I reached the medical tents soon after we parted ways.
Walking past each one, I could see what was inside through the open flaps. For the most part, the beds were empty. Healers inside seemed to be spending their time talking with one another, taking inventory or simply killing spare time. I didn't have to listen to the groans of the dying or smell blood and broken bones. Everyone seemed to be in good spirits.
One of the guards pointed me towards where the wounded officers were being held. Blanche said Caeldori was still being treated, and that my spectacled field surgeon was going out of his way to keep an eye on her. Could've just assigned one of his juniors to handle it, unless she was really on the edge.
No, if she was really far gone then Blanche would have told me. Odds are she's probably sleeping, and Percy's off doing whatever he likes doing when he's got free time.
...Come to think of it, those two spend an awful amount of time together.
They always ate with one another at meals. She'd asked him for lessons with a stave, that irked me on a personal level. They swapped books, talked about music. They even stood next to one another in formation.
I swear to Naga. If this is going where I think it is, I'm feeding him my sword and finding a new surgeon. Of all the problems I've got going on right now, I'm not gonna add 'daughter dating' to the list. She's never even had a boyfriend before. Well, pretty sure she hasn't.
Where's that tent? Here. Finally.
As I push the flap open, I'm greeted by a whole lot of… nothing. All of these beds are empty. Few of them look recently vacated but, vacated nonetheless.
So my vision shifts to focus on one of the Priests in the room, none other than Percival himself. Slip two fingers into my mouth and release a quick whistle.
As he turns to face my direction, I hold my hand up right as his face morphs from curiosity to shock. "Spare me the 'You're OK', I know I'm OK." I immediately instruct him, to which he happily bobs his head. "Caeldori, where the hell is she?"
"Her tent." Percy informed me after a moment, shaking his head clear of the residual surprise. "After I fixed her up, I told her to relax." He takes pause for a bit, staring at me. His eyes glazing up and down like I'm liable to spontaneously combust.
"Any reason why you're undressing me with your eyes?" I ask, getting him to snap his vision back up at my face. "I'm not a ghost, so stop looking at me like one."
He nodded again, sighing as he walked back over to a table covered in various vials and powders. The Priest sat down, releasing an exhausted sigh."Gods above, I've been praying all day that you were still alive. Caeldori was beside herself."
"Reason why I came here, the Brigadier said she was still in treatment." I tell him, going over to the table and sitting down at the edge.
"Didn't even know she was aware of what happened." He commented, relaxing even further. "Thank the Divine Mother for this miracle."
"Yeah, sure." I answer in annoyance. Naga, Naga, Naga. It's always Naga's will with these religious types. Not me, no. I can't do anything by myself, it always has to be some Dragon fixing all of our problems for us. Forget about how they're usually the ones causing them.
Regardless, I change gears. "Are you alright?" I ask him, his head perking up from the lazy slouch he's settled into. "It's been a long day, a lot of people got beaten up. Must've been a big load for you to handle."
He smiles, shaking his head and twiddling his thumbs. "It's fine. Plenty of other Priests and Clerics around here to help. Besides, I like this job."
"Healing people gives you those warm fuzzies?" I mock playfully.
"Yeah, but… well that's not the only reason." He grabs a pair of vials, both of them half-filled with some sort of opaque liquid. Percy pours one into the other, the color swirling and spiraling into a glowing red concoction. I can feel myself tense at the change, but he seems pleased with the results.
"I'm gonna go find Caeldori…" I tell him, trailing off.
"Don't." He said, placing both vials back onto the counter. "She needs bedrest to make a full recovery, and after today you probably do as well."
I don't know what he's getting at, until he points to the top of my left arm. Where my shield was, and now a big scar was in its place. "Tissue pattern doesn't line up with a stave's work. That mark's probably never going to go away." He observes.
"Something is definitely up with you." I cut in, adjusting myself. "Normally you're quivering in your boots by now, this is the longest we've held a conversation without you wigging out."
"...Maybe I'm just getting used to you." He mumbles. "I've known you for a while now, Miss Severa. I think I've got your personality nailed down."
"Really?" I ask, smirking. "Enlighten me then." Poor boy looks at me, flabbergasted. Guess this is the first time I've given him permission to let loose on me.
"Well… you're loud. And angry. And completely terrifying." He looks over to me, already flinching as he expects me to blow a gasket at him. Tempting as it is, I stay silent, making a hand motion for him to continue. "You're also really pessimistic, which is weird. I thought Ylisseans were more friendly."
"I know I've heard this all before." I grumble to myself.
