GoldenCat/AftermathInViolet

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Aftermath in Violet

Alexsei: Quiet.

After so much strife, pain and exertion, the small tent on the Windian camp allocated to the Healer Ryshassa seems so refreshingly quiet. Resting in bed with his student, lover and wife, both of them flustered and exhausted but sated, Alexsei cannot help but savor the calm and peace of the moment.

He brushes her hair for a moment, trailing down his hand across her cheek as she lays her head on his shoulder and presses her naked body against him. In such moments, he was incredibly happy to be alive, to be allowed to savor the moment for what it is worth. He lays a kiss on her damp forehead, and he smiles tiredly but with satisfaction.

And yet so much was on his mind, so much was left to ponder and decide on. There was many questions he wanted answered, many things he wanted to learn... And he knew, deep inside, that paying a visit to his mentor, master and friend in Yu Shan was becoming more and more of a plan.

For now, however, he looks down at her, her quiet smile as her eyes droop partially shut, and he cannot help but smile in turn, in reminescence.

"You look... peaceful. Kind of how you looked back then, when I brought you to Gethamane... And when you stopped having nightmares. As soon as you realized I meant you no arm... You looked just like this, resting quietly and peacefully."

Ryshassa: "Mmmm..." Ryshassa blinks once, twice, drowsy but not quite willing to drift to sleep just yet. She registers Alexsei's fond, gentle words, smiling up at him through half-lidded eyes, though delays her reply to him for a moment, content just to indulge in the sensation of his warmth.

Cael had taken the airship... somewhere. He had notified her of such, but not of any particular destination. The tent in which they reclined was the next best thing, and it is fairly well furnished -- for a military-issue camp tent issued to a lady healer, anyway. After becoming accustomed to resting in the Zephyr, Ryshassa feels a bit self-conscious about being nude and wrapped in blankets beside her beloved, with the bustle of the Windian camp right outside the tent.

Then again -- she had not been in the least shy about expressing her appreciation of his lovemaking, just scant minutes before. She blushes at the thought, wondering at whether she had been just a bit too loud in her appreciation. After all, Alexsei had carried her to the tent himself, wrapped in naught but his blood-stained mantle, as the Windian soldiers led by Lieutenant Tierney dealt with the Starbreaker's narrow escape. The couple had fastened shut the flap behind them and not emerged ever since.

Well, no matter! They would have to grant her and her husband this brief respite, after the unpleasant surprise they had just been subjected to. In any case, the sounds and movement of troops and personnel have already begun to fade, with the fall of the twilight hours. So she mentally shoos away her instinctive embarrassment, stretching luxuriously against the length of Alexsei's body, letting out a soft, pleasant purr before wrapping an arm snugly across his chest.

"You watched over me quite often," she murmurs, finally acknowledging his errant thought. "I noticed it, sometimes. I felt you near... I was not always asleep, though I often pretended I was. You seemed so cutely embarrassed when I caught you," she teases, giggling softly.

Alexsei: The fond rememberance brings warmth back to his cheeks, and he smiles with an embarassed but warm smile.

"Ah yes... You were quite the little trickster." He tickles her softly, near her ribs where he knows the reaction will be felt the most. Grinning at her, he continues to reminisce. "I was... worried about you a lot, since you had not spoken a word since I spirited you away from the Realm. I... was worried about being able to attend to your need properly..."

He sighs softly as he settles himself more comfortably into the simple bed. "I remember, however, that when you start talking, you... You were the first one to truly ask me about myself, and why I was always alone." His eyes wander to the top of the tent, his fingers gently stroking her arm. "I... had met women before, in Sijan, who... showed interest in me. But no one, before you, had ever asked me why I was not involved with anybody..."

"Of course", he continues, a trail of playfulness in his voice, "Fate had it so that the first woman I was truly interested in was a 16 year old girl, and my student no less. Sometimes, you have to wonder if the Tapestry arranges things to test your resolve."

Ryshassa: Ryshassa's eyebrows raise at the mention of 'other women'. Was this really the first time he ever mentioned it? Or had she simply never bothered to ask? She lifts her head, raising her body up by an elbow so that the blanket slips slightly off her pale shoulder.

