he had yelled. "YOU had a choice."
As he had turned to walk away, she had struck him with her sword. Turning to look at her. He still remembered the look on her face, as he flung himself over the side.
Could Ronnie beat her? Could he? *Hate to loose this five thousand year old head for a fifty year old woman.* he thought. Sighing he turned at the next street and made a left.
Rhonda Cole Ferguson was having almost the exact same thoughts as she drove. She had seen this woman fight. She was good. Very good. But then, she'd taken a lot of heads in the last 2500 years. Ronnie had yet to take even one. She turned right, and went to her hotel.
She was just coming out of the shower when the phone rang. Answering it, she found Adam on the other end. Asking her to have dinner with him. She thought for a moment, then told him to pick her up at seven o'clock.
Adam knocked at her door at exactly seven. After a moment, she answered the door. Stepping back, he grinned at her. She wore an emerald green sheath that complimented her eyes and hair. And sensible flat shoes, bringing her height to just about his forehead. He smiled as she picked up her coat and offered her his arm.
Later in the resturaunt, they sat and talked as they ate. Adam finally told her about Alexa, and she told him about Kyle.
Leaning on the table, she frowned. "It had to be so hard for you." she said.
"It was. " he told her. "But, it gave me a sense of ......I don't know. It's hard to explain."
"Mortality." she finished for him.
"Maybe." he whispered.
"I felt that way with Kyle." she said. "I still wonder if I could have saved him."
"You couldn't have." He told her.
"Are you so sure?" she asked.
Nodding he picked up the bottle of wine and poured them each another glass. "Yes," he said. "I am."
"Tomorrow." she said. "Tomorrow is the night. And you can file a report. One way or another."
Adam sighed and looked out the window. "Where are you going to go? When it's over."
"I don't know." she told him. The green of her eyes shining in the dim light. "I'll keep in touch with Joe."
He reached over and took her hand. "I can't get over what you're doing." he said. "Our kind has always been so secretive. It scares me to see you be so open within the organization."
"Why?" she asked. "Afraid of the Hunters?"
"You *know* about them?" he asked.
"Sure." she told him "I've kept up."
"You could die." He told her.
"I've died before." she answered.
"Not forever." he told her, as he asked for the check.
Tuesday morning and Ronnie woke good and early.Opening the doors of her room, she stepped out onto the balcony. She stood there for several moments looking to the east. There were so many things she wanted to see. Going back into the room, she showered and changed and went down into the city.
She sat at the edge of the massive fountain and looked up. Wondering what it took for a man like Michangeleo to create something so magnificent, listening to the tape in her radio. London Beat played *Thinking about You.* It expressed her feelings exactly. Sighing, she got up and continued on her walk towards the Vatican.
She walked in through the massive doors and looked around. She had been here before. She and Kyle. She walked along and felt him with her as he pointed out the many paintings and sculptures. His smile as he told her of the painting of the Sistine chapel in 1510. Of all the colors, the time. The sketches. The hours and hours. Leaning against a statue of Mary. She felt the tears start to fall.
She quickly brushed them away as her mind started to hum with the presence of another. With her hand under her jacket, she turned. To face Adam.
"Damn." she swore. "Do you like doing that to me?"
He shrugged his shoulders and smiled at her. Looking like a youngster caught in something he didn't belong into. "Not really." he said. His gray eyes twinkled at her. "Thought you might like some company."
"Maybe." she said and turned to leave.
He followed her out, to a small cafe nearby. They sat at a table and ordered coffee. The dome of St. Peter's rising behind them.
"Can I ask you somethig?" Adam said.
"I guess so." she told him.
"Are you sure you can kill her?' he said, leaning across the table.
"I'm sure as hell going to try." she replied.
"There can be only one." he told her.
"It's not going to be her." she stated.
For the rest of the day, Adam walked with her. He hadn't seen Ronnie fight, so he had a lot of doubts. He knew how good Tuwataten was. He was worried.
Ronnie sighed as the door closed behind her, leaving her alone. She only had a few hours before she had to go meet Tuwataten. She leaned against the door. One way or another. It would be finished.
It was seven p.m, she could feel the sight eminations from another immortal, Adam. Clinching and unclinching her fists, she walked up the steps of the night club.
