2031 ~ A Fall.

((Oh, the originality of that title.))

It was all the fault of the slipper. That single slipper, previously as well-behaved as might be expected, turning into a vicious sadist that delighted in the destruction of it's master.

Ana's foot- or to be more specific, the aforementioned slipper- slipped over the rim of the next stair, and hurtled into a lurching slide that hauled her off-balance and sent her tumbling down the few remaining steps to the ground floor.

She could've sworn she heard it chuckle in satisfaction, delighting in the fall it had brought about after nearly a year spent lulling her into a false sense of security.

Betrayal.

Ana winced at the bruises she felt forming on the flesh of her arms, and untangled her legs, attempting to rise.

At least the stair rail seemed to be co-operating.

Darius was skipping, humming a light Christmas tune, on his way to the kitchen when he saw his mother fall.

The humming stopped immediately. "Mummy, are you all right?" He ran as fast as he could by her side.

"Are you hurt?" He examined her, checked to see if she was bleeding anywhere.

"Don't stand up yet! Something might be broken!" Darius yelled in fear.

Looks like someone showed the little six-year-old the Healer books in the library.

Ana felt an affectionate smirk sneaking onto her face, and for a moment, she was in another time, another place, and a different worried visage was barking orders.

A nine-year-old Ana's knee ached as she raised it from the slate floor, blisteringly cold to her skin.

"Don't move! Something might be broken!" The words echoed down the hall as an almost identical boy hurtled towards her, sliding to a halt and crouching to inspect her knee.

Ana fought not to cry as the stinging began, the initial shock now dissipating.

"What were you doing? You shouldn't be running up and down the stairs!" The worry was replaced with a slight pout, and Ana sniffed, only serving to draw attention to her tears.

His face softened. "Come on sis." An hand extended towards her, a voice muttered something about bandages. Ana took the hand, his wide eyes meeting her gaze, analysing her own expression in silence.

"OK Darien..."

Her mouth began to form the words before she had time to think, barely time to recognise that the young boy before her was younger, the voice was brighter, his eyes a vibrant blue. Ana's mind remembered, and she choked on the sentence.

"OK Darius."

She should smile. She should reassure him. She really ought to.

But the words wouldn't come.

Darien was gone.

Nicolas came as soon as he heard the racket. Was it Darius? Eliza? Was there something wrong?

But as he came to the scene of the crime, it was Ana and not one of the children who seemed to be the one in trouble. He quietly chuckled as Darius seemed to be trying to get her still. He glanced at her expression to expecting to see a bemused look with a slight twinkle - maybe considering playing along - but what he saw instead was... was it pain?

He frowned. Did she actually hurt herself?

It seemed Darius had the same line of thinking. "Where does it hurt?!" He said in a panic. He didn't hear Nicolas approach, his concentration was figuring out where it hurt. "Stay here! Don't move! I'm going to get bandages!" And he skidded off.

Nicolas watched the boy go. It hit him, it wasn't the fall that affected Ana. She had been staring at Darius as if she was else where. Her eyes were glazed, she was thinking of something else. Nicolas could only guess who. He had the same sensation happen to him on more than one ocassion, though of course, Darius reminded him of someone else entirely. It was the reason he couldn't deny Darius anything, the reason why he felt it difficult to look at those wide blue eyes if they were melancholy.

"Are you all right?" He asked her.

Ana didn't move as Darius rushed away. She hauled herself to a standing position, barely aware of the pain in her leg. Only mild. She didn't notice the blood.

Darius. As much as she loved him, at moments, it hurt to look at him. It hurt to see the living reminder of the brother that she had taken for granted. The brother who'd looked after her.

Nick's voice broke through her reverie and she hastily forced her tears back. "I'm--Yes."

Of course, she couldn't help the words being choked, strained, raw.

Nicolas glanced down on her knee. "Looks like you have a cut there." He said offering his hand. "Why don't you sit down?"

"I didn't know what to get!" Darius said in a frenzy carrying all sorts of bandages and plasters alike.

Ana hesitated for a moment, eyeing his hand with an odd expression before wordlessly grasping it and sitting on the step, breaking contact to peer at her own knee, if only to stop Darius seeing the pain still hiding in her eyes.

A slight smile tugged at her lips for a second as Darius returned, but it faded as the memories flashed back in full vengeance. Ow.

At least her injured knee was a distraction, she mused.

Nicolas smiled at the boy. "Come here you." He extended his hand to Darius.

Darius inched toward Nicolas still looking at Ana with concern.

