When she finds her, Pearl cannot help but think that she looks as if she's sitting on the very edge of the world, her tattered skirts and pink curls flowing gently in the wind and Pearl is moving slowly towards her, thrusting her sword into grass, gripping the hilt for support as she lowers herself onto the ground. Her limbs ache but her spine is still taut, body still half expecting another battle, an attack.
It doesn't come, of course, and she allows her legs to dangle over the edge of the cliff as before her the final rays of the sun glow across the Earth's sky, light glinting off the metals of homeworld's retreating ships and she mirrors Rose's posture, tilting her head up to watch their departure and feeling her stomach churn and ache, the ships growing smaller and smaller with each passing instant.
A slow shudder works its way through the whole of her, over the notches in her spine, across her stiffened shoulder blades and when the ships become nothing more than half glimmering dots in the sky she parts her dry, chapped lips, and her words are hoarse, barely above a whisper. "We won."
She turns to look at Rose, who stares after the ships with wide, disbelieving eyes, but her voice seems to have pulled her from the spell, drawing her attention. Their eyes meet, and what passes between them is so vivid, so intense it draws all breath from her, has Roses's hands trembling and gripping grass and Earth. Like her, she speaks in a whisper. "We won."
Rose's shoulders slump suddenly, and the exhale that leaves her is half disbelief, half amusement. "We won." Her sword sinks deeper into the ground, fingers grasping the hilt so tightly they ache and Rose's breaths are sharpening into laughter, Pearl feels her own chest beginning to rise and fall rapidly and suddenly she's laughing too.
Laughing as realization slowly dawns, as the ships disappear from view entirely, they're alive and they won. They're alive and they're trapped on Earth for eternity and they won and Rose loves her back and they won and this laughter is like none she's ever known. It trembles through her, throat aching, fingers twitching as she gasps for mouthfuls of air she does not need but she can't stop.
Beside her Rose is laughing just as hard, hands clenching around her stomach, body bowed over and Pearl only becomes aware of the tears rushing down her cheeks when she tastes them dripping onto her dried lips. A warm body leans against her, soft curls brushing across her skin and she's pressing herself into that warmth, choking on sobs as a strong arm encircles her shoulders, pulls her in even closer.
Pearl buries her tear stricken face into that torn dress, Roses's own weeping laughter has her gripping onto white fabric as tight as she can, forcing in breath after rasping breath, eyes shut and she can still see it all around her, can almost feel the flames that scorched across the battlefield licking at her skin.
And when Rose's laughter finally slows, stutters, she can feel the weight of her body shifting closer to her, leaning over and beloved lips press into her hair, heated breaths caressing her scalp and her own breath is hitching, trembling fingers clenching fabric and beneath it all the sensation of warmth blooms in her chest.
Rose's voice is almost broken, almost joyous.
"We won."
-END-