"So tell me about them," she asks her almond-shaped eyes taking on a firm, insistent cast that borders on sultry, the sort of look a healer so pure and polite in appearance saves only for the man she desires. "Were they as young as I was, then? Were they... your students?"

Even as she voices the questions her cheeks begin to flush a vague shade of scarlet. She hadn't realized just how much she liked, even preferred to think of Alexsei as hers, and hers alone. It was almost as if... she took her husband for granted, at times. Certainly those first, awkward yet passionate moments that seized them in the classroom in Gethamane, those had been only for her. The thought of him doing such things with any other woman...

"Do tell me," she repeats, her free hand rising to caress possessively at the curve of his face from cheek to chin.

Alexsei: He raises an eyebrow, halfway between amusement and embarassment, at Ryshassa's questions. That was... not something that was talked about often, for sure. He was not the type to actively and obsessively pursue women, much less brag about them.

Taking a deep breath, he lets his thoughts wander for a moment, trying to recall what the times where he served in Sijan. Where he fought the dead and trained recruits to fight the minions of the Black Chase.

"Well... There are two that were obvious about their... affection. One of them was a feisty young Terrestrial outcaste of the fire aspect, and the other was a God Blooded researcher. Both were older than you were though... both were also younger than me. They were my students, yes, as I taught them how to fight the dead, and the theory behind it."

He deposits another kiss on her fragile forehead, before continuing. "Mohira, the fire-aspected fighter, was particularly... persistent in her efforts. At first, I merely feigned ignorance, trying to play dense in order to defuse the efforts. But she was very serious, and so I started to talk to her more, to learn what it is about me that attracted her so. I had a long talk with her, whenre I confronted her with her feelings and tried to... see what was it about me that made her want to spend time with me."

"It turned out that... Well, she was out for a challenge, mostly. Not out of malice, but she desired the one who was hard to get, the lonely one, the one that was out of reach for most, I suppose. I was sholarly and disinterested in a lot of things beside those pertaining to my duties and my books, so she thought I was a prime candidate, and pursued it fiercely. At the end of that talk... I showed her that after she got her big prize, her winning of my heart... This would most likely make her feel empty, antsy as she is. She would search for the next big challenge, and I would be looking for a stable, durable relationship. In the end, we would have hurt each other more than a fiery affair would have been worth. Fortunately, she saw the truth in this, despite the unfortunate backlash of rejection..."

He takes a deep breath, suddenly self-conscious about his babbling but also willing to give his beloved all the details she would want. "The other woman... was called Lucia. She was a quieter, more subdued woman, working as an archiver in the library I used to do most of my research and paperwork at - in addition to being one of my students for the purpose of teaching more recruits about the theory of fighting the dead. Anyways..."

He pushes the spectacles up the bridge of his nose, again lost in thoughts. "She was a fragile, hurt woman. She desperately wanted someone to take care of her, to hold her... I could tell. But I could also understand that her predicament called for someone, anyone. I was... only one of those that could have fallen into her arms, and I got the feeling that I would have become only a crutch to her. She needed someone, she did not necessarily needed me. The prospect ended quietly, but I remained her friend for the purpose of moral support. I think she is married now, to a researcher that had come there from Great Forks. I congratulated her for her union before I left Sijan. Fortunately, again, no hard feelings remain."

He lets ou a sight, this time very embarassed at all his babbling. "Well... It was only when I met you that someone actually asked me about myself, wanting to learn more... to get to know me, really, as I was. And that is why I gave in to you and no other, beloved."

He smiles warmly at her, embracing her tenderly before resuming the stroking of her hair.

Ryshassa: Ryshassa listens silently, mollified for the moment as he recounts these distant, if embarrassing memories. Memories from a past that is for him ripe with significance and change, for his years in Sijan were integral to his training and much of his outlook on the dead and dying, concepts very much within his purview as a Chosen of Endings. It made her feel... small, almost, to hear of such moments after the fact, to learn of the people -- the women -- he had interacted with in those years. Gods, she had barely begun her primary school education when he was experiencing these things so vividly. She finds it humbling... and it makes her all the more want to keep him close to her.

