Memories
The images shifted about the dome, bathing the party in amber light as they swirled and danced around their heads.
Yasha was lying with her back to the group, her eyes avidly taking in the image of her and her wife.
The stood arm and arm, staring off at some unknown horizon, Yasha looking much as she did now, though Caleb had managed to carve true happiness into her features
Zuela was indistinct, but she could hear her voice in the wind, see the light glinting against the long tresses of her hair, feel the cool touch of her skin on hers.
She could taste their first kiss, feel the fear and joy bubbling in her heart once again as sleep began to claim her.
As she watched another image lazily floated past her eyes.
Of Mollymauk, with a wide grin on his face, arms outstretched looking at the rest of their friends before they knew they would be friends. That they would be family.
"I have never seen a group of people more in need of a little entertainment!"
His joyous voice still rung in her ears, all the nights they'd spent together, enjoying the company of another whose past was a stranger.
She smiled to herself, and turned back to the image of her and her wife, finding herself drifting into sleep.
Beau had tried not to watch, but she couldn't help but feel her eyes be drawn over to Yasha in the corner of the Dome. Part of her felt like she was intruding, part of her felt oddly hollow, and another part felt a stirring of joy when she'd watch Yasha go wide-eyed when she entered the Dome.
She smirked slightly as she hunted for her own memories, seeing an approximation of herself getting her ass beat, which admittedly wasn't far off the mark.
Caleb had put her kiss with Reani up amongst the coasting constellations of memory, which again stirred that odd hollow feeling.
Beau found herself thinking about her, her bashful smile and rose in hand, the squeaking nervousness in her voice. She wondered how she was doing if she was still with the Clays.
But again one image stole her attention away, and perplexingly she began to feel a little less hollow.
It was her meeting with TJ, kneeling on the cold floor of her former home, staring down at this little toddler who she saw a fair amount of herself in.
Fjord had been right, which was more common than he gave himself credit for Beau figured, there had been no hate in her heart for TJ.
"Hey, little man."
She could still feel his little arms wrapping around her neck, the warmth of his body pressed against her chest.
She loved him, and that had been so bafflingly painful in the moment, but now on this beach the threat of losing that memory looming over them she cherished it more than anything as she felt sleep taking her into its grasp.
Clay let out a happy sigh as he laid out next to Beau, resting between her and Fjord.
His life had gone so far off of what he had believed it would have always been.
The memory of Caleb, Beau, Veth, Keg, and Nila drifted in a slow halo near the top of the dome.
That was when everything had changed, he'd finally taken agency in his own life, and what a life it was turning out to be.
His eyes tracked over to him placing Dweth'var into Fjord's hands and felt a surge of pride.
He saw his talk with Caleb and Fjord over fish and chips in Nicodranus, and felt a hint of nostalgia wash over him.
And then his eyes fell on him being embraced by his entire family. That wouldn't have been possible without the people laying in the sand around him. For that, he would always be thankful.
But a bit of worry crept into his heart, he'd been bereft of his family for so long, not knowing what had befallen them. He missed them still, even though he knew they were safe from harm or at least hoped that was so.
The thought of losing them once more, not knowing where they were, this time due to his memories being shorn away was not a comforting thought, but he found himself being lulled to sleep regardless.
Veth watched Caduceus begin to snore after staring up at his family for some time and looked up to her own. She was nestled between Jessie and Caleb, Beau resting next to her feet.
Above her head she found her eyes tracing across all of the tiny moments that had been captured between her and Caleb. Their kiss, which still caused a stirring of feelings that she could do nothing with.
Her emerging finally as herself with the Nein around her with enraptured smiles.
Her hugging her husband beneath Rohsona.
Her embracing her son as herself with Yehza next to her grinning madly.
She hunted for the image Caleb had conjured, her holding an infant Luc and she felt herself being drawn into that memory.
A squealing sob filled the night as her son drew breath for the first time. Sweaty, tired, with tears of joy in her eyes she couldn't help but let out a little sob as Edith placed her baby into her arms.
"There you are dear, a healthy baby boy." Edith had stated, with a misty-eyed smile.
"You are a wonder." Yezha had muttered as he pressed his lips to her temple, "Look at him, Look!"
He had been so overjoyed, squeezing her hand as tears of his own filled his eyes.
"Hello, Luc." Veth had stated, pressing a kiss to his temple, "Welcome home."
She smiled softly, finding her hand falling into Caleb's as she finally laid down to sleep, muttering a soft, "Thank you." that she wasn't sure he heard.
Caleb heard her, and a small smile crept across his face but he was lost in his memories.
He needed to remember.
Maybe more than everyone else in this room he needed to remember.
He was being torn between the memories of his home, his old family, his friends, his new family, joy and pain, sorrow, and love battering against each other in his heart so furiously he actually began to ache.
His parents smiling, walking arm and arm with Astrid and Eodwulf, kissing Essek on the forehead and so many more.
And then he froze, as a memory he didn't remember crafting floated before his eyes.