"You like being in charge and stepping on people. You're… pretty violent. Watching you fight is scary."
"I fight strangely?"
"You don't hesitate." He clarifies. "My parents told me even during Walhart, most soldiers flinched when they had to fight. But you don't, you just go and start tearing things apart. It's like you've spent your entire life fighting."
"Hrm." I reply. His image of me isn't surprising, considering what he's seen me do and how I act. A big part of me never left the old future. Combat day in and day out, fighting was who I was. Hesitation only got me hurt or worse.
"So why're you OK with following my lead?" I ask. Honestly, I've been meaning to ask him since the Vincent incident. I completely expected him to jump ship.
He contemplates this, lacing his fingers together and playing war with his thumbs. "I don't know." He admits. "I shouldn't be, honestly. You check all the boxes of a pretty terrible person."
Percy falls silent, his thumbs ceasing their movement as the words he's been trying to say finally come together. "But terrible people don't try to save others. So I guess following my gut was right."
He looks at me, waiting for some kind of response. But I really don't have one. All I know is that I got what I wanted from him; he trusts me. Gwen trusts me. I think my men do too, if they were willing to try and save me from getting sliced and diced.
I push myself up, yawning casually and rolling my shoulders. "Well, I'm going to bed." I declare in the most nonchalant tone I can manage. "I want our casualty report on my desk tomorrow morning."
"Sh-shouldn't you stay here? You're obviously hurt." He asked, trying to stand up before I stare him back down into his chair.
"I already got told to sleep by someone further up the food chain than either of us." I tell him, then point at the gash on my outfit. "This isn't my first scar anyway. You've never seen me topless."
Poor boy, he transforms into a tomato when I say that. Percy immediately buries his face in his hands and spins his chair around, facing in the complete opposite direction as he tries to get back to work.
Smiling in victory, I take my leave and head out of the tent. Maybe it's best that I do as I'm told and head to sleep. Caeldori's either passed out or snuck off on her own, and in either case it won't do any good for me to follow. May as well get some rest after this insanity filled day.
But I try not to focus on that. My mind's still hanging on Percy's words.
He trusts me. Even through all the doubts and fears, he still trusts me. Gwen does too, hell she probably feels terrible after what happened. And if I had to guess, the rest of my guys do too. You don't run headfirst into mages to try and save someone you don't care about.
Why. Why do people always give me the benefit of the doubt. I've never made anything of it.
I'm not like the other kids, I never lived up to my family name. Never turned into the leader people needed like Lucina. Never became their hero of justice, that was Owain. I couldn't even manage to stay hopeful and happy, but Inigo did. And their parents both died right in front of them.
Everyone I know surpassed me. But people still trust me.
That's a good a start as any.
I wake up the next morning with three red blurs hovering right above my head.
The night had been a dreamless sleep, thankfully. I'd lost consciousness as soon as my body slammed into the cot. Even after spending the better part of the day trapped in my own mind, my body was beyond exhausted. Which makes sense, I'd spent all morning fighting and running for my life.
But my vision does start to clear up. And what I see finally lets me relax.
Subaki's sitting on my right side, looking like he'd spent the better part of the morning here.
He's trying to play it off but I can see the bags under his eyes. His ponytail's only half done, the long mane of hair that usually slips back drooping lazily. Even his outfit's a bit undone, covered in wrinkles and folds. He's missing his shoulder guards as well, like he rushed over here.
My husband's probably been just as worried as Caeldori was. Probably even more, he went out to find me and didn't find squat. I'm still groggy, but I manage to move a hand over. I place it over his, giving his digits a light squeeze.
I can feel his thumb gently stroke across my knuckles in response. Small gesture, but it's instantly calming. Let's me know that we're safe and everything is alright, or at least as alright as everything can be.
We sit there like that for a long time. No grand gestures. Neither of us leaping into the other's arms. Just holding his hand in mine, feeling the warmth flow between us. The same it's always been, no matter where we were.
Just like the inn, my own little happy place.
"You're OK?" I finally ask him, voice soft from my recent rousing.
"I'm the one who should be asking that." He answers in a similarly muted tone.
"You're always the one who's asking that." I parry. "Now, is anything wrong? Did something happen to you?"
"Nothing. We completed our objectives, I wasn't hurt at all." He tells me. "We won, stopped the whole enemy advance in their tracks."
"And you didn't take any stupid risks?" I ask, very well aware of the hypocrisy in my words.
