Chapter 4:
Shadowheart closes the door to her room, which was right in front of Tav's. 'I wonder if Tav and Astarion have talked yet? Or if Astarion turned tail and ran away again.' She ponders as she walks up to Tav's door so she can check in on her.
"ASTARION! I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD! WAAAAAHHHHHH!" Tav's cries and sobs echoed through her door, answering Shadowheart's question. She smiles and heads to the dining hall for breakfast with the others, fully intending to glean every detail of their reunion from Tav later.
"Astarion, is it truly you?" Tav asks before backing up a bit with a drop of doubt in her still reddened eyes. "You're not some Bhaal cultist shape-changer here to assassinate me, are you?"
Astarion laughs. It was a loud throaty laugh, unlike the high-pitched giggle he usually makes when he's just pretending to be amused.
"Yes, it's me Darling. The one and only. There's no way in the hells those cretins could perfectly replicate my gorgeous self." He says with his usual bravado.
Tav takes his angelic face in both her hands to study it closer. His ruby eyes, his curly white locks, his pointed ears, his smile lines, those soft lips, the two puncture marks on the right side of his neck, even the faint beauty mark on his left cheek. Astarion just smiles at her in relief, as she looks questioningly at his features.
"It really is you!" Tav lets go of his face and sits up straight. Her face showing her astonishment.
Astarion also sits up in the bed. "At your most excellent service, Dear." He puts his right hand on his chest and bows slightly to her.
Tav moves to embrace him again. She looks up at him after a while. "Why did you hide for so long? I was so worried about you. I didn't know if the sun turned you to ash, or you got ambushed by a stray Illithid, or crushed by a falling building!" Tav's tears start to well up again at the thought of Astarion dead.
"I am so, so, so sorry, my love. I didn't want you to see me like that, with my skin all cracked like stone and practically falling away from my body." Astarion said those last few words with such rancor, but his voice mellowed out again as he said, "I didn't want to take away from your victory because my loss, and I didn't want you to worry about me…"
Tav sniffled. "Well you failed abysmally."
"And I suppose I was too caught up in my self-loathing as well. How I'll never be able to walk in the sun together with you, because of what I am… I'll make it up to you, I swear! And I promise to never do anything like that again."
"You promise?"
Astarion kneels on the bed, facing her. He holds both her hands in his, and he looks her straight in the eyes. "I promise, My Love. Could you ever forgive me?"
Tav nods. "I trust you, my Little Star." She gives one final sniffle. "And I forgive you."
It's as if a stake had been pulled free from Astarion's chest with the amount of relief he felt, hearing her say those words. 'I trust you.', 'I forgive you.' He reaches for the back of Tavs head, and pulls her into a gentle, tender kiss. He embraces her once more. Tav passionately kisses him back. Her lips hungry for his. Her grip on his shoulders tight, as if he was going to be whisked far away from her again at any moment.
She breaks away from the kiss first and addresses him with a determination equal to when she commanded the Netherbrain to destroy itself just the day before.
"Now let's find a way for you to walk in the sun again, my love."
Astarion grinned at her. "That's my girl."
