A/N: I'd just like to warn you about the presence of blood, if you're sensitive to it, before you start reading.

No, he doesn't like the black stone that talks.

No, he doesn't like his Rider around it.

No, he does not want to work with the stone, and no, he absolutely will not let anything happen to Arya's hatchling. His family.

Fírnen sat grumpily curled up in the afternoon sun, sulking alongside Eylörís. Eila had pulled out the bottom drawer of her dresser and lined it with blankets so Shruikan would be safe. The young dragon felt almost betrayed.

No, they are not going to share their Riders with that wretched thing.

Fírnen's mind brought him back to Arya, because when she returned, she seemed… fragile. His Rider was never fragile. Cautious and paranoid, sure, but control was always somewhere within her grasp in those moments. His anger at who the black stone turned out to be and his jealousy over the attention Shruikan was receiving from his Rider overwhelmed his senses and sent him into a rather feral version of himself. He didn't like that version. It prevented him from seeing the demons Arya was facing and withering beneath. She needed him and he wasn't there, the one time that she had no control, he had lost control of himself.

His mind drifted to hers and he found that she was curled up on her bed, clutching the pillow to her chest. Her eyes stared blankly out the large window that observed the eastern lands. She was not herself; far from herself.

"Arya?" He asked gently, allowing his worry for her to drift through his voice and coat his words. She didn't move, but she thankfully responded.

"Hm?" She seemed distracted, but also in pain.

"Talk with me?" He requested softly and Arya's fingers clutched the pillow just a little bit tighter.

"Not right now." She forced herself to say. "Thank you, though."

"Is Juniper okay?" He asked.

"He's fine. Nothing out of the ordinary has happened." She responded. It just occurred to her that she could feel her baby bump through the pillow and Fírnen could feel a new wave of anxiety roll over her. This went deeper than usual.

"That's good. Can I ask what bothers you, then?" He pressed. She closed her eyes and sighed.

"I don't want to talk about it." She responded quietly.

"I don't like it that you're unwell. I'm sorry for not seeing the troubles you were and still are facing. I want to help if I can."

"Then tell Eragon for me."

"You know I can't do that. It's your news to share. Juniper is your hatchling and his as well. It'll be fine. I'm sure he'll respond well to your happy news." Fírnen pointed out and Arya remained silent."Are you worried about him finding out about your feelings for him?"

She couldn't help it when her eyes instantly watered with tears, nor when they fell. She pressed her face into her pillow feeling a fresh mountain of pain slide over and bury her. "Fírnen, understand that just because I have feelings for him doesn't mean his heart will stay with mine. He's Human, Humans change their minds all the time, that's why I told him that perhaps one day we could try having a relationship. I wanted to be sure… my heart has been hurt too many times in recent years and it's bound to get hurt again. F-Fírnen… I can't do it. I can't tell him…" her fingers yet again tightened around the soft pillow she clung to. Her breathing was shaky and uncertain. It was rare to see her like this.

"Yes, you can. Just scry him and talk with him about the goings on in our life like you said you would earlier. You don't have to tell him now if you really don't want to. It's up to you, though I would advise telling him soon so you two can come up with a plan on how to parent your little one. There's no sense in laying there and doing nothing, he hasn't even had the chance to respond and you're already filled with grief over something that hasn't and most likely won't happen. Take a deep breath, drink some water, and talk to him. He is your friend after all."

It took Arya a long time to respond. She felt too raw and powerless at the moment. Everything was too heavy. Her sigh was long and exhausted. "Okay… I'll talk with him. It's your fault if I get hurt because you talked me into this."

"And I'm willing to accept that because I know I will be here for you if that unlikely event does happen, now go before you convince yourself to not speak with him." He nudged the air as he did when speaking to her face-to-face and Eylörís looked up to see what he was doing, then set her head back down and closed her eyes, relishing the feeling of the afternoon sun on her back.

Arya sighed and dragged herself upright, feeling… a lot of things. This is probably one of the most difficult things she's ever had to do. At least, it feels like that now. Maybe she'll look back on it and laugh. She rubbed her temples, keeping her eyes closed for a moment as she fought the disorienting feeling of getting up too quickly. That seemed to happen more often the further along in her pregnancy she progressed, a symptom she wasn't at all fond of.

