{-Fjorm-}

Gunnthrá had taught her how to make origami cranes years ago. Then they would come together to make them whenever they thought someone needed a little gift. It was like a good luck charm, in a way, or a wish to get better and come back safe and sound. The last ones they made together were sent with a small group of scouts meant to check on the border a few weeks before Múspell invaded Nifl. Fjorm made a few more when she was in Askr, but sent them back to Nifl with a request that Hríd put them with their parents' and Gunnthrá's graves. Now she'd just finished making another, though this was in a set for Sharena; one for every day she was asleep until she woke up, to show she never quite left Fjorm's mind.

She stood up and walked through the castle, carefully protecting her little paper creation (partially for the brutes that would end up ruining it, partially to keep Ylgr from seeing it and questioning her). She stopped at the meeting room with the intention of telling Anna that she was leaving for a little while, but ended up standing by the door so she wouldn't disrupt the other conversation.

"I don't think she's left the royal castle at all," Fauna said. "Alfonse mentioned that she seemed really nervous and distracted, too. I mean, I know none of us really know her or what she normally acts like, but…"

"It likely is not normal," Eir agreed. "I already plan to see if Alfonse or Henriette need some help. I can always find Peony and try to talk to her as well."

"She doesn't know you, though," Fauna sighed. "A bunch of Heroes thought you were creepy before they actually got to know you. From what her friend mentioned it sounded like they can sense that you're from the realm of the dead, too, which can't be a pleasant feeling…"

"I suppose you have a point. Do you think I should attempt to befriend her?"

"It sounds like she's staying after this so it'll probably be best to try. Maybe see if Fjorm will come, too? I know she's been visiting every day but I'm not sure if she's gone yet today or not."

Fjorm stepped back when she heard footsteps getting closer to the door and didn't bother trying to act surprised to see Eir walk out.

"Oh, good morning, Fjorm." Despite her smile, there was something off about the way she looked at Fjorm. It had always been like that ever since they properly met each other; like there were numbers above her head that were counting down to some date in the near future. The kind of look that seemed to say I know your secret that she hoped no one else would see. Eir didn't even seem to acknowledge that anything was wrong. "Are you going to visit Sharena?"
Fjorm nodded, revealing the crane for a moment before hiding it again.

"Would you mind joining me in checking on Peony while we are there?"

She nodded again and took the lead to the royal castle. They didn't say anything to each other aside from Fjorm's mumble to return when they got there. She sat the crane with the other three, briefly talking with Henriette and mentioning their task to find Peony, and went back to Eir.

They found Peony in the room she'd been given, huddled under several blankets and flipping through the pages of a children's book. It didn't seem like she was actually reading it, though, and immediately looked up when she heard the door open. "You're… Fjorm and Eir, right?"

"Yes. May we come in? We have been interested in knowing you better," Eir said.

"Yeah, of course." Peony closed the book and sat it aside, moving so that there was enough room on the bed for all three of them.

Eir didn't leave any time for idle chatter first. "Despite none of us truly knowing you, we are all concerned about your distance."

"I guess it's all just about her," Peony sighed, luckily seeming not to mind immediately discussing it. "You've seen her when she gets upset, haven't you? I share a lot of those memories with her. I know how they must hurt her. It's not natural for me to just walk away. I came here to be with her but now that I'm here I can't even see her because I know if I do I'm going to end up messing the whole thing up. I don't want to have to admit to Mirabilis that she was right—that I'm just being emotional. Triandra would yell at me for trying to hold on to the past and hoping that we can be what we used to be again."

Fjorm asked, carefully, "Are we the first ones you told this to? Did you mention it to the other álfar at all?"

Peony shook her head slowly. "Freyr doesn't like hearing stuff like that; Ljósálfheimer is supposed to be a place of good things, after all. It makes him feel like he isn't doing his job right and ultimately blames himself for everything. Freyja's kinda the same way but more in a 'oh you sweet child, look, this is what happens when you interact with mortals' kind of way. Mirabilis has never been close to a mortal and only really sees the bad parts of them. I'm pretty sure Triandra wishes she could just forget everything. Who knows what Plumeria thinks—álfar aren't technically supposed to remember their past but sometimes they still remember fragments, and I don't know if she remembers what happened to her or not."

"You can always talk to us if you need to," Fjorm offered. "Sharena told me once that it helped to talk to someone with no idea about what's really happening. I like to think of it more as not strongly clinging to one side or the other, but it did help."

"That sounds like a Sharena thing to say," Peony remarked with a small smile. "I guess we were always too close to one side. Until talking with Henriette and Alfonse, I didn't realize how sugarcoated everything she told us was… She's always been good at smiling, telling the world she's okay when she's really about to explode on the inside…"

((A/N: One of the other days Fjorm made the origami crane Ylgr saw it and, vaguely recognizing what it meant, asked, "Wasn't your last crush blonde, too?" in front of a crowd of Heroes. Fjorm has since learned to keep these kinds of things out of the sight of Ylgr, who will shamelessly and somewhat unknowingly embarrass her in front of whoever is present.

Peony was just looking at the pictures. Even if she could read all of it, she's much more of a look-at-the-pictures-and-make-up-your-own-story kind of gal.

And now begins all the memory bits with Sharena!))