She accepts his embrace somewhat numbly, though still soft and supple in his arms, and tilts her head at him with a curious, considering gaze. "So... they... they wanted you, then, but you did not reciprocate, not in the way they wished. That means, with them, you never..."

The healer's voice trails off with the sudden revelation; she finds herself feeling almost ashamed at the idea that Alexsei had kept himself pure, all this time, until the moment they had first made love as teacher and student. Of course, her beloved knew all about her history, before her brought her away from the Realm the fateful night of her Exaltation. She had served, for a time, at the behest of her parents, as a prized pleasure slave to the myriad orgies and parties they hosted at their manor in Pangu Prefecture.

It had once been her belief that this was the most use she could ever be to her parents, who were unhappy with her lack of ambition -- more specifically, her lack of motivation to compete openly with her peers, her sympathy and sensitivity to the emotions of others regardless of their class or station, her desire to heal rather than harm if at all possible. As the Dragons had not seen it fit to choose her as they had so many of her peers, her soothing and subservient nature were seen as a weakness, a liability to the strength of their bloodline. As a result, she was quietly delegated to a duty and position her parents thought more fitting of her. And she had not complained, though it shamed her to serve in such a demeaning way, to be lusted for and coveted for her apparent fragility, her eagerness to earn, in whatever minor way, the pride of Sydrea and Vidran.

Alexsei would say without a second thought that none of it was her fault. And she had long since triumphed over what she had perceived as her unworthiness -- she is a Solar Exalted now, and her healing touch, her devotion to promoting peace gives her purpose. But still... she cannot help but feel at least a little bit dirty, in comparison to him.

"I... suppose I should not feel jealous, then," she muses aloud, trying to summon up another smile for him as she bows her head to the stroking rhythm of his hand on her hair. "Mmm... it is their loss if they did not find your past, your goals and needs important. I always loved to listen to you speak, whether it is about my studies, or about yourself."

"And I always felt you were lonely, deep inside. I always wanted to soothe that ache that made your gaze so dark and wistful."

She presses closer to him, her eyes luminous, longing violet orbs that drank in the sight of him, her lips touching his for a brief enticing moment before she whispers: "I wanted that honor to fall to me. And me alone."

Alexsei: He smiles softly at that last affirmation, his heart filling with a pleasant warmth. He gazed deeply into her eyes, letting out a sigh of contentment that could have passed as a purr.

I so very love when she is that possessive of me.

He brushes her lips with a soft, loving kiss, before resting her head on his chest once more, shivering at the warmth of her naked body against his. "And that honor has fallen to you indeed, beloved. I... I never really gave in to anyone else. But you... You had a certain... something, you had a demeanor, a way of acting, an interest in the things I held dear, that made me fall for you deeply and completely. It was... So strong. The attraction was such that... I couldn't... It crushed all of my defenses, all of my doubts. You were, like I said, my student, and so very young... And given your past, I was not certain about those feelings of mine."

"But in the end my feelings of love and desire overwhelmed all of that. You... changed me, and opened my eyes on things I had never seen before. And as such, you are the only one that could ever win that from me. The honor is yours, Ryshassa." He twines his fingers in her hair, brushing a strand against the tip of his fingers with a blissful smile.

"It is yours. Yours alone."

Ryshassa: Ryshassa's response to these words is first a bright, triumphant smile, as she lifts herself from that warm, cradled position against his chest that she savors as her right. Up to her knees, the bedsheet sliding further down her back, pooling around her waist and the subtle curve of her hips. Her long, dark hair cascades in lavender-scented waves about them as she straddles him, pressing her hands gently but firmly against his shoulders.

She leans close, shamelessly now, her nipples grazing enticingly across Alexsei's skin. "Indeed, it is mine. And I will not share," Ryshassa states simply and magnaminously. "But tell me, beloved... did it truly bother you that I was so young?" She has a delightedly... devilish grin on her face now, as she nuzzles her head against Alexsei's neck, then cranes it upward to nip teasingly at his earlobe. "I still am, you know. There are decades of difference between us. It makes me feel... naughty. Apparently Sophia thought so too," she adds mischievously, alluding to their selves from a former age, in which the age gap between them had been much more pronounced. The Caduceus had shown her that, and so much more, centuries of a discreet but deeply passionate affair that ended, ultimately, with her death. But death is the last thing on her mind right now.

