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damn-stark · 2 months

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Chapter 12 The Siren’s trick

Chapter 12 of Moonlight

A/N- Welcome back Margaery Tyrell and Sansa Stark

Warning- Swearing, talks of death, and sexual harassment, ANGST!!, fluff, SPOILERS, ser gwayne (tehe), LONG CHAPTER.

Pairing- Aemond Targaryen x Velaryon!fem-reader, Cregan Stark x Velaryon!fem-reader

Episode- Only part of 2x03

(If you want to be tagged let me know)

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—Cregan this might be a cold continuation from what I was previously writing, but it cannot be helped. I did not want to leave you waiting, and I did not want you to hear rumors about me. And really, you are the only person I can tell what I’m about to say.

This will be my first and last letter. I am returning to King’s Landing, to infiltrate the Greens on Daemon’s behalf. I did not want to, I had told my mother I was not going, but just tonight they sent someone to kill her in her sleep, she got saved, but I cannot stay here and do nothing when I can be on the other side and be the thing she needs to win this war.

I might be killed, or I might not. I do not know, it’s a risk I am willing to take for my Queen. And if I am killed and this is the last time I ever talk to you, thank you. For everything…

I left my mother a note, I apologized for leaving and bestowing her with even more worry. I told her that I’m willing to do anything to help her get her throne back. Yet the one thing I did not tell her was how scared I am to return.

I’m terrified. I’m truly terrified. I knew fear, I felt it when I was in labor, but this fear I feel now is new, grander, and more horrifying, but it’s my duty to leave and help my Queen even if I have to leave behind all that I ever wanted.

I hope we see each other again. Take care of your boy.

Love, yours truly, your Darling.

“I know I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” you apologize to Aerion as he begins to whine after being woken up when you take him from his cradle. “<But we’re going to see your father, hm?>” You try to assure him Valyrian so the guards outside don’t hear and go alert your brother or your mother.

And even if you don’t think Aerion would quite understand what you offer him in return for waking him up, he actually smiles faintly in response before he settles against your chest as you cradle him against you.

Luckily the guards don’t question why you’re taking your child out so late at night, they don’t care that you’re dressed in a different gown than the one you just wore earlier. They watch you scurry away in a hurry without as much as a single comment which will probably get them in trouble with your mother when she finds out you're gone, but they don’t know you’re disobeying her and sneaking off Dragonstone to go into enemy territory.

No one knows, you told no one to make it easier on you

and on them, and also so nobody would try to stop you; even if not so deep below the surface you’re hoping someone will catch you rushing down the corridors and stop you. You don’t want to leave, you don’t want to be under Aegon’s rule now that he’s king and no one can truly tell him what to do. Before he would already get away with commenting stupid shit when Aemond wasn’t around you, and your friend and handmaiden Vanessa was spared from his tactics because you would tell him to leave her alone, but now that he has superior control and power?

But then there’s also Aemond. You don’t want to face Aemond. You don’t want to look into his eye and pretend you’re okay with the heartbreak he caused you and your family. You don’t want to sleep next to the man who killed your brother, and no matter the gaping hole in your chest, you don’t want to let him touch you in the most intimate way. Most importantly you don’t want to leave your family again. You want to stay, you want to fight amongst them.

You want someone to catch you mid-escape and stop you.

Someone. Anyone.

You get closer and closer to the cave's mouth where the dragons come and go, where you’ll find Astraea and Vanessa waiting, and still, no one comes out from the darkness of their rooms, and no guards question why you’re strapping Aerion to your chest as you rush down the corridors.

You’re only paces away. Moments from reaching your dragon, and finally you run into a presence.

“Grandmother,” you mouth breathlessly and finish securing your child’s straps.

Your grandmother looks you up and down, realizing your gown is not one used to sleep, and Aerion is too secure around you to just be heading for a stroll. You’re up to something and she’s the only one to notice.

“Granddaughter,” she greets and glances out the window in the distance to double-check that it is in fact still nightfall. “Why are you not abed?”

You swallow thickly and even if you hope she stops you in your attempts, you interject with your argument. “The Queen got attacked by Ser Arryk, who pretended to be his twin.”

Your grandmother nods. “I heard. That’s why I am here. Is her Grace all right?”

You nod lightly. “Shaken, but okay…I have to do this,” you continue blurting in your defense. “I have to do what Daemon told me to do in hopes that it will be my mother's path to her rightful throne.”

Your grandmother nods again but this time it’s a much more gentle nod as her face fills with concern yet also shows slivers of pride.

“I don’t want to return to King’s Landing, I don’t want her to feel like I abandoned her, but if it stops more of the people I love from dying or getting hurt, and if it gets her on that throne then I have to try,” you share without making it a question because under your hesitation you believe what you say.

“Don't stop me,” you lie and internally shout the opposite with tears clouding your eyes, but not falling because you fight them back to try and look confident. “It’s the right thing to do. And I’m the only one who can do it.”

Your grandmother holds your gaze and right away reads you like a book; she sees your fear, she notices how you plead with your eyes to be stopped, but she also sees your desperation to help, she sees your determination, and your hunger to do more. She sees a warrior, a woman she’s proud of, and she can’t say no to that because she knows that beyond all that fear you’re desperate to help.

“They’re snakes,” she speaks sweetly but with confidence so you could feel the same. “And you’re a dragon. Always remember that.”

You draw in a deep breath and nod slowly. She approaches you and grabs your face, making you look her in the eyes and see the pride she feels for you.

“If you ever find yourself in trouble send me a raven or whatever it is you can. Meleys and I will be there as soon we can, okay?”

You nod in comprehension and grab a hold of her hands as if your life depends on it.

“I love you, grandmother. I will see you again,” you muster to say with a tender smile and no tears.

“I love you too,” she redirects as she caresses your cheeks. “Be careful.”

After one last lingering look you pull away before you’re caught by someone who will stop you, and step out into the cave still hoping the same, but feeling more empowered now to leave and play your part.

The feeling of being so close to the stars does have a way of calming the nervousness that has your hands trembling and ties your stomach into knots. The sight of the glimmering sea basked by the moon's light does help you escape your terrorizing fear and feel at peace, like all you’re doing is taking a late night flight, admiring the stars from the heavens, and answering the sea's call. It's easy to find your resolution in the tranquility, now rather than panic, the belief that your path will lead you right back to Jacaerys, your mother, your grandparents, and your cousins makes you feel at ease over your choice. This is also why you’re leaving, after all, to be with them in a better world.

Yet just as your breaths are calm, and your heart eases to its normal resting beat, the moment you see the crowded and lively city, the large castle on that cliff, and notice all the eyesores that are the Scorpions aligned the top of the wall, your stomach twists tighter to the point you feel like vomiting, your heart pounds faster, and your chest tightens which is a new and unwelcoming change.

“DRAGON!” You hear the echoes of men coming from below as they all work hard to point the scorpions at Astraea calmly coming to a stop so they don’t have the audacity to shoot her.

“Vanessa,” you say and peer over your shoulder. “Wave the white flag so they know we’re no trouble.”

You then glance down at your aware child and caress the back of his little head. “<We’re almost to your father, okay?>” You whisper to Aerion before you press a light feathered kiss on his head. “<You should be sleeping though, hm?>”

Aerion has learned to blow raspberries thanks to his uncle's Viserys and Aegon, so he responds with spit all over your chest.

“<Lovely,>” you mutter, but then again it beats getting peed on. Which he has done, a lot, luckily most times Aemond is the victim of his son's incidents.

“Okay,” Vanessa steals your attention as she grabs onto one of your shoulders to wave the white flag you made sure to bring for this exact purpose.

However, in the midst of waving the flag of peace, and while some guards hesitantly drop their threatening aim, a large arrow is shot at Astraea unbeknownst to you or Vanessa. It comes whizzing at you as the flag continues to be waved in the sky, but luckily, thanks to the gods, Astraea notices the arrow coming at her from the corner of her watchful eye and jolts down before taking a sharp turn.

You let out a shocked gasp whilst also becoming alert of all your surroundings, and Vanessa throws herself on your back to keep herself secured.

The arrow aimed at your dragon's neck luckily flies past you and her thanks to your dragon's efforts, yet missing doesn’t spare your dragon's fury that mirrors yours.

“<Stupid idiots,> you grimace and snap your glare at the men who are to blame, finding them confused but also alert. They don’t see your piercing glare, but your dragon mirrors it before she lets out a loud and furious guttural roar.

“<Astraea,” you call out and lean down as much as you can to caress her side. “Calm down. Calm down, girl.>” you coo in High Valyrian in hopes she’ll listen, but she’s too clouded with anger, after all, she knows you didn’t come with intentions of fighting, and she knows that Vanessa and baby Aerion are straddled on her so she begins to circle around as she shakes her head and keeps throwing out angry shrieks.

“<Astraea,” you call again without losing your patience. “calm down. Calm down. We’re okay. You saved us. We’re okay, calm down girl.>”

Astraea finishes her circle and opens her mouth, letting out low chitters as she prepares to blast out fire at the men responsible.

“<Calm,” you coo and pat her. “Calm, my girl. We’re fine. We’re safe. Calm.>”

Astraea slowly closes her mouth and peers over to meet your gaze and assure herself that you and those with you are fine.

“<We’re okay,>” you assure her and pass her the same emotion with your eyes.

Astraea holds your gaze for a moment longer before she looks ahead at the same time you do.

“Are you okay, Vanessa?” You make sure to ask in the common tongue as you let out a deep and relieved breath.

“Yes, Princess,” she assures you. “Aerion?”

You glance down at your son and see him smiling which probably means he found Astraea’s antics amusing.

“He’s fine,” you say with relief of your own and caress the back of his head while noticing that all the guards now drop their aim and depart from the Scorpions, letting you push your handles forward to nudge Astraea down.

Nevertheless, when Astraea is descending to the ground, just past the Iron Gate, all those nervous and uneasy feelings come rushing back after you were rattled with fear and anger over acts of stupid people who don’t know what white flags mean.

When your feet hit the ground though, and you see castle guards already waiting for you by the gates, all those feelings that overwhelm you, increase tenfold. Now your blood pumps so hard that it interferes with your sight.

“I have renounced the…false Queen Rhaenyra,” you hide the strain in your voice as you say words you don’t mean, before also saying words that actually hurt you to say. “I have come to pledge my loyalty to King Aegon.”

The guards look at one another with confusion so you interject. “Where is Ser Criston Cole? Why is he not here to greet me?”

A commander steps forward and raises his head before he fills their silence without giving you the answer you sought. “Give us your weapons, Princess, and come with us.”

You shrug the satchel of arrows and your bow off your shoulders before grabbing your gown's skirt and pulling it up, making the man look away and miss the dagger you had strapped around your thigh. Once he sees the weapon land at his feet he meets your gaze again.

“I request an audience with the King, and my husband,” you demand with your nose in the air as the men pick up your weapons.

“They were alerted of your arrival,” the guard says and steps back to point ahead.

Before you walk past the gates you scoff and sass him. “Was my husband alerted of the incompetence of your men on the wall, Ser? A white flag means what?”

The man swallows thickly and lowers his head as he doesn’t hesitate to answer. “Surrender or a request for parley.”

You feign a dry laugh and nod. “Yes, yet an arrow was shot at my dragon whilst my son and my handmaiden rode with me. I will have all the names of the squadron who shot that arrow.”

The guard nods and steals a glance back at your dragon still behind you, growling as she watches for any wrong moves that might be made.

“Come with us, Princess,” the guard finally guides you forward and you’re hastily helped in a carriage that rushes you inside the castle walls where you’re immediately repulsed by the green and gold banners that are plastered everywhere.

The sight of them actually saves you from your torment, but only for a little because once you’re inside you’re slammed with all your emotions and you can’t help how your eyesight only seems to focus on what’s directly ahead of you. Everything else is swallowed by darkness as all your senses falter, and your heart and blood pound.

A part of you immediately expects to get ambushed once you walk into the throne room, and another part of you fears being greeted by Aemond alone because you know he won’t delay, he would come straight down the moment he was told of your sudden and ominous arrival. You would worry over Aegon, but it’s still dark out, and you can’t imagine he dropped all his temptations because he was bestowed with a great purpose, so you know for certain he won’t be waiting for you upon the throne.

Nonetheless, when you hold Vanessa’s hand in anticipation and approach the welcoming throne room, all you actually see is an empty hall and an empty seat.

Hundreds of candles light the hall, but it doesn’t make the throne room feel less unsettling. You once used to feel unbothered by the great room, after all, this was your home, you knew the meaning this room held, but you could never say you felt awe. It was another room. Now though, you feel uneasy like, when you walk into a stranger's home. Most of the hall has remained unchanged, besides the banners and large statue of your grandfather King Viserys in construction, but besides that, it's remained the same. Yet you can’t help but feel at odds.

You don’t like the ill feeling, you don’t like that besides the guards and Vanessa, the throne room is lonely. It only works to worsen what you already feel. It only makes the Throne Room seem dark.

You’re consumed by darkness and it makes you want to run and return home where it’s warm and surrounded by those you love. You want to leave. You shift your feet to storm away without any thought, but at that precise moment, the throne room doors open once again, welcoming in a shining light that casts on the ground and rolls down to your feet.

You expect a rowdy greeting from the King, but in the silence you capture the shadow of a tall and slender figure get painted on the ground instead. Now you need no help figuring out who the shadow belongs to, you know who it is without having to look back. Just like you recognize the sound of his footsteps as they climb down the steps.

You would know his footsteps blind and deaf, by the mere vibrations that strike the ground. You could recognize him by just his alluring scent, by his breaths as they furl in and out of his body. He doesn’t need to speak for you to know that it’s your husband, it’s Aemond.

He was the light that filled this hall and unwantedly calmed down your urgency to run.