She carefully brought her legs over the side of the bed and stood, allowing her left hand to proactively massage her pelvic region in hopes of avoiding the most inconvenient side effect of pregnancy aside from the increasingly constant need to vomit. That was a symptom that was getting worse, but she didn't want to think about that right now. She didn't want to vomit while speaking to Eragon, because that would be both embarrassing and very problematic.

Once standing, she lifted her duffle bag and pulled out a black tunic. Black is a color that will help hide her figure because the only mirror in this room was the full-length mirror that hung on the wall across from her bed and next to the bathroom. There was one in the bathroom, but that was far too small as it was to be a shaving mirror. It was also warped so it would magnify features for a more successful shave if the individual who was staying here needed to shave using a traditional razor.

Removing her clothing, Arya once again observed her reflection as only her upper half was exposed. Her hands automatically felt the impact her baby made on her body and her eyes softened. "I love you." She whispered softly and a small smile played on her lips. She let her hands and eyes linger for a moment before pulling on her black tunic. She was much more comfortable now that it was visibly harder to tell that she was pregnant, and she released a sigh of relief.

"It'll be okay, it'll be okay…" She told herself before closing her eyes and bringing an image of Eragon to the forefront of her mind. With a deep breath, she murmured, "Draumr kópa," and the whole mirror went black for a moment before it clarified.

Eragon was laying on a hammock in a room below the surface of the ship he was on, his eyes were closed and his arm was folded behind his head. He wore brown trousers, no footwear, and a blue sleeveless tunic that showed off his muscular upper half. Saphira was nowhere to be seen. "Are you sleeping?" She asked matter-of-factly and suddenly he jerked awake. The sudden movement rocked the hammock and it threw him to the floor. She couldn't help but smile. His eyes were wide as he frantically looked around. She supposed he decided it was a dream because his face fell. She understood that pain. She missed him and everyone they traveled with during the war. He probably feels the same and he also might have similar dreams.

His shoulders drooped as he exhaled and his whole body bent forward until his forehead was touching the floor. He's been practicing his Rimgar stretches.

"Is it morning or night there, or were you just napping?" She asked and his eyes widened again before looking over and their gaze met.

"I knew I wasn't crazy!" He cheered as he picked himself haphazardly and threw himself across the floor to the mirror that resided on his end of the session. "Arya…" he breathed happily and the way he said her name almost brought tears to her eyes. She missed him in more ways than one and he wasn't allowed to know that. Not yet, at least. "Is everything alright? Wait, yes it's night here, what time is it there? Where are you? Wait, that looks like Ilirea… you're in Ilirea?" his face was happy as questions spilled from his mouth and she couldn't contain her smile.

"If I can remember all of your questions, yes, I'm in Ilirea; it's afternoon here and yes everything is mostly fine." She answered, feeling her own anxiety spike, but she was thankfully able to force herself to relax.

Concern washed over his feature. "Mostly fine? Something's wrong? What happened, are you okay?"

She offered a smile. "Yes, I'm okay, and nothing is necessarily wrong, however, do you have a moment to talk privately? There have been developments here in Alagaësia that I think you'd like to know about." She remained poised, her arms hung at her sides, not behind or in front, and she did her best to not fidget. She needed to stand as still as possible.

He nodded. "Aye, I'm free to talk. I'm in my quarters. Saphira is 'hunting' but I think that's a cover because she really enjoys swimming at night under the moon." he put air quotes around 'hunting' and Arya smiled. "Fírnen enjoys swimming too. He likes going all the way under and thrashing about, just to make a bunch of noise, I'm sure." She smiled brightly for a moment before her face fell into contemplation. "Anyways, can I ask you something?"

"Of course." he nodded, his eyes taking in her appearance as if this was the last time he would see her.

She nodded. "Were they successful? Saphira and Fírnen; does she carry an egg?" That's a question she knew Fírnen wanted to have answered.