He and Astrid, young, so close to love, dancing with each other at some ball they'd been made to attend.
"You were always a better dancer than me Astrid."
As if bidden by his subconscious the image changed.
Bren disappeared, and Caleb appeared.
And Astrid...she changed slowly, almost agonizingly into Jester with a wide smile on her face.
He gave her a slow look out of the corner of his eye, taking in her wide purple eyes still slightly red from the tears, the nervous twitch of her smiling lips, her hair splayed across the sand hallowing her horns as she slowly descended into the land of dreams.
"Do you love her?"
He remembered his conversation with Yasha even though it was not displayed amidst the Dome, he remembered his noncommittal answer, thinking then of Astrid.
But now as the figments of he and Jester continued to twirl and spin he began to reevaluate the question.
"I do," he muttered in Zemnian, drawing himself from Jester and back into himself.
He did so much it hurt, but she had far better options than someone like, no not someone, just him.
Jester sleepily watched Caleb curl up next to Veth and smiled, thankful for the support he'd given her today. She'd needed it.
She was also thankful, that from what she could see the Traveler wasn't amongst the pictures above their head.
That was good.
Or was it.
This was all so confusing.
She wanted to trust him.
She wanted to believe him.
But...she wasn't sure if he cared anymore.
He said that he did, but…
She looked over at Veth and Caleb, down to Beau, and then up to Fjord who was looking over them all like a sentinel.
She knew that they cared about her.
Images of their first meeting danced above her head.
She saw her Mama singing.
Her Dad smiling at them all from across the table where he'd drank acid and been a total badass.
She saw them all dressed in the fine clothes she and Caduceus had picked out, Yasha looking utterly beautiful while Fjord blushed beneath his oversized hat.
She looked back up at Fjord, thinking about the night in Nicodranus.
Thinking about his conversation with her earlier about the Traveler, wanting her to be safe.
Their talk before he'd turned against Uk'otoa.
Then back to the Jellyfish.
"Do you ever get sad?"
Him lying on the deck, lifeless, and the utter emptiness she had felt seeing that.
What was he to her now, a friend definitely but, the feelings were still there, changing shifting getting fainter but at the same time stronger, but now, now she wasn't even sure if he noticed.
Her eyes were partially closed, sleep beckoning her when she saw the image of the two of them floating with his lips pressed to hers.
"Kiss him tomorrow, Fjord is ready."
She sighed quietly, not sure if Caleb or her mind had conjured the image, closing her eyes as another floated by showing her embracing her Mama.
Fjord watched the others fall to sleep one after another, contented smiles on most of their faces, while Caleb and Jester's faces were set in slight worry.
He'd heard what Caleb had said to Jester earlier, and he was of the same mind.
He didn't trust the Traveler, and thinking about him hurting Jester through inaction or whatever set him on edge, maybe more-so than Vokodo.
He didn't have much he wanted to remember from his past anyway, long as the people around him stayed in his thoughts.
He looked about the memories, fighting a grimace at his image screaming as a giant turtle pinned him to a wall.
He felt a swelling of pride in himself as he saw a rendition of him chucking his old sword into the lava.
For once one of his spur of the moment decisions had gone in his favor.
He shook off the dark memory of the deck quickly approaching him, but he still smiled at the thought of Clay grinning tiredly down at him as he returned on the deck, the ghost of a kiss on his forehead.
He spotted his talk with Beau after another difficult night.
God he loved these people, this was more than he ever could have asked for.
"I've had more life than I ever thought I would."
A ghost of an image passed his eyes, him younger, standing before a taller man, indistinct but Fjord knew it was supposed to be Vandren.
"Welcome aboard, get your things squared away, you've got a lot of work ahead of you." Vandren had muttered, giving him a once over.
"Thank you, Captain." Fjord had stated, saluting him rather sloppily which earned a chuckle from the older man.
Fjord looked back down to the sleeping Jester. She'd always been the one to help him when it came to thoughts of Vandren.
She'd been the one to fully realize that he could be here, amongst the Vo.
She'd been so excited for him, but Fjord was nervous and uncertain.
He wasn't sure what the old man was to him anymore when compared to the Nein.
He looked up as Vilya entered the Dome, and sat down next to Cad, staring at the image she'd asked Caleb to conjure for her.
She lifted her hand, slowly as if she wanted to hold it, to caress it.
He saw the glint of tears on her face as she leaned back on the ground to sleep.
He knew he didn't want that, not for himself and definitely not for the others. The thought of Jester forgetting her Mother, Veth forgetting her own family, Clay too, Yasha forgetting her wife, Beau: her little brother, Caleb: his past.
They all had connections outside this group, but Fjord, fuck Fjord had them, thinking about losing the feelings he had for all of them was deeply unsettling, especially if it meant the memories of Molly went too.
He leaned back, sleep finally taking him, bringing his hand up to the holy symbol Cad had gifted him.
"This is my family," he muttered very quietly, as the images began to blend together until an image of Cad seemed to connect with the Nein's original meeting as he finally drifted away.