Alder was still her same self, not aging a day compared to Tally who had grown into a fine young lady over the years. Side by side they were unstoppable. Untouchable. Invincible. But when apart or at odds they were dangerous. Both extremely powerful in their own ways, though Alder was considerably more so. They had been split on many decisions before but never like this and this time it broke them both.
Alder couldn't imagine why Tally didn't agree with her, deep down she knew why, but she just couldn't understand. Tally had said till the end, Alder had just never expected there would be an end, more so that Tally would want an end.
In her mind, she had approached the subject so delicately, so gently, presenting it as if it were the best gift of all time. She had been so blinded, by what she would say was her undying love for the redhead, but was really something she didn't even want to acknowledge. She had missed all the signs that warned her otherwise. It just wasn't who Tally was, and she knew that from day one, but denial was easier. Denial was happier. And so they fought. They fought with thick silence, curt pleasantries and painful small talk. They fought by avoiding each other, each longing to forgive the other but each still holding strong to their beliefs. And it lasted weeks.
Sarah sighed and gulped down her whiskey, holding it in her mouth a moment too long and letting it burn painfully down her throat just so she could feel something other than the aching hole in her chest. She had lost track of how many refills she'd had since she had stormed out of their quarters and arrived here. Judging by the now empty bottle, too many. Why didn't Tally want to live?
"I'm not taking my own life Sarah! Just because I don't want to have biddies and live off the life of others doesn't mean I want to die!" Tally's words played over in her head like a broken record that repeated endlessly.
" Why can't you be selfish for once, Tally, for me?! Why can't you choose me?" She had said it to her wife earlier and she muttered it again to herself now. Her argument was weak, but it was how she felt and she stood by it.
"You know why she can't, General," One of her biddies spoke up from across the room.
"What do you mean?!" She sneered at her and the woman nonchalantly turned back to her work.
"We all know Tally, General, she was part of us once, part of you. It isn't something she wants for herself. You know this. You feel this," A different biddy spoke this time.
"She should want it! She should want to spend as long as possible with me!" Sarah exclaimed, slamming a clenched fist on the desk, a mixture of unhindered rage and unbearable sorrow in her voice. For probably the first time probably ever, all of her biddies hissed at her and she was taken aback.
"She does!" They all said in unison back at her as if trying to wake her up from her inability to understand Tally's point of view. Of course they would be on her side, because she's on their side.
"We are on your side, General. It is the highest honor of our lives to serve with you," They all again spoke in unison, trying to reassure their typically fearless leader.
"We just also happen to understand Tally's point of view with an intimate perspective that you do not, and will never have," The eldest biddy said tentatively as if expecting an adverse reaction from Alder at her statement.
"I am just as connected to the rest of you as you are to me," She knew as soon as the words had entered their shared mind that the witches were offended and she didn't even have to say it out loud, but she did anyway and it made nothing better.
"Sarah. We sustain your life. You do not sustain ours. Our perspectives are not the same, just because we share a mind," the biddy paused. "Tally though. She understands. Her time was brief, but it was long enough for her to understand us and for us to understand her. She would not want this. Not for herself, not for those willing to give their lives to prolong hers, and not for you,"
Sarah let her head fall into her hands, a sob escaping her and fresh tears splashed onto her desk. "What am I supposed to do?!"
"Talk to her, Sarah," They all spoke again.
Not responding, she opted for another long drink of her whiskey. "She lied to me, she promised me, she said 'til the end'," Sarah's whole body shook as she barely managed to utter those words Tally had spoken to her all those years ago at their handfasting.
The bravest of her biddies stood and walked over to the desk. Sarah forced herself to look up at her and just as she did she received a light smack on the cheek. "Open your eyes Sarah. She has not lied to you. She loves you and we all feel that. She is not being unreasonable,"
Sarah was more than a little shaken by the fact that her biddy had enough courage to do that to her, but she couldn't blame her, or any of them. They effectively were her council on matters such as these and they often saw things she would not.