Eragon frowned. "She hasn't said anything, but she's been ever watchful. I don't know how long that sort of thing takes for dragons. She's excited about it, though. I think she's ready for it." A faint smile haunted his lips and Arya took a shaky breath. She's not ready for her own hatchling, but she tried smiling as convincingly as possible.

"Fírnen hasn't said much, but I think he's excited too. He's just trying not to get his hopes up just yet. It was their first try. You'll keep me informed?" She let her voice sound hopeful despite the anxiety coiled in her stomach. She was hopeful when she wasn't stressed out about something.

"Always." He smiled. "So, what did you want to talk about?" His deep brown eyes studied her features and she had a hard time looking at him. Would their child have his eyes?

"A few things, actually." She took a deep breath. "Nasuada sent me a letter a little over a month ago now summoning me to Ilirea." She smiled, remembering how excited she was about this part of her news. "The egg Vanir was carrying hatched for a young woman named Eila. She was apparently hiding in the numerous tunnels throughout the castle and Elva is the one who found her sneaking food from the kitchen after hours. The dragon who hatched is called Eylörís. I'm not sure exactly when she hatched, but based on my experiences with Fírnen, she's about two months old."

"A female?" Eragon's eyes were wide with wonder and curiosity.

Arya nodded. "Yes. I arrived earlier today to meet them." Her expression became troubled. "There's a few other things that happened today. Let me give you a background on what's been going on here, in Ilirea since you've been gone just so everything makes sense: Elva has had some issues controlling her magic and she ended up destroying a large portion of the underground prison cells here. She accidentally killed almost forty men who were imprisoned here as they sympathized with Galbatorix. That happened about a week or so before today, Nasuada wasn't exactly clear in her timeline. Anyways, Angela informed us that the wall that was broken gave way to multiple chests filled with gold coated in Seithr Oil. Eila was sent down there along with Angela to go check it out because Elva was arrested before she could finish looking through the area."

Eragon frowned. "They arrested Elva? That seems harsh."

Arya sighed with a smile. "I think it was just brief punishment for destroying such a large portion of the castle before telling anyone. She was only locked up for about an hour, I think it was mainly just for show. As it turns out, Eila found Shruikan's Eldunarí, and he was the one behind provoking the girl into behaving the way she did."

The Blue Rider's shock was obvious. "He's alive?"

"Apparently Galbatorix forced him into producing his Heart of Hearts, which was then hidden along with the chests of gold. Contrary to what most would think, Shruikan isn't actually as villainous as we thought. He said that when I killed his body, the things Galbatorix had done to him was stripped away. He's not insane like the Eldunarí who were subjected to Galbatorix' wrath and actually he's more than willing to help us. He mentioned that there are eggs hidden in those chests. They've been here since before Galbatorix took Ilirea for himself. Instead of destroying them, he hid them with intentions to build an army. That didn't work, so he locked them away."

Eragon smiled. "I don't know how to neutralize Seithr Oil. Maybe Angela or someone else in the castle knows if there is a neutralizer. Did he say how many eggs there are?"

Arya shook her head. "No, but Nasuada is gathering her guards to help with taking down the chests. I have no idea how many are down there as I haven't been, but it sounds like a heavy task. Eila, Shruikan and I returned to our quarters, in the Loft to get some rest. Tomorrow is most likely going to be more active than today."

His frown returned. "Why didn't you go?"

The knot in her stomach that had been slowly easing through the casual nature of their conversation just tightened and got a lot worse. She looked down at the floor, wishing she was anywhere but here. He must have seen her reaction; the barely concealed worried expression that manifested without her consent, or the flicker of anxiety she knew he could see behind her eyes. Maybe she wasn't as in control as she thought. Her jaw flexed as she ground her teeth together while seconds stretched to what felt like hours.

"Are you okay?" His concern had grown by her odd behavior. His voice was so soft that it hurt, and her eyes watered the moment it touched her ears. No, she was not okay, and no, she was no longer in control. It had left a long time ago. "Arya?" He's never seen her like this, she knows. He's seen her shed tears out of grief and mourning, but he's never seen her panic.