Subaki is as well, but he doesn't make mention of it. Actually he averts his eyes, looking to a bare corner of the tent. "Uh… I may have lead a charge or… three."
"Excuse me." I ask him, completely horrified. The mood of the room flips on its head. I can almost hear glass shatter as my revierie's broken.
He winces at my sudden change of tone. "The enemy tried to restart their attack. I had my men harass them so they couldn't reorganize. A few quick strikes, nothing more."
"We were supposed to retreat." I mutter.
"We did, but you also went off mission from what I heard." He counters.
His reference makes me get very defensive, very fast. Shooting up in my bed into a proper sitting position. "Th-that's different! We didn't have time to retreat, they were moving too quickly to outrun!"
"But we were supposed to retreat." He answers smuggly, killing my argument with my own words. As I growl at him, he just beams over in victory, now using both of his hands to cradle my own. "You really are quite beautiful when you're angry."
I'm pretty sure I'm fuming now, certainly feels like I'm burning up. Enough to make Subaki backpedal a bit and lift his hands in surrender. But he's still got that smug little smirk on, knowing he's got me beat.
"Yeah. Well I'm the prettiest girl you've ever seen, remember?" I brag, deflecting my frustrations and hopping up off of my bed. Gods, I still feel stiff as a wooden board. Need to go to the sparring field and loosen up after this.
"There has never been any doubt." He compliments, before he comes forward and wraps me up in a soft embrace.
Funny, all those corny love books that Mother used to read always went on and on about the feeling of a strong man's arms. I never feel that with him. Sure, Subaki's stronger than I am, but whenever he's cradling me… it's like he's trying to hold a bird. Tight enough to keep me still, but loose enough so I feel free.
I can feel myself drifting away again, back into bliss. And as much as I want to stay here, there's still things to be done.
So I stand up onto my toes and tilt my head to the side, stealing a quick kiss from his lips before going back down. He looks a bit surprised at my sudden motion, which I can't help but giggle at.
"I wasn't gone that long." I point out. "So no crying, no 'I missed you'. Everything's fine, OK?"
He looks at me, his face contemplating what I told him. Nothing's fine at all, I'm falling apart at the seems. My mind's rupturing and I'm not sure if I can stop it. Maybe it's because of Anankos, maybe it's because of Grima. Maybe it's because I've jumped through one portal too many.
I know he'd want me to tell him about it, because he'd want to help. He told me back in Virion Keep to come to him if I ever reached this point.
But I can't tell him. He's already done so much for me. Just being here, holding me like this. I'm not sure if he'll ever know how much that means.
I need to show him I care.
"Let's find someplace we won't get interrupted." I offer, nodding my head over to the flap of my tent. "We should talk about what we're going to do when we leave."
"You have a plan?" He asked, to which I shake my head.
"No. Honestly, I don't know what I'm doing at all anymore." I tell him. "But… well, like I said. We'll figure it out. But we need to go figure it out."
He let the idea settle in his mind, I could see him process what I'd told him through his expression. Maybe he's wondering I wasn't rushing to go see Caeldori. Or maybe he's surprised that I'm even bringing this topic up now of all times.
So am I, honestly. But we need to get this ball rolling.
The camp's beyond quiet.
Most of the soldiers have already left again, off to keep collecting the fallen or to set up the defenses for when this truce inevitably falls apart. The only people left behind seem to be healers and mages, the ones not physically suited for busy work.
Even my command tent was empty. No one, not even Caeldori seemed to be around. Just stacks of papers I'd need to return to.
Right, paperwork… y'know, maybe the coma wasn't so bad.
Whatever, something to do after this chat.
Subaki told me to meet him in the stables. Apparently it was the quietest place in camp right now, with almost all of the horsemen off patrolling and scouting. The smell would be terrible, sure. But it meant less chance of someone stumbling in on us and interrupting. Because if there's one thing I've figured out about my life, it's that someone always interrupts my conversations.
My mind keeps drifting back to Caeldori. Last night I was rushing at the chance to see her, now the idea's actually terrifying me. Probably because I'm the reason she even had to visit the medical tent. The guilt's hanging around my neck like a noose. Still, avoiding my own flesh and blood's not going to work either.
I'll speak with her after this. Once we have a plan about what we're doing next, it'll give me something to talk about other than my galling failure to keep her safe.
When I do reach my destination, my head cranes up to take a look at it.
It's another magical two story structure the mages slapped together. Wood and splits shimmering as the hexes holding them in place assault my senses. Again I can feel my head condense, it's even worse now because of the leftovers of this concussion.