Giggling softly, Ryshassa wriggles back under the sheets -- still astride him, though not taking him inside her. They are still sated, and quite relaxed, but she likes the feeling of being atop him, of ...owning him, this way. "Oh, but you were so proper, so composed. I was sure you would not wish to touch me no matter how much I tempted you. But it did not prevent me from trying," she murmurs throatily.

"I am so very glad I did."

Alexsei: He responds with a throaty growl when she straddles him, her eyes sparkly and devilish. He rubs at her hips, enthralled by her presence. As she talks, he cannot help but be subjugated to her will. Yes, he is hers now. Completely and hopelessly hers.

So very hers.

"I... It was a bit difficult, at first." He starts, his hands still resting firmly on her hips. "You were... I had trouble with the moral issues. I wouldn't have wished... I wouldn't have wished you to think I was merely using you, that I was helping you to get... other favors."

"And there was also the fact that we... I was your teacher. I was also your caretaker. I could not abuse this position in any way... It would have been terribly improper. And yet..." He blushes then, pressing her closer against him so he can whisper in her ear. "And yet, the thought only made me want it more, beloved. You dominated my thoughts. And I could never escape your hold."

He nibbles gently at her ear, winking at her before whispering once more.

"Not that I really wanted to."

He recalls Sophia, and the heated passion they - Sophia and Lonan - had shared so long ago in the past. And the thought further warms him, the thought of their desire havin been born a millenia ago, another time, another them. He gazes deelpy into her eyes, passionate violet burning into her very being.

"And I am so very glad you did, also."

Ryshassa: "Mmmm..." Ryshassa lets out a soft, pleasant moan as Alexsei's hands envelop her hips. She grinds herself against him, slowly, watching his reaction with a smoky gaze that speaks of a desire unbound by propriety, a desire at once forbidden and irresistable. "You like this, don't you? You like that I wanted you so much that I would not take no for an answer." She laughs, and it is a musical sound, a lusty sound, unbridled and uncensored.

"My dirty teacher. It was our little secret, for a while. But I wonder whether it really was a secret at all, with all the looks and questions that we attracted in the meantime." Another enigmatic smile, and she lets her hands slip from his shoulders so that her arms encircle his neck, pushing her breasts up against his chest. The hungry fire in her gaze dims somewhat, though does not fade, simmering in her being like embers on an evening hearth. She embraces him like this, for a time, her face so close to his their noses touch.

"I loved you, too, then," she admits softly, planting another slow, soul-melting kiss on his lips that leaves them both shivering. "You were the first and only man I had met who truly cared about me as a person, not an object to do his bidding. I could tell you genuinely wanted me to learn, and thrive, and grace you with even a single smile at the end of the day. It was alien to me, that I did not have to prove myself to you in any way. I simply had to be... and more importantly, be happy."

"I learned about sex as a servant to those who would exploit me. But you taught me about love, Alexsei. And that made the pleasure we shared all the more fulfilling."

Alexsei: His eyes meet hers, this time a powerful mix of desire, love and tenderness. He can feel the powerful emotions mixing inside him, raging in a powerful maelstrom. He wraps his arms around her, holding her asn she presses against him.

"I... I am deeply touched, beloved. I do not know what to say... If only that I cannot explain this in rational terms. I... simply cared deeply about you. I was aware of what you had gone through, back in the Realm. I was aware of what you faced. And I wanted you to break free from this influence, from those chains..."

His eyes mist, somewhat, in rememberance of the shy, deeply hurt child he had brought back with him, the claok and boots he had bought for her travel north contrasting somewhat with the only garment she had brought in their hasty escape. He remembers carrying her over long distances, her slender shape pressed against him, sound asleep from exhaustion and recent tempest of emotions. How he cared deply for this young girl craddled against him, how his care changed into affection, then love, and desire...

