"Before you even ask, Sama never told me any of that," she said, removing the small ruby.

"You needn't worry, I believe you," he said as he sat up.

He ran a hand over his weary face and shook his head.

"A father figure to one and then to many…" he repeated the words Sama said to his mother. They echoed in his mind, the weight of their meaning lingering in his thoughts.

"The one is Ciri, obviously. The many… I don't know. But it sounds like a lot is riding on your shoulders. He said your place in the Plan leaves no room for error."

"I think it would have been easier to hear that I needed to make the sun rise in the west. One child surprise was enough for me to realize how ill-equipped I am for such a task. Even to this day, I'm not sure I did a good job with Ciri." He rubbed his forehead and sighed. "It feels like I can never catch a breath. There's always something looming around the corner. Some fresh problem that demands my attention."

"Hey, don't say that," she said, appeasingly. "You did an excellent job with Ciri. No one could have done better. And whatever comes next, I'll be there to help you."

Her arms wound around his chest, and her cheek rested on his shoulder blade. He placed his palm over her hand and squeezed. Despite the heavy burden of the responsibility placed upon him, it brought him comfort to know she was there beside him, ready to share some of the weight.

"At least he was right about one good thing. Someone stubborn did find me and I'm not alone anymore."

"You think he meant me?"

He turned to face her. "Who else? Do you think I love another?" he asked with a crooked smile.

"He said others will help you. What if…"

His hands cupped her face, and he kissed the words from her mouth.

"It's you," he said as he broke the kiss. "Unless you feel differently now that you know for sure that I have a tough road ahead and it's unlikely to end with the Hunt. I wouldn't blame you."

Her hands came up to cover his. "I feel the same. Nothing changed for me. I'd still wade through anything for you and with you," she said, smiling.

"Good, then it's as he said: our destinies were bound to make us meet."

"You don't even believe in destiny," she scoffed, amused.

He smiled. "Exactly. But even I can't deny that whatever force drew us together, call it what you will, got it right. We fit together, this feels right."

Their lips joined in a delicate kiss and everything about it felt as if it was meant to be. She pulled away, smiling.

"Don't want you to think me vain, but can you say that again?"

"You feel right," he said with a chuckle. "That's what you wanted to hear?"

She nodded and cuddled into his side. They laid back in bed and he pulled her close, moving himself to fit her flush against him, and drowned in her delightful scent.

Her voice snapped him out of his reverie. "At least this wasn't all for nothing. You got some answers. Maybe put some things to bed."

He nodded. "At least now I know why she did it. But it makes me feel strangely resentful towards Sama. I know he was just the bearer of bad news, but still…"

"Don't be. In all the years I've known him, I've never seen him act as… human as he did with your mother. He seemed genuinely sad. Although I doubt it was for her, it felt more like he shared her loss."

"That part of it was so strange. He said he knew me well and yet I have no memory of him from before this week. And what I saw of him this week didn't exactly make me like him. To be honest, I don't know how you stand him. He's so frustrating with his enigmatic answers. If he knows why we're here and what we're supposed to do, wouldn't it be simpler to just tell us? Yet, he says so little, and plays games instead. He could have told you about the possessed vampire, given you a warning. Something. Instead, he let you go in blind, and told you it was a scouting mission. The more I think about it, the less I can find a justification."

"I've told you so many times that choices are important that I've grown sick of hearing myself speak the words. His vague indications offer us choices instead of orders. They make us think for ourselves. It's all part of the Purpose to make us so in tune with the Plan that we can sense for ourselves what path leads to the Result. Having someone always tell you exactly what to do makes you helpless and dependent, unable to think for yourself. You can't rely on someone else all the time to point you in the right direction."

"Purpose, Plan and Result... I've heard Avallac'h speak of those once. When I was still looking for Ciri, he was trying to get me to renounce my search for her and embrace my inability to move fate in any meaningful way."

"Avallac'h and the other Sages of the Alder Folk know much. The legends I heard have them as the ones entrusted with the mergers of worlds. They were the keepers of the Gate for a long while, until they became arrogant in their knowledge. It's natural for them to speak of the Plan."

"Yes, but the way Avallac'h spoke, there was no choice in any matter, like there was no way of shifting things, all efforts a futile waste of energy."

"I know that's how some of them see the realization of the Plan. It's not completely untrue, but it's so reductive and it misses the key component that makes all the difference."

"Which is?"

"Personal evolution... the most meaningful Result possible and impossible to achieve without personal choice."