"Go home to your wife, Sarah, if you're worried about not having enough time with her, what in goddesses name are you doing here still? Go," The eldest said thoughtfully and she was right, why was she wasting this time fighting with her. "Don't you dare forget her birthday is tomorrow, General, remember she's only thirty two,"
How could she forget, she had been planning and working on her present for the past few months. It had actually been done for a short while now, all she had to do was present it to her. She gave them a grateful nod on her way out and made a beeline for her quarters.
Across base in the officer's housing sector, as far from their quarters as possible:
"Alliyah and Elizabeth Bellwether! Stop fighting this instant and go to your room!" Abigail commanded and the twin children immediately froze and ran off in the opposite direction yelling quick 'yes ma'am's over their shoulders.
"They seem like a handful, I don't know how you do it, Abs," Tally sighed.
"I personally don't understand how they survived," Raelle joked as she set her own daughter on the floor to play. Abigail shot her a dirty look but brushed it off.
"Gosh Amara looks like Scylla more and more every time I see her," Tally gushed at the small child that crawled toward her.
"I know, it is crazy," Raelle reflected with a smile.
"I'll tell you what's crazy. It's that the only one without kids is you Tal and you love kids," Abigail pointed out, but Tally just sipped on her wine.
"I know, but guys we've had this discussion before. I'm getting older now, Sarah is way too old, and I'm okay with that, that is definitely not the issue I called you both frantically about. Besides, I'm happy with my life the way it is, well, I mean I really enjoy taking care of fosterlings," She smiled at how nice and perfect her life had seemed just a few weeks ago. "But I uh...I really needed to see you guys,"
"Okay?" Raelle and Abigail shared a concerned glance.
Tally couldn't look at them, she just stared into her now empty wine glass like it held the answers. "I uh we oh goddess where do I even begin we have been fighting so often for so long now," She finally sputtered, ending with a humorless chuckle. She paused and closed her eyes. "Guys I did something really bad today and I don't know how I'm ever going to make it okay again,"
Abigail put a hand on Tally's shoulder. "You can tell us anything, we are here for you,"
"Can you start at the beginning or do you want to start at the worst thing?" Raelle asked curiously, giving ninety-eight percent of her attention to supporting her sister while still keeping an eye on her daughter who was rolling around on the floor still.
"Let's go with the worst and work our way through the rest, it can't have been that bad Tal, you are one of the nicest, if not the nicest person I know," Abigail spoke genuinely.
Tally sighed and just had to spit it out. "I windstruck her,"
"Oh my god, Tally," Raelle had to set her glass down to stop from dropping it.
"Is she okay?!" To say they were both shocked was an understatement, they knew how head over heels in love Tally was with Sarah, to hear that was beyond jarring.
"She's fine, I was careful, I just needed to get her away from me," As soon as she said it, she regretted it. Looks of shock and concern turned to eyes filled with rage fuelled protectiveness.
"What did she do to you Tally?!" "Did she hurt you?!" "Where is she?!" "I don't care who she is, general or not, no one, especially not your wife, gets to hurt you," "I'm gonna link Scylla to pick up Amara, and we can go have a conversation with the general right now. You in Abs?" "Let me tell Adil we're going," "Scylla will keep you company if you'd like Tal," "Or Adil will," "Or they both can," "Doesn't matter! The general is probably in her office getting off on thoughts of beating our poor Tally, move it! We're not letting her get away with this,"
Tally was wholly unprepared for the onslaught of questions, not to mention the fact that they thought they could just storm into Sarah's office. "Stop it! Both of you! You're not going anywhere! She didn't hurt me!"
They both stared at her blankly so she continued. "We were fighting and we were both yelling and I had already told her to leave, but she didn't listen to me. It was an accident. She has never hurt me, you don't have to worry about that. She takes care of me. Too much care of me sometimes. So much that that's what we're fighting about,"
The two of them relaxed back into their seats again and listened more attentively to her but still clearly agitated, the only one truly still relaxed was Amara.