And as if attracted to the light, you look back. Every muscle in your body yells at you to not look, your mind shouts at you to avert your gaze, but your bleeding heart can’t resist, it makes you look back to see him; the man who killed your brother, your husband, your Aemond, surrounded by the very candlelight that attracted you.

He meets your gaze and you meet his, causing your heart to skip a beat, and a breath to escape past your lips, whilst you also capture the disbelief written so plainly all over his face. It's almost like he can’t believe you’re standing across from him, and how can he?

You look like a dream to him with the way the moonlight and all the stars shining through the large windows bask you in their luminous light, making you look like a beautiful deity. A divine angel sent to him from above with the blessing that is your child.

And how can he not expect you to be some otherworldly presence? He sent letters in hopes you could return home so he could explain what happened because he knows how much you love your brothers, but you never came. Not until now, here you are standing under the throne, watching him without missing a step, with betrayal, and heartbreak he can easily read off your face.

He expected anger, but all he sees is pain. Heart aching pain that sets his world off its axis.

He had hurt you before, six years ago, but not like this. Six years ago when he accidentally cut your face he saw disbelief and horror, pain too, but not like this, he never heard your silent ‘why?’ screams that your eyes shout out at this moment. He never saw sorrow droop your eyes like they do now, and his guilt for hurting you was never as tremendous as it is now.

He hurt you, the one who’s loved him like no one has before. The person who’s brought him only happiness, and a blessing in your son. That’s why he wants you to be angry because he did something he can’t take back—and he does expect you to be overcome with anger later, you’re not one to swallow it down for him. Yet right now all he sees is disbelief and agony that gets more and more painful the closer he gets to you, until finally, you rip your eyes away when he’s only a few feet away.

“Look,” you coo at Aerion with a smile and stinging tears brimming in your eyes. “Look who it is, my love.”

Aerion yawns back mindlessly since he can't pick up on your sadness, he just sees your smile that begins to fade as you pick him. When his eyes drift to the tall man getting closer to you though, that exhaustion that threatened to take him to sleep completely disappears. Instead, his face brightens the moment he sees Aemond, the father he’s longed to see since he left home.

Yet before Aemond can take Aerion in his arms, you halt your attempts to hand your child over when you catch the elegant silver armor of the Kingsguard gleaming against the candlelight as they approach from the far left end of the throne room. Only these Kingsguard members aren’t the ones from before, they’re new, younger, and probably stupider considering they’re Aegon’s drinking buddies.

You would want nothing more than to share a judgemental look with Aemond, but now that he’s closer you can’t even have your face turned his way; which is why you get the perfect view of the Usurper, the false King Aegon, trudging in after his dimwitted Kingsguard with his clothes unbuttoned, his hair unsettled, and his eyes red with exhaustion or something else you don't recognize. Either way, he doesn’t look Kingly, not even when he’s caught off guard, but you’ll give him the benefit of the doubt only because it’s the middle of the night—Unless he’s drunk that is…

“Your Grace,” you utter words that once brought you pride to say to your mother, but now bring you disgust to say to him. Even the thought of bending your knee is a struggle to think about, but you know that you won’t get far without showing the respect he wants to see, so you force yourself down to your knee to someone so undeserving.

Luckily he doesn’t sense that disgust, you mask your emotions well behind your sorrowful face set to hopefully gain their sympathy while you try to enchant them with your plea for mercy.

“So it is true,” Aegon breaks his silence while he slowly approaches you behind his Kingsguard, as if cautious that you would try anything with Aerion still in your arms. “You are here.” He scoffs and you catch a hint of amusement, but you’re left with nothing to do in the regard but pretend.

“I come to renounce the false Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen,” you swallow your pride and leave no pauses, even if you can feel yourself straining as it feels like you’re hurting your mother with such cruel words. “I come to pledge fealty to ward the King, as well as ask for his forgiveness.”

You pause and bow your head so he can feel pride and superior over your current state which is something you never once let him feel with you. Not until now.

“I come to beg for mercy and a second chance,” you go on and don’t stop even if you hear the main doors opening before two pairs of footsteps filter in to join the audience already gathered around you and your handmaiden; as if you were a spectacle to gawk over.

However, in many ways you are, who would’ve thought that Rhaenyra’s own daughter would leave her precious mother's side to join the enemy?

It was expected of you since your husband is part of the green faction, but Rhaenyra is still your mother, and you have had chances to leave her side already but you haven’t until now. Why?

That’s on everyone’s mind but yours, that’s why they watch you carefully and never let Aegon get too close.

“I saw my wrongdoings,” you continue to sing your plea with a soft and sweet voice. “I saw my mistake in trusting Rhaenyra. I cannot stand behind her, I cannot support her after what,” you swallow thickly and look up to meet Aegon’s surprised gaze. “…she did to Helaena and Jaehaerys.”

Aegon’s eyes harden and every form of amusement he had upon seeing you on one knee is lost and replaced by slow-burning anger that is so rare to see on him. Yet it does nothing to actually scare you.

“I'm sorry. Please forgive me, My King.”

Someone falls by your left side where Aemond stands as well, but you don't see who it is because you’re too focused on Aegon parting away from the safety of his Kingsguard to approach you with that same hardened gaze seething with anger.

“To your feet Sweet good-sister,” he rolls out as he also motions you up with his fingers.

You hesitate, but slowly push yourself to your feet, causing Aerion to squirm as sees his father again.

Aegon sees and his lips twitch before he smugly barks an order without letting you out of his sight. “Take the child.”

Your eyes widen and that sorrow you expressed turns to panic. “No!” You cry out and press Aerion against you to protect him from the reaching hands whilst you desperately look over at Aemond with no regard to your previous feelings that were just tormenting you and forbidding you from looking at him.

“He has no fault in this Aegon,” Aemond interjects right away, making you notice Ser Criston is the one by him since he moves in between Aemond when his sword hand twitches.

“Aegon,” you hear the Dowager Queen Alicent interject, giving away the fact that she was the second person who had walked in late.

You had wondered where she was, you’re sure she would’ve been told you were here right away. You suspected she would already be here waiting for you, but she came late.

“What?” Aegon chuckles and raises his hands. “I mean no harm to my nephew. He’s my brother's son. He’s just in the way.” He quips and makes sure to look at you with a new sense of smugness now that he has you rattled.

“No,” you remain defiant and glare at his Kingsguard slowly approaching you while also glancing over at Aemond seething and glaring daggers from the side—“I will not let them touch him. Not them.”

His Kingsguard stop as if they were listening to you and look over at Aegon in confusion as to what to do next. Especially because Aemond still stands there menacingly.

“I will take him,” Alicent volunteers instead of Aemond. “Give him to me,” she tells you and approaches you with her hands out.

You may not like her, but one thing is certain; whatever hatred she has for your mother is never redirected at Aerion, she seems to love him just as much as she loves Helaena’s children. And Aerion does love her too since he is more accustomed to her presence. It’s why after one kiss on your son's head you hand him to Alicent, and motion Vanessa with your eyes to stand by her.

“I never would have expected you of all people to return,” Aegon interjects, making you drift your gaze away from Aerion completely taken by his other grandmother, and refocus your attention on the man before you.

“Yet here you are begging for mercy.” He feigns a smile that falls quickly. “Why should I believe you?” His voice grows cold which contrasts his burning glare.

“Why…” he trails off and smiles tauntingly at the ground before he suddenly lunges at you and grabs you by the throat, but not tight enough for you to actually gasp for air. His grip is just wrapped around your throat.

Not like it matters to Aemond either way because he still reacts in the blink of an eye by trying to lunge at his brother. Albeit he gets stopped right away by Ser Criston; proving to you at that moment why Aemond hadn’t taken Aerion just now, he was more concerned about you and what Aegon had up his sleeve. And he has every right to worry because Aegon is daring now that he’s king, now that he has control and no one to really tell him to stop. He pulls out the Valyrian dagger that your grandfather Viserys would carry, and slowly brings the tip to your throat, making you fear him for the first time. Not because he’s terrifying, but because no one has threatened your life before.

“…shouldn’t I pluck your eyes out and send them to Rhaenyra?” He finishes what he was winding up to say. “Along with your head. Firstborn for firstborn, hm? That would be justice.”

Aegon is careful not to puncture your skin as he drags the tip of the dagger up your face, as if teasing you instead of threatening you.

“She killed my son, why shouldn’t I send her your head?” He sneers as he watches the way he moves the dagger up your cheek. “Unless it was you who sent them.”

The tip of the dagger is pressed against you so you're careful not to shake your head, even if you want to further get your defense across.

“No,” you immediately deny him even if you shouldn’t, you should stay quiet, but you can’t just stand quietly as he wounds you by throwing false accusations of something you would never do. “I would never hurt Helaena,” your voice quivers. “I-I love her. I would never hurt her. I would never hurt anyone’s child, I’m not a monster. I would never do that.”

Tears fall down your cheeks but Aegon wipes them away as he keeps moving the dagger up to bring the tip inches away from your eye, causing Aemond to groan and push back against Ser Criston’s arm.

“Let me talk to her,” Aemond interjects as Ser Criston digs his feet into the ground and fights back the prince's push forward. “I will talk to her Aegon.”

Said man scoffs and shakes his head. “No. Gods no. You’re too enamored by her,” he says and laughs. “She would just bat her eyes and you would let her go. You have always been too sweet on her. No. I will continue talking to her. If she behaves she will not get sent back to her mother. Do you understand?” He directs at you now and shifts his hand holding the dagger, causing the candlelight in the distance to reflect on the smooth metal, and entrapping your attention to the gleam before your focus gets entranced by the fires lit in the metal stands.

It’s just an arm's reach away, you can grab it and tilt it on him. Your hand wouldn’t burn, but he would. He would stop touching you and not be so close. It can work.

But the war wouldn’t end and you would only die or be locked away for certain. You can’t do it, you won’t. Thus you look back at his stupid smug face.

“I will spare your son's life because he’s my nephew, but you,” he presses and brings the knife back down to your throat. “You’re just another bitch—”

You clench your jaw, and Aemond grimaces, making Aegon’s smirk deepen.

“My brother would not do better, but there are plenty of bitches to choose from,” he remarks and starts to rub his thumb on your neck, making you stiffen and start to actually, deeply feel horror.

“Stop,” you plead quietly but loud enough that Aemond can hear. “Stop it.”

Aemond pushes back harder as he hears you, but Ser Criston still manages to hold his ground.

“Why should I not kill you now?” Aegon asks. “You’ve been parading about the Kingdom asking for other Lords' loyalty for your mother. You bent the knee to her. You have no real sense of loyalty.”

“I was wrong,” you repeat yourself. “I was blinded by my love for her, but I am not now. I see clearly now. You are the true King. I see that now. Besides, how could I stay over there with Daemon wanting to kill Aerion for what happened?” You throw out a lie so they’ll be more willing to believe what you're trying to sell. And you actually get Aegon to hum, but as he keeps making you uncomfortable by caressing your neck.

“You do have a dragon,” he gets a point across. “But would you really attack your family?”

“My grandfather,” you blurt in hopes that will get him to stop his threat and stop what he’s currently doing. “My grandfather is going to make Aerion heir of Driftmark, and Lord of the Tides, but those efforts will be for naught if you kill me.”

Aegon glances at his side before slowly pulling the dagger away from your throat.

“If you kill him Aerion would be the next lord of Driftmark, which means that we could give you control of the fleet,” you add, making Aegon stand still for a moment as he takes in what you just said.

“We need that fleet, my King,” Aemond jumps into your defense. “With Aerion being so young we would be in charge until he becomes of age.”

Aegon nods slowly in comprehension but he then tilts his head and clicks his tongue. “But killing Lord Corlys will take time. If it happens at all.”

“I will fight for you,” you roll out as enticingly as you can to try and enchant him with your voice. “Let me fight for you, for my family. I want to come home.”

Aegon sighs deeply and stares deep into your soul without looking for help from anyone. And you look at him and lift your chin slightly to exude confidence you don’t feel at the moment.

Not like Aegon actually notices how shaken and fearful you currently are, or else he would pick on that and really make you feel small. He only sees what you want him to see, it’s why your song works on him and all the others.

“Fine,” he breathes out and finally lets you go, making you fall on your knees out of defeat as to what he was doing, and letting Ser Criston let Aemond go.

“You may return home. You will not join any of my councils obviously, and your dragon will be put in the dragon pit. If you step a hair out of line I will have you killed and sent to your mother.” Aegon clarifies.

Astraea is the way you’ll get your messages across but getting her out will be no problem, and you didn’t expect to be welcomed at the council anyway. The plan was always going to be you using those tunnels your mother used to use. Aemond is the only one you’ll actually disdain.

“You should know,” you mutter to get the last word in, which is bold, to say the least, but you can’t stay quiet after he was touching in that way. “Ser Arryk was killed by Ser Erryk because he was doing his job by protecting the royal family. That’s how I escaped…” you trail off and slowly lift your head to look at Ser Criston with a smugness playing in your eyes.

The Kingsguard briefly meets your gaze before he turns his head away without inputting anything. No one actually says anything in the regard.

Aemond then proceeds to approach you and offer you his hand, but you just glare at him before you turn away and help yourself up to go to Aerion.

“Thank you,” you offer Alicent you’re genuine gratitude before you take back your son.

“Of course,” she says. “I’m glad you’re both back home.”

You offer her a fake faint smile before you turn away and walk back to Aemond to hand him Aerion, who is immediately over the moon by finally being carried by his father. You cannot say the same, you actually make sure to turn away quickly so you wouldn’t have to look him in the eye. Instead, you address the commander who had greeted you outside to avoid a silence.