"But beyond that, can we can truly change things? Or is the Plan immovable?"

"You know, your thirst for knowledge is one of the most attractive things about you. I think it might have even been the first thing that drew me to you." Her thigh snuck between his legs and she nuzzled at his neck with sensual kisses. He regretted having to stop her, but he wanted an answer and she was deliberately avoiding giving one. His hand cupped the side of her face, lifting her chin, making her look into his eyes.

"You're being evasive... Can one make a difference in the Plan? Can it be changed?"

A corner of her mouth lifted in a crooked smile. She held his gaze and answered in a measured voice.

"Yes… and no… is the short answer. It's a long philosophical discussion if you really want to get into it."

"I have time."

She sighed and retreated onto her own pillow, giving him his space back and looking at him with serious eyes.

"The Plan takes into account all possible actions and choices anyone could ever make. It constantly adjusts to everything, while the Purpose and Result are constant, thus never-changing. Some see it as impossible to sway the machine because the Result will always be the same, so any change along the way is meaningless in the long run. That's how some see it, and it makes them passive. Their inactivity diminishes them in all aspects and will continue to do so until they take action and shape their destiny. But I doubt Avallac'h truly saw things as immovable as he led you to believe. Otherwise, he wouldn't have fought so hard to turn the tide in favour of his kind. But Auberon, his king… he was a different story. Perhaps he was grief-stricken or just jaded from too many years of life, whatever it was, his desire to enact change had left him. When I met him, he was but a leaf, content to be carried by the winds of fate blown by others."

"That doesn't sound like a life worth living. Having no agency. Accepting whatever dice others cast."

"There's always room for choice and agency. The journey is as important as the destination, as are all the decisions needed to get there. It's all an opportunity for growth. That's how I see it, and so do all the others in our faction, including Sama. You probably did too, considering you agreed to come here to toil alongside the embodied races."

"It does seem paradoxical in nature, to change something that already accounts for any change."

"That's why I said it's a long philosophical discussion if you are inclined to debate the merits of each side."

"What of the other faction?"

She smiled. "You're really set on spending the night speaking of these things?"

"Now that I know I've become embroiled in this somehow, I need to know as much as possible. Preparation before the battle is what separates a live witcher from a dead one."

"Alright, if you insist," she said and drew a breath before launching into the explanation he asked for. "The ones we fight are the Fallen, the ones who went against the grain, and now dwell in all the different Underworlds. There are many kinds of such beings and not all of them have the same face. The one we fought together and the one you saw during your test were ones who lost the right to a fixed form. They can only act through others who agree to work with them. Others have their own shape, usually beastly in nature, but all of them - regardless of their strength or form - have one thing in common: they wish no part in the Plan."

"Is that even possible?" he wondered aloud.

"To an extent, yes. By actively working against it or as far as they see its strings. They claim to want freedom and true choices. At least that's how they recruit disillusioned souls to their side. And their numbers keep growing since there are many who are unwilling to endure the suffering the Plan sometimes requires."

"And yet you didn't kill the one we fought."

"No, I didn't. I drained his power and banished him. I don't even think I could have, weak as I was, but even then, I might not have done it. There is hope for change, even for those like him. All it takes is one right choice to change your path."

"That sounds a bit naïve... no offence."

"None taken. It might sound naïve, but it's not unheard of. One can have a change of heart in either direction. If one may fall, then one might also rise."

"I somehow still think that doesn't happen too often."

She shrugged nonchalantly. "It doesn't, but I prefer to hope either way."

"Then maybe you need me to be the cynic that brings you back to earth."

She laughed. "By all means, never leave my side. Although, this one time, I was right about your mother's motives… Even naïve as I am."

"Fine, I admit. You were right about her."

"And still…" she began, then fell silent.

"What?" He tipped her chin towards him and looked at her worried face.

"The one sent before you fell and you have to right his wrong. One of their kind made a mistake. They say that rarely happens, and yet it happened to them and it almost happened to me."

"You worry I'll make the same mistake?"

"No. Not you." She shook her head and bit her lip, fighting with the words she meant to utter. "Power is tempting, and Ciri has the most I've ever seen. They covet what she has and will use anyone close to her to get it. All around her can become a threat."

He simply hummed. This was one truth he knew too well.


They woke up early to the sound of the alarm. She had forgotten to turn it off the previous day and now she was living to regret it. A disgruntled noise escaped her lips as she looked with sleepy eyes at the offending, loud item.