Tally shook her head, willing away the tears that were threatening at just the thought of her fight with her beloved. "If you could um. If you were given the option to um...live longer than you should...at the expense of someone else, actually a lot of someone elses, innocent someone elses, with the promise of spending more time with the love of your life...is it wrong to want to say no?"
They both looked at her blankly, trying to understand the words she just said. "What exactly did she offer you?" Abigail was always one to cut through the BS and get to the point.
"She wanted me to...I don't know how to put it...get? Recruit? Acquire? Biddies so I could live on with her and stay like this," Tally explained. She felt a tug on the leg of her pants and looked down to see the chubby cheeked brown haired girl staring up at her. She couldn't help but smile as she picked her up and bounced her on her lap. "Hi baby girl aren't you just full of energy!"
"Raelle's baby will not get you out of this, Tally," Abigail scolded. "I can't believe she even suggested that. That's crazy, how could she want that for you?!" She had anger in her voice again.
"I don't know," Tally said quietly while she watched the smiling baby. "I said in my vows I'd be with her til the end, but I meant my end, not hers, she might not ever have an end,"
"She had to have known that. Has she had no other relationships across her now...what, three hundred and eighty years? Has she ever offered this to anyone else?" Raelle asked, also watching her daughter laugh and giggle as Tally played with her.
"No. No one else. Everyone has come and gone in her life. I am the only one she has ever asked to stay," Tally said absentmindedly.
"Tals, that's a pretty big deal. You recognize that, right?" Abigail pointed out.
"She didn't marry anyone else either," Tally countered.
"No, but the whole death thing might be her issue, not the for-life thing. She could just be afraid," Abigail continued, finishing off her own wine and pouring another round for herself and Tally.
"She is afraid. I don't think there is anything that scares her more. Or at least, there wasn't when I was her biddy way back then," She reminisced. "Ow, Rae, a little help,"
Raelle laughed as Tally held Amara away from her, unable to get her to release her death grip on her hair.
"Come here sweet girl, come to mama," Raelle said as she managed to pry Tally's hair free and take her daughter back into her arms at the same time. "Give her another chance to talk, Tal," Raelle said with a reassuring smile. "Besides, of all of the things she has ever said and done, this is actually one I could see having compassion for,"
Tally nodded slowly and cleared her throat after a moment and wiped her eyes. "Okay then...moving on, you guys still coming over for my birthday dinner tomorrow?"
Abigail and Raelle seemed to debate silently with each other for a moment if they should let the topic slip away.
"Is Sarah cooking?" Raelle finally asked skeptically.
"She said she would try and that's all I could ask for, I mean since she doesn't eat and all that, but for one that was a few weeks ago now before we started fighting so I don't know if she even remembers or will want to anymore, and two after all these years, I'm still not convinced her trying to cook means anything more than boiling water, so I'll probably be cooking," Tally sighed at the idea, but it wasn't the worst thing ever and it would probably be relaxing.
Abigail laughed. "Okay, well we have a sitter for the girls tomorrow night, so Adil and I are planning to be there, and we will bring salad and breadsticks, sound good? We can even come a little early to help you out if you want,"
Tally grinned but shook her head. "Don't worry about being early, I am capable of cooking, and I'm happy to do it,"
"For your own birthday dinner?" Abigail looked skeptical but Tally just nodded and she didn't argue. "What about you Rae? Gonna bring the missus?"
"You know Scylla is still uncomfortable with the general so she is actually going to stay home with this bundle of joy, but I wouldn't miss it Tals," Raelle bounced her daughter on her leg some more, making her smile. "Oh and I'll bring something too! Since Abigail took the easy way out, how about I bring...goddess, I didn't even ask...do you need a cake still?"
"I wasn't planning on having one," She looked down, messing with the golden rings on her fingers. "Sarah is always weird about it, I can't remember the last time I had a cake on my birthday,"
"So yes cake or…"
"No, it would probably be better if you didn't. What if you just bring something really strong to drink?" Tally really didn't want to be fighting with Sarah during their dinner. She knew how easy it would be to set them off, something as innocent as a birthday cake would definitely be enough to do it.