She quickly forced her eyes to look at him, and she bit her tongue to distract herself with pain. She took a deep breath and blinked a few times to clear her eyes, but she spoke as confidently as possible. "I'm… I'm pregnant." She flinched at her own words. It's the first time she's said it like that. Her jaw clamped down on the left side of her tongue and she tasted blood. A lot of blood, though the pain went entirely unregistered.

Eragon's gaze lit up with shock, the color drained from his face and he barely moved, leaving him to look like a statue carved of stone in the soft candlelight that lit the room. She forced herself to at least look at him. She couldn't look him in the eye, so she focused on the black cord laced into the collar of his tunic. His silence was starting to become oppressive and her breathing was jagged and irregular. "S-say something?" She pleaded as the tremors began running up her spine.

"I…" He forced out, his tongue and throat feeling bone dry. He blinked. "I hurt you… I-I didn't want to hurt you… I never meant to hurt you…" his voice was shaky. His eyes were also full of tears.

She couldn't help but frown at him, nervous and confused. "What?" she felt stupid and her voice trembled and cracked.

"I mean… we…" he took a breath and rolled his shoulders. "We used wards because we both…" He swallowed thickly and cleared his throat. "The circumstances… f-for myself and you… and… and… you're pregnant…" his eyes widened again through his stammering, but she knew what he meant. The wards were supposed to not let this happen.

She just nodded, trying to regain her bearings and to fight the instinct to get away from the fear and the hurt. "It was to prevent this…" She closed her eyes and tried her best to hold herself together. It sounded like he… didn't want… no. She can't think like that. Not yet.

The stunned silence started to stretch again, and Arya had to resist touching her sternum to ease the emotional pain that turned to physical pain. She kept her eyes low and to the floor. She didn't want to look up because that would hurt too. Everything about this was starting to hurt.

"I-I need to come back." He said, his teeth clenched as he stared directly at her, his eyes alight with finality.

Her expression flickered with relief, then sobered and darkened. "Don't. You have a duty to the dragons, remember? That's paramount." She hated how her voice was shaky. It took away from the strength she wished the statement had.

He just shook his head. "I have a duty to you now too. I'm not letting you be alone in this." She could see the tears in his eyes.

"I'm not entirely alone… I-I have Fírnen…" And now she sounded petulant. She sighed. "E-Eragon… please. I know just as well as you that we each have our own duties to attend to and… and as much as I'd like you to be here, I understand the importance of your duty. Y-you can't come back. Not yet anyways."

He flinched at her words and she decided that she has never hated herself more for inflicting such such a thing on him. She was depriving him of seeing his child grow, and that was practically criminal in Elvish society. "T-then… I can't…" his tears fell and Arya felt her own heart break. They're both cornered despite the fact that she really did want him to come back, but the easy thing is not always the right thing or the best thing. Her mouth tasted funny and suddenly she felt the pain appear in her tongue from where she had bitten it. She moved it around and cringed. She let her jaw hang loose and she reached in with her left hand and pulled out a bloody chunk of flesh. Overwhelmed with the situation, all she could do was laugh at it.

Eragon looked up with concern and even a little bit of fear in his gaze. "I-I don't… understand…" Over the years he has known her, he's never seen her like this. He didn't even know what he would classify her behavior as… maybe hysterical? Her laughter slowly died and he just watched her.

"I bit off a piece of my tongue." she chuckled with both mirth and inundating sadness in her eyes as she held up the rather large bloodied strip of flesh that came from the middle-left side of her tongue. The pain returned to her gaze and the strength in her shoulders leaked away and this time, the laughter left her eyes, leaving her more broken than he's ever seen her. "I suppose this is proof that I was nervous to tell you… terrified is a better word, but not extreme enough."

His frown remained, but his jaw dropped. "Arya…"

Tears welled in her eyes and she wiped them away, knowing they would fall. Her head bowed and she released a long breath. "I'm sorry… I can't exactly control my emotions all too well anymore and that was… beyond embarrassing. It's just… hard to handle sometimes."

"Arya." He repeated softly and she looked up, feeling helpless. "It's okay." he responded in the same tone. "I know it can't be easy on your end. Please, if you won't let me be there for you in person, let me scry you on a regular basis." His eyes seemed to sparkle when she looked back up at him and she nodded at his request.