"I hope I can nap on the plane. Our discussion on the meaning of life really cut into my hours of sleep."

"Go back to sleep." His deep voice, thick with sleep, encouraged her to hug the pillow and ignore the daylight coming through the curtains. It was oh-so-tempting, but they hadn't packed and she needed to mentally prepare for the inevitable discussions that would follow their arrival. She grunted and refused to think further on it, choosing to cast all worry from her mind. Any and all comments her family might have were unimportant. She loved all of them dearly, but nothing they could say would ever put a dent in her love for Geralt. It was something she couldn't explain to them. She only hoped they'd see how happy she was and understand.

She lifted herself onto her forearms and stared at the headboard. "I hope you're ready for today."

She turned to look at him. His golden eyes were gliding over her body with want. She smiled, thinking of what they could do instead of packing. "Don't look at me like that," she chided instead. "We don't have time! We should be packing! I gave you a chance last night, but you preferred to discuss the meaning of life instead of fucking me stupid."

"I would have thought twice before choosing if I knew it was either or and I couldn't get both."

He moved closer to her with a graceful move that reminded her of a cat stalking its prey, but she rolled out of bed and out of his reach. If they got started now, they'd end up missing their plane. She threw on one of her robes and looked at his disappointed face.

"At least I got some answers out of you," he said as a means of consolation, before getting out of bed. "You're always so evasive and speak so little and vaguely about Sama and his world that I'm surprised I got anything out of you."

"Really? And here I thought I speak too much and too often of the things I shouldn't."

"You speak, yet you always seem to avoid the things that might actually interest me."

"Those things being?"

"Ciri. What she's supposed to do, what I'm supposed to help her with."

"You give me too much credit. I don't know as much as you think I do."

"You know more than you tell me. You're just as tight-lipped as Sama."

"I only have some guesses, and if you listened carefully last night, you might have discerned what they are."

It took him only a second to go over their discussion in his mind before he spoke again.

"You think she's to take up the task of the old elves and merge worlds. Is that it?"

She nodded. "But it's just my speculation. When we can travel again, I'll do some more in-depth research into the matter, and if it turns out to be correct, then I'll try to learn anything and everything about her task in order to help her succeed. I meant it when I said I'll help her however I can."

"I know," he said with a smile. "You have this odd obsession with keeping promises that I'm beginning to like."

She rolled her eyes at his teasing. "Yes, and getting to the airport on time is part of it. So, for now, let's be a little more practical and get packing. And choose some warmer clothes. Judging from the weather reports, we're about to get a white Christmas where we're going."


A/N: Hope you enjoyed the chapter even if it was a bit on the short side. Everything mentioned in it links back to things from the books and then expands them into the context of the story, but even for those who haven't read the books, it should still be accessible. Let me know if there was anything that requires further explanations and I'll either reply in a comment/note or weave it into the story as I go forward.

I have a special Christmas chapter planned for next week. As of now, that one is at about 23k words and has smut in it. I'll probably post it on Thursday or Friday, but if you're following the story, then you'll receive a notification.

Thanks for reading and have a good week everyone!

EDIT: That whole philosophical conversation stemmed from Geralt's encounter with Avallac'h in the book where the elven sage mentions the Plan, Purpose and Result and how they are all cogs in a big unwieldy machine, unable to change anything meaningful - Ciri is destined to return to the Aen Elle and Geralt can do nothing about it. I really wanted to see more of that angle explored when it came to the destiny bonds between the characters and how they are or aren't inescapable. And on that topic the book often ends up contradicting itself. It starts with Nenneke seeing a vortex of destiny around Geralt and we see during the Sword of Destiny how that draws the characters together and it's hammered in that there is no way to escape it. The prophecies also seem to be set in stone. The elves are foretold of their species demise and they think they can change their destiny by increasing their numbers by mating with the more fertile humans, but it ends up being the final nail in their coffin. All the old prophecies always ended up coming true. But Ciri defies that rule. By the end, Ciri decides to take her destiny into her own hands and does what's best for her (at least in the books). So that made me think that maybe some things can be changed or at least bent a little.
I hope this explanation helped ease the confusion with what I was trying to do with my story. There are many other aspects I had in mind, all of them inspired by things mentioned in passing in the books. Like how over the whole course of the series, we get to see little glimpses of deities (like Freya when Yennefer needs the diamond from the temple in Skellige or like the Queen of the Fields in the Edge of the World short story) but their existence and influence isn't really explored, so I thought I'd find a way to expand the world and include a reason for their existence.