The blonde nodded in understanding. "I can do that for sure. But what if...your present was a cake?!"
Abigail laughed but Tally didn't look amused. "Guys, please I'm serious. I told you last year, no presents! So no...your present can't be a cake, Rae!"
"Come on Tal, it is your birthday!"
"I know, it's like one of the worst days of the year! I wish I could skip it," She let her head fall into her hands.
"No. I don't even think Sarah would want that, Tally," Abigail said as she cleaned up some of their glasses before Raelle's daughter could get her hand's on them. The second the last one was pulled out of her reach Amara started wailing and thrashing frantically. "Someone's tired. Turn it off, Rae, make it stop," Abigail groaned. "I'm so glad to be done with that whole stage,"
"Very funny," Raelle sneered. "Shh," She stood and paced and rocked her for a moment but nothing.
They all knew Tally just had a way with kids and after a few more moments watching Raelle struggle with her own child, Tally stepped in to help.
"Here," She took the girl who was still wailing, eyes red. She sang the notes she had learned from Sarah all those years ago on the flight back from their mission with the Terim. She swayed as the notes left her lips and the child settled in her arms. The energy in the room became tangibly more relaxed. The girl was asleep when she finally stopped and she gently set her down in her carrier. Tally wiped a stray tear that escaped her tired eyes. That combination of notes got to her every time. It was one of the few remnants of her connections to Sarah during her time as a biddy, and she would never ever forget it.
"You are a lifesaver, Tals, I wish I could just take you home with me. Scylla would literally love you,"
"Maybe you should, then I wouldn't have to fight with Sarah anymore," She said spitefully as she grabbed her coat.
"Don't say that, Tally," Abigail scolded. "If something happened, you'd be devastated if you didn't try to fix it. So go home and try to hear her out,"
She sighed. She knew she was right. "I love you guys so much, see you tomorrow," She gave them each a one armed hug before she headed out the door.
They both watched her walk away into the night. After she was out of earshot Raelle turned to Abigail. "I'm thinking half an hour early and vanilla cake?"
"Oh no, at least an hour, cooking for five takes way longer than you'd think, and she's used to cooking for one, remember," Abigail said, giving her other sister a hug goodbye. "And probably chocolate to be safe, it is Tally we're talking about,"
"So true," Raelle agreed.
The walk back across base was shorter than Tally had wanted it to be. While generally it was nice that Abigail and her family lived on base, she really would have preferred more time to herself to mull over her thoughts. Easily she could have strolled around longer, but while the summer breeze had been comforting at first, it had picked up immensely and it looked suddenly like it was about to storm. It rarely did that on base unless Sarah was under duress, which she very well could have been, Tally would have no idea. When Sarah had left earlier, Tally used her mental abilities to watch her until she reached her office, then satisfied she would be there for a while, she let her be.
Lightning struck not too far away. Then again. The thunder followed suit not long after.
Still in the courtyard, Tally stopped, closed her eyes and took a breath, focusing on Sarah's energy. In her mind she followed it, not to Sarah's office like she expected, but to their place. It was a disaster. A chair was flipped in their living room, broken dishes created a mosaic on the floor of their kitchen, and was that blood? A bloody handprint on the wall. Tally's focus slipped for a moment at the carnage. She breathed again. She knew Sarah was in there. She took off running, no longer having the patience for her powers to take her on a slow tour while Sarah was quite possibly bleeding out somewhere. Reasonably, she would have known that wasn't the case given the fact that the scenery around her wasn't spontaneously dying, but in some way, shape, or form, her Sarah was hurt and she wasn't there.
As she climbed the steps toward their place, she was brought back to the final seconds of their conversation, if it could be called that, from this afternoon.
"As your commanding officer, I am ordering you to do this!"
"You cannot pull rank on me in our own home, Sarah, least of not for this, it's my choice!"
"The hell I can't. You will do this,"
"You listen to me, Sarah Alder. I don't care that you are the general of the whole goddamn army. In this house you are my wife! If you want to order someone around, go march back to your office, but you will not speak to me that way again, do you understand me!"
