Situating herself at the back of the second cave, Gemini looked over at Shail. He seemed nervous- she couldn't blame him. Storms were rare and often frightening occurrences in the desert, and could spell death for an unwary human. She thought back to the last time there had been a storm. "It was eight years ago." She said. "In the middle of the day, the sky suddenly turned dark and opened up above us. I remember a young boy in your village was celebrating his birthday. It was a big deal, apparently, because he had been sick, but he was well enough to go outside that day." She remembered feeling a little bad for the boy, who would have been driven back inside by the storm on the one day he should have been playing outside. The people of the village had blamed her for the ill timed weather, though she'd had nothing to do with it. In fact, she had even protected the village that day, at least as well as she could. "I went there. To the village. I tried to protect it from the worst of the storm. Especially that boy's home...I kept the wind from blowing too harshly there, because he had been ill." Her reasoning at the time had been that the village was hers to play with, and it would be no fun if the people were wiped out.

Shail's heart slammed in his chest. For a second, he panicked, forgetting that he could breathe again if he just let himself. Finally, he managed to draw air in, his lungs working with far more steadiness than he felt. Eight years ago? Was that the last storm? The memory came unbidden and far too strong. Squeezing his eyes shut, he tried to forget the feeling of fear and far more than that, despair, as the walls shivered in the rage of the wind, water sweeping in under the door's frame. Others lost far more than he, but that distant dream of sunlight couldn't be forgotten. With his voice tense, Shail managed to speak in a voice no louder than a whisper, even lost in his memory as he still was. "You were there? In the village eight years ago?"

Gemini was surprised by his reaction. Had that storm been particularly difficult for him? She imagined he had been frightened. Perhaps he had been in one of the unprotected houses. "Yes...I was there. I did what I could, but even a djinn is not a match for nature when it chooses to unleash it's fury." She said, unsure what to say at that moment. What if her words made him worse? It would help if she knew why Shail seemed so frightened, but something held her back from asking. Fear, perhaps, of what the answer might be. Had she done something? She struggled to remember. She hadn't thought there were any casualties in that storm, but she couldn't be sure. Had she, in some inadvertent way, been responsible for the death of someone he cared for? Had he known the sick boy who's birthday it was?

Still not meeting Gemini's eye, Shail spoke again. "I...my memory is fuzzy of that time. I thought I might have dreamt it up; it seemed too unreal. But-" He shook his head. No, he couldn't stop talking now that he started, even if he wanted to stop. The memory captured him too strongly. "I think I was that child..." He had been turning ten that day and they never spoke of it afterward so it was easy to pretend his sickness or perhaps his wellness didn't bring the storm. The other whispered, but he started to get well after that point so it became a distant memory. But really, how many sick children could there be in the village at that time that Gemini could be talking about someone besides him? Unable to stop himself, more words spilled out. "The spirits visited that night as well. My mother called it an omen."

Gemini looked up, startled. She had known- he had told her- that Shail had been a sickly child, but it hadn't occurred to her for some reason that he may have been the same child whose home she had protected that day. But, now that she thought about it, who else could it have been? "The spirits visited? What do you mean?" She asked, curious. Did that mean her, or some other spirits? And why was it an omen? She had protected them. Surely that was a good thing, right?

Shail shrugged one should carefully. He didn't think he could explain it, or even if he should. "It's just...I've seen spirits in my dreams for a long time. When I'm sick and it seems like I might die, I've seen shapes that must belong to the other side. In the desert before too, I saw a spirit..." He trailed off, not entirely sure that the white horse had been a spirit that time. A spirit or Gemini? She might very well be a spirit though, as she protected him in the past. It was a surprising turn of events. "But I was something strange that day. For many, it was the first they'd seen me playing in the sunlight and then the storm comes. Isn't that an omen?"

