A/N: This fic contains SPOILERS for the teaser that is at the end of ACOFAS.
Here's a short little ficlet I wrote on the fly today. Usually I mull over fic ideas for a while before posting, but this one I just went ahead and wrote and decided to post immediately. Hope you enjoy this ficlet! :)
"What?"
Cassian couldn't believe what he was hearing. Surely, he misheard what Feyre was suggesting.
Feyre smiled uncomfortably from her spot on the couch as Cassian stood before her with his arms crossed against his chest. "I want you to take Nesta to the Illyrian Mountains," she repeated.
Turns out, Cassian had heard her correctly. "For a visit?"
"No," Feyre cleared her throat. "For a while."
"A while?" he asked incredulously. "To do what?"
Feyre sighed as she leaned her head back against the couch. "Cassian, I think Nesta needs to get out of Velaris. She needs a chance to heal, a chance to find purpose. You know how she's wasting each night away drinking, and you saw how she looked at the end-of-summer party…I think giving her the chance to train with the Illyrians would help her and strengthen her."
Cassian turned his body to gaze out the window that took up the whole wall and looked at the numerous trees surrounding Feyre and Rhysand's estate. "Train with the Illyrians…" Cassian repeated Feyre's words softly and let his voice trail off as he contemplated the idea.
"Maybe training will help her to release some of her anger too. I think she needs some time away from most of us… You could look after her, while also keeping Devlon in line."
That meant he would have to constantly deal with her stubbornness, her regular state of fury, her stream of insults towards him…A flash of irritation coursed through him at the thought, and a slight grimace appeared on his face.
"Despite how…difficult…she can be," Feyre began uneasily upon seeing the back of Cassian tense up. "I know you at least care for her, and I know you will try to take care of her."
Cassian closed his eyes and took a slow, deep breath. His past few interactions with Nesta had been infuriating and aggravating and made him want to pummel something.
And yet…
He still couldn't completely stay away from her.
Their moment on the battlefield surfaced in his mind - a moment that somehow everyone in Velaris seem to know about and one that he and Nesta had been unwilling to discuss - when he was gravely wounded and nearly died at the hands of the King of Hybern. Nesta chose to stay with him. To die with him. She threw her body in front of his and would've died with him, if it weren't for Elain.
"I have no regrets in my life, but this. That we did not have time. That I did not have time with you, Nesta. I will find you in the next world - the next life. And we will have that time. I promise," he had told her when he thought they were about to perish.
Well somehow the gods had spared them both, and they were given a chance to live a new life. So far, Nesta had chosen to squander her new life away. Could he simply stand aside and let her continue down such a path?
He had made her a promise that they would have time in the next life. Could he really go back on that promise?
"Cassian, will you do it?" Feyre asked, breaking him away from the memory. "Will you take my sister to the Illyrian Mountains with you?"
It wouldn't be easy, especially since they both currently can hardly stand the other's presence…but somewhere beneath that cold exterior, the strong, fierce, and self-sacrificing Nesta he knew and adored was buried in there.
He needed to find her, but more importantly, she needed to find herself too.
He couldn't give up on her.
"Yes," he replied. "I'll do it."
A/N: Thanks for reading! I'm currently thinking of writing a 2nd part about Nesta's reaction to being told she's going to the Illyrian Mountains…we shall see! :)
