I do not own Legend of Dragoon or any of the characters.
Rough Travel
Cade shot forward, his magic sword's blade all but roaring with power as he moved to deliver his next strike. How target, that horrible thing, the Shadow, didn't let him get that far. Shadows enveloped Cade and he shouted in dismay and anger as his entire body flared into agony. He crashed into a wall of stone, cratering it, and the others, all seven of his Dragoon allies, shot down at the thing. It roared, as shadows swallowed them as well before they all exploded into the walls around the thing. Cade swiped his hand, shouting in desperation, and suddenly there was a blinding light, one which wiped away the thing's darkness. One which erased the shadow. The others were ecstatic, but it wasn't over. It couldn't be, because Cade still felt cold. His body still trembled, and his every heartbeat still felt like it was pumping ice water through his veins.
Sure enough, the shadow returned within a minute. It filled the room, flooding outward from the thing as it returned, roaring angrily. The others all prepared themselves to go, but Cade looked around. He could feel it. the shadow had changed. It was linked to the stone around them, and that beyond it. Everything around them was now a part of it. If they killed it, it would take them with it. He swallowed hard, looking to Rose just as the others were all again repelled by the shadow. He could do it. He could save her. He turned, shouting in effort before shining blue blade silhouettes formed in a vertical circle in the air around him, all of their blades aimed at the thing. Then, he shot forward, the swords driving themselves halfway into the thing's core, comparable to its heart. He drive his own blade into it in the center, shouting in effort as he pushed the thing back, making its attack miss her. He linked his blade's core with his own magic, preparing the one spell that would end it without a doubt. He could do this. But only if the others left. He passed the instruction as his entire body began to shine white. Watched as they all fled, as she fled, as the light expanded into a sphere three times the size of his body, already incinerating the parts of its core inside of it. Then, he turned back to the front, smiling, just as the spell was cast and the light blinded him.
Cade sat bolt upright, gasping in a long breath, as though he'd been held underwater for a full minute, eyes so wise they almost fell from his skull. His breathing stopped again after he'd inhaled, his eyes staring straight ahead as his vision swam and slowly focused. His lungs burned and he had to consciously focus on continuing to breathe for a moment before his body remembered that was a necessity. He blinked several times as he gasped for breath, slowly looking around and seeing Rose kneeling beside him, worry covering her face, the others all watching him in confusion, a couple with their weapons still in-hand from his initial reaction. Rose was speaking, but his brain was only able to process the fact, not her words' meaning. Finally, his brain began to catch up to reality and he dropped onto his back again, holding a hand to his forehead, still struggling to catch his breath. He raised a hand and Rose clasped it in hers instantly, having stopped speaking, realizing her words were falling on deaf ears, most likely.
"Sorry," he finally said, as his brain managed to finish rebooting.
"Are you okay?" Rose asked. "What happened?"
"It's nothing," Cade said. "It was just a nightmare."
Rose pursed her lips, squeezing his hand gently to make him look at her, seeing the worried and knowing expression on her face. He sighed quietly and sat up as the others all lay down. He pushed himself to his feet and walked away from the others with Rose. They walked to a fallen log off to the side, sitting facing away from the others, and Rose took Cade's hand in hers again, turning toward him slightly and fixing him with a worried stare.
"I..." he trailed off, beginning to try and figure out what exactly to say about it.
"Does it have anything to do with how afraid you've been recently?" Rose asked. "Even before you were shaking in Deningrad, you've seemed...it's felt like you were having to force yourself to seem like nothing was wrong."
Cade was silent for a moment before sighing. "You know how...my entire reason for being on my journey in the first place is that I fell a shadow slowly spreading over the world, right?"
Rose nodded.
"Well...for the past few weeks I've..." he stared at their linked hands, swallowing hard. "It's been...slowly closing in on us. You and me, specifically. I can feel it clinging to us all the time, and it sets my teeth on edge. The last time I felt it cling to someone, it was clinging to Lavitz before we went to Hellena. My dream was us fighting...something. I don't remember what. I just know...it was the shadow. Or whatever I'm sensing as the shadow. We were fighting that."
Rose reached her free hand up to cup his cheek, giving him a reassuring smile that did nothing to settle his fears. "No matter what happens, we're both going to be fine. I promise you, I won't let anything happen to you, and I'm not going anywhere without you. I swear to you, we are going to make it through this fight and every other that comes just fine. And once we're finished, I will still be right here."
Cade forced a smile, nodding, and Rose leaned forward, kissing him gently. He kissed her back instantly, his own free hand landing on the outside of her thigh, remaining motionless. After a few minutes, Rose pulled away and opened her eyes, seeing Cade squeeze his shut and swallow hard. Her face softened instantly as she saw how afraid he was, and how hard he was trying to hide it, for her and the others' sake. She shifted, moving to straddle his lap, facing him, and captured his lips again, deciding to distract him from his fears for a little while. He took a short surprised breath as he felt her hands cup the sides of his face and pull him tight to her as her lips moved against his in a deeper, more hungry kiss than normal. His hands gripped the sides of her waist tightly, remaining resolutely fixed in place, despite wanting to travel, to hold her against him, explore every inch of her body just to feel her, even in a mildly innocent sense. After a few minutes, Rose's tongue trailed along his tower lip hesitantly, and after a second of surprised hesitation, Cade granted her access, her tongue instantly slipping past his lips to dancing with his. He let out a shaky breath. Something was different this time. It wasn't the first time they'd kissed like this, even their second kiss had been like this, and yet there was something different about it. He could feel her hesitating slightly, and the hunger in the kiss was different from what he'd ever felt from her. It was just enough to make him hesitate as well, and that was making him feel nervous, yet somehow more alive than he'd ever felt.