He smiles, his eyes still hodling crystal drops that efentually roll down his cheeks. "I am glad, dearest Belladonna. I am glad you are here, with me, like this... I am glad I can share this with you. It means... I..." The words catch in his throat, strangled by the sheer power of the moment, and the strong emotions it inspire in him. The ring filters his thoughts, however, and speaks for him.

It means everything to me.

Ryshassa: Ryshassa says nothing more at first, only presses her lips against the tears that roll slowly down his cheeks. When she first met him -- when he burst into that room, to challenge Salagin after he had raped and humiliated her -- he was a driven man, his stance and his very demeanor intense with purpose and barely-controlled rage that faded, quickly, as he succumbed to his End. She would not have guessed, then, that Alexsei could have been a man so tender and sensitive, so full of overflowing love in need of a soul to nurture.

But her beloved was all these things and more. He was equal parts kind and intense, bashful and passionate, subtle and surprising, studious and deadly -- so coolly, uncompromisingly deadly -- when it came to protecting those he loves. He watched over her day after day in their first year together, when she was still mostly mute by distress, bewildered by her change of surroundings and circumstances, unable to do little more but listen and learn and take in the sights as they came. He was patient with her moods and her weariness, careful never to overstep the bounds of her comfort level, allowing her rest as she needed it, bringing her meals, reading her to sleep. The sound of his voice was her lullaby, and later on her pleasure, as she expressed interest in learning of her powers, of what it meant to be Chosen as she was, of the knowledge and lore he kept stored in dusty tomes and in the recesses of his brilliant mind.

He had been so considerate of her, so generous with his time, and asked so little in return. This, too, humbled her, but in a much different way than hearing of his years in Sijan. She had chosen for herself a life of devotion to compassion, and here was a man who lived as compassionately as she strove to be, but on the opposite side of the spectrum -- she, as a healer, ensures that those who still may live continue to do so, and he, as a funeral priest, sends the dead gently on their way to Lethe. He is a Chosen of Endings, yet he is also the most loving individual that she has ever known.

Such sentiments fill her mind to bursting as she holds him to her, cradling him against her now, returning the smile that so radiantly graces his tear-streaked face. "You truly amaze me, beloved," she says reverently, brushing loose strands of hair from his eyes as she gazes down on him. "How do you bear it, when you can love so deeply? You who must -- by way of your duty -- witness so many Endings come to pass. How can you deal with the fact that all things end?" It crosses her mind, as it has before, that in his dichotomy Alexsei is so strangely and tragically suited for his Fate-chosen path. For how can one do justice to the End of a thing without coming to sympathize with what it was in life? Only then can one know the significance of its loss from the world. Only then can one understand how to bring it to its proper Conclusion.

She holds him tightly, thinking deeply of these things. Thinking of how grateful she is that she has been allowed to cross paths with him once more, by the grace of the Celestines, and love him once again.

Alexsei: The compliment embarass him even more than he would admit. The emotions that filter through the ring are... truly flattering. He felt humble, undeserving of such praise when he has only following what he always feeled. His hands slip up and down on her hips, his eyes still locked within her, and he slowly, gently lifts her up slightly.

His first answer to her compliment is swift, and completely instinctual. He gently lowers her down unto him, once more shivering at the warmth as he slowly, lovingly slides inside her. He moves her on his hips, his violet eyes still not leaving hers' . Through a haze of desire and powerful emotins, he finally answers her questions.

"I... I do not know, beloved. I... I merely am. All... All of these things you describe are.. part of me..." He shivers, lifting her up and down as he enjoys her proximity, her warmth, her passion for him and them. "I only live life as... as I feel I should. I do not enjoy the Endings... I bring... I mourn it, this necessity. But... someone has to mourn, beloved. If not... If not, then who will remember?"

His hands grow tighter on her hips, his movements slow, deliberate, sensuous.

"I mourn out of grief, yes... But I also mourn out of love."

Ryshassa: Ryshassa lets out a soft, shuddering gasp as Alexsei draws her hips down towards his lap, impaling her without a word and hardly a thought. Her entire body flushes with renewed heat, inexplicably aroused by the boldness of his appreciation for her thoughts.

