Aleksandr always knew his soulmate was one of a kind.

From the first moment he glimpsed her as a young frightened child, her look of wonderment and joy when meeting his shadows stayed within his heart.

She would save him time and time again, always keeping him from the edge. Always keeping him sane.

And yet the time between when he didn't see her he felt the coldness envelop him threaten to overwhelm him, make him something like the shell he'd seen of his mother but there was always a voice deep within that promised his soulmate would come back to him. He just had to be patient.

And she did come back to him, always when he least expected it.

He would come to bed one night and find her napping in white sleeping clothes with what looked like strange bright yellow ducks on them. Humming even in her sleep as she cuddled one of his pillows. He would lay beside her watching as she breathed in and out, and marvel at this strange but wonderful soulmate of his.

He would be working and her voice would come through singing an upbeat song with lyrics that were both provocative and cheery, her form appearing to dance around his office with her hips shaking and her full lips singing along to music he could not hear. She'd turn, her ocean eyes blinking open in surprise; her round cheeks reddening as he took in his smirk. Then she'd blink out of existence, like she hadn't been there before. He would sigh and look back at his paperwork. The same sort of reports day in and day out and look forward to the next full or new moon that would bring his soulmate to his side.

One time she arrived when a Materialki was giving a report on recent inventions. They marveled at her strange devices.

"What, you haven't seen these before?" She took out the devices showcasing the glowing screen.

The young Materialki shook their head, hands itching to see her device.

"Well, why don't I bring some textbooks next time to show you how they work?"

She would turn to him then, her features shining bright.

A shining star in his darkness, he'd once thought he would need the sunlight, but marveling at her light made him think again.

She brought books, so many used with markings along the corners and edges with them she would bring books to help his Corporalki and Materialki to translate the texts on biology and inventions.

With them, she brought a new age of invention. The Grisha weren't just useful as soldiers but as innovators. Still, it wasn't enough, and he wondered if his plans to expand the Fold would even solve the problems he faced. He'd read her history books, of regimes controlled by fear, and they never ended well. He wondered if perhaps she'd foreseen the darkness. The thoughts that would plague him day in and day out. Still, he hoped perhaps one day if all worked out, he'd have her as a queen by his side.

She was his peace.

But he soon found he could be hers, too.

She came singing along to her music device one day, but he felt something was off right away. It wasn't just the sad tilt of the ballad, but also the way her shoulders drooped.

"How do you do it?" Her large blue eyes burrowed into his, taking each flicker of emotion and soaking it in. "How do you bear the weight of so many lives on your shoulders?"

Aleksandr set aside his paperwork and stood, his long strides bringing him before his soulmate. His hands reached out and gently plucked the listening devices out of her ears before placing them in her front pockets and then taking her hands in his.

"I take it a day at a time."

Her eyes seemed to grow misty, and she swallowed thickly before leaning up and he bent forward so she could rest his and her forehead together.

"I..."

He wondered then if she would at last tell him of her life, so often he'd shown her his side...his world, but she seemed reluctant to do the same. Something seemed to stop her each time. Perhaps her secrets weren't just hers to keep.

"There's something that needs to be done, and if done correctly, everyone in my world might die." She took in a deep breath, "I want to help, I want to make sure my friends don't die trying to save everyone but I might only be able to stand back and watch and it kills something inside me... I can't imagine what I'll do if I can't stand by their side."

He hadn't realized the gravity of the situation until then. It would seem his soulmate had more on her shoulders than he realized. She always seemed to be this positive beacon of light, never wavering or faltering. He had thought she had a safe upbringing, but to hear her whole world was in danger of extinction.

A selfish thought passed through his mind, his lips moving before he could stop them. "You've stayed longer before. Stay here with me. You don't have to put yourself in danger."

She stepped back, her eyes glaring, "Would you ever abandon your people?"

His shoulders slumped. "Never."

"Then how could you believe I would?"

"I apologize, my Darya." He let out a sigh, his hand tightening around her own, afraid she'd leave while angry at him. "I just want you to be safe." He looked into her eyes and his heart clenched as he saw the tear tracks down her cheeks. "But I know nothing can keep you from achieving something if you put your mind to it. I believe you'll find a way to help your friends save everyone, because that's who you are, Darya. You are a savior. You've saved me so many times..."

Her eyes were no longer angry. She pursed her lips before letting out a sigh of her own. "Aleksandr..."

He hummed in return as he leaned forward to brush his lips against her forehead. Relief flooded him as he saw as her tense shoulders relaxed.

"I promise I will always find my way back to you. No matter what." Her lips quivered. "What a pair we are, both trying to save our worlds."

Her gaze seemed to see right through him, to the very heart of him.

"I'm no savior. If you knew..." He stopped. He couldn't say the words, he couldn't even voice his fears that she'd hate him for his schemes. His plans would have to wait for now. He hoped a sun summoner could arrive. If he could have them on his Grishas' side, it wouldn't matter if the Fold was destroyed or not, the fanatical nation would follow them. And if the sun summoner came, maybe, just maybe, he wouldn't have to feel like he failed Darcy.