…

The rushing of the river beneath and the firm branch below mix with the sweet smell of sap and green that overwhelms and makes me close my eyes under the moonlight.

His footsteps become apparent the closer he gets, and I can't help but wonder if I'm going to get an earful for being out after curfew or if he'll simply revert back to the person I knew - the one who would sit with me in this tree for hours before he left just over a year ago.

"Violet Sorrengail," he sighs from below me.

"About time," I grin and I know he can hear it in my voice.

"I'm embarrassed at how long it took me to remember and translate your 'tag, you're it' note."

I can't help the smile as the peace of the spot comes roaring back in all its splendor. When his feet stay on the ground, I chance a glance down to see Dain leaning against the trunk on his shoulder, the mop of brown hair at the top of his head ripped back likely by his fingers throughout the day.

"Have you…thought more about what I said?"

"Dain," I groan, but bite back the rest of my words. "You can come up here if you want to talk."

"Violet," he grumbles and I look down to see his shining brown eyes looking up. "You come down. You're gonna break your neck."

"Oh, fuck you," I'm even surprised by the ferocity, and I abandon his surprised face in favor of setting my chin on my knees. "Can I just have one godsdamned minute together with the old you? I didn't leave a note in Old Lucerish for this Dain."

His sigh proceeds the scraping of his boots on the bark of the trunk, and I simply shake my head while maintaining my position. In a matter of seconds I feel the thick branch I'm on shake as he effortlessly lifts himself up behind me.

"There," he says, sounding like he's given up something dear. The quiet between us lingers and it's not entirely comfortable. It hasn't been for the last few days. As much as I long to fix the rift, I want to understand it.

Dain settles behind me with his back against the trunk, and only when he stops moving and his breathing relaxes do I scoot back and lean against his chest like I've done a million times over the years. I feel his arms come around me, fingers folding against my stomach as his chin settles on the top of my head, and in this simple, silent moment, I feel like I'm home.

Sweeping nostalgia pours through my whole body and I find myself desperate for the past as I face such an uncertain future. Tears fill and spill in hot fat drops down my cheeks and I bite the left corner of the inside of my lips to keep my emotions in check. I don't need to give him more of a reason to drag me to the Scribe's Quadrant, and an emotional breakdown will do just that.

But…I'm safe here, right? With him? With Dain? In our tree next to our river by our school?

My mouth speaks before my mind can leash my tongue.

"I miss my Dad." The watery wobble of my voice is every indicator, and blessedly, he doesn't comment.

"Yeah. Me too."

It's all he says - a simple statement by all accounts but something I now know that I badly needed to hear. Somebody else misses him too. Somebody else knows the pain of the loss.

"Can," I pause, trying to find my voice to say to him what I've needed to say for so many days. His grip is loose and I sit up away from it easily, adjusting to sit sideways on the thick branch to dangle my feet high off the ground. "Can you do me a favor?"

"Of course." Dain tilts forward and his hand on my shoulder is a comforting weight.

My breath is a shudder and I bite nervously at my upper lip. "Please stop asking me to change quadrants."

"Vi -"

"Please," the harsh, strangle beg breaks free from my throat as I turn to look at him, another wave of tears blurring my view of his concerned yet determined face.

"Your Dad would want me to keep trying."

I turn to hide the pain and the falling tears as he not only drives the knife further into my heart but twists the handle a bit to make sure it's really in there.

"You don't know what it's like, Dain," my words are sobs. "You can't possibly know the…the heartbreak I struggle with every day as I walk farther and farther away from him. And every, single, time y-you try, it's a reminder of what was supposed to happen. But that's not my path anymore, Dain. This," I gesture to the rider black leathers I hadn't taken off before escaping the stuffiness of my room for the open skies above Basgiath, "this is my path. I - I need you to walk it with me, not be against me."

I turn back to him and see the wet shimmer of his brown eyes and think that maybe - maybe - I finally got through to him. I double down, my hand reaching to grab his and lace our fingers.

"You're my best friend - my…my oldest friend. And I'm begging you to," sniffle, "to let it go and just be here with me. Help me when I…when I need your help."

I can see the war in his eyes, but when he tugs at my arm to pull me back into his chest, his other arm wrapping me close as I tuck under his chin, I feel him sigh. He's letting go.

"Your Dad made me promise him, Vi," the emotion in his voice is thick and I hold as still as possible. "Days before he died right before I was about to go to the Rider's Quadrant. He…he made me promise to take care of you. Made me swear to do anything and everything to keep you safe. I just can't forget that promise. I'm sorry."

I guess not. My heart plummets as Dain finds yet another rule to follow. This is his new normal…this is who he is now. He is so far from what he used to be to me - for me.

"Gods fucking damnit, Dain," I whisper, but don't have the heart to pull free. If this is the last time we'll be up in this tree, I still want the memory.

…

A/N: I'm firmly dead on the "God Fucking Damnit Dain" hilltop, even with his redemption arc in Iron Flame. We'll see how it goes I guess.