“Ser, if you would be so kind as to round up your best men tomorrow at the training yards after breaking fast. My son and I need a sworn protector with this war so rampant. If I depend on the new Kingsguard I’ll find my son sold for a flagon of wine or a pretty whore,” you say without shame and watch the knight snicker and glance over at the men you were so boldly speaking of before he looks back at you and responds with a comprehensive nod, letting you not take a second longer to finally try and leave the damn hall and these people. Yet not before you wipe that smile off the commander's face

“Oh and give the list of names of that squadron to Prince Aemond, he would like to know who the men were that shot at my dragon and our child as we were waving that white flag.” You finish and peer back with a serious look that actually turns out to be menacing.

Once you’re out of the hall, you would have liked to say you could catch your breath and find any sense of satisfaction, but the tension is quick to follow you out.

“Vanessa,” you interject after a while of striding toward the royal apartments. “Just grab a change for tonight and tomorrow morning. We can get anything else we need tomorrow.”

Aemond hears your commands and looks away from Aerion to watch you instead.

“And don’t worry about a cradle, Aerion can sleep on my bed tonight,” you continue to give orders, piquing Aemond’s attention even more, and making him forget that child so fascinated by him.

“What are you doing?” Aemond asks, but you ignore him even if you feel ticked off.

“My old chambers are available, we will both stay there. I won’t put Aerion in danger.”

You know deep down Daemon won’t try and hurt your child unless he means to hurt your mother in the meanwhile, but your hatred for him blinds you and makes you see him as a threat even though there’s no real need for such hostility.

“Yes, Princess—”

“No,” Aemond cuts Vanessa off bluntly. “You will not move the Princess or Aerion’s things anywhere. They will not be moving anywhere. They will stay where we are.”

You clench your jaw but continue to ignore his grating presence, as well as Vanessa’s brewing confusion—“Don’t worry about protection, the night will be short tonight because of how late it already is. We will hopefully have that situated by tomorrow—”

“Are you listening to me?” Aemond blurts and catches you off guard when he grabs your wrist and pulls you to a sudden halt so you can face his pointed glare.

Yet you don’t give him the satisfaction of being submissive, or looking away and walking off. Nor do you actually give him what he wants, at that moment you remember that you have to hold back for the sake of your purpose and your Queen. There’s things you want to remark and throw at him as he ruffles your anger, as you look him in the eye and stand so close, but you need to hold back, it has to be helped even if a cascade of memories follows, and have you challenging his glare for a moment before you rip your eyes away and look at your son in his arms to remind him he’s here witnessing it all.

“Vanessa take Aerion for a stroll so he can fall asleep,” Aemond interjects as he holds your gaze. “It’s past his bedtime. We can spend more time with each other on the morrow.”

Vanessa glances at you for the okay, but you don’t look back at her, you keep your eyes on Aemond even if your heartbeat picks up under his heavy gaze, letting her come to the conclusion herself and take Aerion from Aemond.

The boy does begin to whine after being parted from his father, but you don’t stop her either, knowing that there will be tension you don’t want him to see.

“I am not going to stay in the same room as you,” you make yourself clear and pull your arm away to start storming to your shared quarters.

“Do you think I am going to leave you and Aerion vulnerable and all alone?” Aemond counters, making you scoff.

“Does it really matter what happens to me?” You spat back in regards to who he killed, but he chooses to ignore that.

“Of course, it matters. You know that.”

You shake your head in disbelief and continue on quietly, letting him fill the silence for you. “You will stay where you are. It’s where you belong.”

You continue to stay quiet all the way to your shared chambers, which is unlike you, he wants to hear you argue as if that will help cure the strain made by the murder, but you stay quiet and don’t even fill the air with anything when you’re in your room. You just go and try to grab something to sleep in, but he immediately stops you by grabbing your robe and throwing it aside.

“I said no,” he hisses, but you reach for another, making him grab what you pick up and pull back.

“Let go, Aemond, I am not staying here. I am not going to sleep with you!” You bark back and grab his wrist to yank it away, but he rebuttals by grabbing your hand and overpowering you with ease.

“You are staying, and Aerion is staying here where I can protect him and you,” he makes it clear to you, letting you realize as you try to avoid looking at him that Aerion’s cradle is placed at the end of the bed instead of being in his own quarters.

“I do not need you to protect me,” you counter and let go of the robe to try and reach for another, but he crouches down and grabs your arm right where Daemon had grabbed you, and pulls you up.

“Let me go,” you fight him and ignore the ache in your arms as he presses on your bruises. “Don't touch me. Let me go, you're hurting me.”

As soon as Aemond hears those words his grip eases, letting you rebuttal by pushing him away. “Leave,” you cry out and can’t find the strength to hold back anymore, you forget the role you’re meant to play, your purpose for returning, and let your anger burst out from its confinement, resulting in you shoving him back.

“If you don’t want me to leave then you leave. Go. Get out!” You exclaim.

Aemond lets himself get pushed back again and only makes you grow more aggravated that he refuses matching your anger. “I do not want to see you. I do not want you to touch me. I do not…” you trail off and push him back toward a shelf. “I do not want you here. Get. Out.” You innouncate through gritted teeth, but Aemond doesn’t get the hint, he doesn’t care about the anger behind every shove, or the disdain behind every single word.

“He’s gone because of you. My brother is gone!” You finally express what has been stuck in the back of your throat, what really fuels your anger. You finally share the betrayal that you have harbored and that has played in your eyes since you first saw him in that throne room. “Get out!” You raise your voice and shove him back against a wall, but get no reaction in any way. He lets it happen, he watches your anger, and he lets you express it even if it brings violence.

“Get out!” You cry again and hit his chest, hoping he will move, that he will finally stop infuriating you more and react by at least stopping you, but he doesn’t fight back, like usual.

“Out! Out! Get out, Aemond!” You start to lose your cool and hit him more and more, each time your fists getting backed with more strength, while your chest gets heavy, and your eyes finally start to fill with tears as the sorrow you held back breaks out and starts to accompany your anger.

“Fight me back! Fight back you fucking killer. Fight me back!” You shout shakily. “You killed him. You killed Luke. You took my brother away from me. You…” you come to a stop and can’t yell anymore, your throat stings, and your chest starts to ache to the point it gets hard to breathe really fast. “You…”

Aemond watches you move your hands back to go and hit him again, but this time before you can make contact with his chest, he grabs your wrists and pushes you back, making you hold his gaze as he does so and not let go, even if his gaze his heavy and burns in you, even if he pulls you back to him with ease and causes a warmth to wash over you as he holds you close.

“Let me go,” you try not to mewl, but you can’t help it anymore. You can’t hold that anger over your agony. “Let me,” you groan.

Aemond parts his lips but doesn’t end up saying anything, instead he only attracts your eyes to his lips with this need that comes from deep down. You do manage to drag your eyes up after a second but find his gaze heavy and focused on your parted mouth before he lolls his head to the side, and slowly meets your tear-filled eyes.

You proceed to flicker your eyes down and he leans forward, expecting you to pull away, but you stay put as if magnetized to him. As if a slave to your need dwelling deep inside where you don’t want it to be.

“Aemond,” you whisper and his blue eyes find yours, letting you see how dilated his pupils are, but also how soft his eyes are with…distress you can read with ease.

“Why?” You ask in the intimacy of the moment where it’s just you and him, your husband, your lover, and your best friend. “Why did you do it?”

Aemond's eye falls and his lips slowly form a frown. You want to see what he feels, what he fails to say so you tilt your head down to look into his eye and get your answer, but he turns his head away and mutters. “Why did you come back if you hate me?”

“I…” you don’t finish, but you softly shake your head just enough that he notices the motion and peeks over at you.

You need to say it. You need to say what you’ve felt when you were away. He killed Lucerys, your beloved little brother. He hurt your mother and your brother. He betrayed you in the worst way possible. But those feelings you had thought of only sprung up because you weren’t looking at him. It was easy to think you hated him, but now that you’re looking at him, now that you feel his breath unfurl over your lips, and feel his heartbeat under your palm as you press your hand against his chest, you can’t muster a syllable, or conjure it in your heart. No matter how hard you try.

“I did not come for you,” is all you can muster. “I came for Helaena. Not for you.”

And deep under your conflict and your mission that is true. You did come for her in her worst moments where she needs what her family can never give her.

“Hm,” Aemond hums and welcomes a coldness to your wrists as he finally lets you go.

“You did not answer me,” you bring up your previous question. “Why did you do it? He was sent as a messenger, not a warrior. He was just supposed to deliver a message and get an answer, that's all, so why? Did he do something? Did he say something?”

Aemond swallows thickly and his gaze gets hard before he deadpans. “You and Aerion are staying here. I will lock you in here if I have to. Do not make it hard.”

His gaze lingers on you for a second longer before he slips away even if he knows you are waiting for an answer. Just a simple one if need be, something to give you peace of mind, but he goes to the door looking like he isn’t going to stop until you fall on your knees the moment you can’t hold strong anymore. Everything you felt collapses over you and you break down.

Aemond hears your sobs, it unsettles him, and tugs at his heart, but even if you’re the only one who can ever cause such an effect, he doesn’t go to your side even if at that moment you wouldn’t have pushed him away. He lets out a deep breath and leaves you alone.

He doesn’t return until hours later just moments before the sun could break into the sky, finding Aerion fast asleep in his cradle, and you balled up on your side of the bed. He thinks you're asleep, but you couldn’t find it, so you heard him walk in quietly.

You hear him take his belt off, and pull his boots off to be able to approach the end of the bed without alerting the sleeping babe, going unaware at that moment of you peeling one eye open to watch him caress Aerion’s cheek ever so gently as to not wake him before he smiles faintly, causing your own heart to involuntarily pick up in its speed before it jolts when he steps back.

As to not get caught you immediately shut your eye and listen, catching his footsteps go around the bed and approach you.

At first, you think he’s going somewhere else, but his scent then intoxicates you as he stops beside you, causing your racing heart to ease as if his scent was the only key to calm down. He proceeds to stare and you know that you feel that deep down, you feel his eye on your face before it leaves a burning trail down the upper half of your body.

When it comes to your exposed arms that you can’t hide anymore, he hooks his finger on the blanket and gently pulls it down before he runs the tip of his finger on the bruise marked on your flesh, and keeps it there as if the touch alone will give him the answer as to what happened.

After a moment he groans with what seems to be frustration before he lifts his fingers and suddenly surprises you by caressing your cheek before he brings his face down, letting his long silver hair tickle your shoulder, while his breath unfurls over your cheek.

You try not to hold your breath or move, but he makes it hard as he lets the warmth of his lips mingle over your cheek.

Is he going to kiss you or not?

Yes?

No?!

You wait and wait until he suddenly pulls back and his footsteps recede, letting you open your eye to catch him walking around the bed as he takes his vest off, showing how his back muscles move fluidly with him. And thanks to the light starting to peek in you can see how smooth and sculpted he looks under such a soft light.

You want to see his face, his torso, and those perfect abs, but you close your eyes and remember what he’s done, and once again you’re cast with…sorrow.

——

*LATER*

Stupid ache…

“Vanessa, could you have tea prepared for breakfast? I woke up with all different kinds of aches,” you grumble and slip on your shoes. “My head is aching, and I feel a bit nauseous.”

Vanessa hooks the last jeweled chain on your back to the golden broach on the shoulder part of your deep blue gown, and then slowly peeks out from the side with her eyes filled with curiosity. “Princess I have been meaning to ask. When you were in Winterfell…”

Oh is she trying to get the gossip? With everything that went on after you returned from the North, you never had time to tell her what happened.

“Did you…”

Before she can finish what she was building up to the door opens and Aemond walks in with Aerion, making Vanessa groan because once again she was left to hold in her question.

“I will prepare the tea for you princess, but perhaps you should see the maester?” Vanessa purposely says at the wrong time, causing Aemond to peek over—“You did not eat your dinner yesterday because of your stomach ache.”

You side-eye Vanessa, but she doesn’t care that she just blurted your troubles for Aemond to hear, she slides behind you to fix the jeweled chains on your back.

“What’s wrong?” Aemond interjects in your silence.

You drop your eyes to avoid looking at him in the mirror and with your fingers trace the gold design that swirls with the wave patterns on your blue gown.

“Nothing,” you deadpan.

Aemond stays quiet for a second before you hear his footsteps approach you. “I saw bruises on your arms,” he doesn’t hold back from bringing up. “What happened?”

He will ask Vanessa, and she will tell him, so you just answer him in the most serious voice so he knows that his presence bothers you. “Daemon happened. He wanted me to leave and he was not kind about it.”

There's a second of silence before you hear a deep and frustrated sigh. You dare yourself to look up and catch Aemond’s gaze on your arm before he blinks and tries to meet your gaze, but comes up empty-handed when you look at Aerion instead.

“<Did you have a good time, my little dragon?> You speak to him in High Valyrian and watch him wave his hands excitedly.

“My grandmother says he could start eating solids when he’s 5 months old,” you direct at Vanessa, making her step away and nod with a happy smile.

“Yes, it’s possible, he’s starting to sit up alone, so he’s almost there.”

You grin at your child and caress his chin. “<Hear that? We will get you nice and plump in no time. As of now…” you trail off and take him from Aemond to walk away from the mirror. “How would you like to go with Aunt Helaena and your cousin Jaehaera, hm?>”

Aerion responds by reaching for your dangling earrings, so you lean your head away and shake your head, only getting him more intrigued.

“I’m heading to a council meeting,” Aemond says as you continue avoiding him. “I will talk to the maester to come see you later.”

“I can seek the maester myself,” you quip and scrunch your nose at Aerion to try and make him smile.

Aemond stays still and quiet before he walks away. When he reaches the door you peek over and see him stop again before he turns his head, but not completely. He just stands there for a moment with his gaze in the corner of his eye before he just walks out of the room.

“I do not know how I will do it,” you mumble to Vanessa the moment the door closes and he’s walking away. “I can not…pretend to be okay with him. I know I must try, but…I see…what my mind thinks what happened that day, and I get angry and sad.”

