A/N: I must warn you that this has been written much more quickly that usual and has not been beta-read.
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[ C ]
It was a few day earlier, before the sundering of the army at the foot of the tower of Ashera. The last of the royal Heron family had just been reunited and was about to be alone for the first time.
Rafiel stood by one of the tents of the officers, his mind full, and a rare sense of conflict in his eyes. Nailah came to stand by him, her head reaching his chin. There was an edginess about her, radiating so strong against his senses, tingling every now and then with tiny flickers of foreboding.
Though he was usually content of his height, this evening, it made the firstborn wish to be much smaller at that moment. Maybe that way he could have pretended not to notice the twitching in her ears. Long years of compromises had taught him just enough about Wolf laguz to know that it would be futile to inquire about it at the moment. The buzz of her mind was low and as always, she was keeping a strict reign on her aura and feelings...she had always been very mindful of his keen senses and that was only one thing among thousands other for which he felt most grateful to her. He forced himself to focus on the tent and her voice, instead.
"They are already inside, both three of them, I will wait for you here." Her tone was firm under the gallant curtsy. Still, he would probably not be back to her before late in the night and he didn't want to leave her without trying to placate her.
"Yes..." he answered, searching for useful words. "Nailah?"
"Mh?"
He sled his fingers through hers and gently lifted her arm up.
"Thank you," he muttered softly on the thin air that felt suddenly too silent, "If you had not accompanied me until now, I would never have laid eyes on Leanne, Reyson or father again."
"This trip shall profit to the people of Hatari as well," she reminded him without much of a thought about it. "We have already talked about it..."
He repressed a frown and smoothed his brows.
"Yes," he conceded, "But even since I wanted to help Micaiah, you had to worry after me on the battlefields. I have bought you into this war without consorting with you first."
"Rafiel, you know how I appreciate being met with a real challenge. In this army, I have found both interesting allies and worthy opponents."
He shifted his weight on his other leg but carefully schooled himself not to react any more to this second attempt to close the topic.
"I know, I...my queen, I worry that you are overtaxing yourself in this battle," he confided, bracing himself to be chided. "I just wish that my presence didn't make your battles so complicated. If you will rather have me withdrawing from the fights..."
His queen stood silent for a second and lifted a hand. Cupping his cheek, she turned his head to search his eyes with a gentle suspicion.
"Has the atmosphere of the battlefield finally got to your nerves?" He felt a touch of worry alter her aura, finally breaking her tense wariness. "You hide it better still, but you face is so pale..."
In his relief he scrambled a little for words before refuting it.
"N-no, I... If I can be useful for our friends during their fights, then I would like to continue this with them." Then, he reminded himself to add something. If he didn't she would feel that something was off with him. She might not have his ken's senses, but Wolf laguz had good intuition and then Nailah was extremely observant. "Yet," he added cautiously, "if my presence burdens—"
"Rafiel, I've seen you become more resilient than I ever thought possible. Keep close to me and retreat without delay if I command it. Beside of that, I will leave any other detail to your care. I have no doubt in your judgment."
The heron fidgeted a little. He looked about to argue for a moment but relented, heaving a sigh.
"As you wish, my Queen."
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[ B ]
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Bent above the form of the heron royal, Nailah inspected a grazed wing with a sour frown.
"Do you feel better?"
Rafiel nodded but it did little to alleviate her mood.
"Do you realize that your wings are heavy enough already without you flaunting them at the nose of bowmen?"
"Leanne wouldn't have escaped that shot without my help. Nobody else would have reached her first."
Undeterred, he patiently answered the dotting wolfess for the third time. Not that he blamed her, though, given how much he could be when her safety was at stake...
"You could have sung Vigor instead of carrying her all the way to the mess hall."
Again, the prince closed his eyes and explained, "My sister weights little. I had to make sure that she made it far enough to be safe from them."
The wolfess narrowed her eyes and left his side in a show of annoyance; one that did little to deter her companion who simply let a smile graze his lips as he spoke.
"Once again, I have to thank you for my life," then sheepishly, "I keep adding to your worries, don't I?"
She pinned him under her glare for a second before crossing her arms in flippant suspicion.
"After all this time..." She sighed, and he sensed a typical rumble build in her mind; exasperation. "This is absurd," she said soon.
"...What is?"
"You are," she growled softly, "I..." She tapped her hip with impatience. "Minding other's safety is not your responsibility, so don't assume this as if it was a normal thing to do. It was an accident. One that I should have been able to take into account."