Oh Gods, I'm gonna be sick… don't puke. Do NOT puke.
Somehow I force myself inside, despite every fiber of my body telling me not to. And I'm greeted by…
Subaki. Standing next to a pegasus. A reddish brown pegasus.
...You've got to be freaking kidding me.
"You kept him!?" I shout, looking at the mount in total horror. Of all the things he could've brought back from the forest, this was what he chose? The stupid winged horse with an attitude!?
"The other option was to leave him behind, and that seemed rather cruel." He explained with a shrug, patting the four hooved embodiment of evil along it's dark snout.
The pegasus' head turns to look over at me, and I swear to Naga I can see him grin. I know what you're thinking, pegasi can't grin right? That's impossible! Well this one can. Even it's lips can't curl, it's just beaming pure sass at me.
"Anyway, I figured we could ride for a bit around camp." Subaki explains, stepping away from the target of my loathing and moving to the opposite side. He guides out his own horse, a brown and white spotted thing. It's… older than most, but he still likes it. And it hasn't fallen out from under him in combat.
Well, I'm OK for a little riding. Means less time stuck in this house of headaches.
"Where's mine?" I ask as I walk forward, noting that the other stables all seem to be empty. Honestly I'm not surprised given what he told me, but it's going to be hard to ride with both of us on one horse. Romantic or not.
He points back across to the mangy mutt he was standing next to before, and I turn back. That's when I notice there's a saddle on him, along with my rapier. Before it was hidden by the wings.
"You've got to be kidding." I grumble, looking over my shoulder. "We've been over this, pegesai and I don't mix."
"Well he won't let me ride him." Subaki tells me, pulling himself up into the saddle of his own horse and taking up the reigns. "Believe me, I tried. Moment I put my foot in the stirrup, he started kicking about."
"And what makes you so sure he'll let me on?" I ask, glowering at my unwanted ride. "Pegesai choose their riders, you know that."
He merely offered me a shrug, edging his horse forward so he was next to me. "Then I'll let you ride Bishamonten. Poor boy can't handle us both, but I don't mind walking."
I keep my eyes focused forwards. He knows I won't make him walk, which means he wants me to ride this thing.
Why? I don't know. I don't even know why he brought it along. It's an enemy pegasus, we found it after I beat the snot out of his rider. Heck, when we first saw each other, he shoved his hoof right into my gut!
He probably hates my guts. All pegasi do, they always will.
...And yet…
I lift my hand and tentatively put it on his snout. Slowly, carefully lowering it down. My eyes even close as I expect him to buck me back.
He doesn't though.
My hand settles without any resistance. His fur depresses, filling itself out in between my fingers. It goes up and down as he breaths, his tempo in line with mine naturally. The warmth, too. It flows out, encompassing my hand and travelling up my arm. Soft and… relaxed? Why does he feel so relaxed. Why do I feel so relaxed.
I've only seen this thing once, and it feels like I'm reuniting with a long lost friend.
When I open my eyes, I see his staring back at me. Big and brown, like a cup of hot chocolate on a table. They're swirling, yet settled. Focused on me just as much as I am on him. When I pull my hand back, he lifts his head back up and peers down. As if he's waiting to see what I'll do next.
I sigh in defeat, walking around the side and move to mount him. I'm careful with my feet as I slip them into the stirrups, not wanting to hit the scars left behind by the spurs. By the time I'm looking back at Subaki, he's grinning at me in victory.
"How in Grima did you know that would work?" I ask him, words pointed like a blade.
"Educated guess." He answers cryptically, before spurring his steed onwards. I'm left with no choice but to follow.
The ride out of camp is uneventful. A few of the workers and civilians wave at us as he broach the perimeter and go into the field.
We ride opposite of where the battle was. Both to avoid any ambushes and so we have more even ground to traverse. The mines left a number on the landscape, craters and holes littered across like gaping wounds. Even riding back in Blanche's cart, I could see the damage. The mines did… a lot of work. More than I expected. Then again, Morgan came up with them. Of course they blew up spectacularly.
Leaving that stable and going into the fresh air is like I've drunk a vulnary. All my energy comes washing back, the pain and stiffness of the morning disappearing like it never existed. After spending the better part of two days on my back, it's nice to just be alive and moving. Well, technically I'm on something that's moving. But you get my point.
We stop at the top of a small hill, turning around to see the camp off in the distance. It's smaller now, easily a few kilometers out. Didn't even know we'd been gone that long.
"So, your plan?" Subaki asks, pulling out a map and compass.