"They thought that your good health brought the storm?" Gemini asked, appalled by this. Why would the humans be so cruel about one of their own? She understood that it was a huge coincidence, but were they really that superstitious? "That is a terrible thing for anyone to believe. It was not an omen, but a simple coincidence." She realized then that her protecting his home that day wouldn't have helped. She decided to change subjects. "You truly see spirits? That is quite a gift indeed. Do they speak to you? Have they sent you back to life, when you were close to death?" She was truly curious about this, as humans didn't often see supernatural things. Even djinn couldn't claim to know the spirits of the world.

Shail shook his head and shrugged. It was already long buried past and there was nothing he could do about it now. The village already seemed so distant to him now that he found it hard to imagine when he first came here that all he wanted was to go back. He didn't think he would even if he had the chance now. Even if he should, or maybe he shouldn't. It had become so muddled by now. "I....don't know how much of it is even true. The things I see, I seem to be the only one who sees them. My father told me they were just fever visions. My mother was the first to tell me they were spirits and I was special. But I only see them when I'm unconscious, so even I can't say what's real. Even if they don't speak, I feel I know what they are saying to me. Last time, was different though...."

Gemini knew suddenly, with the intense clarity of one remembering a long buried experience, that the "last time" Shail had talked about was just a day and a half previous, when she had appeared to him as a horse. She bit her lip, conflicted as to whether she should tell him that it had been her. It seemed harmless to let him believe it was a spirit, however...he would figure it out eventually, and he might be angry at her for keeping it from him. She wondered if she had been responsible for any other visions in his life. She had gone into the village several times over the years...had she encountered the boy without realizing it? The conflict was clearly visible in her expression. "Shail...that last time you keep talking about...what happened? What was different?" She knew, but she had to hear it from him.

Shail blinked, realizing after a second that Gemini looked just as conflicted as he felt remembering the past. It confused him for a second and he opened his mouth, almost asking why. It seemed strange, and perhaps a little warming as well. Like maybe, she just cared about him that much. It was a thought he was beginning to accept after all she had done for him. At her question, he shrugged one shoulder carefully. Although he pretended like he couldn't remember that experience well, some of those memories still came with utter clarity, like that image of the white horse. So beautiful. "It just...felt so real that time. The indistinct spirit was so startling and even now...I can see that horse so clearly. I've always begun to forget the shapes almost immediately." He sighed again. "But you said you came in the form of a black horse."

Gemini did her best not to flinch as Shail repeated her lie back to her. True, she had said that she'd come in the form of a black horse. At the time, she had thought she was protecting him. But if he thought he had seen a spirit, was it better to tell him the truth or let it be? Was it harming him at all to believe this? She realized she was asking herself the same questions over again. She tried looking at it from a different angle. If she told him now, how bad would it be? How much worse would it be if he found out on his own later? He might not be happy with her for lying to him, but she knew she would slip up eventually, and then everything would be that much worse. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, preparing herself. "Yes, I did say that. At the time, you were so ill, and you seemed determined to believe that you had seen a spirit. I thought...I wanted to let you hold on to that notion, for comfort, in case things got worse." She shook her head- she was making excuses, which would help no one. "When I came for you, I was a white horse. I am able to take almost any form I wish, but one thing that never varies between forms is that I appear pure white. I apologize for lying to you, Shail."

Shail's heart skipped a beat. Though short on breath, he couldn't even focus on that, not even enough to realize it. Gemini had been the white horse? He pulled away, but for the moment, couldn't manage moving more than one foot. Eyes turned to the djinn woman. "Why? It was true?" he choked out. He felt it somewhere in his heart that Gemini must be that white horse. The lie came out too strangely and to his logical mind, made no sense. But he wanted to believe in it, fall into the lies of a pretty dream. Because then he wouldn't have to deal with how he was starting to feel for Gemini. Now, that need came crashing back in again with twice the force. He pulled to his feet, ignoring the storm that still raged outside. "That horse was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen and you lied to me. Why?!"

