{-Peony-}
She'd heard everything and she more or less understood all of it. Did that make her any less surprised when they came back to the waking realm and Sharena immediately passed out (quickly followed by Lekra disappearing)? No, it did not. For a moment she was even worried before she remembered to follow Mirabilis's lead.
They first took Sharena to the Order's castle, being the only one they really knew the location of; one of her friends called the others and they all collectively went to the other castle. On the way Peony had to explain that there was a good reason and it wasn't as bad as it probably looked, but Mirabilis kept her from saying too much just yet. They laid Sharena down in her room, one of her friends got Alfonse and her mom, and they all sat down to once again listen to Peony.
"This is absolutely nothing to worry about," the ljósálfar reinstated once everyone was there. It made her realize how few of them she actually recognized. "Freyr and Freyja did what they needed to do, which is good! Right now Sharena's just regaining all of her memories and sort of mentally figuring out what to do with the information."
Mirabilis took it over from there. "Álfar don't dream like mortals do. If we dream at all, it's pure memories from our pasts, like we're reliving it. Sharena is experiencing something very similar to that. I can't give an exact time for sure, but I wouldn't expect it to last any more than a couple of days. No matter how long it takes, though, you have the Dream-King's assurance that she's perfectly fine." She gave a curt gesture to Sharena's gray-haired friend. "That one belonged to Hel, didn't she? If you ever doubt that it's fine, ask her. I'm sure the dead can sense a soon-to-be kindred soul."
"Mirabilis, I think you're overstepping it a little…" Peony could sense it, too, of course; how something about her was off, similar to a nightmare's presence. But it didn't seem like something to bring attention to. Or maybe, as one of the two álfar who still remembered her life before, Peony just understood what it was like to want to keep something buried more personally than others.
"I'm only stating facts." Mirabilis shrugged and started to leave. "I'll tell Dream-King Freyr that we're done and come pick you up when it gets dark. You can stay with them until then." She walked out, probably going to find a quiet place to go back to Ljósálfheimer.
"I swear she's not usually like that," Peony sighed. "She's really nice! Well, to álfar and kids… she doesn't really like adults or nightmares for some reason." Well, she understood fragments of the reason, but she knew it was better to leave it at that than try to explain something she didn't understand. She quickly chose to change the subject entirely, reminding herself that apparently she had a time limit to how long she'd be allowed to stay. "I want to actually meet you now! I never actually knew any of Sharena's friends so I want to do that while I have the opportunity! I know your"—she gestured to Alfonse—"name, because you're her brother and I know that the lady next to you is your mom. But your name is the only name I know."
Sharena's mom was the one to introduce everyone else, gesturing to them when she said their names. "I'm Henriette, and they're Commander Anna, Fauna, Fjorm, and Eir."
"You're missing someone, aren't you?" Peony only meant to start an innocent conversation. "Sharena mentioned Zacharias the last time we talked. Is he still here? He sounded like a really nice guy. It seemed like he really made her happy and I wanted to thank him for it…" She realized she might've said something she shouldn't have when everyone but Eir (who didn't seem to react at all) exchanged awkward glances.
"Zacharias… has been gone for a while," Alfonse finally said slowly. "He returned to his home in Embla two years ago. When did Sharena tell you..?"
She was relieved that she, at the very least, didn't majorly upset everyone. "A couple months before Sharena left Ljósálfheimer." After remembering that they probably wouldn't know what that meant, she corrected it by saying, "When she was thirteen."
"That was five years ago…" Henriette mumbled. "Though I suppose there wouldn't have been any time to know what happened since then…"
…
Anna, Fauna, Fjorm, and Eir all left after an hour, but Peony was perfectly content with just talking with Alfonse and Henriette instead. All of their conversations had to do with the one person they all had in common: Sharena. Peony learned more about what she'd done since they last truly talked to each other and the little ways that she grew like all mortals did. Even when Alfonse had to leave, Henriette still kept the conversation going with a couple questions of her own. Peony answered as much as she could, including why she felt so close to Sharena.
They probably could've talked for hours more if Alfonse hadn't come back to point out the time. Peony knew what she wanted to do, but she needed to get Mirabilis to let her. Then of course she needed to find Mirabilis first.
Luckily she saw the other ljósálfar as soon as she walked outside. She blurted out her plea before Mirabilis could say anything to her: "I want to stay here."
"Peony…" Mirabilis sighed. "You know you can't. You're safer in Ljósálfheimer where Freyr doesn't have to worry about you."
"It's not going to hurt anything! Freyr and Freyja already did what they needed to, we don't have to worry about hiding their names or our existence. I won't even leave this castle! I just… I want to be with them. I want to be with Sharena, at least until she wakes up."
"I understand that you don't want to leave her after being away from each other for so long, but it isn't worth it. You don't know the nature of this realm; you won't notice there's danger until it's too late to get yourself out of it." Mirabilis sounded much gentler to Peony than she had been to everyone else. "Please think about this. Both of them are here. Do you know what they'd do if they realized álfar were here too?"
"I'll be careful! No one will even realize I'm here. I—"
"Peony, look at me. Do you know what they'd do?"
Of course she couldn't answer. She didn't know, not really. Not in the way she was expected to answer. But she still decided to stand her ground, taking a step back to the castle. "You can't force me to come back. I'm staying here until Sharena wakes up."
"Freyr—"
"If Freyr's really that worried about me he can come get me himself! Just let me do this one thing! I almost lost her, I—I'm not leaving her again." Her eyes were starting to water but she figured it could only prove how serious she was.
Mirabilis gave a moment of hesitation before giving in. "I'll check on you in the morning, and you better still be here when I come."
((A/N: Do not confuse this chapter's title with the song Other Friends from Steven Universe: The Movie. It is vaguely related but Peony has a completely different attitude were she to sing "Gee, it's swell to finally meet her other friends~"
The álfar and Sharena were gone long enough for Alfonse to go back to the royal castle and explain the situation to Henriette. Also, why isn't Eir fazed when Zacharias's name is mentioned? Being the newest, this was her first time hearing about him (and just assumed it was someone everyone else knew); everyone else knew who he was, what he did, and most of them at least had a fragment of understanding of how it affected the Order afterwards.
The next couple of chapters are about what the other characters are doing during this time, then we get to see what Sharena's dreams are about! I decided that was the least-confusing way to do it, rather than switching it or alternating between the two technically different timeframes.))
