It's the 2nd of July 2024... and I can't believe that 'The Seven Secrets of Starlight' turns 2 years old today!
It's incredible to think about how how much we've been though already ? All seven secrets have been revealed and now we're coming to the end of the second Devastation: 100+ chapters, 360k+ words, 1700+ comments, 200+ kudos, and a TV Tropes page... And 2 years ago, it all started from 0.
I cannot describe how grateful I am to each and every one of you for your amazing support, your fantastic insights, and your wonderful encouragement. I could not have done this alone. This fandom is such a beautiful collection of souls and personalitites, and I am so grateful that I have got to know you, making real friends along the way! I know for a fact that I would not have made it this far without you, and I can't find the words to express how honoured I feel for you to have joined me on this incredible journey.
So as a gift, have some flashback fluff to cleanse your palate a little. You deserve a nice little treat.
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Boots thumped wetly on the stairs. Clumps of snow tumbled from their clothes, melting into small puddles on the floor.
"I can't believe you shoved snow down my jacket, you absolute goblin. That's cheating, you know?"
"Ssshh! Quiet! We're gonna wake them up!" Anya giggled under her breath. If anyone would hear them it would be her mother (since an assassin's hearing was second-to-none), but she relied on it being the wee hours of the morning to not be noticed by either of them.
But the mix of exhaustion and euphoria must have caught up with Anya, because in her slight moment of delirium, she stumbled against Damian's side, and he just managed to catch her around the waist, stopping her from falling against the door.
Anya barely held back from shrieking when his cold fingers touched the sensitive spot of skin, the part of her waist that peeked out from between her waistband and the hem of her woollen sweater. .
"Your hand is freezing!" she inhaled sharply and tried to peel his hand off her skin.
"Not a very nice feeling, is it?" Damian teased her. He refused to move his hand away from her warmth, and instead he gripped her tightly, turning her towards him so that he could plant a frosty smooch on her winter-red cheeks.
It sent a pleasant shiver down Anya's spine, and she found that even though his hands and his lips were ice-cold, she didn't want to be anywhere else but in his arms…
… maybe after they had warmed up a bit, though.
Anya's hands shook as she tried the key in the lock to the Forger residence. She had discarded her gloves quite soon into their snow-ball fight, since they had become sodden and unusable anyway, but Anya wondered if that had been a mistake. Maybe the frozen meltwater of the gloves would have still protected her hands from the raw, stinging snow as she packed them tightly into snowballs.
(It was worth it, because her throws were accurate, and she managed to pelt Damian with snowballs slightly more than he managed to get her, and then she had used her bare hands to gather snow and shove them into his jacket, thereby winning the snow fight.)
"Here, let me," Damian kept his voice to a whisper, and placed his other hand on hers to help her turn the key. All the while, he didn't move his hand from her waist, and for a brief, wonderful moment, Anya was in the lovely position of having both of his arms wrapped protectively around her. His warm breath breezed past her ear, making her shiver again.
"Do you think your parents will be up yet?" said Damian as he turned the key with a small click.
Anya shook her head quietly, and allowed Damian to nudge her through the doorway into the warm apartment, before he locked the door behind himself.
The lights of the Christmas tree illuminated the corridor, giving Anya a light to see by, and the apartment was blissfully warm. Her snow-soaked pyjamas clung to her, and Anya hurried to put her shoes back neatly, hoping that they were quiet enough not to wake Emile and Ewen sleeping on the living room floor.
But as she stepped away from the shoe rack, she was struck with a burst of inspiration.
"Damian!" she loud-whispered, "feel my hands!" And she promptly placed each frigid hand on either side of Damian's cheeks.
As expected, Damian tensed up, trying not to scream from her glacial touch, but then he did something that took her completely by surprise.
Damian lifted both hands from his cheeks with such gentle care, detaching them, before he nudged her wrists forward, and kissed the backs of her fingers one after the other. His lips barely grazed her knuckles, but his warm breath skimmed her skin, activating every one of her senses. Sparks crackled across her skin, and Anya's cheeks flooded with crimson warmth.
He smiled down at her over the horizon of her hands, and oh, that was enough to melt any snowflake as much as her heart.
But then he pulled away, much to her disappointment, and made his way towards the kitchen.
"Where are you going?" Anya forced out a whisper after him. "I thought you said you wanted to go to sleep!"
"You need to warm up your hands first," he replied calmly, matching his low volume to hers, and Anya watched with curiosity as he pulled out mugs from the cupboard, milk from the fridge, and chocolate from the shelves. "No go and get into some dry pyjamas, I'll only be a few minutes."
He waved her away, focused and intent on what he was doing, and Anya had no choice but to comply.
Anya closed the door quietly behind her, and she quickly peeled off her sodden pyjamas, and hurried to get change into a dry pair, hissing through her teeth from the sting of cold air on her bare skin. Once she had her new pyjamas on, Anya rubbed at her skin in an effort to try to warm up.
