"Watersign"- Joan Jett and the Black Hearts. I own nothing. (All power to the voles!)
Briar glanced at the sun. Even the weeds he pulled every day were being scorched. He couldn't recall a hotter Mead Moon, and even the plants he worked so hard to grow strong were wilting. The drought in Emelan wouldn't last much longer, would it? He had meant to ask Tris this morning, but she had been feeling rather headache-y on such a breezy day. Briar couldn't blame her for wanting to stay inside, out of the wind, but he wouldn't have minded some company in the garden today either. Daja was hammering away in her forge and Sandry was with her uncle, and for his part, Briar was alone in the garden.
He took a breath, realizing that he was alone. He tried to calm himself. The girls weren't far away, and he could always reach them with their magical bond. Normally knowing that the girls were nearby he felt safe, and among his plants he always felt peaceful. Not today. The sun was burning up all the plants. They were dying.
He pulled out a few more weeds. Was it just the sun making him light-headed? Maybe he should just go inside for now. He could try again later in the evening, when the sun wasn't so hot above him. He started to move back to the house when he saw Tris in the doorway, carrying a book under her arm. "The drought'll be over soon," she told him.
He smiled, knowing that Tris had felt his anxiety through their bond. It was nice to not be alone. "You couldn't speed the rain along a bit, Coppercurls?"
Tris squinted as she glanced at the cloudless blue sky. "Not without taking it away from another place."
It's good to have you home, Briar said through their mind-talk. We missed you at Lightsbridge.
Tris gave him a small smile. It's good to be home.
They all had felt her frustration at her work in Lightsbridge Academy, and the way that she had been snubbed by those who had thought she would be conceited. It was much the same was as she could now feel Briar's relief at not being alone out in the open any more. "How long has it been, Briar?" She asked.
He could feel the sun disappear behind a layer of clouds, and knew that Tris was pushing the rain along for him. He would feel better when he knew that his plants would make it. Tris stared at him, waiting for an answer. "I thought you said you'd go to a mind-healer," she said.
He didn't want to say that it had only been to make the girls be quiet about it. In fact, they probably already knew.
The first few drops fell down. Briar could feel the plants in his garden suck up the first few drops of moisture greedily. He inhaled deeply. The plants were going to be fine. They were going to grow to be strong, and his magic would only strengthen them. Satisfied that her work was done, and knowing Briar would have to talk to her sometime soon, Tris gathered herself up to head back inside.
"Wait," Briar said before she left. He wanted to feel the plants strengthen themselves, but he didn't want to be alone.
Tris watched his profile as water dripped down his face, soaking his dark hair, falling off his chin.
Rain on your face
Looks like tears that I wanna erase
If I could
Take all your pain away
I'd do that every day
You know that I would
Briar looked over at Tris, getting soaked just like him, although she did not seem to be enjoying it. She wanted to go back inside. She stood under the roof in just the few inches that would keep her dry. "Come out here, Coppercurls. Enjoy your hard work," he called out her. He didn't want her to go back inside. He had seen the dead. He had wished that he was one of them. Now he just wanted to make sure she didn't go too far away.
You make me feel
Like I am real
Like I exist
Tris set her book down and walked out to the garden. She could have made a shield to stop herself from getting wet, but it was cool on her hot skin, and Briar was enjoying it too much. He took her hand, glad that she was right here next to him. The garden would thrive, and he knew with Tris, he was safe.
You make the bad things
Disappear
Lightsbridge had been harder for Tris than she would have liked to admit. Most of the other students there had thought she would be conceited, as well as most of her teachers. Holding on to one of Briar's tattooed hands, she knew that he was home. She was right where she was supposed to be.
Rain on my soul
All shiny and wet
Bleeding all onto your skin
Take me to a place far away
Where we'd be like twins
They faced each other. The rain washed down their faces, and cleaned them. It showed something that they had seen before, a part of themselves they had kept hidden away from each other. The rain washed it out, and washed out the last secret they had kept to themselves.
Briar didn't speak. He had plenty of girls in the past, though only because he was frightened. In Namorn, he saw that love and flirtations were just a game.
I wanna know
That this is real
But it's so hard
Am I afraid
To really feel?
Tris knew that she was being stupid. She had been made a joke out of before. She didn't think Briar would humiliate her like that, but it was a hard memory to forget.
I wanna know
That this is real
But it's so hard
Are you afraid
To really feel?
"Briar…" she started quietly. Normally Tris would have tried to rebuff him, but not this time.
He kissed her.
There's just one thing I know I wanna do
Baptize myself in the waters of you.
Watersign…