"Of course… I would like that. I think it would be good for… for… you know…" She smiled weakly, feeling stripped and split down to her core, chewed up and spit out. Shattered. She shakily pressed her right hand to her abdomen.

His eyes softened as he watched her. "I do know what you mean." The black cloth made her physique look entirely different, but he could tell she was showing by the way her hand caressed her belly. He wouldn't be the one to bring that up, considering that she looked as though she felt self-conscious about it. "H-how are you? I know I haven't asked yet." He asked a little apprehensively. He was also worried about her tongue, but because she didn't seem phased by it, it may not be as serious as it looked. He knew she would take care of herself if there was a serious issue.

Arya let her hand drop and her fingers fixed her shirt. "I'm okay, I think. I'm ten weeks along and the baby is healthy." She met his gaze, and his expression helped her relax. She couldn't say why, but the knot in her stomach was finally starting to ease.

"Do you know what we're having? Girl or boy?" He asked, suddenly full of curious wonder.

"Are you fond of one over the other?" She asked with a newfound curiosity in her gaze that almost matched his own.

"I'm happy with either." He smiled brightly, purely, and she felt the tension in her stomach leak away. It was going to be okay, and that's the first time she's believed it because he's happy with either.

"Do… do you want to know? I-I already… I regularly need to check on… um-" she took a deep breath and looked away while she waited for him to answer.

"I understand." He smiled and she found herself smiling as well, though faintly. "And yes, I think I'd like to know, if you already know."

She looked back up at him. "Then… w-we're having a boy. For now I call him Juniper, because…" she paused and winced, then cringed when she ended up swallowing a potent mixture of both saliva and blood. Concern flashed across Eragon's features. That was his que to say something. "You need to go take care of your tongue."

She shook her head. "It's not that bad."

His eyebrows shot upwards. "You bit a whole chunk out of it and I just saw you feel some sort of pain from it. We can always talk more later. Maybe tomorrow before you help with searching for the eggs. Please be careful with that, by the way, I don't want anything to happen to you or Juniper." He said with a worried tone, but he smiled at the nickname. Her eyes seemed to light up at that. Overall, his reaction wasn't bad.

"I promise. I don't think Fírnen would let me anyways. He's been very protective over me for the past few weeks. I-I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, I just… I needed time to process everything." Her expression softened.

"You had every right to. If I were in your position, I would too." He smiled. "Now please go take care of your injury, I don't want you to be hurt anymore."

"Fine." She nodded with a sigh. "We'll talk tomorrow morning. Sleep well, Eragon." She smiled more lightly this time. It was easier.

"Sounds perfect. Sleep well, Arya. You too, Juniper, don't bother your mom too much, she needs to rest." His gaze had flicked to her abdomen when he spoke to the baby. She smiled suddenly, no longer full of sadness. She remembered what Katrina had said and the young woman was right. Eragon loves his family, and the baby is his family. She is part of his family now too.

"Now, go take care of your tongue." He urged with a smile. "I need to go tell Saphira about this. I won't tell anyone else because we haven't talked about it. Just go-"

"-take care of my tongue." She smiled even more warmly as she finished the sentence for him. "Thank you, Eragon."

"You're welcome. Until next time."

"Until next time." She said, feeling a massive weight lifting from her shoulders. They both ended their session and the mirror became reflective again.

She stared at herself for a moment, then looked down at her left hand. She was still holding the piece of flesh she had bitten off, her fingers were still red from the blood that had dried. She just sighed. Yes, she's bitten through her tongue before, so she knows how to give herself stitches, but she's never bitten a piece off before. It's a good chance for Fírnen to practice healing things. If he wasn't comfortable with it, she could either have him help her do it herself or she could just give herself stitches again.

"Fírnen?" She asked.

"Yes, Bjartr Stjarna?" He responded.

"Do you want to help me? I… bit my tongue."

She sensed his worry through their bond. "You're okay? How did your talk with Eragon go?"

She huffed. "Like you weren't listening. I bit a piece of my tongue off and I was wondering if you wanted to practice with healing injuries."