"Then..." Ryshassa manages to voice, breathless with lust stoked anew, "...then Love... is the core of your being... not Endings."

With a single, fluid motion she rises, her slender alabaster curves slipping clear of the bedcovers, her inky black tresses her only cloak as she kneels for him once more with devotion and desire plain in her eyes. Her fingers caress, then seize willfully at his shoulders, leaving deep red crescents upon his skin as they dig and twist for purchase. Her hips thrust to match the motion of his lifting, lowering hands, the rhythm between them building with each shallow gasp of breath, with each thunderous beat of the blood rushing through their veins.

In sorrow, in pain and in love, her beloved is Fervor itself -- and in that moment she desires nothing and no one more than Him. For a time there are no more words, only the feverish urgency of her body mounted upon his, straining for a climax so close and so precious, the searing contact of nails raking across flesh as her impassioned cries reach their inevitable crescendo.

His name is on her lips as she comes, and she presses a fist tightly against her mouth, biting down to stifle her screams...

Alexsei: He savors it, once more, this delectable moment of intense passion with the woman he loves more than anything else. For a moment, no words, no talk, only the language of their desire speaking to each other, reaching for each other...

And when the intensity rises, and their breath is labored... He holds her against him, gazing intensely at her as she bites her fist to stifle the scream caught in her throat as he buries his face in her neck, nibbling it to muffle the sound of his own fullfilment.

And it is such, once more spent and sated, that he softly and carefully lies her back besides him, resting her head on his chest once more, their flustered bodies entertwined in a loving embrace. He brings his lips to her forehead, his shuddering breath meeting her damp skin before he lies back, tired but content.

Lying such, he finds himself looping back to the beginning of this conversation... And the unpleasant thoughts that came with it. The one thought that troubled him the most resurfaces in his mind, and he knows full well he will have to address it. And it fills him with very much sorrow, as he understands he will have to be without her, at least for a short while. As much as the prospect of leaving her displeases him, he is also conscious that if they are to survive... He would need the knowledge and the skill to fight his way out of situations that almost just took away his life. He takes a deep, wistful sigh, and looks at her again, his eyes filled with violet sorrow.

Ryshassa: Ryshassa is speechless for a while longer, nestled in the crook of Alexsei's arm as she gradually catches her breath. The course of their conversation was... unexpected, but far from unpleasantly so. She smiles to herself, a small, secret smile hidden by the curtain of her hair spread across his skin. She was not particularly lacking in pleasure, no matter what sort of chaste reputation she and Alexsei had to outside observers.

In fact, the very thought of the two of them actually holding to such a reputation makes her body quiver with unvoiced glee. Who said married couples had less fun? She would have laughed aloud, even, if her husband's expression indicated that he at all inclined to sharing such mirth with her. Lifting her head to meet his gaze, she can only think he seemed... distracted somehow, even sad as he regards her, the satisfaction of the moment broken by what concerns may have wormed their way into the forefront.

"What is it, beloved?" she asks gently, brushing his brow with her fingertips as the slow, resigned sigh escapes his lips. Gently she rubs at his forehead and temples, massaging away the creases of stress that have already begun to form. "Please tell me everything... everything that is painful to you. I want to listen... I want to bring you peace."

Alexsei: He lets out another sigh as his beloved rubs his forehead... And he feels slightly more at peace. She had this effect on him, ever since they first met. She could soothe him, wven without trying, just by being. He takes a deep breath, trying to release the tensions nested in his body. And, when he turns back to her, it is to let her ease his mind with her expert care.

"I... That is we faced many dangerous threats that could have... potentially destroyed us and... I... I will have to go back to Yu Shan, for a short time..." He holds his head down, suddenly hurt and saddened at the very thought of leaving her. "I... I need to see Laisdach, and seek his wisdom... There is so much here that... Could threaten us. So much that could potentially take us down. I have... I have run away for so long... I have to face my responsibilities. Oh, Maidens, I hate having to leave. I do not want to leave you. Even for a few days, the thought is still... But I suppose we must do what we must... I cannot really turn back now. I..."

The words catch in his throat, his heart heavy at the thought of having to bing this up in such a perfect moment...

