Summary: Haurchefant offers refuge for Rhea and in the warmth of the fire in his chambers, the two bare their hearts and souls - the consequences be damned.

Author's Note: WoL x Haurchefant | OC Work w/ MSQ References | Please see end for additional Author's Note.

"Please, sit and make yourself at home. It is my honor to lend you this space for your needs," Haurchefant said, gesturing to the sofa that sat before the hearth. It was large and comfortable and Rhea found her feet guiding her to it long before she thought to do it herself. Taking a seat, she let out a heavy breath.

Behind her, Haurchefant walked over to a small stand and poured two glasses of Ishgardian whiskey. Approaching her, he offered her a glass before joining beside her. She took it with a nod of thanks, cradling it in her lap as she looked from him to the fire.

They sat there in silence for a long time before Rhea finally spoke, her gaze locked on the flames. Her words echoed her thoughts upon the wall, "How did everything go so completely wrong? What did I not see? What did I miss? How could I not have seen it coming?" Her voice was soft and small, devoid of expression, as she held the untouched glass of whiskey on her lap.

Vibrant blue eyes looked from the fire to the woman beside him, "You may be the Warrior of Light, Rhea, but even you are not all-seeing, nor are you infallible. No one could have seen such treachery coming, not even you. From the way Master Alphinaud tells it, there were too many conspiracies afoot to have been able to root them all out. Be kind to yourself, my friend. You did all you could and now you are here, safe and sound, and the wrongs of Ul'dah will be righted once more."

"Am I though? Am I still the Warrior of Light? I feel Her light no more within me and my ears are deaf to Her voice. I am forsaken. What good can I be now to those who need me?" she asked softly. While Alphinaud had been in the depths of his despair when they arrived, she had held herself together. Here, in the sanctum of her knight, in the presence of the one man she could be her true self with, she let herself feel the weight of all that had happened and bound it no more within herself.

"Whatever do you mean, my dear?" Haurchefant asked, his brow furrowing as he looked at her with concern. Slowly, she turned her head and met his eyes with her own, sorrow heavy in her gaze. It was then she told him all that had transpired since they'd last seen one another. So much had happened since the night they wordlessly put an end to what had been building between them.

Rhea didn't know how long her tale took but there was little she left out. The only thing she kept to herself was the fact that Midgardsormr not only had spoken to her, but bound himself to her and followed her every step, continuing to speak to her. She hoped he would understand, if he knew, but he was a devout son of Ishgard. Even for him, she couldn't risk - especially then - being branded a heretic. Even if he did not shun her, she did not know what walls had ears and which did not.

Silence fell around them as her tale came to its end and Haurchefant took a few moments to process all she had shared. Through the course of the conversation, both had emptied their glasses of whiskey. "I...scarce know what to say to all you have experienced, all you have endured. To have been through so much in so little a time and yet...still, when Ishgard called, you came to our aid?" he said softly as he stared at her with awe and amazement. "So when you faced the great Vishap? You did so without the Blessing of Light? You are an incredible woman, Rhea, with or without it. If you could do that, then how can you doubt all will right itself?"

The smallest of smiles twitched at the corner of her dark carmine lips but her gaze dropped once more. She didn't know what to say to that.

"Have faith, my dear Rhea. This is but a moment of shadow. As your Minfilia parted unto you, so long as your flame continues to burn, the light of the dawn may ever be relit! If there is anyone who can bring the dawn once more, it is you. You...you are so much more than simply your blessing," Haurchefant said to her, becoming impassioned. Setting aside his empty glass, he moved closer to her and took one of her hands in his. Long had his gloves been set aside and his skin touching her own brought a calmness to her. Looking up, her heavy eyes met his and she could see the fervor in his gaze. "It was not your blessing which felled the great Vishap but you, your fierce determination and your exceptional martial prowess. You are wholly unique, my dear! There is none in this world like you and you have been that way since before you were awakened to your destiny as the Warrior of Light.

"Even when we were children, you were special. I could see it then and I see that same girl now. You are limitless all on your own, Rhea. Of anyone in the world, you of all people do not need Hydaelyn, nor even Halone's blessing, to be what the land needs you to be. There are not enough words in our language for me to convey all that you are and all you inspire in those around you - most emphatically including myself! Every moment I am in your presence, I am in awe of you. There is none to whom I look to as highly as I do you," he confessed openly and vibrantly, as he was wont to do.