"No, actually, I wasn't listening, but more importantly, is it bad?" He asked.

"By my standards, no. To someone else, probably, considering I'm holding a chunk of my own tongue in my hand. The adrenaline is wearing off and it's starting to swell. Help me? If you won't, please let me borrow some of your energy. I can't exactly heal my own wounds without exhausting myself more than I already am. We have a long day tomorrow and I don't feel like working around stitches. It's painful."

"You didn't even have to ask, and yes, I'll give it a try. I need to learn sometime, I'm just not fond of you being pregnant while I practice on you. I don't want to hurt you or your hatchling." He said pointedly.

Arya nodded to herself and walked from the room and out into the open. She closed the door behind her and he looked up at her before lifting his head. "Let me see."

Arya approached him before giving him a frank look. "Let me see, I can't help you if you won't let me see."

She sighed and opened her mouth and stuck her tongue out. He stared at her injury, the jagged crescent shaped wound made from where one or two of her premolars and most of her molars severed the chunk of flesh and muscle, then frowned deeper than she's ever seen him frown. "Is it best to leave it like that or do you want me to try reattaching the… other piece?"

She just shrugged. "It would be easier and less costly if you were to just mend it as-is. I'm afraid I don't have much experience with reattaching body parts as I've never severed something entirely from my being before. I can guide you through the mending process or we could experiment with reattachment. It's up to you." Her tongue was starting to swell, which was beginning to hamper her ability to speak, so she chose mental communication instead.

He adjusted himself and welcomed her to come sit with him and she immediately did. She eased herself into a sitting position, then sat in tailor-fashion with her back against his belly. She let her head loll back so she was looking up at him.

"It's disturbing how casually you're treating this." He responded.

She just sighed. "I've had a lot worse happen to me. I'll probably need to go wash this off if we intend to try to reattach it, but I just don't feel like it. Actually, help me mend it like it is. I think I'd rather remember this." She closed her eyes.

"Are you sure, Arya?" He asked carefully.

"I'm certain. Now, let me help you." She seemed to be in no mood to play with endless questions. In reality, she just wanted to go to sleep.

He relented and finally let her guide him through fixing the wound as it is. The process only took about an hour, and the missing crescent in her tongue would from now on always be there. This scar is measuring an accomplishment.

Luckily, she was able to eat when food was brought to them and she shared a quiet meal with their new apprentices, simply growing more comfortable with each other's presence and company. Afterwards, they bid each other a goodnight, then retired for the evening.

Fírnen urged her to go sleep in her bed and to not worry about how long she slept. She's carrying a baby after all. She reluctantly agreed, seeing as she would prefer to spend the night with him, but she understood that she usually slept better in a bed than on cold stone, given that there was a chance of hypothermia despite wrapping up in a blanket. Over everything, she preferred laying on the natural ground as years of travel has acclimated her to finding the most restful sleep while wrapping up in nothing else aside from a blanket to keep her warm.

Fírnen would be fine to lay on the stone as his blood was always hot.

They said goodnight to each other and departed. He settled himself down and contemplated the events of the day, then the future events of tomorrow. He found himself optimistic.

Within the room his Rider was staying in, Arya changed into her sleep clothes, then immediately went to go lay down. It seemed the moment her head hit the pillow, she was already asleep, and Fírnen hoped she would have good dreams as well as a restful night. He would ask her about how her conversation with Eragon went tomorrow. Based on her demeanor, he sensed it went well.

A/N: Hello :)

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It's the longest I've written so far and I do hope you ladies and gentlemen feel it's fitting. YAY ERAGON KNOWS NOW!

Switching perspectives was intentional, I promise. I know it's a little weird.

Thank you all for reading, as always, and I thank you again for the reviews and the little heart things and the bookmark thingies (yes, I've posted sixteen chapters now and I still don't really know how to use this thing. I do read a lot of fanfiction, but I'm probably the world's worst technologically savvy twenty-year-old and I can use the app, but the app isn't as good as being on a computer). ANYWAYS, I've already started the next chapter and that should come soon as well!

Much, much love to all of you!

-Lady Arlo