"Yes, I'm sorry," There was no guilt in her eyes or in her voice and it made Tally's blood boil.
"Get out," No hesitation.
"What?" That was when Sarah's demeanor changed, her eyes went wide and her shoulders dropped ever so slightly, clearly not expecting that from her.
"I said get out, Sarah," The general had tried to reach out for her. "Do not touch me,"
"Tally," Her voice had been softer then.
"I said no, Sarah!" She windstruck her then, only lightly, not enough to hurt her, but enough to send her stumbling back against their front door.
Sarah said nothing. They stood for a moment and what she saw in Sarah's eyes was haunting. It wasn't pain, or betrayal, or hurt, or anger, it was complete, utter unbearable sorrow. Without waiting another second Sarah was gone and the door was slamming shut behind her.
Tally cursed herself for all of it, but she pushed it out her mind as she made quick work of unlocking the door. The mess was even more jarring in person, especially knowing that when she herself had left, it was pristine. What else was she going to do while she waited for Raelle and Abigail to get back to her about meeting up that evening. Cleaning kept her occupied, physically anyway, mentally, not so much.
She cringed as her boots crunched over the broken ceramic plates and shattered glasses as she made her way slowly through the rooms. "Sarah?" She called out quietly, preparing herself for whatever scene might wait for her. "Sarah, are you okay?" No response, just the shuffling of papers in another room.
Tally made it over to their bedroom finally and carefully opened the door. Sarah instantly looked up like she hadn't just heard Tally calling out for her. "Tally," Said breathlessly as more of a confirmation that it really was her standing there.
"You came back," Sarah threw everything from her lap to the floor and ran to her, crashing into her with such force that Tally wasn't prepared for. Tally just looked at her, bewildered by the thought that she could have potentially not come back. Sarah held her close. Tally didn't resist, it just made her question how long it had really been since the last time they had hugged, or kissed, or said 'I love you'. Surely days at this point.
Tally pulled back, holding Sarah by the shoulders so she could get a better look at her. She looked rough at the moment, beautiful as always, but rough around the edges.
"You really thought I would leave you, after all this time, after everything we have been through and overcome? You thought our little fight today was the end?"
"It wasn't so little, Tally," Sarah said quietly, and then Tally noticed the redness in her lover's eyes. She couldn't remember her ever looking like she had been crying her eyes out. She wasn't even convinced that is what had happened. Sarah didn't cry.
"It wasn't that bad," Tally tried to tone it down but she knew how bad it was. "It could have been worse,"
"Did you think I was going to hurt you?" Sarah looked away and her voice wavered like she didn't know if she wanted an answer, and Tally felt beyond awful because she didn't think that ever in a million years, but that is how it looked and sounded to everyone else.
"Look at me," When she didn't, Tally took Sarah's face gently in her hands, forcing her to meet her gaze, "Sarah I...I just needed some space, and I didn't feel like you were listening to me. I didn't mean to. Of course I know you would never and I hope you know I would never hurt you, I'd give my life to protect you, you should know that. We were both angry and my control slipped for a second," She paused to look down over her beautiful wife for any signs of physical pain. "Did I hurt you?" She took Sarah's hand, inspecting the fading cut on her palm.
Sarah shook her head silently, pulling her hand away. "I was more worried about how it would affect you,"
Tally's heart melted and she gave a soft smile. "I'm okay, I'm not the one that got blown across the room,"
There was a slight sparkle in Sarah's eyes at that. "Let's not dramatize it now, that is hardly what happened, darling. I stumbled one, maybe two steps back, it was weaker than a first attempt by a new recruit," Sarah laughed and Tally crossed her arms. Sarah wouldn't have that though and pulled Tally close again and the redhead didn't resist.
They stayed close like that for a moment, foreheads leaning together until Tally spoke again.
"What happened to your hand?"
"It might have involved one of the dishes that is now on the floor," Sarah responded wearily.
