FF PSL | ❝ two-toned echoes tumbling through time. ❞

[crystallinedreams]

song of hope

BOOK 3: TWO-TONED ECHOES

One brings shadow, one brings light
To this riddle all souls are tied
Brief our moments, brazen and bright
Forged in fury, tempered in iceCODE BY TESSISAMESS

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[shepherdtostars]

I cannot make you do something you work against. Instead, I mean to care for you as often as I can. Which, I intend to see that it becomes far more of a norm than a moment here and there.

[ Her fingers gently move his bangs away to readjust the cloth. The simple resolution is that she leave the Scions and she intends to do just that. She does not need to be a Scion to help others or to be a Warrior of Light. If they are in need of her aid? They can come to her and ask, instead of expecting her to jump when they give the command. ]

If I am to fall ill, then it would be of exhaustion of what transpired on the First, and not you. [ A gentle tap is given to his forehead. ] Let us see to your health first, Aymeric. Ishgard has need of her Lord Commander, and I have the far more selfish need of my knight to be at my side.

[ Alkaid adjusts so she might lean back against the headboard. The fire cracks with warmth. A hand moves to rest on the back his neck to rub the tension from his body as she keeps the cloth to his forehead. ]

No, you cannot. [ The volume of her voice drops then. ] We already spend too much time away from one another...

[ After a brief pause, she continues in the same tone: ] ...please, don't send me away when you need me...

[thewayforpeace]

[ Once again, he finds himself silenced by the awe he feels when he is faced with her love and how much she cares for him. It still feels undeserved to him, even though he knows that saying as much to her will earn him a gentle reprimand.

Before he speaks, he gives an involuntary shiver as the alternating heat and cold continues to take turns affecting him. ]

If more people on our star were as kind and as good as you, it would be an even better place than it already is. I have no doubt of it. [ And yes, he still believes that, on the whole, their star is made up of good people. There are those with less than good intentions, but he finds their actions outweighed by those of the same mind as Alkaid. ]

Then you must allow me to care for you in turn, as soon as I am able. [ He coughs once, doing his best to keep it quiet so as not to concern her more, but he knows that she keeps such a close eye upon him and his actions that she will surely not miss it. ] Similarly, I have need of my dearest, and I also have a deeper desire to see that she is well and cared for.

[ Before he responds, his mind chooses this very moment to remind him that he has several meetings that he must oversee in the morning, and he realizes belatedly that he must take whatever rest he can if he is to be prepared. He knows by now that he sleeps easier when she is present, and so he concludes that insisting that she sleep in another room for her health would be counterproductive. It is a selfish notion, and he knows he should continue to insist, but he decides to be selfish just this once. ]

... Will you stay? [ He is aware of the contradiction, but he knows that she will understand how he wrestles with what he knows is right and what he desires. ]

[shepherdtostars]

[ At his shiver, Alkaid reaches for the covers to tuck them around him further. She removes the damp cloth, leaning over to place it beside the bowl. Then, a hand returns to the top of his head and the other rests on his arm. She gently rubs it in an attempt to comfort through what his body surely is struggling with. She will need to make a potion once he is resting entirely, which reminds her that perhaps she ought to fill a small basket of medicines for the manor... ]

One by one, people can be reminded of kindness and hope. [ Her fingers brush his bangs away. However, she pauses as he continues. Her tail comes to a stop before swaying happily at the term he has picked for her. He rarely uses it, unlike her, which surely makes it all the more special. Perhaps she should act in a similar manner. ] Then, you can care for me all that you wish, and show me all that Ishgard has to offer with the restoration and the happiness you have all found.

[ She laughs gently. ] Of course, Aymeric. As long as you wish me to stay... and perhaps even longer, just to indulge my own wishes.

And, if you wish, I will tell you all that happened on the First in the morning.

[ Alkaid closes her eyes as she continues the gentle touches to lure him back into something of a restful sleep. She has quite the list of duties forming for the morrow. Medicine crafting, tending to the home and Aymeric's fever, telling him what transpired on the First, and giving him the present she had made that she neglected to give him that evening. However, it did not seem like the appropriate time for a gift. His needs are far more important at the moment. Especially as she sees it partly of her own doing that he is in the state he is. ]

[thewayforpeace]

[ A part of him wishes to nestle further in the blankets while also remaining as close to her as he can, but the other, more rational part of his mind is telling him that he must find a way to sleep so that he will be prepared for his duties that await him in the morning. An illness such as this is no reason for him to shirk his responsibility. ]

You and your sister remind them of that, as do the Scions with whom you work. [ In times when he stops to consider Ishgard and the state of her affairs, he wonders if their present reality might be somewhat different if he and those in positions of authority had been kinder and more open than they had been. The fact that much of the history as they knew it had not been conveyed truthfully did more damage than anything else, and yet the fault lies with all of them, not simply the Holy See. ]

There is so much that I wish to tell you. [ He raises a hand to his mouth, intending to stifle a second cough, but his efforts to suppress it are not quite so successful. ] And as you know, I would have you stay with me always. [ But they both know that there will always be something to pull them apart, at least temporarily but far longer than they wish.

And in keeping with that, he adds: ] I will be able to remain with you for a time when morning comes, but I am afraid that my presence is required with the House of Lords and Commons. [ And he must rally in order to be ready. He has chosen to push aside his private doubts that he will truly be prepared, but he sees that he has no choice.

If he truly could choose, he would stay with her, to hear more of her tales from her time on the First, and to simply be with her as he always longs to do. He knows he will have to content himself with coming home to her when the day's work has concluded. ]

[shepherdtostars]

( continued here! )