Ashamed, Gemini remained sitting down, ever when Shail stood. She understood his anger, could even feel it, but couldn't reconcile it with what she knew of him. Not this level of anger. It didn't make sense. Did his visions matter that much to him? She was startled out of her thoughts by one statement he made. The horse had been the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. It took her a moment to get over the fact that he meant the horse, not her specifically. "I only wanted to protect you. I thought...it seemed that you might not live. I thought you would be happier believing it was a spirit who saved you, rather than the djinn who you ran away from in the first place." She explained, though she knew excuses wouldn't make it right. She'd lied, and she had to deal with the consequences.

Shail looked away in shame even as the anger continued to rumble in him. He didn't consider himself an angry person and it made his chest fell tight in dangerous ways. He could feel his body beginning to struggle and yet he couldn't force himself to calm down either. The fact that he at one time ran away shamed him though, leaving him biting back angry words. "That's not true," he managed. Not true that he would prefer to think a spirit saved him. Even then, though he couldn't admit it, something was already morphing between him and Gemini. When he woke up and found her, he saw something there that he hadn't expect to. It changed things. Still not looking at Gemini, he continued to speak so quiet the storm outside nearly ate his words. "...I would have preferred to have you save me...."

Gemini looked at Shail, surprise and disbelief shining in her eyes. Was that true? That he would have been okay being saved by her? That he would have preferred it? It seemed too good to be true. And she had ruined it before it could have started. That realization nearly shattered her. Something had been there, between them, something that could have been something more, and she had shattered it. "I am sorry..." It came out a whisper, just barely louder than his voice had been, colored by shame and regret. She didn't know how to express how sorry she was.

Shail still couldn't meet her eye, but he'd stopped his retreat. In a second, he seemed to deflate the same as Gemini. His voice came out in a whisper. "...Me too..." After a second standing there, listening to the wind and rain howl outside, he shuffled back to the cave corner and sat down next to Gemini. No look, no words of acknowledgement. He just sat with his knees against his chest, staring out toward the darkness that the storm brought. No doubt, the village would also be in fear now, but here, he was safe. Dragging in a ragged and painful breath, he finally broke the silence that had settled over him. "My lungs are feeling a little weak right now so I think I'll stay for a while longer." A small olive branch. A, 'I'm not leaving yet.'

Gemini felt tears spring to her eyes, but refused to let them fall. She was a djinn. She did not cry. But still, Shail's broken response hurt her in a way she couldn't understand. She didn't realize she'd been holding her breath until he sat back down, and she released it. He wasn't going to leave. Not yet. The djinn clung to that offering like a lifeline, even though she knew it was only temporary. Once the storm had passed, once his lungs were better, Shail would leave. And this time- the realization hit her with the force of the lightening outside- this time, she would let him go. She would send him back to the village, arrange it so that he wouldn't be punished. She would leave the village alone, for as long as Shail lived there. Longer, if that was what he wanted. She knew this as well as she knew her own name, as if the knowledge had always been there and she had only just realized it. "If that is what you wish." She answered him after a moment of silence. "You are welcome to stay or go at your leisure. I will not stop you." Her own olive branch: you are free.

The implications of the words washed over Shail, clear and loud. Freedom, the thing he'd been chasing for so long now and finally had. And yet it sounded so bitter in his ears. No, this was not what he wanted. It didn't come the way he wanted it to. He didn't say that though, only bit his lip and pulled his knees a little closer. Maybe this was for the best. He and Gemini could never become anything real, not with their differences. He should just take this and go. Sighing, he whispered a few more words, almost imagining that this was a far softer moment than it was. "Thank you. I at least thank you for that."

Gemini sighed quietly, the sound lost against the still-raging storm outside. He had thanked her. Normally that would have made her happy, but the circumstances prevented that. She wanted to be happy for him. She wanted him to stay. But she knew caging him would make him unhappy. In the pursuit of his happiness, she had to let him go. She felt the old, familiar loneliness creeping up on her, threatening to crush her, but she pushed it away. She had survived this long alone, she would be fine. "You do not need to thank me. Your freedom is your right. I never should have taken it from you." She answered, not sure if he even heard her. A memory crossed her mind- a familiar one that she dreamed of often. A child, a home on a cliff near the sea. A sickbed. An old lullaby. She shook her head. It couldn't be a memory, of course. She had never experienced these things. But why did she dream of it so often? Why was the child so familiar? And why did the memory come forward now, out of nowhere? She sang a few notes of the lullaby, not fully aware that she was doing it. It was in a language that no longer existed.