As promised, a few minutes later, Anya let Damian into her room holding two cups of hot chocolate.
"Bond tried sniffing around the chocolate, so I thought I'd bring them both in here," he explained, closing the door behind him with his foot. (A disappointed borf could be heard through the door). "Oh, and I think I managed not to wake Emile and Ewen. Although…" he chuckled to himself. "I think the chocolate smell might wake Emile soon enough."
He sat delicately on Anya's bed, holding one mug out to her, and instantly her hands around her own mug felt like heaven.
"Thank you," Anya breathed before taking a sip, and humming with delight.
Damian was right. Her hands were freezing, and the warmth of her hot chocolate seeped through her skin, slowly thawing them, until she could actually feel a little more relaxed.
Anya held it steady with both of her hands, relishing the searing heat against her skin, and at the same time, she couldn't help but notice the heat that prickled along the side of her that was closest to Damian. He had sat down on the bed so closely to her, that she couldn't help but be aware of how they were almost touching.
It was surprising, that even after learning to be comfortable with each, even sleeping occasionally in the same bed, that she could still be overcome by his mere presence. She hadn't stopped noticing the way that her heart beat so loudly in her chest, like it wanted to fly towards him, pulling her along all the way.
Meanwhile, it appeared that Damian's own heart had settled. After years of loving her in secret, he was now calm in her presence, sure of his place by her side. Quiet and contemplative, he sipped his own hot chocolate next to her, completely content to be in the quietude of the moment.
In that early morning, it was just them alone with each other, and she wanted it to last forever.
"It's so late that it's almost early," she noted, as she settled her empty cup on her nightstand. "Papa is going to be up soon."
"Even after so little sleep?"
Anya pulled her knees closer to her on the bed, trying to share the warmth of her hands with her freezing toes.
"He says he's trained himself to sleep as little as possible so that he can be ready at all times." Anya sighed, and the next words were even quieter, muffled by her knees. "Papa's a liar."
Even without looking at him, she could feel Damian softening next to her. He reached over her, setting his mug down next to hers.
"He worries about you."
"Not just me," Anya admitted. "Everything. Everyone. He doesn't stop. His mind is…"
She exhaled a long sigh. "He thinks that because he was a spy, he has to be ready to protect our family at all times, and he's right. There's so much we don't know. There's so much that can happen…"
"Hey," Damian's gentle voice cut through her anxiety, and he put a warm hand over hers. "It's gonna be okay. We're already doing everything we can."
The words were tight in her chest.
"What if it's not enough?"
He smoothed her hair back, and planted a soft kiss on her forehead. "It will be."
"But-"
"Do you seriously not understand how powerful your family is?"
Well, she wasn't expecting anything like that. Anya blinked at him, confused, as Damian hurried to clarify himself.
"Your parents aren't just strong - they're, they're insanely powerful. They're practically superhuman - and so are you!" He squeezed her hand. "You're strong too, and you can fight, and you can throw things really far, and that's before you even consider that you have actual powers, and I haven't even mentioned yet how amazing and selfless you are -"
"Damian, stop, oh my god," Anya couldn't help the laugh that bubbled out of her.
It was unconscious on his part, how he responded to her smile so freely, mirroring her with a smile of his own, and he nuzzled in close to her neck, right at the spot where she was most ticklish.
"- and did I forget beautiful and cute and gorgeous -"
"Damian!"
"- and you have great taste in pyjamas-"
"Are you making fun of me?!"
"Not at all!" he chuckled, and this time, he turned his face towards her jaw, peppering her cheek with a flutter of kisses, like fireflies tingling along her skin.
And then his lips met hers, capturing her quiet laughter.
They stayed like that for some time, just savouring the feel of each other. With her warmed hand, Anya traced his jawline, her fingers skimming along his emerging stubble, before she rested her palm there, holding face tenderly to hers.
It was their first New Year's together, and Anya knew right then and there that she would always remember it fondly. Not just because it was their first, but because it was the first of many. The feeling resonated so deep in her bones, along with the knowledge that they belonged so wholly together, that she knew in her heart and soul that their love would last beyond the boundaries of time.
Her entire body fizzled, and she wanted more than anything to keep going, keep kissing, keep melting into the other-
Damian pulled ever so slightly back, and rested his forehead against hers while they both caught their breaths.
"All this to say, that you're not allowed to underestimate yourself, and…" he gulped in another breath, not quite steadied yet. "Your family is amazing."
The words were encouraging, but Damian couldn't quite hide the hint of envy that had seeped through.
She traced small circles on his arms, lightly skimming her fingers in a pattern not too dissimilar from the pattern of her own scars.
"You should know that they think of you as family too."
He turned his head away from her, and she just knew that he was probably trying to hide the redness in his face. It was just too easy to make him blush.
"You're just saying that."