Plan, right. The reason we're out here to begin with.
"We're leaving as soon as this battle's done." I tell him, his head whipping over with my brash statement. "This has taken way too long and we've already put ourselves at too much risk."
"It's a War, Selena. Of course there's risk involved." He states.
"Reason why we're cutting ourselves off." I say. "We've done more than enough to help Virion and my sister."
"To me that sounds like more reason for us to see this through to the end." Subaki answers, folding his map back together. "Half-measures aren't good ones."
"This isn't our fight." I remind him.
"No, but there are people here who need protecting." He points out, his brow furrowing as I groan in annoyance. "Come now, you've seen the state this place is in. Can you really turn your back on all this suffering?"
"If I was just by myself? No, I'd be here until the bitter end." I answer, before jabbing my finger off in the distance. Over the camp and back towards the forest. "But I'm not. You're here. Our only child is here. That complicates things."
"I'm my own person, I'm well aware of the risks I choose to take." He retorts. "As is our daughter."
"Really? Because I seem to remember you telling me she should stay in her deeprealm until after the war." I growl out.
He returns my glare with his own, a low rumble coming from his throat as well. "That was years ago, and she was still a teenager. She's a fully grown woman now, and a fine warrior."
"I don't want her to be a warrior."
"And what if she wants to be one?" He asks me, to which I have no response. "Selena I know you don't want her to suffer the same you did, but she didn't. She's no longer a child, she grew up peacefully. What she makes of her life is in her own hands."
"But why does it have to be this!?" I shout, throwing my hands over my head. "Why can't it be something safe!?"
"Because she's a Hoshidan." He tells me, adjusting himself in his saddle. "She was raised by my family's servants in the deeprealms, only natural she accepted my culture's norms."
That earns a snort from me. "Funny how the 'peaceful' Hoshido has it's nobles raised by a warrior culture."
"Only because we had a hostile power trying to destroy us." He answers back with more than a bit of harshness, clearly not taking well to me slighting his homeland. I bite my tongue back a bit, not wanting to say something uncouth. Years in Nohr rubbed off on me more than I'd like to admit.
There's a bit of silence between the both of us, some wind blowing along the surface of the grass as some pedals are pushed about. It's an idyllic scene, honestly. Two mounted riders, on top of a hill in the midday sun, staring over the horizon. Something straight out of a painting.
"I'm proud of her. She's chosen the path of a protector." He says quietly, looking over to me again with the smallest smile. "Like her parents."
"Sometimes, I wish she took more after her caregivers than us." I say begrudgingly, but acquiesce. I can't force either of them to leave, and I should let Caeldori live her own life. And honestly… I'm also proud of her. It takes a lot to be willing to risk your life for someone else. Most people run from bullies, but she runs at them. Spear at the ready.
That won't stop me from being scared for her, but it does make things easier.
"So we're staying?" I ask him.
"Until this is finished. Then we can return to your homeland with your sister and her army." He decides. "And if Caeldori chooses to remain a soldier, then we do not stop her. Alright?"
I nod. "So, what do we do once we reach your home?" He asks me.
"What do you want to do?" I reply. "My family's nobility where I'm from. We could just… retire. Build a house in the sticks."
"Both of us hate the countryside." He says, laughing at the idea. "It's boring, nothing to do! Unless your homeland is nothing but rolling hills."
"There's plenty of cities, nimrod. Don't worry." I tell him. "We can buy a house in the capitol then, borrow some money from my inheritance. And then…"
"We spend the rest of our days, cooped up and bored out of our minds." He finishes, shuttering at the thought. "That sounds just as terrible."
"Yeah, it does." I hum. "Do you want to stay in the military?" I follow.
He thinks for a bit, then shakes his head. "I don't know yet, truthfully. I've been a Knight my whole life, but now… well, I'm in a whole other world."
"Didn't stop me." I joke.
"Har har." He answers. "What about you, what job do you have in mind?"
That has me going for a bit. I've had an idea rolling through my head for a while now. If I'm going to choose something, it has to be something I care about. Most of my skills are centered around killing things, but if I parse them apart then they can be used in other tasks.
Growing up, even when things fell apart, I always loved shopping. There was something amazing about running through a store and buying whatever caught my eye. But usually whatever caught my eye was clothes. Dresses, gowns, bows and skirts. Long sweeping ensembles that took hold in my imagination.
Whenever I wasn't fighting, I could picture myself wearing those dresses. Plus I took it upon myself to make sure all of us looked a bit presentable. I did Morgan and Cynthia's hair, helped keep all the clothes clean and set. Patched holes that the risen tore and even designed a few protective vests. Heck, even the outfit I used to wear was my own design.