Vanessa walks to you to take Aerion and face you with a pitiful frown. “It will be hard, but you will not get anywhere if you do not try. Just take it step by step.”

You sigh deeply and nod softly. “I will leave now too to listen in to the meeting,” you change the subject. “I should make it back for breakfast with Helaena, I should not take long. That’s not my intention anyway.”

“Be careful,” your handmaiden warns you. “Try and remember your way back. Good luck.”

You giggle and pat her shoulder. “I will be alright. I do wish my cat was here though. He would make it easier to make my way around. If anyone asks for me just tell them I went for a stroll to catch my breath.”

Vanessa nods hesitantly and seems to want to input another warning, but she just bites her tongue and watches you walk out the secret door hidden in your quarters

At first, you admit you feel a bit turned around, all the damn tunnels are built almost identically. Plus there’s only the torch that you light as a form of light until you reach small windows, but those aren’t everywhere. Luckily though, you manage to remember where the council hall is. You do arrive a bit later than you hoped, but you got there all the same.

And it seems Ser Criston just arrived too, going off his greeting.

“Forgive my lateness,” you catch Ser Criston interject as he seems to sit down.

“Important business, no doubt,” you cringe at Aegon’s grating voice.

“You appointed new knights to the Kingsguard, Your Grace?”

Ser Criston is barely asking that? They were with the King last night.

Some commander he is.

“To replace those we lost,” Aegon remarks.

“The last one needlessly, some might say,” a man comments quietly but full of judgment. You can’t say you can place a face or a name to the voice though.

“Ser Arryk was awarded the great duty of ending Rhaenyra’s challenge,” Ser Criston argues pointlessly. “He failed to discharge it.”

At least he recognizes that error.

“He failed because the scheme was rash,” you hear the Dowager Queen interject before getting countered by the Commander of the Kingsguard.

“Perhaps, Your Grace but we cannot all hide in our castles waiting for war to come to us.”

You have to admit that it is true, but that does not excuse the stupid act they sent Ser Arryk to do. The Kingsguard protecting your mother aren’t bad at their jobs like he is.

“As now it surely will,” Alicent quips.

“As, now,” Aemond interrupts the bickering, managing to catch your breath in your throat at the mere sound of his voice. “It already has. House Bracken took it upon themselves to attack the Blackwoods who declared for the pretender. Lord Samwell Blackwood himself is slain.”

“Good,” Aegon says. “First blood in our name.”

Ugh, idiot.

“Both sides took heavy losses, Your Grace,” you recognize Ser Tyland made a point the King failed to see. “I-I’m not entirely certain we can declare this victory—”

“The Blackwoods and the Brackens had feuded for centuries. This is nothing more than an excuse for them to indulge their ancient grudge. It’s no true war.”

A sudden pound against the table shuts the speaking Lord up and makes you press yourself closer to the wall.

“Call it what you will,” Aegon follows by saying, making him the one who pounded whatever it was on the table's surface. “I call it war. And so will Dragonstone. The question is, what are we going to do about it?”

What is there to do? It was a stupid squabble between feuding families. There’s no significant point behind that bloodbath.

“We send a raven to Lord Tully,” you hear the maester come up with a solution amongst the other heads around the table. “These houses are his vassals, are they not? He must control them.”

“Lord Grover Tully is a flaccid, old fool who couldn’t control his cock in a cunny,” the Lord you don’t recognize cuts in with a hint of judgment. “Begging your pardon, Your Grace.”

“Do you have any better suggestions, Lord Jasper?” Aegon asks and once and for all brings a name and face to the voice.

“Your Lord Uncle Ormund marches from Old Town at the head of a great host, Your Grace,” the Lord rebuttals. “And your brother Daeron’s dragon nears fighting age. Call on them to suppress the Riverlands.”

Yes with Caraxes and Daemon going to the Riverlands? Tessarion would get ripped to shreds, he’s no more experienced than your dragon.

“At least they are months away,” Ser Tyland interjects. “My Lord brother Jason is raising a great army at Casterly Rock. In a matter of weeks, he will be able to harass the Blackwoods from the west—”

“Should we not aim to unite these armies?” You’re surprised to hear the maester give his opinion. “And then strike as one?”

He has a point. One big army is better than small ones.

“Ah,” Ser Tyland interrupts as he laughs mockingly. “The great military mind of the Citadel. Do remind me—”

Oh gods can this get any more childish?

Here instead of questioning the ruler they bicker with each other.

“This council must rediscover the discipline it lately had if its to be of any use,” Alicent thankfully shuts them up.

“The Riverlands are the key to the war,” Ser Criston moves the meeting forward over his rattling armor. “Harrenhal is the key to the Riverlands. I will ride out with those I can muster here. Men I know, men I’ve trained.”

Your interest finally piques and you push yourself off the wall to lean your ear close to the gaps on the wall that look in the council room.

“You need time to raise the numbers to challenge the Rivermen,” Alicent makes a smart point, but Ser Criston doesn’t seem to see it that way.

“Speed is my ally. I will turn the Crownland houses who declared for Rhaenyra to our cause. We will add their numbers to our own then turn west. Where I will enlist the Brackens, subdue the Riverlands, and take Harrenhal.”

Well, that’s a mighty goal. Smart yet a bit far-fetched.

“So impatient to ride with so few men,” Alicent says. “So like to be destroyed by the first stronghold you meet. A bold scheme indeed.”

Yes, especially because Daemon is also currently going to take the Riverlands as well.

“Well, the gods favor the bold,” Ser Criston quips a stupid comment that Alicent thankfully strikes down.

“They did not favor Ser Arryk.”

Ser Criston chuckles before he turns to get the favor from a war-thirsty mongrel. “What say you, my King?”

“And you’ll take Aemond and Vhagar?” Aegon asks, making you hold your breath out of anticipation as to what the response will be.

“Vhagar will remain here,” Ser Criston immediately lets you breathe, and doesn’t let the running thoughts that were building up, rush out and make a mess in your mind—“to defend the city.”

“Good. To war then,” Aegon exclaims, making Ser Criston hum in agreement and get the approval he was seeking for from the king.

“I’ll come, too, with Sunfyre,” Aegon continues making your lips twitch.

“Aegon,” Alicent calls out in protest.

“Your Grace.”

“You’ll need a dragon,” Aegon quickly throws out, making Ser Criston argue back.

“My plan is not to draw attention.”

“And-and what will you do if you encounter one or more of Rhaenyra’s dragons?” Aegon asks and you can’t help but answer in your mind that he’ll hopefully die.

“She’ll want to answer for Ser Arryk,” Aegon adds.

“We will be more like to encounter one if we field one of our own,” Ser Criston tries to make it clear to Aegon.

“That is precisely why you must remain, brother,” Aemond says calmly which actually surprises you. You would’ve thought he would volunteer to fight with Vhagar. “It’s a brave thought, but we cannot risk your loss.”

You smile in amusement at his words obviously not laced with genuine care.

“I’m as fearsome as any of them,” Aegon argues, making you stifle your laugh during the short and awkward silence that follows.

“We must also raise the matter on…” Lord Jasper interjects hesitantly after. “The Princess’s arrival. It is ominous, to say the least, and suspicious considering how much Rhaenyra coddles her children. We must press her for what she knows. If it’s true that she has switched loyalties—”

“No,” Aemond counters, making your heart skip a beat. “You will not do such a thing. I will talk to my wife.”

“We have already discussed all the matters with the princess herself,” Alicent interjects. “Her dragon will be put in the dragonpit, and we will keep a watchful eye on her.”

No tongues rise on the matter because no one wants to face Aemond’s wrath because he, unlike Aegon, has proven himself to be fearsome.

Nevertheless, you use this as your cue to leave and return to your quarters before you can be caught, finding it a much easier venture back than when you came. You surely do relieve Vanessa of any stress she harbored as she dramatically over-worried herself that you would get yourself lost.

“We should head out now,” you don’t take a moment to catch your breath or write the first letter to your mother about what you just heard.

“Is everything all right?” Vanessa queries.

You take Aerion from her and nod. “Things are as good as they will be at the moment. I need to send a letter to my mother to let her know what Ser Criston is going to do. Hopefully, Aemond is not clinging today.”

“We can always find a way to part from him,” Vanessa looks at the bright side. “It does not seem like he will be around much with this war needing constant attention.”

You scoff as you walk out of your room. “You would be surprised,” you mutter in return.

The moment you are out of your room and head to Helaena’s new chambers, you feel a sense of nervousness knot your already nauseous stomach, and rush through your veins to the point your hands begin to tremble at the thought of facing Helaena; seeing her grief, and seeing her pair of twins be left to one child.

It was not so long ago when you would both escape to your little Island with your dragons and her children. Now those are tainted memories of what she doesn’t have anymore.

What if she thinks you betrayed her and hates you for it?

You would understand, you would obviously try and explain that it wasn’t you so she knows she’s not alone in her grief, that she has you in the same way she has had you for the past year, but ultimately you would not blame her. It was Daemon, your family, your infamous side who killed her child.

Yet no matter how much your thoughts pester you, or how much you want to turn tail and return to your quarters, you’re more daring when it comes to her. You do hesitate a moment as you stand outside of her door with Aerion in your arms, but after beating down what’s making you hesitate, you knock and let your presence know.

Silence passes for a few minutes making you think you came too late, but then a few seconds later the door is opened by one of her ladies-in-waiting, leaving a clear view of her to you, and you to her.

“Good morning,” you greet softly as you walk in, seeing her put down what she’s sewing before she slowly meets your gaze with puffy eyes, but no tears brimming within. Her grief is clearly painted but it does not seem to bring her down like you thought it would. Still, you don’t feel any less guilty or sorry.

“Good morning,” she greets in return and then finds your son in your arms. “Good morning to you Aerion.”

The baby watches her before his eyes dart to Jaehaera and he becomes instantly infatuated with the little girl, so much so that he throws himself back against you out of glee.

“Someone’s happy to see you,” you direct at Jaehaera approaching you.

“Me?” She points at her chest and then flashes a grin that grows wider when you crouch so Aerion can be at her level.

“Hello Aerion,” she tells the baby and gently grabs his hand, making the baby firmly grab onto her.

“I missed you,” she tells him and shakes his little fist, making him slowly try and bring her hand to his mouth.

“He’s strong,” she comments with a giggle before she pulls her hand away and looks at you. “Can I play with him?”

“He’s a babe,” Helaena points out to her daughter, making her sigh.

“Well,” you try to console her. “He can sit with you and he can happily watch you play while he plays with some of toys of his own. You have to wait until he’s older so he can play with you.”

Jaehaera frowns, but she doesn’t argue. “All right then.”

You flash her a smile and stand to your given height to give Aerion to one of the wetnurses, so they can take the children to a different corner of the room while you talk to Helaena before your breakfast gets here.

“I planned to have breakfast a bit unexpectedly, I hope that’s all right,” you direct at Helaena who is watching her daughter for a moment before her eyes drift back to you.

“There’s no problem,” she assures you, making you nod gently before you grab your hands and fiddle with your fingers as you carefully think of what to say.

“Helaena,” you whisper, making her hum to probe innocently.

Before you can continue you briefly glance at her sitting on a couch before you go and sit next to her, making her turn to face you as you continue to struggle with how to tell her everything you feel in the bottom of your heart.

“I…I’m sorry,” you say what you have already told so many people, yet it’s not something you will get tired of saying because you can’t help or ignore your guilt, nor does this grief end. It keeps coming and coming.

“I’m sorry for what happened to Jaehaerys,” your voice quivers, and tears, the one thing you are tired of, well in your eyes, making them sting. “I’m sorry for what happened to you.”

Helaena’s eyes fall on her hands, and her lips fall to a small frown that only tears at your wounded heart even more.

“I know it must be hard, but I cannot be here and not come tell you that I am deeply sorry,” you continue as she stays quiet, and slowly reach for her hand. You know she’s not fond of intimacy, but you don’t overstep, you just drop your hand on hers, and she doesn’t move it away at that moment. Her hands stiffen but she lets you hold her hand.

“You and your children did not deserve that, he did not deserve that. I’m sorry,” you add softly, making her trail her eyes up to meet yours.

“But it is not your fault,” she says and surprises you. “You did not do it. Why are you sorry?”

You part your lips but can’t muster a thing, instead, you drop your head and lick the salty tears that roll down your cheeks and fall on your lips.

“Because it was not fair,” you bring up what you feel. “Because…it was a cruel thing to do, and agonizing to go through. Because…I know who sent those killers to you.”

A silence follows where Helaena slips her hand over yours and carefully wraps your hand with hers, making you blink repeatedly in disbelief before you meet her gaze with that same emotion in your eyes.

“It was still not your fault,” she presses ever so sweetly. “You did not send those killers, nor did you commit the act. I do not blame you, nor do I hate you.”

Your breath catches and a smile slowly tugs on your lips as your tense body eases with the relief that washes over you.

“I’m here for you, you know that? If you need someone to talk to, or a shoulder to cry on, I’m here for you. Always. I love you Helaena.”

She nods softly and offers you the sweetest smile that reminds you of the sweetest spring days. “I know,” she whispers.

You don’t expect her to say it in return, but you know her true feelings with the hand still wrapped around you.

“Why are you here though?” She suddenly blurts.

“I-I,” you pause out of confusion, but give her a clear answer. “I’m here for you.”

Helaena shakes her head and pulls her hand away. “You are not listening, why are you here? You should not have come.”

Your tears dry, and your confusion leaves no trace of the joy you were just beginning to feel

“I see it,” she presses and leans towards you. “A crown on a black veil.” She nods as if that helped you in some way. It only leaves you lost and a bit concerned.

“Okay…” you just give her the satisfaction of an answer to not leave things awkward. “Breakfast should be—”

And just as you’re going to finish, the doors open and servants with breakfast come in.