"It's true," Anya insisted. "When you were insisting on staying in that horrible empty flat all by yourself, they were both so worried about you. They always asked me how you were doing. So when we found out you were lying to us," she flicked him on the forehead in mock-anger, "Papa went to find you straightaway."
He had gone still, but Anya knew Damian well enough not to be startled by it. He always needed a moment to process before he could respond to her.
"And I'm glad he did," Anya whispered, bringing both of her arms around him, and leaned her head against his shoulder. "Maybe it's selfish of me, but I'm glad you're here with me."
Damian melted into her, returning her embrace wholeheartedly.
"I'm the selfish one," he whispered after a long pause. "I get to be with you for the rest of the winter holidays."
He tilted his head to the side, kissing her cheek gently. "I get to have you all to myself."
He smiled against her skin, and she shivered.
"I get to kiss you whenever I want."
Anya turned her face to his. "Not if I kiss you first…"
Oh, she loved how warm he was, thawing her freezing body as he pulled her closer, with his hands resting at the nape of her neck, fingers tangling in her hair, his lips still sweet with the taste of chocolate.
Yor blinked awake, and she reached out a clumsy hand to her nightstand, fumbling for the watch that she kept there.
Four thirty-five. Far too early, still.
She set the watch down and rolled to her other side, settling closer to Loid. During the day she ran hotter than he did, and he often commented on how much he loved being warmed up by her when he held her, but at night, it usually switched to the other way around. Yor couldn't help but be drawn to Loid's body while he slept, emitting heat like a furnace. With the snow packing on the window outside, deep in the heart of winter, Loid was her source of comfort.
He didn't make a noise as she shuffled in closer to him, but he did turn around, and he swept his arm over the cover and settled it over her waist, pulling her closer to him.
"Awake already?" he whispered, and kissed her hair.
"You're one to talk," Yor whispered back, but she closed her eyes, sinking into his embrace.
Both of them stayed quiet, listening to the sounds of the early morning: the humming motors of the rare car outside, Bond's soft snores from the living room (joined briefly by the snores of the boys sleeping there).
And… something else. Coming from the kitchen.
"Sounds like…" Yor concentrated on the sound of careful footsteps, the gentle clinking of cups. "Oh, it's Damian."
She couldn't see Loid's face, but the tense of his shoulders told her that his demeanour had darkened slightly.
"He's not sleeping again."
Yor wasn't sure, and she closed her eyes, listening.
"Anya's there too," she said, after a while. "They're together."
"Oh," said Loid. "Well, that's all right then. Back to sleep."
"Loid!" She mock-chided him under her breath.
"What?" he chuckled into her hair. "We'll have to be up in a few hours, anyway. Why not take our time…"
Yor smiled to herself, once again closing her eyes, and settling into the arms of her husband.
There had been a time when she had worried about Loid's reaction to Damian, when she wondered if he would accept a new person into their family unit, even if it meant accepting that his daughter was finally growing up. But, she was glad to see that her fears were unfounded.
He joked about selfishly getting more sleep, and leaving the kids to fend for themselves in the early morning hours, but Yor knew without asking what his real thoughts were.
It's good for them, he had told her, at one point. They need each other.
And Yor agreed. It was obvious to everyone that Damian needed Anya. He smiled more when she was around, and slept more peacefully with her near.
But, Anya needed him too. It was less obvious, more likely to be overlooked, but it was there all the same: Anya's body language relaxed around him, and she laughed more in his presence. Perhaps after years of keeping her own secrets tightly lidded around Yor and Loid, she hadn't quite learned how to be herself around them, hadn't quite learned how to let go of the feeling of responsibility over their respective missions and their double lives. Around Damian, all of that fell away.
Yes, they needed each other. So perhaps Yor and Loid could leave them alone for a little longer, at least for a few more hours…
Yor let herself sink back into sleep, lulled by the sounds of their gentle laughter, and the smell of chocolate.
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Next time
It's an insanely complicated and long chapter, so again I will not announce a specific date, but I will appreciate your patience for a little longer xx
Thank you all !
Damian and Anya have nagivated such turbulent waters over this entire story. Through 2 years in real time, 7 months in story time, they have navigated through the reveal of all 7 secrets:
1. That she is adopted, and was an orphan
2. She is actually two years younger than her "legal age"
3. She is a telepath / former experiment
4. That she is in love with Damian (a secret so buried, even Anya didn't know it for years)
5. Her mother is an assassin
6. Her father is a Westalian spy
7. That Anya was helping her father with Operation Strix, to take down Damian's father
And then we entered the crazy storms in Damian's life, that you collectively (and correctly) named as 'Devastations':
1. The arrest of Donovan Desmond
2. The reveal of Plan B
3. [To be revealed]
4. [To be revealed]
Two down, two to go. Oh, but you can be sure that they are on their way...
What a journey! And I cannot wait to deliver the rest of it to all of you xxx
Oh and before I forget, I wrote a tumblr post detailing more of the science of Anya's telepathy, in case you're interested to read it. :)
Until next time xxx