"Haurchefant, I..."

He shook his head and smiled kindly to her, "No, please. I beg you let me speak, my lady. There is naught anyone in all the lands who I would suffer to speak ill of you, least of all yourself. Yes, the night is dark and hope is in short supply but long before you were gifted the Crystals of Light, you were a brilliant star unto yourself, shining light to all around you. Do not give into despair, for while the night is long and darkness encroaches to claim us all in its embrace, while you still live, there is hope. Your story does not end here, my friend. 'Tis still just the beginning."

Rhea looked at him for a long moment, lost in the impassioned words he bestowed upon her. Though she had lost her hope, he had not and with his own, he began to rekindle hers. His words stirred her heart, fanning the flames of the deep rooted emotions within her. She had tried to steel herself to the feelings she held for him and build walls, but one look from him and they had all come crashing down. She knew in that moment what she felt for him, and had for a long time, was love - pure, radiant love. She loved him more deeply than she ever thought she could love another. He was her encouragement, her rock, the beacon in the storm that led her home.

He was her true home.

In that moment, all the barriers which separated them and kept them from being together evaporated into nothing. Nothing else mattered except how she felt for him, and how he clearly felt for her. He was her strength, the one thing in the world which kept her ever pressing forward. She needed him in her life and could not imagine him not being in it. She didn't care about the approval of Ishgardian society, or what was deemed right or wrong by them.

Setting her glass down on the floor with a measured movement, she slowly brought herself to look back to him. Taking in a deep breath, she gathered the strength he had given her. Her hands raised to cup the sides of his cheeks as she leaned forward, unable to look away from the sapphires that looked back beneath soft lashes. Slowly, she brought her lips to hover over his, giving ample time for him to pull away if he wished. With not an ilm of movement to the contrary from him, her lips pressed tenderly against his.

Both of their eyes closed at the sheer bliss they felt as their lips joined, both warm and soft, inviting the other to come closer. Both acquiesced to this invitation as their bodies slid closer on the crimson sofa and, as her hand sank back into his silken locks, she felt his hands come to rest on her waist to pull her tighter against him.

Rhea had not known heaven like the feeling of being in his embrace and as the kiss lingered, the last remnants of her walls dissolved into nothing. Deepening the kiss, she pulled him toward her and softly her lips parted to capture his own. Hinted with the lingering taste of whiskey, his lips ensnared her senses and naught else existed in the world outside of them in that moment. When, at last, the kiss broke for want of breath, neither pulled away more than they had to. Eyes opened and locked upon one another once more and for many long moments, they sat there in silence gazing at each other. Rhea's heart raced within her chest. Love and affection swam between them, but as the silence dragged on, worry began to set upon his brow.

"Rhea, I...we cannot do this. Ever the optimist as I am, even I see this as folly. Nothing has changed. We are still bound by the chains of our circumstance," he said softly, though he made no move to let her go or withdraw from her.

"Everything has changed, Haurchefant! Everything. And I do not speak of the Scions or the affairs of Ul'dah. I cannot go back to the way things were before I left Ishgard and this...damned destiny took over. Even should Hydaelyn never give me Her blessing again, I am who I am. You said as much yourself, and reawakened me to who I am and what I am meant to do. Do you truly think I would ever be able to return and run a household with my brother?" she asked, her gaze searching his. "The Barony will go to him and he will run it well. I've had the mind for some time to abdicate my claim. Drastic though it would be, if I do indeed do that, what have we to fear? Though I will ever bear the blood of Baphineaux, I will not be in line to inherit. I will be free. The Warrior of Light, blessing or no, cannot put one nation above any other. I must be a woman of the world, not the nobility or the Holy See. Though I might choose to make Ishgard my home once more, my destiny is greater than running a House.

"All I need do is inform my parents, and then...then I will be free and with that freedom, we could be together. Tis not solely the reason for my abdication but if we can find happiness in this world where darkness creeps around every corner, eager to snuff out the light? Why should we not seize it? If I have learned anything in my life, in all that I have seen and done, is that life is fragile, and precious, and short." Now it was her turn to be the impassioned one as she threw all care to the world.