“I think Aemond missed you,” Helaena interjects while the breakfast is being placed. “And Aerion. He had his cradle moved after what happened with Jaehaerys.”

“Yes,” you mumble. “So I saw.”

Helaena gets off her seat and you mirror her to follow her to the round table, finding that breakfast looks unappetizing. The food looks good, but the nauseousness you feel is still lingering within you.

“Helaena I was thinking perhaps you could accompany me to select my new sworn protector,” you fill the silence as you take a seat. “I think getting out of your room and taking some air would be nice. Besides, I think a nice stroll in the gardens afterward would be nice, the weather is agreeable.”

Helaena sits beside you rather than in any other empty seat and looks at you before she queries. “What of the new Kingsguard that Aegon appointed? Why don’t you pick one of them?”

You meet her gaze and giggle before you look at the tea you requested getting placed in front of you. “No,” you put it simply. “One, that would be pretty foolish and Aemond would never allow that.”

She hums and the corner of her lips twitches. “I’m sure if Aemond could, he would be stuck to you like a shadow.”

You laugh softly and nod. “He tries.”

“I hope you and him reconcile,” she says. “It’s nice seeing him laugh with you.”

You swallow thickly and answer honestly. “I think it will be hard forgiving him for what he did.”

She hums and says one last thing. “Just do not wait too long, okay?”

Your heart skips a beat and your eyebrows furrow but you offer her a soft smile and nod. “Okay.”

She holds your gaze a second longer before she reaches over to serve herself some food. You try and do the same, but your stomach stops you from really desiring anything.

Helaena notices your reluctance and interjects as she leans toward you. “You should eat, it’s not good for the babes if you do not.”

Your eyes widen and slowly meet her gaze expressing only utter disbelief. “What?” You deadpan.

All Helaena does is offer you a simple smile before she starts eating, leaving you overcome with confusion, even if deep down what she said starts to make sense; Your over-exhaustion, your stomachaches, and headaches.

And it would track, Aemond and you did have sex before you left for Dragonstone, but…Cregan and you…

No…that’s a possibility you do not want to think about, and he’s always careful, and you…did not take Moontea this time, but it can’t be true, him being related is especially not true.

IF what Helaena said was true the babes are Aemond’s. And that’s even if Helaena is telling the truth, sometimes she has the tendency to say things that don’t make sense. Just like this, it's all just a jumble of words.

You will choose to believe that until you talk to someone who can actually prove it. Until then you pay all your focus on your breakfast with Helaena and keep yourself even more busy with choosing your sworn protector already discreetly picked by Daemon of all people.

You did not think he would care that much as to pay someone to keep you and your son safe, but here you are now standing on a balcony over a courtyard, hearing metal sing over the chaos playing all about the castle as men prepare to go to war with Ser Criston.

Usually, men just line up, and someone shares their achievements and a summary of how they became so high ranked and so on, but that all sounded so boring and you have lacked fun so you chose for a not-so-commonly picked choice and had them just demonstrate their skill.

“Perhaps there’s no need for such a show of violence,” Helaena gives her opinion as she stays back in her seat. “Go with the man Aemond wants you to pick.”

You roll your eyes and shake your head. “No,” you deadpan and cross your arms over the railing to lean your head over and watch as a man with short black curly hair suddenly pulls his cloak off to hurl it at his opponent and blind him.

You grin at his quick thinking and watch this tall, well-built man kick his opponent back while he’s blinded and trying to take the cloak off his face, resulting in the cloak to slip off but a few seconds too late because the intriguing man pulls out a dagger and thrust forward.

Albeit the opponent blocks his attempts with his arm, making you unfold your arms to press your hands on the cold stone and push yourself forward out of excitement.

The man proceeds to use his arm to dismantle his opponent's block by shoving his arm away, before he quickly grabs his arm and spins around him to be able to wrap his other arm around his opponent's neck, and point the tip of his dagger at an artery; with that finishing the last match, and making you beam and clap.

“Well fought!” You exclaim, causing the man to let go of his opponent so they can both face you and bow their heads. “What’s your name Ser?”

The man you called on lifts his head and you meet the most mesmerizing blue eyes that remind you of the bluest sea water.

“Ser Jason Waters, Princess,” he announces, making your grin twitch as you realize that this tall man below is the man Daemon hired for you.

“A bastard from King’s Landing,” the commander beside you whispers in your ear as if that affects his quick thinking or his battle experience—“Go with Ser Aldous from the Crownlands. That’s the man your Lord husband thought capable. He has battle experience, and he is well-honed.”

You scoff and give him the same attitude you just gave Helaena. “I do not care what my Lord Husband wants, and bastard or not that does not affect Ser Jason’s skill. Tell me his triumphs.”

The man hesitates but responds with what you asked for. “He fought at the Stepstones when he was ten-and-six with Prince Daemon until the war ended.”

You look over to flash the man a smile as you hit your palms on the stone. “See, he has battle experience too.” You look back at the man and focus your eyes on the scar that travels from the right corner of his forehead and all across his face to end on the left corner of his jaw.

“Tell me, Ser Jason, how did you get your scar?” You probe with genuine curiosity. “My grandfather Lord Corlys says a scar is always a story. What is your story?”

Ser Jason huffs lightly and glances down with a small smile that carves adorable and deep dimples on his cheeks.

“I,” he clears his throat and bats his lashes before he faces you. “I fought a Dothraki Screamer after I departed from the Stepstones.”

Your eyes widen and you quickly poke him for more with a bit too much excitement. “A Dothraki Screamer? Really?!”

He nods. “He almost took my face but I ended up winning,” he boasts with a shy smile. “Not that I am saying it was easy. It was…it was difficult.”

Your smile widens at his stumble of words before you look at the Commander. “Has Ser Aldous fought a Dothraki screamer and won?”

The commander sighs and argues. “But Prince Aemond—”

“I will make sure Prince Aemond does not take his anger out on you. I made this choice, I am capable of choosing a worthy protector for me and my child,” you interject to assure him, but then Helaena breaks her silence by calling your name before giving her opinion.

“Maybe you should listen to Aemond. I do not think Ser Jason is a wise choice.”

Her eyes snap to the man she can see through the gaps of the railing, and draws in a deep short breath before meeting your gaze and breathing out.

“You worry,” you tell her. “Just like, my Aemond. It’s okay.”

Helaena holds your gaze for a second longer with a very hard and pressuring look before she drops her head and nods stiffly.

“Let me just close this matter up and we can go for our stroll,” you assure her and return your attention to Ser Jason. “I will see you on the Morrow for your first day, Ser Jason. Thank you. And thank you to the rest of you, do not worry I am sure your skill will still be needed, I will make sure to recommend you to good positions.”

The other knights bow their heads to express their gratitude, but you focus on the man in the middle and understand now why Daemon chose him of all people to protect you and Aerion while you’re here in the jaws of the enemy. He’s well-traveled and has been holding a sword since he was a boy.

You have to give Daemon his flowers for this one thing.

“Thank you, Princess,” Ser Jason speaks up with his head raised and a crooked smile on his lips. “You bring me a great honor. I will protect you and yours with my life. I will not let you down. I will guard you even from the shadows that lurk in the night, and the cowards who call themselves men.”

You offer him a faint appreciative smile and as his crooked smile falls to a soft and gentle one, his blue eyes seem to deepen more, bringing this innocent look on his face that slowly pulls your smile down as you’re reminded of your sweet brother, Lucerys.

He would have been Lord if he had lived to be older. He could have had many different dangerous experiences like this man, he could have grown as sweet looking as this man, and held great achievements like this man, but he can’t. He was taken before he could really live a life of his own. Now you’re left just looking at this man below and getting reminded of what can’t flourish because Aemond made sure to kill it.

“Thank you, Ser Jason,” you offer the man softer than before and give him one last smile before you turn to try and leave. However, before you can you catch this certain familiar gleam in his eyes that steals your attention for a lingering second before you rip your eyes away and finally give Helaena all your attention.

“Now my Sweet aunt,” you probe as you hold your hands before you. “Why do you doubt Ser Jason?”

Helaena glances at you with a bit of surprise because you’re asking her for her thoughts that others would have disregarded.

“I just,” she says and turns her head away as she holds her hands. “I have a bad feeling about him.”

You take in what she says and quickly try to reassure her. “It’s normal to doubt people now more than ever, we are at war and tragedy has befallen everyone, but we cannot live our lives paranoid. But I will tell you what, I will be cautious, okay?”

Helaena nods softly and you add a remark. “Plus, the knight Aemond picked was old don’t you think?”

Helaena giggles and nods. “He was.”

“I’m sure it was done on purpose,” you comment on your husband's jealousy.

“You think?” Helaena asks, making you nod with a teasing smile playing on your lips.

“I know so. Now,” you change the subject to something she likes. “Tell me what have you caught as of late?”

Helaena’s shoulders release from their tense hold and her eyes glimmer for the first time. “I caught fireflies the other day by the pond, but I think they’re too beautiful to keep, so I let them go.”

You hum and feed her interests. “They are quite fascinating, they’re like little stars.”

She hums and carefully holds some of your fingers, making your heart happily skip a beat. “Did you know that they flash their lights for different stuff? Like when they’re trying to attract a mate, or deceiving others,” she muses. “And many people mistake them for flies or bugs, but they are beetles in truth.”

You hum. “I did not know that,” you share.

“Well, now you do.”

You giggle and nod. “Yes, I do. Now I think if I could be any insect I think I would be an orchid mantis. They are very beautiful.”

Helaena laughs softly and lolls her head towards you. “You’re funny.” She says, making you smirk.

You end up taking the long way to the gardens and find yourselves walking through the training yard that is flooded with men all preparing to go off to war, but halting the moment they all spot Queen Helaena walking by. All except for one man in bulky silver and green armor; he walks away from his horse with a half-smug smile on his face. And it's only when you get closer that you start to predict who he might be just going off the flaming tower on his chest plate.

“My Queen,” he finally pays his respects and bows his head. “And…” he leaves room for you to introduce yourself, and you do, making his eyes brighten and the smile turn more smug.

“Ah, the Realms Golden Girl, how nice it is to meet you at long last,” he rolls out of his tongue with a sense of cheekiness, but not filled with deceit, more so like he’s trying to seduce you.

But, as charming as he does speak, he can’t reel you in. You smile, but you also glance at Helaena in confusion, yet she doesn’t seem to understand you asking for help, so the man before you bows his head at you before he finally introduces himself; “I am Ser Gwayne Hightower.”

Ah, Alicent’s brother.

“It is an honor to meet you. I have heard a great deal about you,” you just say out of respect but you could care less even if he is a bit handsome for a Hightower.

“Hm,” he hums with a growing smirk. “In all my comings and goings never have I met such an enchanting beauty,” he flatters you and you can’t help but show off a shy smile—“my nephew is a lucky man.”

You scoff softly and he leans closer. “I am going off to battle with the Lord's Hand…”

You scoff at the title given to such an unqualified man and he seems to catch your drift and matches your mocking smile before he continues.

“I would fight more fiercely if you granted me your hand,” he speaks smoothly, but you still don’t fall prey to his attempts. Albeit you do give him your hand and watch him gently bring your hand up to his lips to press a gentle kiss on your knuckles.

Once he lets go of you his smug smirk deepens.

“I wish you well in your travels, Ser, I hope to see you again,” you offer him even if deep down you do not mean it at all and you pray and hope for his and all their downfalls. “Now if you will excuse me, the Queen and I have to go.”

“Of course.” He bows his head at you before drifting his attention to Helaena one more time. “My Queen.”

She offers him a faint smile before she pulls you away with her to finally get away from the clustered place and walk through quieter spaces until you both find joy and peace in the castle gardens.

Winter is coming, like the Stark’s like to say, but the garden does not lack life. It’s a lively contrast to the chaos ascending everywhere, and a peaceful escape where you can admire the vibrant autumn flowers that show their beauty off like stars at night. The trees are bare with the leaves rusting and breaking away, but the vibrant leaf colors that litter the ground steal the attention from its emptiness. The only thing that does make the garden feel lackluster is the lack of roses. They don’t bloom like they do Winterfell.

“Look,” Helaena calls for your attention and makes you tear your gaze away from the calm sea in the distance. “An orchid.” She shows off the beautiful light pink flower before she drops it on your lap. “Now you’re one step closer to becoming an orchid mantis.”

You burst out laughing and she giggles with you.

“You know,” you add after you catch your breath. “I have this gown I have been meaning to wear. It has blue winter roses embroidered on the corset and on the borderlines of the skirt. It is very beautiful. We should have a gown designed for you of your favorite flower so we could show off together.”

Helaena hums and nods. “I would like that.”

“Good.” You say with a smile and stand back up to continue down the gardens, coming to find Lord Larys Strong wandering around the pond.

“Your Grace. Princess,” he greets and bows his head.

You offer him a faint smile in return and steal a glance around before addressing him. “Enjoying the kind weather?”

He hums. “Making the best of it before winter comes.”

“All we will get is light snows and bitter winds this far South,” you bring up and walk closer to him with Helaena falling behind. “We will live.”

“I suppose winters here don’t compare to those in the North,” he says, and you shake your head lightly before peering back to watch Helaena slowly make her way to you.

“I would just like to say that it is odd seeing you and Prince Aemond be so estranged,” he says and slowly drifts back to him. “Not long ago you were almost inseparable.”

You avert your gaze and purse your lips together before you mutter your comment. “Well, sadly there are matters that create a strain.”

“I am sorry to hear about your brother's passing, it was such a tragic affair.”

Your eyes snap up and rather than expressing gratitude, you hardened your gaze to pass him a warning glare so he can tread carefully.

“Marriage is a complicated thing, more so with a war that tears your gaze between two sides, and secrets that lurk beneath the surface,” he doesn’t listen, he’s bold, so you lift your chin and make your glare more menacing.