I didn't think I could make much of it. Well, until I met Oboro. Another Hoshidan retainer, who also did side work as a designer. She somehow managed to handle both sewing and combat, and she was great at both. Plus between the two of us, we were the only fashion conscious people in an army of walking disasters.
With everything done now… well...
"I wanna be a seamstress." I tell him. "Open up my own shop in the city, start a whole new era of high fashion."
Subaki turns his head, puzzled. I just keep explaining it to him. "Seriously! I've got so many notes of how people from Hoshido and Nohr dress! If I can fuse that with the style of dress here, I'd have an entire market cornered! In a few years we wouldn't need help from anyone, assuming I managed to get the business off the ground."
"Do you even know the first thing about commerce...?" He asks me, clearly not buying it.
"Oh come on, how hard can it be?"
"Extremely." He points out. "Most merchants are ruthless, they'll try and hoodwink you for everything we have."
"Then it's a good thing I'm not easily tricked." I affirm.
"Says you and everyone else who's been swindled." He points out, shaking his head. "You're sure about this?"
"Why are you so against it?" I ask him, taken aback by the less than stellar response.
"Because…" He starts, rubbing the back of his neck. "...I don't want to be your mannequin."
That response makes me stare at him. "You're afraid I'm going to make you my assistant." I say, and he bobs his head.
"Subaki." I start. "I love you, but you have the fashion sense of a newt."
"That's… hurtful." He mumbles.
"It's also true. So no, I won't be asking for your help." I tell him. "But what do you want to do? Seriously, think about this."
Again he shifts nervously in his saddle, eyes flicking over away from me. "Promise you won't laugh?"
"No." I reply. "Now tell me!"
"Fine. I want to be a teacher." He says. Now it's my turn to look surprised, even my mount's wing's shuffle as it senses the sudden mood-shift.
"You know as a retainer I had to train people." He explains. "And… well, with the time I've spent here, teaching these people… I enjoyed it. Passing what I knew onto them so that they could do better."
He looks over, probably expecting me to laugh in his face. But I don't, if anything I lean closer so he knows how seriously I'm taking this.
Satisfied, he continues his explanation. "The best parts weren't when I showed them how to fight, though. There was this one boy who was put under my command. A normal farmer named Nicholas. One day I found him staring at a book, flipping through the pages. When I asked him what he was reading, he said he didn't know."
He laughs softly, face awash with nostalgia. "He was illiterate. He'd lied so he could join, told me he 'signed' his contract by marking it with a large X. So scared of being found out… so over the past few months, I've been trying to teach him."
"And how's that going." I ask.
"Well he can read small sentences." Subaki admits. "But over time, he'll learn. And knowing that I've done something… I taught someone something other than how to fight. It just feels… fulfilling."
"And what about that Hoshidan warrior's honor?" I prod mockingly, to which he scoffs.
"Just because I've spent my life fighting doesn't mean I have other interests." He says, looking back towards the camp. "I didn't know it realize it in Hoshido but… even when I trained other soldiers there, my favorite parts were teaching them. And when I saw them master those skills, it made me feel whole."
The wind kicks up again, blowing a few more pedals around. Some pollen makes it up his nose, and he lets loose a torrent of sneezes. Meanwhile I look back out to the camp, thinking back to the camp. To Caeldori and her childhood.
"There's something else." I say after he finishes his long bout of sneezes. "I uh…" My mind's jumping to find the words. There really isn't an easy way to say this.
Now he's looking at me, worried. Judging by how red my face feels and the expression I'm giving off, he probably thinks I'm sick or something. May as well be… should I even ask him this? We've got enough on our plates, and well… this is actually a big decision. He might not even wanna do it! And I kind of need him to want to if we're even gonna. Then there's how Caeldori might react if it happens, and the rest of my family. How would it even go in Ylisse? Without deeprealms, I don't have that much experience!
Oh Gods, now he looks even MORE worried.
Screw it, rip it off like a bandage. If he gets mad, then I know the answer.
Deep breath. In and out, IN and OUT. You can do this. You can do this.
And I do it. I blurt it out then and there, with no lead up or explanation.
"I want to have another kid."
A/N: I really don't have an excuse as to why this took so long, sorry everyone.
On the plus side, I'll be trying to pump out the next chapter quicker than my usual timeframe. That, plus an update to my other fics
Until then, I hope everyone's having a happy summer
o/