Shail sighed, letting the storm fill in a period of silence before he whispered out a response. "No...but I don't think you ever did. I just thought I lost my freedom..." He left off with that, the revelation of his words sinking into him as well. It was such a funny thought. Though Gemini kidnapped him, she never truly caged him. She didn't even try. He'd walked right out before and she brought him back not as a captive. Fear made him see their relationship that way in the beginning, but looking back, he realized he'd always been free. He just had words now, words that made him realize that truth. Settling against the rock wall, he let his eyes slip closed as the storm wound down, or maybe it was just the eye of the storm, with far more violence to come. But for now, he let himself believe that the worst of it was over even though if the storm never stopped, he'd have an excuse to never leave.

Gemini was stunned silent by his words. She had never thought of it that way, either. At least, not directly. True, she had never specifically told him he couldn't leave, but she had alluded to the fact that he wouldn't get far. Had she, without realizing it, given him a loophole? The realization rocked her to the core. She closed her eyes, and a tiny, humorless smile crossed her face. She had never intended to keep him. No matter what she'd told him- told herself- she would have let him go whenever he wanted. More silence passed while she thought of this, and the storm seemed to pass over. She wanted him to stay. That much was painfully clear. But she wouldn't make him.

Shail fell into a fitful sleep as the storm wound down, never quite hearing its end. To him, the storm continued outside, reality hidden behind his sleep. The morning sun slunk into the sky as the clouds dissipated, all their rain spent. And just across the dunes, the people of the village also emerged from their homes, fearful eyes to the sky. Looking around at the waterlogged streets, they murmured to each other.

"Water...the blessed water..."

"Too much."

One by one, they gathered together, eyes turning toward the storm's damage rather than the gift of water.

"Allah, what have we done to deserve this?" a woman with a babe in her arms cried. "Why? Why?!"

"This isn't Allah!" a voice rung out over the chatter. One man stepped up to the top of a some stone debris. A shush settling over the crowd, he continued. "This is the djinn and that boy's fault! Do you think we should let them ruin our lives with their....this unholy union? Yes, that's right. My son saw proof of it today. Will we let it stand?" He let out a roar.

Looking among themselves, confusion turned to anger in the villager's eyes. One by one, they answered the roar. Someone would have to pay for this.

Gemini remained quiet, her thoughts running circles in her mind as she watched Shail sleep. She wanted to comfort him, to help him sleep better, but she didn't know how to start. She listened to the storm die down, and the sound eventually lulled her into a half-sleep. Had she known the damage the storm had caused, or how it had angered the villagers, she would have prepared for their coming. But as it was, she slept, blissfully unaware of the oncoming danger.

Shail woke first, sensing something off, though he didn't know what. Blinking his eyes, he saw a distant light toward the cave entrance that signaled daylight and the end of the storm. Somewhere out there, a sun was beating down on the dry, sandy ground just like usual. It seemed that nothing could possibly be out of place, and yet something was. He nudged Gemini's side, realizing with a slight flush that they had fallen asleep next to each other and even shifted closer during the last of the night. "Hey. Wake up," he demanded in a harsh whisper. A scuffle sounded from far outside in the distance, though he supposed not near far enough away if he could hear it inside the cave. His anxiety increased. "Something's wrong."

Gemini woke with a sharp intake of breath, looking around to see what was wrong. She spotted Shail and sat up, instantly on the alert. His words sank in, and she nodded, sensing that something was, in fact, wrong. "I will check." She said, standing up to move forward. She could sense what was wrong if she got close enough to the source, without exposing herself to it. She crept forward silently, keeping her senses alert in case of unexpected danger.