Lord Larys catches the threat behind your glare and checks that Helaena is distracted by what’s in the pond before he quietly brings a point to this babble.

“I just hope Prince Aemond’s frequent brothel visits are not the secret truly keeping you apart.”

Your heart drops and every attempt to be seen as menacing falls flat. Instead, anguish begins to surface, it takes your attention and leaves you lost in thought for the rest of the day.

And you know you have no reason to be upset after you lay with Cregan. You shouldn’t care because you hate Aemond after he killed Lucerys, but knowing he went to see other women, imagining him kissing another woman, and picturing him looking at them the same way he looks at you; like there’s only you and no one else, like you’re all that’s beautiful in the world, crushes your heart.

You don’t want him touching anyone else with the same gentle touch he blesses you with. You don’t want someone else tasting the sweetness of his lips, or seeing how completely vulnerable and loving he can be. You don’t like that someone else is seeing parts of him that are only meant for you. You don’t want him to admire someone the way he admires you.

You want to be the only one he finds beautiful, you want him to only love you, just like it always has been. You don’t want to share him.

Yet you also can’t be so selfish. You know what you did, and the bad thing is you don’t regret it. You shouldn’t expect loyalty when you broke it first. You can’t be seething in jealousy when you were the one who kissed another man and became intimate with him. That’s selfish too, and you can’t be selfish.

But oh!

You can’t stop tormenting yourself with images of Aemond kissing other women, and other women kissing him. You see it in the books you try to read to keep yourself distracted and hear the sounds of his pleasure in the crackle of the fires that gives light to your chambers and also keeps it warm. You’re tormented by the ugliness that is jealousy, and also getting torn apart between not deserving to be jealous. And him coming into the room does not make it easier because now you’re also plagued by memories of what he did.

You’ll probably find yourself broken down soon enough.

“Where’s Aerion?” Aemond asks first as he takes some weight off him by putting his sword aside.

“With your mother,” you deadpan and flip mindlessly through a different book. “She wanted to spend time with him and Jaehaera.”

Aemond hums and he then approaches you to lean over the couch and try and give you a peck on the cheek, but you lean away, leaving his lips to meet a cold emptiness.

He proceeds to linger the way you left him before he purses his lips and steps away with a deep sigh.

“I see you are still playing at that game,” he says boldly and pulls your attention away from the book to lift your head and focus on nothing in particular as you run over what just came out of his mouth.

When you know you heard him right a crease carves in between your eyebrows as they pinch together, your eyes narrow and almost seem to emit flames with the rage that makes you forget the purpose you really came. That’s all meaningless now as you shut the book and throw it on the couch before you get up and spin around to snap back. “Game? Is this some jest to you, Aemond?”

Said man slips his eyepatch off and throws it on the table, choosing not to feed the dragon he already stirred awake.

“Tell me? Was killing my brother some game to you?” You don’t hold back and march around the couch to get closer, but he keeps getting away as he works to take his leather vest off.

“Is my grief, my guilt, some game to you? You know I-I couldn’t even face my mother, or-or Rhaena, because of what you did? I blamed myself!” You throw at his back which moves further and further away. “Is that funny? Do you think I can just forget and pretend everything is alright? Like-like you did not break my heart in the worst way possible?!”

Aemond finally stops walking away, but he doesn’t turn around or speak, and that only triggers your anger to get more heated.

“Aemond?” You call out so you can get something, a hum if that’s what he wants to give, whatever, you just want a response to let you know he’s paying attention.

“Tell me. Is all I am, is all I feel is some game to you?”

His head slowly lowers, and angry tears form in your eyes while you start to believe what you’re accusing him of in his lingering silence.

“Tell me…because if I am…” you trail off and don’t finish because you fear accepting that it will be true. “Aemond,” you call out again in a broken voice and with a burning glare that falters while you storm over to him and stop halfway. “Aemond,” you whisper before your nose furls and you cry out desperately and with frustration laced within. “Aemond!”

Said man slowly turns on his heels with his eye glossy and downcast, his lips out in a pout, and his eyebrows formed in a shaky furrow.

“No,” is what he says under his breath but doesn’t dare look you in the eyes, he’s like a wounded boy filled with fear. Not of what lurks in the shadows, or of some great fear; he’s afraid of what will come out of the scolding, afraid that he will be received with disappointment and a cold shoulder.

“No what?” You press to know and step closer. “No I’m not some joke to you, or no you did not mean to betray me in that way?”

“Bloodshed was inevitable, if not me, it would’ve been someone else,” he brings out his first excuse.

“Okay,” you whisper and nod in understanding while you turn away and hold your hands as you take in what he said. “Okay.”

“You are not a joke,” he responds to your other question as he finally breaks away from the spot he was stuck to. “My intention was not to hurt you. You know that. You of all people in this fucking world is all that matters to me. Ever since I was young and got pushed around for being different. You,” he makes that word clear with a sense of a deep meaning, no deceit, devotion and passion. “I did not want to hurt you. I did not mean what I did…” he trails off in a whisper that wouldn’t have been audible if the room wasn’t cast in silence.

Yet does that really mean anything now that he did it? He can’t take back what he did, he can’t bring back Lucerys because he did not mean it. It still hurts and he can’t take that pain away with those words.

“All those times,” your voice quivers as your heart speaks for you. “…I spent missing you, wanting to come back home to you, and for what?” You say to the tension in the room and hear his lips part before his steps hit the ground louder and louder as he makes his way before you.

When you’re face to face, heart facing the others heart, his long and slender fingers reach for your face, but because of the violence done to you in the past days you pull your head back, making his hands freeze and tense for a second before he tries again and this time makes contact with your warm cheeks, providing more warmth that you can’t help but melt into.

You do hesitate looking into his eye because you know what you will see will only make your heart sing, but he demands your attention and tilts your head up to meet his gaze. At that moment letting you see the sweet man you have always loved, a soft and enamored man who shows his tender affection in his eye that gleams like the full moon itself.

“I sent you letters,” he brings up softly and glances at your lips as his breath catches.

You part your lips and feel a desire slowly take hold of you, but you are not done, he can’t just shut you up with sweet words, so you quickly rebuttal with an icy quip. “Full of empty words.”

You resisted what you otherwise would have fallen trap to and reel away from Aemond to face him with a serious look that falters between anguish.

“But what could I expect? You only wrote for 1 year when I was in Winterfell…”

“That again,” he mutters and drops his hands on his thighs as he shakes his head.

You scoff and nod angrily. “Yes, this again! Because I waited, you were my best friend! And I was alone! All I wanted was reassurance from you, and you left me alone…and now all I wanted was you to tell me what you feel, I would have loved the truth, but,” you pause and feign a laugh. “You led me on like you did nothing. Like you were doing nothing when in reality you killed my brother and lay with whores,” you spat out. You did not mean to. You wanted to hold it just for the sake of not sounding bitchy and hypocritical, but it hurts not knowing why HE did what he did.

Was he looking for just one little excuse to be with someone else? Have you not been enough? Were you not giving him enough attention? Enough love? Are you not beautiful enough for him?

It’s true you talked to Cregan in your year here, but only as friends before and after you married Aemond. You missed him but only when you felt alone here, but after Aemond made you feel loved, Cregan was a sweet memory of a first love. And now? You were hurt, you wanted to feel loved after getting your heart torn from your chest. You do not regret because that will tear you apart, and you do not want to deny what you did. You did it; you take responsibility for it, you won’t regret it especially because you felt happy in a dark tormenting storm…

But Aemond?

“Who told you?” He demands to know and at that moment proves Lord Larys’ accusation right.

“It does not matter who told me,” you sneer through gritted teeth. “You did it…You do it.”

Aemond drops his eye and his lips curl to a snarl before he answers firmly. “Not since you returned.”

You shouldn’t but you feel like someone is just crushing your heart.

“No…then what about last night? When you left.” You press for more even if the little voice in your head is telling you to stop fishing for more.

“You did not want to see me, remember?” He sasses you. “Was I supposed to stay here just to have you glaring at me?”

You snap your eyes to him and narrow your glare, making him avert his gaze and answer quieter.

“I was with Ser Criston for a time before I took care of those men that shot at your dragon while our son was strapped on your chest.”

The corner of your lips twitch, but that does nothing to win you over.

“And the other times,” he continues and takes a step forward to close the gap left between you by grabbing your face and forcing you to meet his gaze. “Meant nothing. It was nothing but comfort while I was tormented. I did not touch her the way I touch you, I did not kiss her in any way, my heart, my lips are yours. I am yours. It meant nothing,” he makes clear by pouring out his heart, and bringing tears to your eyes.

Yet your tears aren’t out of relief that he gifted you the confession that his heart only yearns for you. You start to cry out of guilt and…regret.

You did not want to feel regret. It was a cemented knowledge, but you are the bad person here. You are horrible for becoming one flesh with another man, for feeling love and appreciation for someone else who is not your husband. Perhaps what Aemond did was bad too, his affair was emotional, but that night your heart belonged to Cregan, and now…if what Helaena said was true then your sin might come to life.

How could you be so horrible?

Why did you have to dig for the truth? It would have been better if you just simmered in your jealousy, but now?

Gods.

You turn your head away to not face him, but he just moves his head in search of your teary eyes. And when he finds your gaze he wipes the tears off your cheeks and parts his lips. Yet nothing comes out but a punctured breath as his eye grows tender and bright like the stars and the moon that reign the sky, but infinitely more beautiful, and just for you to admire and cherish.

Profound enamourment also fills his eye and only works to make his confession of love louder without any need for words.

If only you could give it all in return. You can’t share that intense love because resentment and hatred are still very much alive in your heart. Besides, now guilt for what you did takes a space within you, only further pushing that affection.

“Come with me,” he beckons, much to your surprise.

“Where?” You ask.

“Out,” he only surprises you more. “In the city.”

You scoff. Is he being serious? Or is this some jest? He says the city at night is for delinquents to rage, you always have to force him out with you to do something fun.

“We shouldn’t, I—”

“Now it’s you who’s protesting,” he cuts you off with the corner of his lips perked. “Just come with me for the night. Please.”

You lower your face and remark. “You do not like going into the city. I always have to beg you to come out at night. Then again you have been out, so.” you remark bitterly.

Aemond slides his hands down to hold your shoulders and even if he is annoyed at your remark he insists. “I…just want to show you some fun,” he uses your own persuading words against you purposely.

“Aemond,” you protest and he grabs your face again to pull you towards him, making your eyes flicker to his lips just a hairsbreadth away, calling for your warmth and taste to reunite and mold back together like a missing puzzle piece.

“Please,” he insists softly and pulls away to offer you his hand.

You glance at his hand offering you an attempt at a rekindle and then look back at his eye and the sapphire glimmering against the candlelight, and it's almost like it's giving a hopeful glow in the same way his eye, his lips, and eyebrows express the hope that you will accept.

A part of you says no, you will worsen your guilt, and it won’t be fun if you’re bitter and hold resentment with each word, but also another part of you is too curious and intrigued by the fact that he's the one offering you a night out first and not the other way around.

Both sides fight a short bloody fight, with one choice coming out triumphant. But deep down was it so hard to choose?

As if attracted to a dark calling of temptation you give him your hand.

A/N- No don’t take us out into the city Aemond, you’re so sexy and smitten aha 🫣

Tagged- @namelesslosers @stargaryenx @chainsawsangel @lauftivy @winxschester @cloudroomblog @llarue @padsdarlg @sofietargaryen @gracielikegrapes @dreaming-of-the-reality @itzelpeyton @patdsinner33 @mrsdominickstark @elaena-aerrin @todoroki-slut @snh96 @urmomsgirlfriend1 @nifujiswhore @sweethoneyblossom1 @kaetastic @lightdragonrayne @squidscottjeans @oh-you-mean-me @wallacewillow0773638 @icefrye19 @callsignwidow @thescottpack @fiction-fanfic-reader @crazymusicgirl104

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footprintsinthesxnd · 10 months

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With All My Heart

Summary: Let’s be honest who doesn’t enjoy a fluffy Dick Winters fic. I just can’t help myself. I also went for a header for this fic instead of a moodboard, I’m not entirely sure why but I quite like the aesthetic and i didn’t want to give too much away for the fic. Pairings: Dick Winters x f!reader

Eugene sighed as he watched Y/n gag again, spitting out the remainder of her breakfast in spluttering breaths.

“Y/n, I’m real worried about ya. This ain’t normal, Chérie,” Eugene’s forehead creased as he smoothed the loose strands away from her face. Y/n gave him a weary smile, her eyes watery from the effort. The nausea had come in a sudden wave and she’d just made it outside, out of view when she brought up the contents of her stomach. Luckily, it had been only Eugene passing by otherwise she’d be in real trouble.

“Gene, I’m fine. I promise,” she tried to reassure him but Eugene didn’t look convinced, his handsome features set in a harsh glare, which reminded Y/n of the look he’d given Winters and Welsh in Holland after Moose had been shot.

“You need to tell him sooner or later. I suggest sooner because if what we’re told is true we are bound for the Pacific. I can’t let you jump out of a plane in your condition…”

“Would you keep it down, Gene? I don’t want the whole company to know,” Y/n hissed.

“Or Major Winters apparently,” Eugene added nonchalantly. You always hated it when the Cajun medic was right and he always took great pride in correcting her.

“I’ll tell him Gene, I promise. Just give me some more time would you.” Eugene nodded begrudgingly. She knew he meant well but she was still trying to figure out the situation herself. The last thing she need was for Dick to hear the news from the likes of George Luz or Nixon.

Y/n entered the temporary mess hall shortly after Eugene, having recovered from her early episode and took her seat between Webster and Talbert.

“You’re looking a little green there, Darlin’,” Bull commented from across the table and Floyd reached across to rest his hand against her forehead.

“You’re a little bit warm Y/n. Are you sure you’re feeling okay?” Floyd asked, which caught the attention of George, Liebgott and Webster who we’re all looking on expectantly.