He considered her more gravely for a second before his gaze left her. "As you wish. Yet, I do not see what more you could do to be everywhere at once."
Before she could retort something he caught her hand, and slowly brought her close again. "You, my love," he murmured, setting a kiss on her knuckles, "are a queen" and another, "not a deity." Tilting his head to stress his point, he rose his eyebrows. "Even the goddess of my people herself has made two mistakes."
In lieu of an answer, she gave him a half-hearted shrug. The heron felt her false levity go painfully out of key. Without thinking, he touched her arm to secure his empathic connection, looking for clues to decipher her turmoil.
"Please don't cloud your heart; don't hide your worry..."
She was about to shrug him off but caught herself and clicked her tongue in annoyance.
"Forget it. You couldn't help and I don't wish to share."
She focused on something petty to mute her heart and stop flooding his senses with her repressed emotions. Unfortunately, it only served to unnerve the heron more.
Rafiel considered insisting, using the peace of the moment to free himself of an unvoiced worry of his own. But my queen, seeing you fight with unrest, worry clouding your heart, make me fear for your life. I can hardly bear the thought of you being injured on the battlefield. The useless strings of words sown themselves together without much difficulty, gathered as they were, on the tip of his heart, keen and eager to be confided; if I cannot bring your peace, then, I would like...I will remain by your side to give you aid. But he was no fool to think that that she would take this worry seriously at that moment. So he fought the urge and watched her moving with a sense of detachment.
After putting the acrid salve that she had smeared onto his wing, Nailah set down on her makeshift mattress. After this long, worry was weighting on his every move, as Rafiel brought his hand on his knees, deep in thought.
For a while, the wolfess tried to force his image from her mind and keep from turned on her bedroll. But sleep stubbornly eluded her and she soon found herself giving up.
Eventually, she turned over, waited a couple of seconds to calm down, and opened her eyes once again.
Signaling her forfeit with a heartfelt sight, she breathed in to gather her words.
"We have lived together for over a dozen years. Yet, since we have met this branded girl and her...Dawn Brigade, I don't recall one thing for which you haven't thanked me for."
Rafiel closed his eyes silently and the Queen went on.
"Neither your bond toward King Lorazieh, nor the differences that may stand between our clans have any power to change the place that you have in my House. So I won't hear any more thanks from you. Do you understand?"
"I," he halted, "I understand."
"Good. Don't let it weight on your mind, my dear."
Once the wolfess closed her eyes and had her breathing slowed down, alone in their tent, the royal heir let his grave eyes slide toward the carpets, lost again in heavy thoughts, as his worry and anxiousness showed more on his face.
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[ A—S ]
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"Nailah." The wolfess stood silent as she turned to face him.
Rafiel folded his arms and sighed. "I've been looking for time to speak with you alone...for days. But the time never seems right. If I didn't know better, I..." He gaze left her as he sled his hands up his own arms. "I would come to wonder if you are not avoiding me. ... Since we have left the last battleground."
She averted her eyes.
"Nailah..."
At her companion's crestfallen call, she reluctantly faced him again.
"Not avoiding," she explained, smothering a sigh. "You have been reunited with your family, the persons that you thought lost, only to be thrown with them into a dangerous war involving all of this continent." She spoke without raising her eyes on him. "You are not many in number, and must hence ever more stick together."
For a moment, she paused.
"You certainly require some space to sort your mind and your future..."
He tilted his head, pensively and it encouraged her to carry on.
"I know that my presence would sway your decision. ...No, I would mean to influence it."
The heron prince lowered his eyes, a heavy sadness weighting his soft features. Nailah fell silent, refraining from adding more for a moment that felt like an eternity to her.
Eventually, she opened her lips again in a second thought. "Have you already decided of what you want to do?"
The heron's face lightened up a slight notch. "Yes." Then, he slowly forced a smile. "My mind is clear Nailah. I have never heard you make a Galdr. I do not think that you could change my choice as easily as you think."
A soft line creased the brow of the wolfess. As usual, his protests did little to convince her on that topic. He did not had to remind her of the longer number of years that had taught him wisdom, she had already benefited from it through the decades that he has been by her side.
Yet, the fact that the Heron Clan was most vulnerable to the energy of Chaos remained a constant; a fact that wouldn't change no matter their knowledge or life experiences.
Losing his gaze farther and farther away, Rafiel appended "This war is about to end. When it does, if I can, I will do all in my powers to assist father. I will take the necessary time to ensure that he is safe and sound." He paused, gathering courage. "I know that the Hatarian court shall not be as much patient regarding your absence..."