Tally looked around, taking in the mess around them once again. "Right about that, so I'm pretty sure when I left, this place was spotless, I come back and it's like this, are you going to tell me what happened?"
Sarah frowned. "I uh, well like I said, I wasn't sure you were coming back,"
"Uh huh. So you destroyed the place? And if I didn't, who would have cleaned it up for you?" Tally asked over her shoulder as she separated from the tall brunette and began working to flip the living room chair upright.
"Are you suggesting I don't clean?" Sarah scoffed, her hands balled into fists, but she released them before Tally could see. That wasn't what she wanted to say, but her true feelings were complex. Before Tally she loathed a mess, she still did, after Tally, she had no doubt she would go back to maintaining her pristine lifestyle. This was just an uncontrolled outburst of emotion that she cursed herself for not being better at containing. It was just the premise that there could be an 'after Tally' that overwhelmed her, like her wife, the love of her life, was a phase that she was just passing through.
"Maybe, I don't know, do you?" Tally shrugged and looked around, trying to suppress a laugh, while Sarah watched her move around the room cleaning up her mess. Not that she was above helping but, she was caught wanting to just memorize everything about her at every moment. Tally glanced at her, catching her still standing there, a soft look in her eye and she gave up.
"I'll go clean the kitchen then, shall I?" Sarah grumbled, defeated, disarmed by the redheaded beauty.
"No, actually, leave it," Tally stopped her with a hand on her arm, and Sarah looked at her intently. "At least for now, we should talk more, about earlier,"
"Must we?" Sarah's eyes were pleading her to reconsider, just wanting to be together without fighting, but Tally remained steadfast.
"Please, it is important, for us," Sarah relented. They sat on the couch but there was an odd space between them as they tried to be close but also face each other.
"Let me say I am sorry, first. Truly sorry. I never should have tried to command you to do something like that, I would take it back, if I could," Sarah spoke first.
Tally let her eyes focus on their joined hands between them.
Tally waited a moment before speaking, letting the right words fall into place in her mind. "I understand why you said that, and I forgive you. This time," Tally maintained some modicum of control of her voice. "But I meant it, Sarah. I don't care who you are. You will never try to order me to do that again,"
"I swear to you, Tally," Her answer was immediate and honest and Tally could feel the conviction behind those words.
"I'm sorry for wind striking you," Tally muttered, not that she wasn't sorry, but clearly Sarah thought she was weak so she was questioning whether it could be considered a windstrike at that point.
"It is my fault for making you feel like you needed to defend yourself against me, like that, even as gentle as you were, I did get the message, and I could tell you meant not to injure me, darling," Sarah gave her a reassuring smile.
That was the easy part, and then they sat there in silence for several minutes, each not sure where to start.
"Tally, I...when I came to you with the idea of you having biddies of your own, I admit, I clearly did not consider the possibility that you could be so passionately against the idea of it," Sarah started but paused to give Tally a chance to respond, but she did not so she continued. "It was not that I forgot you had experienced life as my own biddy, though only briefly, I could never forget. It is what led us here after all," She mindlessly played with Tally's wedding band between her fingers. "But I did not consider the impact that very unique perspective could have on your opinion on the matter," A shorter pause this time, just long enough to breathe. "Tally," The redhead looked up at her name. "Do you think I am a monster?"
Tally's grip on her hand immediately tightened and her expression grew defensive. "I think we all have monsters inside us that encourage each other's monsters, but you yourself are not a monster, Sarah. Of course not! I love you!"
"Do you think I am destroying these girls' lives by taking them as my biddies?" Sarah pressed onward, analysing every expression that passed over Tally's face.
"No. I think it's the highest honor to serve with you in that way. I consider myself honored, and I believe I told you so immediately," Sarah nodded confirming the accuracy of the memory. "It is such an honor, but there is still a level of profound sadness there that I don't know if they have since given you access to, I know I tried not to, it was something we shared amongst ourselves,"
Sarah cocked her head to the side curiously.