“I’m fine. I promise,” Y/n tried to reassure them but just at that moment Chuck and Shifty walked by with more plates of food and the nausea began growing in her stomach again. The pair took their seat next to Floyd and Y/n fought the urge to run from the room, digging her fingernails into the wooden table to try and keep herself grounded.

“Y/n, are you okay?” Webster asked, at this point, Y/n realised she must look like she was going to be sick because Webster and Floyd both shuffled to the side a little.

The bile rising in her throat answered that question, “No!” Y/n felt her legs carrying her from the hall, hurrying down the steps and outside before her stomach erupted again and she felt herself choking on her stomach acid. A hand was placed on the small of her back and she tried to shake Eugene off again but he wouldn’t budge.

“Gene, I said I’m fine,” she spun round to face him but was face-to-face with the five officers.

“Y/l/n, are you feeling okay?” Dick asked, trying to keep a straight face but concern was evident in his eyes.

“I…I’m fine… umm Sir,” Y/n felt herself saluting the officers and they all just stared at her in confusion.

“You don’t look fine,” Nixon commented, seemingly amused by watching his friend try and fight the urge to comfort the woman he loved.

“No, you look like shit Y/l/n. Get yourself to see Doc Roe,” Spiers suggested and Y/n nodded.

“I will, Sir. Thank you, Sir.”

The other four officers continued towards the mess hall but Dick stayed outside, watching to make sure they retreated before turning back to Y/n.

“Sweetheart, what’s wrong?” He reached forward to touch her cheek but she flinched away, wiping her mouth in the sleeve of her jacket. “Talk to me, please. You’ve been avoiding me and I don’t know what I’ve done wrong.” Dick looked defeated, his forehead wrinkled and his eyes watched her sadly. Y/n hadn’t realised the effect her disappearing acts had on the Major. He was hurt.

“You haven’t don’t anything wrong, Dick,” she began but the tears were already beginning to trickle down her cheeks and she could no longer contain the choked sob that spilled from her lips.

“It’s all my fault,” she wailed, balling her hands into fists to cover her face. Dick was by her side in an instant, his arms wrapping securely around her frame.

“Whatever it is, we'll get through it together. You never have to hide from me,” he whispered into her hair but this only allowed for more tears to form in her eyes.

“No, you’re going to hate me,” she blubbered and Dick smiled at her softly, the corners of his lips turning upwards as he fought back a grin.

“I could never hate you. I love you, never forget that.”

Dick placed his hand on the small of her back, guiding her into the main house and up to his office, his hand never leaving her back and just that comforting touch helped to dull the emotions slightly. Once inside Dick’s office, he guided her to a chair and sat her down, kneeling before her, he placed a kiss on the palm of her right hand.

“So what is it? What’s wrong? Are you sick? Have you seen Doc Roe?” Dick’s questions came in a flood and Y/n barely had time to process them.

“I’m sorry,” Dick apologised, realising he was rambling like a madman. “Take your time.”

“Oh Dick, why are you so perfect?” Y/n asked, running her fingers through his red locks, as Dick blushed the colour of his hair.

“I’m pregnant,” she blurted out, no longer able to hold back the secret she’d been keeping for months. Dick’s face was every shade of grey before he finally spoke, “But how? When? How long have you known.”

“Well, I think you should know how Major. You know that night in Haguenau when we umm… on the desk and umm… and Captain Nixon walked in and…well you get the idea. I’ve known for about two months

“Two months! You mean you knew all this time and you didn’t tell me,” Dick's face was creased with lines of worry, hurt shining in his eyes and Y/n could feel the nausea growing in the pit of her stomach again.

“Dick, I’m so sorry. I was just scared that you’d hate me a-and you’d hate this baby… I’m so sorry,” Y/n could no longer control the floodgates that burst forth under Dick's hurt gaze but his eyes soon softened. Y/n could feel him pulling her towards him, his large hand pressed against the small of her back as he whispered, “I could never hate you, Y/n. I love you.”

Y/n froze in his arms, pulling away from the Major to look at him, “You mean that. You mean that, you’re not just saying it because of the situation.”

“No Y/n,” Dick replied earnestly. “I should have told you sooner. For Pete’s sake, I should have told you every day since Toccoa because I’ve loved you every day since Toccoa.”

Dick’s smile was infectious and soon the couple were laughing in each other's arms. “As for this little one,” Dick placed his hand gently against her slightly rounded stomach, “well I already love them with all my heart.”

“Oh Dick, I love you so much,” Y/n leaned forward, sealing her lips to Dick’s, as her hand found its way to card through his hair.

“Hey Dick, did you see… oh for Christ Sake will you two just get a Goddamn room.” Lewis Nixon’s exasperated voice rang out through the otherwise quiet room, his booming personality pulling the couple apart quickly.

“Lew, if you hadn’t noticed we keep getting a room and you keep barging in,” Dick retorted, straightening his uniform shirt as he spoke.

“Toché,” Lewis replied, waving his hand at them, “Carry on.”

Dick smiled at Y/n as Lewis slammed the door loudly behind him. “Right, where were we?”

“I don’t know,” Y/n replied, grinning mischievously, “But I recall that last time there was a desk involved.”

“Oh really,” Dick grinned back at her, “Well maybe I could refresh your memory.”

Tags: @georgieluz @iceman-kazansky @yeahcurrahhe-e @lieutenant-speirs @sharpshootershifty @liberteuniteegalite @msmercury84 @blvestxr @dustyjumpwjngs @theflyingfin @jump-wings @kafka-ohdear @kmc1989 @mads-weasley @docroesmorphine @historyisfullofwars @sweetxvanixlla @hesbuckcompton-baby @ronsparky @mutantmanifesto @malarkgirlypop @bucky32557038ww2 @panzershrike-pretz @whollyjoly

#band of brothers #dick winters fluff #dick winters x reader #dick winters #HBOwar

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l0ves1ckf0ol · 2 years

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OUT OF MY LEAGUE | rowan x gn!reader

"rowan was sure he was going crazy, who was he to assume, you were out of his league. "

disclaimer: this is a rollercoster of emotions i just rlly am a simp for calum ross (hes so cute ibwanna cry)

rowan was no school jock, no teenage prodigy, nor did he have the best social skills. he was a nobody and below that and he was fine with that. the one who always got picked on, the one who no one bats an eye at, the one who's ignored. you, on the other hand- the complete opposite.

you weren't bianca level popular, you just knew a lot of people, and got along with everyone. you were also the one who started the glee club, bianca was the one who's in charge of all the choir activities. you were only interested in rocking away with your guitar.

you were in the library, chatting and gossiping with your friends, instead of studying for a test. rowan was reading a book he was given to by principal weems, he had another episode at the quad last week, since his powers tend to go out of hand when in distress, it was a book on how to maintain calm.

you noticed this as you had the same interest in rowan than you'd never admit. not that you were ashamed, you wanted to have a little slowburn with him after all.

both of you weren't interactive a lot, but you always sat next to him in thornhill's class because no one wouldn't, to him you were out of his league, he thought he sat next to you because you felt pity. your reason was far from it though, you couldn't care less about how smart he was in this class, people thought you only sat next to him because you needed to raise your grades, but no, in fact you couldn't care less for the class itself.

you could stare at him all day whilst he explains plant biology over and over again, with those pretty lips. the both of you had also noticed that you can't take your eyes off of each other. rowan was sure he was going crazy, who was he to assume, you were out of his league.

so once your friends left you hurried next to him, pretending to read a book, when really it was upside down and you didn't even notice cause you were busy peaking through his hair that pretty much covered the sideview if his eyes.

rowan's eyes flicked towards your direction so quickly you jumped in your seat, "your book is upside down." he says adjusting the rim of his glasses, closing the book and putting it down the table.

you chuckle nervously and placed the book beside his, "so i um..." you trail off, trying to air out the awkwardness, he stares at you blankly. "about outreach day, do you think there should be a choir or a live band at the town park?" you asked him, he pursed his lips and thought for a while. "i mean we did do choir last year, i haven't heard you sing live so live band sounds a lot cooler." he tells you, keeping his cool.

"cool, cool." you mumble out as you lay your head at the table, still looking at him, he's both confused and flustered. why were you looking at him like that, a gaze of longing and more so you didn't stare straight into his eyes. he noticed that you were eyeing his lips.

"what is it?" rowan chuckles nervously, feeling the blood rushing towards his cheeks.

"nothing. you're just nice to stare at." you winked at him, his cheeks turned to an even deeper crimson. "wh-what?"

you sat on the table and smirked at him, lifting his chin up towards you by your index finger. "i only personally invite people i like to my performances, i'd see you there right?" you told him, he widened his eyes and his breth hitched, eyes on you. "sure, y-yeah..." he fumbles. "yeah?" you test him, a glint in your eyes he can tell how much it meant.

"yes, of course y/n." rowan repeated and he was surprised that your arms flew around his neck, squeezing him tight. "thank you!" you lengthen the last letter as he hugs you back, rubbing your back whilst doing it. you pull away and smiled at him, hopping down from the table and about to go out the library, rowan only watched you still dazed from the interaction. once you reached the door, you turned around, "oh and just in case you didn't catch the hint- i've liked you ever since the start of the school!"

then you left, rowan's heart was quickening and the butterflies in his stomach, his red cheeks- it never left. how could you leave him like that? so flustered he could barely even move, frozen to the spot still cannot fathom those words. "I've liked you ever since the start of the school."

#rowan laslow #gn reader #xu's fics #wednesday addams netflix #rowan laslow x gn reader #rowan laslow x reader #rowan laslow netflix

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tojixz · 2 years

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Masterlist

Pairing: Jake Sully x Fem!Reader

Notes: I am definitely horrible at English, forgive me for any mistakes or if I seem too formal.

Anyway, this is not only my first post, but my first fanfic!

So, yeah, it might suck… BUT I really wanted to try something, especially of my favorite movie since its first release 💞

Well, enjoy! And again, sorry if it's bad

Summary: The reader is in Neytiri's shoes (that hurts me) and is currently pregnant with Tuk, and with pregnancy comes its stages. Just Jake and his family looking out for Mommy!

Warnings: Vomiting, pregnancy problems, fluffy!! I don't know how to mark.

Word Count: 1,6k

Tìyawn (n) - Love 'Itan (n) - Son

Part two | Part three

"Dad."

"Daddy, wake up!"

With a muffled sigh, Jake reluctantly opens his eyes. His eyes burn from the lack of hours of sleep and his fatigue. He waits for his eyes to adjust their focus on a little blue face just above him.

"What happened?", Jake props himself up on his elbow as he looks around alarmed trying to find any sign of danger.

"It's Mom, she rushed out of our tent. She doesn't look well at all, and well, we didn't know what to do", Neteyam said with a worried look on his face, watching his father sit up and reason through the situation. It was still early in the morning and he really hadn't been able to sleep properly the last few days because of his responsibilities as Olo'eyktan and, well, as a father of three children.

Lo'ak and Kiri were also awake, equally worried waiting for some response coming from their father.

"Okay, fine. Thanks for letting me know. Where is she now?", Jake asked looking at his children as he stood up.

"Outside by the trees."

"Okay, go back to sleep, I will take care of your mother", Jake's voice contained concern, but he did his best to mask it and not worry his children further.

Kiri looked at her father in disbelief, stepping in front of him and stopping his passage, "Let's not go to sleep knowing something is wrong with Mom! Daddy, I want to help."

"It's okay babygirl, I'll take care of it. Then go back to bed now, I don't want to see anyone sleepy when they wake up!"

"But Dad-"

"That's all", Jake narrowed his eyes at the three of them and nodded his head towards the bed, Then he turned and hurried away to come to you.

You definitely weren't feeling well. You were experiencing frequent vomiting and dizziness, and you also felt weaker and more tired. Despite this, you were used to it from your other times of pregnancy.

Anyway, today was not an abnormal day. You woke up sweating along with a sour feeling in your throat. You immediately ran to the middle of the trees to get whatever was in your stomach out, taking as much care as possible not to wake any of your children and even your husband who deserved to rest, even more so with the stress he had been under in the last weeks because of problems in the clan.

The early morning air relieved the intense heat you felt throughout your body. You breathed for a few seconds and then finally got rid of the horrible feeling that persisted in settling in your throat.

As you recovered from the episode, you paid no attention to the cautious footsteps behind you and jumped when you felt large hands on your neck caressing them. Your ear crunched against your skull as your head turned full back to detect the intruder.

"Hey, hey, calm down, it's me, Jake", he said stopping in front of you and showing that he wasn't some kind of predator or anything.

"Ah, damn it Jake! Don't sneak up on people like that!", you hissed at him as you slapped his arm.

"Okay, I'm sorry, I'm sorry", Jake put his hands on your head caressing you as he said, "So, is everything okay? Why didn't you wake me up to help you?"

You looked away from Jake's face ashamed of the state you were in. There was no reason to be embarrassed, this was common and it's not like this was your first time, you knew that. But you still felt uncomfortable waking Jake who was sleeping so peacefully, "It's just…. I could handle it on my own, there was no reason to bother you."

Jake sighed, turning you towards him as he placed his hands on your neck lightly brushing your cheeks, "Honey, no matter what the situation, you will never be a bother to me. Even more so when it involves you and my baby", Jake concluded by placing a kiss on your nose and pressing your foreheads together.

Her heart filled with love. You don't know how much good you did in life to have a family as beautiful as yours. Jake and your children were the greatest blessing the Great Mother could give you.

You smiled, resting your hands on Jake's arm. You just enjoyed that moment with him for a few seconds, and then said, "I love you, Ma'Jake."

Jake wrapped his arms around you in a tight embrace, savoring the warmth and presence of his mate, the one who gave him the most beautiful family in existence, one he could never have imagined having. The one who blessed her mornings and made her heart melt when she heard her groggy voice when she woke up. "I love you too, tiyawn. But you really need to call me when you're not feeling well."