"Our little Healer." Nicolas put his hand on Darius' shoulder. "I think I'll take it from here."

Darius nodded, slightly disappointed and slightly relieved. He didn't actually know what to do.

"You can be my assitant though." Nicolas added.

Great. That worked out perfectally. "Ohkay." Darius said sitting by Ana.

"Now, let me see that knee." Nicolas said crouching down so that he was at the perfect height to examine it.

Ana managed a smile, determined to hide the pain until it faded. Darius couldn't see it.

The scratch on her knee could hardly excuse such agony. Reality was painful, strenuous and tiring.

"It's fine." She muttered, but allowed Nick to 'examine' the knee. Not that there was much to see. Several scratches forming a graze that wept a small trickle of blood. A simple healing spell would suffice.

Ana glanced at the pile of bandages, focusing on them to keep her out of the cruel thoughts that plagued her.

Nicolas glanced at the wound. Just an ordinary healing charm would have done the trick but Nicolas figured he might as well put up a show. Darius did get the bandages.

"Darius give me that plaster." Nicolas commanded eyeing the wound with a semi-frown.

Darius did as he was told. Nicolas unwrapped the plaster, peeled off the paper and carefully placed it on Ana's 'injuried' knee.

Ana glanced at Nick quizzically for a moment. Surely a healing charm would be much simpler?

She remained silent, but only for the sake of Darius- he seemed to enjoy healing.

Just like his mother. Ana closed her eyes briefly. Diana reminded her of Darien. She didn't need that by now.

Nicolas patted the plaster onto the wound gently as Darius watched with interest. "There all better." Nicolas announced.

"But Daad, you have to kiss it all better!" Darius pointed out.

Ana almost chuckled at the childish remark before it fully sank into understanding.

"It's fine." She repeated, for lack of any other excuse, watching Nick carefully with a hint of apology in her expression. The pain still fresh in her mind however, she was not in a position to devise any elaborate excuse.

"No but it helps! It takes the pain away! Doesn't it Dad?" Darius said suddenly uncertain.

Nicolas chuckled. "Why Darius you're right!" He winked at Ana and without further ado, he kissed her knee. "There all better."

"Is it all better Mummy?" Darius asked.

Ana blinked in surprise, and to her horror felt blood begin to rush to her face. Hastily she focused on Darius' question, making a greater effort to smile.

"Much better." She replied, without looking back at Nick. The blood seemed to be cooling, but Ana was too preoccupied with unwelcome flashbacks to analyse what prompted such a reaction.

"Yay," Darius replied.

"Why don't you go run along now Darius?" Nicolas said. "I'll take care of Mummy from now."

"Mkay." Darius nodded headed back to his room. His toys were going to get an Examination from Healer Darius.

Ana's smile faded as Darius left. It had been draining to put on such an expression, when her thoughts were full of death and mourning.

It should have been Diana who he fussed over. For a moment, just a moment, he had been his father's image, and that moment had been one of the most painful she could recall for several years.

She attempted to will the tears away, and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear to excuse wiping one away that was threatening to spill over.

Nicolas sensed Ana's despair. They might have been 'enemies' once but the past few years had made that word inapplicable. "Are you actually alright?" Nicolas asked seriously.

"No."

The word cracked- something she had not expected one syllable to be capable of- and she immediately regretted her rash honesty. That was not meant to be audible. She was used to just affirming that she was fine, but the throbbing flashbacks were making thought a bit blurred.

Time was meant to be a great healer. If that was true, why did it feel just as sharp a pain as it did before?

"He looked...for a second he was..."

Nicolas nodded in silent agreement. "It happens to me too." He offered.

Ana glanced up without thinking, as a single tear rolled down her cheek, much to her embarrassment. "None of this should have happened."

She gave a hollow laugh as she swiped the tear from her cheek. "We should be feuding, for one thing." Anything to stop thinking of him...them...it was odd how painful it could be. Ana shouldn't be the one here. It was wrong.

Nicolas make a face. "I don't know, feuding isn't as fun as it used to be."

He offered her his hankerchief.

Ana almost smiled, and accepted the handkerchief to swiftly wipe away the droplets of moisture leaking from her eyes.

With a brief sigh, she returned the square of material. "I suppose. Thanks."

"Listen, have you ever gone to a Muggle Cinema?" Nicolas asked suddenly, a plan forming in his head and putting it into action without really analyzing it too much.

Ana's surprise was evident on her face. "...No."

She couldn't help wondering quite where Nick was going with this.