Nailah tusked.
"You talk about leaving my side... Yet you had a debt toward me," she recalled with distant look, and for a rare moment, the wolfess struggled to chose her words. "But I believe that you have long ago repaid—"
"I have not forgotten this," Rafiel warmly protested. A second passed before he went on; "this is why I couldn't bear to lose you now. So... you must promise me that you will survive this war."
Nailah blinked, a little swayed. (Had he just cut her?)
"I will come back," he insisted, before she could misunderstood his words. "...As soon as father stands afoot and some peace has returned in the minds of my people... By any way," he struggled to keep a composed face, but the faint shaking of his long fingers already said too much.
"I shall return home upon my Queen's command." With soulful eyes, he searched hers, pressing a plea,. and forcing confidence in the tune of his voice, he murmured, "She is the brightest light in my life and I know our future will be a glorious one, if only we can live through this. ...I only hope that her world shall come after my father has learnt to sing anew."
A heartfelt silence fell, slow to dissipate.
The queen responded with a smile, a challenge caught in the curve of her lips.
"Count on it," she demanded, measuring her words, "I will not leave you here among all of these carrions. The King of the Crows becomes cross-eyed whenever he catches sight of your sister and the King of the Hawks rubs direly on your brother's attitude..."
Rafiel's face bloomed into a heartfelt smile.
"If Naesala plays with Leanne, Reyson shall have something to decorate the bow he insists on training with..." He tilted his head back offering his face to the sun's rays, letting them melt the thought away. "Well. If I can convince Reyson to land eyes just the span of an hour on the Second Wings of Phoenicis, the Royal bloodline of Serenes should have a few more days ahead of it."
Then, a smile faded from his eyes and his expression became aloof.
"It is other twin-wings who weight on father's mind," he confided; "a lord who bears a painful requiem on his heart..."
The heron paused until Nailah's gaze lost itself in thought as she understood whose laguz her companion spoke about.
"He has scarified what was left of his legacy...until he could no longer know whether he was still laguz or beorc..." Rafiel focused on the face of his soulmate, her features alive with curiosity.
"It has been very long that they have not shared words," he went on most grave than Nailah had ever seen him.
"But yore, they were close friends... Once father learnt that he was alive, that Yune had forced his spirit to live, a naked flame has been lighted in his eyes. I believe that he will recover. If solely to confront Lord Lehran."
She thought, and for a moment, looked about to reach a hand into his locks as she had done so many time before.
"Rafiel, if you... When you will return home," (she smiled, and though she radiated confidence, the curl of her lips found a rarer feminine edge; a trust that the prince had only seen once ever since they had found each other)
"When you will return home, I shall insist on receiving your family properly. On our lands."
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Epilogue
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Returning to her kingdom with the events of the War engraved in her heart, the wolf queen, hoped to get her people to cross the vast desert and reunite with the rest of the people of Tellius. She often wondered whether all of the Forest of Serenes would have become green by the time it happened.
Rafiel, still earthbound, organized a ceremony under his people's trees to wake up his King and father. Once his kingdom found a chance to stand on its own again, the heron heir returned to the land of Hatari and to his queen.
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A/N: With the many fanfiction that I have written for this game and pair in just the last three months, I decided to stop worrying about syntax and just post what was done. To make some room for the others, both in my mind and my drive. For now, and until I can find an available beta reader, I hope the typos and weird syntax didn't annoy you beyond return.
Speaking of future supports, besides of (Rafiel, Volug), (Hetzel, Rafiel, Oliver), (Rafiel, Tibarn), and (Tibarn, Nailah);
I'd also like to write a support for (Mia & Titania), setting things straight between each other while Rhys actually escaping both of their whimsy clutch. Then [Lilia, Rhys], Lilia being found alive but in bad shape, having to rely on Rhys to heal her beside of her family Galdrar. Her mind of iron would manage the older heron princess to heal steadily, leaving her enough energy to discuss and demonstrate some of her clan's traditions to her present Beorc company whose gentleness wakes her newfound closet dom by the minutely.
I would be inpired by [Reyson, Petrine, Janaff] too, but what I could write seems a little darker than what I am confortable with...so...not sure.
Finally, in Blazing Sword I entertain the prospect of a [Sonia, Pent, Louise] : there is such a large dissonance in Louse's speech to Rebecca and her own marital behavior that the lady seems to need a push to dare to take things into her hands.