I'm sorry, his mind fills in for him, through the ring they wear.

Ryshassa: "Oh, Alexsei..." Ryshassa voice is tender as she softly breathes his name, kissing the top of his raven hair. "Is that what this is about?"

With a solemn, almost ritual motion, she holds his head at either side with her small, delicate hands, tilting it gently upward so that they gaze into each other's eyes once more. She can feel his sorrow through the rings they wear, more sharply and more vividly than it appears on his worry-lined face, in the trembling of his body as he continues to hold her close. It touches her heart as well, and her first instinct is to want to soothe him of it, as she often desires when others are in pain, but most of all when it comes to him.

Her tone is feather-soft, but her expression proud and determined, as she murmurs to him her words of reassurance. "Please, don't worry, my beloved husband. My teacher savant. My Blackwing Guardian. I know it is difficult for you not to, and I will miss you very dearly. But I understand why you must do this, and I will be fine." Ever since the Whiteshield raid and his brush with death, she has sensed the restlessness in him, the urgency to push the limits of his abilities. Then, this very day, the Starbreaker swooped down with murder on his mind, nearly severing his ties to this life, outlining even more severely his need to prepare himself more thoroughly for the trials yet to come. It only made sense to her that he would desire to seek his old master at a time like this, while they still had the time to spare.

"Please, beloved," Ryshassa emphasizes, gazing deeply and sincerely into his eyes. "Trust yourself, and trust me. You have taught me all these years, and I will continue to learn from you for many years to come. But I also have a place in this conflict now, and a greater purpose I wish to build towards, over time, through my deeds and the trust others place in me. If you must leave but a few days, I will not be broken. I will hold my head proudly and continue to forge my own path as you have so desired me to do."

"But do remember... that no matter where you must go... you will always have a place in my heart, as I have in yours. I will be thinking of you, and I know we will come out from this stronger than ever."

Alexsei: He looks deeply into her eyes, and a smile blossoms on his worried-lined face.

In this moment, he was foced to realize just how deeply proud he was with her words, with her intent and determination... He was proud of her strong affirmation, of her convicion in herself. Proud of being her teacher. Proud of the long way she reached since the days where he took her away.

In this moment, he was so very proud of her.

His hand filters in her hair, the soft, silken strands of ebony sliding between his pale fingers. For a moment, he admires the contrast between snow skin and night hair as he plants his gaze in hers, his eyes reflecting millions of twinkling stars, reflecting his devotion and love for this woman that managed to take him away from a life of solitude.

"T-Thank you, dearest Belladonna. I... I trust in you Ryshassa, and in the link uniting us. I... I know I must go to make sure we have a future together. And no matter what the circumstances... I will always find my way back to you."

Always.

The thought of leaving her is still very painful for him, but at least he knows one thing for sure - she was a Chosen of the Unconquered Sun, and a most compassionate and prized healer. She determined and focused, and she was willing to go on and make a difference.

She would find her way. And he...

He would find his way, and then find his way to her.

Ryshassa: "Beloved... I should be thanking you at least as much as you do me." The radiant smile that follows Ryshassa's words is more than enough to indicate her satisfaction. She is immensely pleased by his confidence in her, and it shows.

"If not for you I would not be here now. I would not possess such a strong desire to affirm my place in Creation, my desire to help it -- and its people -- heal. I would have given up on all of those, the moment I was Chosen by the Sun. I thought myself wicked, cursed as Anathema for causing such trouble to those whose generosity allowed me to live at all. You came for me that day, and took me away from all that. You showed me what wonders I am capable of, how my abilities can be used for the good of others. I am... indebted, truly indebted to you."

"So do, by all means, find back your strength, renew yourself in Heaven... and my arms will be waiting for you. But until then..."

She holds him to her once more, warmly and intimately, her hands sliding sensuously around his torso to caress his bare back with slow, lingering strokes. Her head resumes its place fitfully upon his chest, where she can be soothed by the slow, rhythmic beat of his heart, where he can gather her close and protectively to him as he often yearns to do.

"...let us just be together," she finishes contentedly, allowing her eyes to drift slowly shut.

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