Hello again! Another Kanej one-shot! (I just can't get enough of them XD!) Been a little bit... October is a busy month! This one-shot is really just viewing Kaz's and Inej's thoughts of each other (It's pretty cheesy...) Anyway to the Story! XD

Disclaimer: All Characters belong to the amazing Leigh Bardugo!


Inej knew that she and Kaz were lost with each other. Two orbiting planets swiftly dancing around each other. Both can not touch the other without inner pain.

Inej found herself thinking this, as she rested against a slanted rooftop. She looked down to the small plaza below her, everything lit with the orange glow of a dying day.

She watched people shuffle among themselves, working men coming home to their family's after a long, monotonous, work day. She watched the women of the households through windows, food being cooked, children huddled around.

Inej once thought she would be like that, a mother. Teaching her children how to walk silently a cat, and fly as high as a bird. But how could she be that after all the blood spilled on her hands? How could she tell her children that she had seen life leave men's eyes, and be the one responsible for it?

Her thoughts traveled to Kaz. He was the first man she met in Ketterdam that treated her with respect. Not seeing her in fear of the crimes to her name. Not viewing her as a doll or toy to be played with. Instead as an equal, as a friend, or maybe even more. He gave her a name, a life, a light in the darkness; however crooked it may be.

Inej knew they could be impossible, each haunted by nightmares that never leave. But there was hope, Inej decided. There was hope that they could get there, step by step, brick by brick.

At that, Inej jumped up and leaped building to building, towards the Slat. A shadowed figure against the bloody, dying sunset. Blood may be on her hands, but there was hope of a future in her heart.

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Kaz was in his bedroom, sitting at his desk with his bad leg stretched in front of him. He was supposed to be looking over papers, but his eyes kept drifting to the windowsill. Waiting for his knife-edge Wraith to appear.

Kaz reminded himself every time he saw her, that she was worth so much more than him. That he was a broken soul, a man filled with demons, unable to touch her because he was cursed with unseeable scars. They only became something because she first needed him, and soon he began to need her.

But isn't that enough? He might not know her favorite flower or believe all her silly Suli phrases. But he needed her. He needed her to be near him, to be fighting at his side, or spying above him on the rooftops, among the midnight shadows.

Kaz may be a slimmer of what Inej deserved, Kaz decided, but he could become a better man. A man that could touch Inej without flinching, a man that she could love.

Where was Inej anyway? Kaz wondered. The sky had faded to a deep purple, the day's last breath. Kaz knew better than to worry about Inej, she could definitely hold her own. And yet you still worry about her, Kaz thought. One of Kaz's new nightmares is finding Inej dead in an alley, or she her falling from a tightrope, falling slowly to certain death.

She was so close to death, that dreadful fall from the silos. If Nina hadn't resurrected the dead to hold the net. Kaz would have come to find a crushed, bloody body of the girl he came to need. Kaz knew that losing Jordie had damaged him as such, and losing Inej would be the killing blow.

Kaz was so deeply lost in thought, that he nearly was surprised when the Wraith swung in from the purple night, through his open window.

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When Inej landed into the top room of the Slat, the first thing she noticed was Kaz's facial expression. Was that surprise? Had she finally surprised the bastard of the barrel? But before she could even inspect it more thoroughly, it was replaced by Kaz's normally stern, blank face.

Something was different about him, something was less cruel. For once the shape of his face was less chiseled, his eyes less cold. For once Kaz almost looked like the boy he should, or could, have become. A boy with dreams, and hopes. A boy that knows he can achieve his future.

Inej noticed how Kaz scanned her and remembered Nina's words the day after the Ice Court heist. "I can hear the change in Kaz's breathing when he looks at you... It catches every time like he's never seen you before." Had Kaz caught his breath? Had she missed it?

She began walking towards Kaz, reminding herself of the hope she felt earlier on the rooftops. Soon she was standing so close to Kaz, that her face was nearly inches from his, that their breaths were intertwining. Inej could see Kaz's emotions through his eyes, the want and desire cornered by fear.

Inej could feel her own fear curling inside her like a snake. She couldn't help thinking of the men she served at the Menagerie, how they peeled off her silks and had her on the bed. No, she said in her head. This is Kaz, he will do no such thing. Yet Inej could not trick her brain.

So Inej did what she knew they both could do, she stuck her hand out to him, palm up. Kaz glanced at her for only a moment before placing his ungloved hand in hers. She could feel the slight tremor that shook through him, but it was definitely shorter than times before.

They both knew their wishes will take time to come true, but they will get there, step by step, brick by brick. Because sometimes, lost planets can orbit together.


So there we go, hope you liked it! I might upload another chapter soon, but no hopes... I get distracted! If you have any ideas tell me... I can see what I can do! Anyway, see ya later! FlyingCats signing off!