"You are not in line to inherit. Your place within the House Knights is assured by virtue of your hard work and you have made for yourself your own life. Illegitimate as you are, you are no more beholden to the societal rules than I am when I abdicate," she said, growing breathless with how fervently she expressed herself. "Haurchefant, my heart is yours. It has been from the very first. You are all that is good and right in this world and you inspire me to be a better person - for you, for myself, for the realm. We have the opportunity to do something for ourselves, for once, instead of everyone else. We both sacrifice all and more for those around us, for the greater good so that others might be happy and know peace. Do we not deserve happiness ourselves?"

Her eyes searched his deeply as her hand moved to his chest and she could feel the racing, strong beat of his heart. "If you tell me now, that deep in here, you do not share my sentiments, that you do not feel for me as I feel for you, then I will drop the matter." A pang of pain touched her heart at the thought, but she pushed it aside. "However, if you do feel for me as I feel for you, then tell me. Tell me and let us seize this happiness for ourselves, come what may. Surely the honored and exalted Lord Haurchefant and the Savior of Eorzea, defender of the Gates of Judgement, can be granted special dispensation from the ton? Surely we have earned it. I cannot think of anyone who would bemoan us this, save the petty socialites who cannot see the world outside their fine silver and elaborate tapestries - and they do not matter."

Rhea fell silent there, realizing she had barraged him with all she had felt and more. She had bared not only her heart but her soul to him and now it all lay in his lap. Anxiety coursed through her as she watched him, waiting for him to respond. When he did, it caught her utterly off guard.

It came upon a long bout of silence, yet before a word was spoken from him, his gaze betrayed what was to come. For within those sapphire orbs was a fierce love and an ardent soul who had long been wooed by more than her words. When he spoke, he spoke softly, "My lady, I have been yours from the moment I saw you walk into my hall. The happiness of my soul does not exist unless you are near. I would give my position for your happiness, all my possessions, even my life. Surely even Halone herself has heard the song of my heart's beat for you. I simply..."

He took a breath, "...I could not bear for you to give up your house for me, or else be relegated to social ruin within your homeland. I only wish for the best for you, always, and I could not allow myself to be selfish and claim you for myself. Not when Ishgard - nay, the world itself - needs you so desperately as they do. However, if you are truly set on this path regardless of me, then all mine objections are but snow on the wind."

Rhea wondered if she was hearing him correctly, for her heart had been through much and she dared not hope he was saying what she thought he was. "S-so you...I...we..." Try as she might, she could not find the words.

Cupping her cheek just firmly enough to convey the depth of his words, he gazed intensely down into her silvery orbs. "I love you, Rhea Baphineaux, and if you would have this humble knight, I promise that there will be naught you desire that I would not move Heaven and the Seven Hells to give you, be it within my power or not. If this is the path you choose to walk, I will proudly walk it at your side."

Rhea's heart leapt in her chest, catching her breath from her. His admission was more than she could ever have hoped for, yet hope for it she had, and it was impossible to hide the sheer joy and love from her features. "All I desire...is you. I love you, Haurchefant Greystone, and if you will have this forsaken fugitive of a hero, I shall strive to ever be worthy of you and to give you all that I can to bring you happiness till the end of my days."

A smile formed on Haurchefant's lips to mirror her own pure mirth as the both of them bared themselves and accepted the future that it would bring. Pulling her to him, it was Haurchefant this time who captured her lips with his. The moment their lips met again, the cataclysmic explosion erupted between them and every onze of love they felt for each other flowed through them into that kiss. Time ceased to be and the troubles of the world faded to nothing. Nothing existed at that moment except each other.

Darkness might have been descending upon the world around them, but there in that room, never had light shone more brightly.

Dawn would come again and they would usher in its rays together, come what may.

Inspirational Soundtrack Song:

Not Strong Enough - Apocalyptica (ft. Brent Smith)
I Scare Myself - Beth Crowley

Author's Note: This concludes 'Post-A Realm Reborn' story, 'A Realm Awakened'. Next to come is the Heavensward-covered story: 'Sins of Antiquity'! In the following stories, I will be following, in addition to the MSQ, extensive diversions and additional writing expanding upon the development of Haurchefant & Rhea's relationship among many, many other impactful and profound moments.

Where much of the A Realm Reborn and Post-ARR series' were MSQ summaries, the predominance of the Heavensward stories (and beyond) will feature considerably more OC works with MSQ references. I want to thank all of you who stuck through it and are looking forward to what's to come.

Stay tuned for updates and onto the next! I hope you enjoy!