As they continued to trade hungry, passionate kisses, Cade's hands finally began to move, sliding over her back slowly, holding her against him, Rose's arms sliding back around his neck, one hand resting on the back of his head to hold him in place, the other arm wrapping around his upper shoulders. His breathing quickly dissolved into heavy, panting, gasps for air stained with Rose's natural scent, and he could feel her struggling just as hard to breathe, though neither made any move to pull back, instead holding each other tighter. And all the while, Cade's hands drifted over her back, sides, shoulders, arms. One of them briefly tried to settle on the back of her head as well, but simply wasn't able to sit still and returned to pacing up and down her back again, still holding her tight against him.
Finally, Rose tore herself away, gasping and panting for air, her forehead resting against his, and he allowed himself to take several deep breaths as well, smiling slightly to himself when he found that her scent still stained the air. After several long moments, their breathing began to level out again and Rose risked kissing him again, the kiss managing to remain slow and gentle, though only because it only lasted a few seconds before she pulled away again, just as that same hunger was starting to build again, though he wasn't sure from which end it began this time.
"Come on," Rose finally said, standing and taking his hand. "We should get back to sleep."
Cade nodded and allowed her to pull him to his feet, then back to their sleeping rolls. He lay down, instantly feeling fear at the prospect of risking another nightmare beginning to fill him, only for Rose to pull her own sleeping roll over, laying it beside his own before laying beside him and curling herself into him, pulling her bedding's covers over them both. He smiled as he felt himself settle slowly, curling himself protectively around her, tucking his face into her hair and allowing her presence to gently lull him into a dreamless sleep.
Cade sat beside Rose, who was staring silently into the distance, lost in thought. They had been traveling two days since his nightmare, and had entered the beginning of the mountain range the Divine Dragon was living in. They could hear it. They'd been able to hear it even from Deningrad, roaring and raging on the mountain, but now its roars, whenever it let one out, were nearly deafening, a clear indication of its monstrous power.
However, ever since the night of Cade's nightmare, Rose had been quiet, even with him, and he often caught her staring into space. The night before, she had sat off to the side in silence, deep in thought, until the sky had begun to lighten before laying down beside him to hold him, accidentally waking him up, though he had only been worried about her, not being woken. Tonight, she had again sat off to the side, completely ignoring them when they ate. All day she had been in a similar state, and Cade couldn't help but worry that maybe it was his fault. Maybe he had been what made the kiss the night of his vision different. Maybe he had done something wrong. Or maybe him telling her about his dream and about the shadow clinging to them had done something. Maybe he'd scared her. Or maybe she'd finally decided he was crazy. He knew the others didn't really believe him about the shadow, but he had always thought Rose at least believed he sensed something. Now, he was starting to doubt even that.
He looked over at her worriedly, seeing her still staring straight ahead, eyes clouded with warring thoughts. He wanted to ask her what she was thinking about, or apologize for what he did wrong, but he wasn't even sure if he had. She had just woken up and suddenly was distant.
"Have you ever been in love?" Rose asked, Cade staring at her in bewilderment instantly.
Cade blinked several times, the implications of the question sending butterflies through his stomach, even as it twisted into knots. Finally, he managed a nod, getting his emotions reined in again.
"How did you know?" Rose asked. "How would you know that it was actually love? Or...how did you know that you loved one person as opposed to someone else."
Cade was silent for a long while, considering his answer, shoving everything else to the back burner of his mind. "I..." He took a deep breath, tilting his head back to stare at the stars. "I wanted to protect her from her pain. She was suffering, and it killed me to see it, so I wanted to do whatever it took to end her pain. I wanted to see her smile more than anything." He smiled slightly at the memory of her first real smile. "I wanted to be able to see her happy for a change. And I wanted to spend my life with her. I'd have given anything..." His dream filtered into the forefront of his memory, the shadow, and the kamikaze strike he'd made to protect her, "...everything...for her to be safe. I'd give everything to know she'd be happy for the rest of her life, even if it's not with me. I'd do whatever it took for her to be able to live a happy life." He looked over at her, seeing her staring at him, happiness, gratefulness, surprise, and guilt all simultaneously filling her features.
"Cade...I..." she swallowed hard, dropping her gaze. "I can't-"
"I know," Cade smiled, cupping her cheek to lift her face, making her look at him. "I know. I don't expect you to say it back. I don't expect you to say anything back. It's just words. That's why I never bothered to say it before. It changes nothing. Me saying it to you doesn't change how I feel about you, or how you feel about me. Just like you saying it to me wouldn't change how either of us feel about the other. It's just words. The feelings the words mean are what matter, and the words being spoken or not won't change them."
Rose smiled gratefully and kissed him, holding it for several long seconds before pulling away and sniffing, wiping her eyes, though the tears hadn't started to fall yet. "We should rest. Starting tomorrow, we'll probably be seeing a lot of monsters."
"That's true," Cade said, scooting over to wrap an arm around her waist, pulling her into him and her head to his shoulder. "But I'm pretty happy like this."
Rose smiled, turning her face into him. "So am I."
He smiled, wrapping his other arm around her, turning to her slightly in order to hold her move comfortably. Rose smiled, wrapping her arms under his arms, hands resting on the backs of his shoulders, and there they stayed for several more hours before finally going to bed, still holding each other.
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