She felt the tingling numbness immediately. She was already here. Stepping into the club, she looked around. Their eyes locked from across the room. Tuwataten's slightly closed. Like that of a viper, zeroing in on her prey. Ronnie's deep and clear. Waiting.
The music beat against their nerves. Causing the very walls to vibrate. Going to the bar, Ronnie ordered a drink and waited. She didn't wait long.
A hand with long lacquered nails, reached across her shoulder. "Hello, child." the woman whispered.
Turning, Ronnie looked at her. She was truely georgous. Her long black hair hanging down her back. Woven with hundreds of tiny beads. "I am Tuwataten." she whispered her voice soft against Ronnie's cheek.
Ronnie picked up her drink and smiled at the woman. "I know." she said.
"Leave." Tuwataten told her. "Now."
Ronnie shook her head as she drained the glass. "I don't think so."
"Impetuous child." Tuwataten spat. "You can not beat me."
Ronnie turned and looked at her. "I intend to try."
The older immortal looked around, then back at the woman. "The roof. Ten minutes."
Ronnie turned back to her drink. "Of course," she whispered.
She watched as Tuwataten walked back over to the man she had been dancing with. Watched her run her fingers down the side of his face. Felt the knot in her stomach as she remembered this woman, killing Kyle.
She listened to the band play two more songs, then heading for the stairway. Went up to the roof.
Stepping onto the open roof, Ronnie stopped for a moment and breathed deeply, through her nose. She looked around, then walked to the edge. Looking out across the open spaces, she hoped Adam had a good position.
She didn't wait for long, and she felt the unmistakable surge of another immortal. Turning, she looked at the door.
Tuwataten opened the door and stepped out. She took off the jacket she wore and tossed it aside. Bringing her sword into view.
Ronnie watched her, then brought her own sword up in front of her.
"You are very young to be so foolish." the older immortal said.
"Try me." Ronnie said.
Tuwataten lunged at her. Ronnie blocked the blow but as she retreated, she noticed. The other woman was fast. Really fast. She retreated across the rooftop as Tuwataten slashed at her. Staying on the offensive. She took a slice to the left arm and a really nasty gash on her side. But Ronnie let her keep coming.
Soon the older immortals breath was coming in ragged gasps. Ronnie wasn't even breathing hard. She smiled as she moved in and parrying a blow, caught Tuwataten on the arm. *As soon as they start breathing through their mouth, they are yours.* Kusatsu's voice rang in her ears, as she took another slash to her left arm.
Looking down at the gash, she looked up at Tuwataten and smiled. Holding her sword in both hands, she stood and waited. Squaring her shoulders, she breathed through her nose. As Tuwataten came, she ducked, turned and struck.
The tendons slashed behind her knees, dropped Tuwataten to the roof. Lifting herself up, she asked "Why?"
"Giri.(loyalty)" said Rhonda Ferguson, then struck.
She watched as the head rolled away from the body and bounced off the air conditioning unit. Holding the sword at her side, she waited.
The light collected around the still form of Tuwataten then rose up into the air. It bounced off the antennae on the roof and collected around Ronnie's form as she stood, her arms outspred to recieve the *quickening*. It raged and walked along the lines of the building. Slamming up into the sky, then falling back to her waiting arms. It lifted her and carried her and in the swirling mist, she thought she saw Kyle. Then dropping her to her knees, it was over.
With her face against the rough tar of the roof, she whispered, "Dake ichi asoko dekiru desu. (There can be only one).
Two days later, Ronnie and Adam stood at the boarding gate of the airport. Looking at him, she sighed. "Thanks, Adam."
"Thank you." he replied smiling. "I've never really been out in the field before."
"Interesting isn't it?" she asked.
"I guess so." he answered. "But I'm used to my own way."
She leaned over and kissed his cheek, looking over his shoulder. She winked at the sandy haired young man that watched them. "It's going to be a ball, Methos." she said, as she turned and walked away.
For a moment, he just stood there, dumbfounded. Then turning around, he called "Rhonda?"
But she had already disappeared, along with her watcher into the plane.
Shaking his head, Adam Pierson headed to Gate 9, and Paris, France.