"It was almost overwhelming, but also comforting at the same time because we all felt the same way, you know misery and company and all that," She did her best to explain. She focused on the bright blue eyes that were no longer focused on anything in their room, though she knew Sarah was still listening. "I'm going to guess that they are still able to keep it from you," Tally squeezed her hand trying to bring her attention back. "I can see you searching for it. Sarah, please, just let them have it. It does help with the integration process, if that is any incentive for you to leave it alone,"
"Fine," Sarah conceded and refocused on Tally's appreciative smile. "But if that is the only reason then…"
"I know where you're going, Sarah. The biggest thing is that I am just not you, and I never will be," Tally's tone was firm. "I am not the Great General Sarah Alder who has led since before the beginning of America. I've won no battles, done no great deeds, made no impact on the world. I do not deserve to live past my natural life, and please Sarah, please do not say I am worth draining the life of others for,"
"I would kill for you, you do know that," Sarah was deadly serious and Tally believed her.
"Not the lives of innocents, my love, that's not who we are," Tally cupped her cheek, inching closer. The touch made Sarah close her eyes and she couldn't keep a silent errant tear from falling. Tally was quick to kiss it away. "This isn't like you, talk to me, what are you thinking,"
"I just don't know what I'm going to do without you," Sarah clenched her teeth and looked away, the vulnerability becoming too much for her, but Tally was having none of it. She took her forcefully by the shoulders, pulling their bodies together so there was no space between them. Tally let her hand stroke the back of Sarah's head, while the other witch buried her face in the crook of her neck and held onto her for dear life.
It wasn't a frequent occurrence that Tally would comfort Sarah, but she was there for it whenever she needed it. When the days became too long or missions went awry, Tally was the safe steady place for Sarah to come home to.
"I've got you, my love, you have me," Tally placed a soft kiss on the top of her head and gently ran her hands through the dark silky hair.
"For how long though?" The question was muffled by Sarah refusing to move.
"For as long as we both shall live," Tally whispered. "You know I'll never ever leave you, my love, that connection we had will endure forever in some small way, and you have no choice about that,"
"Mmm, you remember what I said?" Sarah's voice was soft, almost inaudible. "How dare you use that against me, darling, it's not fair,"
"Of course I do, I will never forget that night," Tally assured, and continued rubbing Sarah's back, tracing invisible lines over her, feeling her relax.
"I love you, Tally,"
"I love you too," She whispered. They stayed like that in comfortable silence.
Eventually she felt Sarah's full weight relax against her and she couldn't have been happier that she had actually gotten her to fall asleep.
Tally took this as her chance to carry her wife to bed for once. Usually Sarah was not one to be picked up, rather she would do the picking up, and Tally would not argue, but right now was a rare opportunity. She gathered her in her arms as best she could and slowly, carefully carried her to their room, gently easing her into their bed.
She made quick work of stripping her General of her boots, her jacket and her pants, but left the rest. After changing herself, she felt the crisp crinkling of paper under her feet, no doubt whatever Sarah had been so focused on when she had returned earlier. After taking a glance at her wife, who was still sound asleep, she stepped into their bathroom and shut the door so she could turn a light on without disturbing her.
"Oh Sarah," She couldn't help but say quietly out loud before immediately covering her mouth. It was their handfasting photos. Sarah was in her dress blues but her hair was down at Tally's request. She remembered Sarah's protests at that demand, but she was so glad she gave in. Tally was in a beautiful off the shoulder white gown. They weren't looking at the camera in this one. They were impossibly close. Sarah was holding Tally to her in a tight embrace, resting her head atop the redhead's with her eyes closed. The camera didn't catch Tally's expression, but Sarah looked completely content.
She flipped through the stack of pictures. There were some of her, Raelle, and Abigail goofing off, while there was even one of Sarah and her biddies all striking a pose, and of course there were countless others of her and Sarah together looking madly in love.
She sighed, shut off the lights, pushed the stack of pictures under the bed until she had time to deal with them, and finally snuggled as close as she possibly could to Sarah without disturbing her. The other woman instinctively wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close, and she couldn't have been happier.