Author Note: Sparkleshipping as requested by BreakfastForLife.
Mana waited patiently in the small dark closet for her lover. What was taking so long? Surely nothing should have detained her, unless someone tried to hurt her… Mana bristled at the possibility, starting to wish that she'd succeeded in persuading Kisara to learning how to fight. Mana had learned self-defense from Mahad, her dear teacher and mentor, so she was capable of protecting herself and Kisara, but she couldn't do that when they were apart.
Finally, the sound of slippered feet padding across the limestone floors in an even gait reached Mana's ears. She held her breath until Kisara opened the door and slipped in to join Mana. Illuminated by the light of a single candle, Kisara's face looked ghostly and grief-stricken.
"What's wrong? Did something happen?" Mana asked, pulling Kisara into a tight embrace as soon as she set her candle down. "Did someone hurt you?" Mana ground her teeth, bristling at the very idea. Kisara was more vulnerable than her, her coloring making her a target for all kinds of abuse: verbal, physical, sexual...
"No, no one hurt me," Kisara murmured, her voice soft and sad.
"Then what's wrong?" Mana pulled back and held Kisara in front of her, studying her tear-stained face and her watering eyes.
"Seth asked me to marry him." A fresh sob tore from Kisara's throat, and Mana embraced her again, even as fear filled her with dread. Had Kisara said yes? Maybe, in the heat of the moment, she'd been unable to deny him. Seth had an imposing personality, Mana knew. The sheer force of his emotions could have been too much for Kisara to resist.
They'd talked about the possibility of something like this happening, and what they would do if it did happen. They hadn't quite come to a conclusion with that, though. There was the benefit of having a husband to support them—and to keep anyone from suspecting the truth. But then they also wouldn't be fully honest with themselves, or their husbands, and they'd have to sneak around to see each other—they were already doing that now, but they would have to do it even more so. Mana thought the risk was worth it, but Kisara hated the idea of so much deception. Last week, Atem had called Mana to him for the purpose of dispelling the rumors that they were a couple, which was fine by Mana. She liked being Atem's friend, but she wanted nothing else with him—and he felt the same way, which brought her joy. He was her oldest friend, and one of her dearest, and now she knew that she didn't ever have to lose that. Kisara, apparently, wasn't so lucky with Seth. Mana held Kisara close as she cried, waiting for her to calm down enough to say more.
"I never wanted to hurt him. I didn't want to believe that he loved me, so I didn't listen… You told me, and I wouldn't listen, and now… I broke his heart." Kisara sobbed again, trembling as Mana kissed her forehead, her cheek, her lips, doing anything she could think of to console her.
"My darling, he knows you never meant to hurt him. You would never try to hurt anyone, and anyone who has met you knows that," Mana assured, stroking Kisara's white hair.
"He told me he'd never love again," Kisara whispered, blinking the tears from her big blue eyes as she let her arms come to rest around Mana's waist.
"I'm sure he was just being dramatic." Mana was trying to make Kisara feel better, but it didn't seem to help, since Kisara started shaking her head.
"Nobody understands him the way I do. He doesn't show his feelings because they're all deep and strong," Kisara insisted tearfully. "He's like the river: the current shows where the waters are shallow, but where they are most powerful, the surface is smooth. I'm afraid… I'm afraid that he won't move on. That I've hurt him too badly for him to recover. It's like I killed his heart." She burst into tears again, and Mana wrapped her arms around her lover once more. "But I couldn't say yes to him, I just couldn't," Kisara continued, nearly hysterical. "It wouldn't be honest. I just don't love him in that way… I love you."
It was the saddest "I love you" that had ever transpired between them. Mana had been hoping for a different time between them that night. She'd been hoping for something happier, something more… intimate, but making Kisara feel better about rejecting Seth was more important than her own physical needs. That was something she understood, and that many men, in her experience, didn't.
"Don't worry about Seth, dear," Mana assured as she and Kisara cuddled on the stone floor. "I'll speak to Atem about it. He can keep an eye on Seth. They're close, so he'll be able to help him through it."
"Thank you, love," Kisara murmured, nuzzling in against Mana's shoulder. "I know I can always count on you to make me feel better."
"Anytime, darling." They kissed bittersweetly. "Anything for you."