You let out a small laugh at your husband's concern and just murmured, "Okay, I count on your protection."

You both stood there for a few minutes, just feeling each other's presence and exchanging caresses while listening to the various noises coming from the forest.

"We should head back now, I'm better", you said pulling away from Jake, taking his hand and starting to pull him back to their shared tent.

"Wait, wait", Jake stopped his steps, approaching you again as he placed one of his hands on your stomach, lightly rubbing the small bulge that stood out on your belly, "Is the baby okay?"

You looked at Jake in surprise at the sudden question. Placing your hand over Jake's hand, you let out a minimally loud laugh, "He's fine Jake Sully. The baby is healthy. Now come on", you took his hand and walked back to the tent once more. "We have other babies to take care of."

Jake let out a playful snort as he followed his majestic companion back home.

As soon as you entered the hut, you were able to hear murmurs coming from the heap of little bodies in the hammock. You assumed that your little ones were just having dreams, but then your thoughts were interrupted by Jake's scolding voice.

"What did I say about going back to sleep?", Jake crossed his arms over his chest, waiting for a response from the mountain of children in the hammock in their terrible pretense at being asleep.

"We are sleeping", Lo'ak lifted his head to answer his father, quickly pulling his eye away from Jake to look at you, who stood beside him.

Jake pinched the middle of his nose in annoyance letting out a sigh in the process, "Silly child, sleeping people don't talk!"

"It's Lo'ak, you skxawng!!", Kiri slapped his brother on the head who promptly let out a 'Hey!' for the aggression. Neteyam completely ignored the idiot fights of his brothers and ran into her arms.

"Mom! Are you okay? What happened?"

You stooped down to little Neteyam's level and planted your hands on his cheeks, cracking a wide smile at the sight of your son, "I'm fine, 'itan. How long have you been awake?"

Lo'ak and Kiri soon joined in the hug, snuggling into his neck in the process. Her heart filled with affection for her children, becoming almost unbearable. Jake was standing off to the side watching everything, almost envying his companion's attention to his children.

"I heard you get up and leave, I was afraid of what might have happened, so I called Daddy", Lo'ak sniffled softly, squeezing you even tighter.

You smiled as you collectively hugged your children, stroking their heads and soothing them. "Oh my baby, I'm fine, see? It was just… a mishap."

"Yes, so we need to let your mother sleep to regain her energy", Jake intruded into the conversation pulling you out from among the children and carrying you to bed.

You looked at him with an unreadable face, allowing yourself to be snuggled into Jake's chest as strong arms encircled your waist.

"Jake!", you tried to pull away, but as expected, was unsuccessful; so your only option was to lie down in defeat feeling a hand from Jake snake into your stomach and lightly caress the bulge.

"Neteyam, Lo'ak, Kiri, come to sleep. You must be tired after Mommy disturbed your sleep", you held out your arm for the children to snuggle in your protection.

There wasn't even time to think about the proposition, the children soon went into their parents' arms, getting as close as possible to each other.

Jake protected his belly from the children's jerky movements as he alarmed his children, "Hey, watch your mother's belly!"

"Ma'Jake, it's okay, they're just babies", you said stroking your companion's arm with a wide smile opening on your lips. Jake sighed defeatedly, nuzzling his head into the curve of your neck and inhaling your scent. He was truly lucky for the woman he had.

Her heart overflowed with affection. It was an unimaginable love that you felt for your family. A family you built with the one you love, a partner you trust. You couldn't have asked anything more from Eywa, not after she blessed you with the most sacred family in your existence.

Your eyes filled lightly with tears; pure tears of care and love, for your children, for your Jake, for your life.

"Good night, my little ones", you said in a whisper, realizing that the children were no longer able to keep their eyes open. They even looked as if they were waiting for a confirmation of your love for them.

Jake let out an anasalated laugh, also closing his eyes as fatigue consumed him and sleep called him into the dream world again. As a last prayer, Jake said in an almost inaudible whisper, only for nearby hearts to hear:

"I love you all. You are my greatest fortress."

I'm sorry if it seemed rushed at the end, I was anxious to finish and may have gone too fast 😭

I hope it was a good read! I kind of liked it for my first story; but I hope to improve in the future.

｡･ﾟ♡ﾟ･｡🍓｡･ﾟ♡ﾟ･｡🍒

#avatar #jake sully #jake sully x reader #avatar jake sully x reader #avatar x reader #avatar the way of water #neteyam sully #loak sully #kiri sully #atwow #atwow fluff #atwow x reader #avatar 2009 #avatar 2022 #avatar 1 #avatar 2 #avatar jake sully #avatar twow

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unknown-cold · 3 months

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Someone sent me a message asking me about Vi's reaction when the child died and saw some comments from people saying that Vi didn't care about the child's death. But when Jayce and the people around him leave, we will see sadness and dissatisfaction on Vi's face with what happened, so why do people say such words despite the obvious impact on her face of the child's death?

Well, I think those people who are saying this are obviously in a hurry or maybe they hate Vi's character and are waiting for any mistake she makes. Anyway, first I will talk about something that the studio did in this situation, then I will put for you a character who went through the same situation that Vi went through, okay. The studio relied heavily on the facial expression of each character, and this is something special because you do not need to speak to the character in order to know how he feels. Facial expressions are sufficient to know if the character is sad, happy, angry, or upset. And this is what happened to Vi in that scene, relying on her sad expression without saying a word. And this image is clear evidence of Vi's grief👇

Note, there is a spoiler for the events of The Last of Us series, so if you did not watch the series, do not continue reading the article. This is a warning.

This is a warning. As for the character, it is the character of Joel in the famous series The Last of Us. Do you remember in the first episode when his daughter died, the most important thing in his life? When Tess left, he did not say a word to her, and this is of course the logical behavior of a person who saw his daughter die in front of his eyes.

There are many reasons why a person may not cry when someone dies. For some, they may tend to repress their feelings and not express them outwardly. Others may have experienced a loss so great in their lives that they are no longer able to bear it. This does not mean that you are a bad or broken person, it simply means that you are going through the grieving process in your own way.

Some people do not express their pain with tears. Especially for people who have been through a lot of trauma, it is completely normal not to cry when someone dies. There is no right or wrong way to grieve, and everyone deals with loss in their own way. This doesn't mean you don't care, or that you're cold, it simply means that you process your feelings differently.

Does that mean you don't care if you don't cry?

No, not at all. It may mean that you deal with grief differently than others. This is completely normal. There are many different ways to grieve, and not all of them involve crying. Not crying does not mean that you are not sad or that you do not care about the person who died. Some people don't tend to express their feelings through tears. They may resort to expressing their sadness internally. This does not mean that they do not feel sad, but rather they may express it in a different way.

So of course, his personality would change, and that's exactly what happened to Vi. A teenage girl sees her family die before her eyes, loses her sister, and lives half her life in a very bad place: prison. And all of this, you want her to cry over the death of a child she doesn't even know, and if she doesn't cry, some of you will say that she was talking to Jayce without regret. In my opinion, she was talking, and her tone of voice was sad and upset, and also what she said is true. There are hundreds of children who died because of them and Silco's reason, and you did not care. With these children only now. Of course, I wouldn't blame Jayce because she only became a counselor two days ago, but as for Vi, she doesn't know that. I mean, do they really want Vi to cry in front of Jayce? Vi is one of the characters who doesn't easily show her feelings except in front of people close to her. What's even weirder are these people who blame Vi for everything and that she's a bad person. You see them with other characters who may be going through the same situation as Vi's character. They are very sympathetic and understanding of these characters to an incredible degree, like Silco, “I mean, I can’t believe that there are people who love this sick character.”

Anyway, my friend, I hope you liked my answer, and you guys too, what do you think? I hope you enjoyed it, and you can also ask me anything about movies and series.

Update: I found a comment by Amanda Overton talking about Vi's attitude toward child death, and how she doesn't want to show her real feelings in front of Jayce.

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bronx-bomber87 · 8 months

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Happy Saturday wonderful fandom :) Ahhh the next in the line of goodies to come. This one doesn’t have a ton for them but doesn’t mean there isn’t absolute gems in it. So it'll be a littler shorter than the last one ha Also Aaron is amazingly hilarious in this episode. I love him to death. Let us get started.

5x09 Take Back

We start off with Tim being Watch Commander while Grey is miserable in NYC ha Things get immediately awkward when Chris arrives. Still clueless as ever asking Tim of all people about Lucy’s taste in houses. I mean if you don’t know her taste at this point should you really be buying a house together? Tim looks intrigued when he says he needs his opinion then it gets so awkward when it's about a house...

Tim is so very uncomfortable when he asks his opinion. Knowing this is going NOWHERE for Chris. I’ll never forget this hilarious post I saw about this scene after it premiered. I couldn't find it this time around. Had the lyrics from anti-hero by Taylor swift. ‘It’s me. Hi. I’m the problem it’s me.’ You ain’t ever getting that house with her because of that man sitting there LOL Idk why that post made me laugh so hard but it did. It stuck with me clearly haha

It’s so very weird Chris comes to Tim for this. It's obvious he knows Tim knows her the best. Crazy to me he's not threatened at all by that fact. Clearly he isn’t if he’s coming to Tim for advice. Blows my mind how blind he is. Lucy comes in asking what they’re talking about? Chris tells her he found THE house. Lucy looking as uncomfortable as ever at this news. Saying he's going to call the realtor and call her later. Lucy's high pitched 'I can't wait...' Couldn't be more awkward if she tried.

He gives her a kiss on the cheek and leaves. Tim giving that good ole fake Sanford smile when he does. Tim's face crack me up. Like he stole your girl and you have no idea you putz heh Also just so on brand for Chris to not see how uncomfortable Lucy was. He’s been blind their entire relationship It’s unreal. You can also see how much Tim hates seeing him kiss her. Even if it’s on the cheek.

It’s almost a grimace really as he watches it. Probably thinking of all the ways he could easily kick his scrawny ass haha That fake smile begging for Chris to leave the room so this awkwardness can pass. How Chris doesn’t pick up on either of these vibes I don't know. But then we call him the clueless clown for a reason don’t we?

Lucy doesn’t look comfortable till Chris leaves the office. Tim asking 'How the breakup is going?' HA Cleary it's going well Timothy...Lucy tells him she’s in the planning stages. Just reviewing the literature. Classic Lucy response. Wanting to plan this out completely before pursuing it. Tim telling her a psychology journal isn’t going to tell her how to break up with Chris. I mean he's not wrong.... It's just a bandaid you have to rip off even if its uncomfortable as hell.

He’s so matter of fact with his wording. Using a sports metaphor to explain how she should do it. Makes me wonder if he's actually done this before? Ha She’s adorable in her reply of saying ‘Playbill?’ She truly has no idea what he’s talking about. It’s too funny. It's comical really Tim giving her advice on how to break up with Chris. So you know he can date her haha

Tim has been very patient in all this but you can see him getting a little antsy about it. It is interesting how full circle this moment is. He set them up in 4x12 and now he’s ready to help break them down in this 5x09. Tim is just so ready for Lucy to do this cause he’s anxiously waiting to be with her. It’s pretty damn cute if you ask me. He’s trying to be patient but also is like can we hurry this along a bit?

Lucy says that’s too cruel she wants to handle it her way. No matter how this goes down Chris is going to be hurt though. It's how breakups go there is alway someone who walks away more upset about it. Her empathy taking the front seat in this decision. Where Tim just wants her to rip the bandaid off. Get this over with ASAP.

This is where we see little bit of Tim’s self doubt kick in. It's written all over his face when he asks her if she's having doubts? Worried she’s delaying this because she is having second thoughts about him. About them. Lucy immediately squashes his anxiety with her reply. Shooting massive heart eyes his way as well. She wants Tim to know she’s all in just like he is. That there is nothing for him to worry about.

I love how sure Lucy looks when she tells him 'No, I'm not'. She is so certain this is what she wants. Needs him to know this as well. Not a doubt in her mind about this whole thing. She just has stuff to work out with this breakup first. The certainty in her eyes is everything. Nothing makes more sense to her in this moment than him.

That confidence of hers is why Tim relaxes the way he does above. His whole body draining of the tension he was carrying. His cute smile saying ‘Good.’ Could this man be more of a soft puppy for her? Look at him. That hope and excitement back in his eyes. Lucy replying in kind with her own 'In love 'gaze. They’re both all in and it makes my heart very happy. Also they’re having a full on flirt session in Grey’s office for everyone to see.

I adore Tim being so open and vulnerable in this scene. Making sure she wasn’t backing out. The same Tim who couldn’t communicate in his other relationships to save his life. But with this he is checking in with her. Letting Lucy know his stress about her not breaking up with Chris yet. Lucy assuages his worries instantly. When it’s the right one the harder stuff seems a little easier. More natural. Lucy sensed that panic and instantly calms him with her words and heart eyes. Gah so good. Look at these idiots in love. I just adore them so very much.

This next scene with Aaron is pure gold. I love him so much he cracks me up. Never expected him to be as funny as he is. He notes how quiet she is being and is asking what's going on? Lucy letting him know she needs to break up with Chris. First off like to say we are all Aaron when he says ‘Finally.’ To her breaking up with Chris. Yesssss and Hallelujah finally breaking up with the clown. Nails it even further when he says Chris was never on her level. I mean yeah he never was. Not ever.

Aaron is speaking for the whole Chenford fandom in this moment LOL Chris had nine lives with her and they've finally run out. Aaron's reaction is the best part of this scene. I love that he knew where Lucy's heart was and it obviously wasn't with Chris. He knows it’s with Tim 100 percent. Like most people in their world do. Tim is her equal in so many ways it’s insane. Chris could never compare as Lucy figured out last ep.

Aaron tells her they can practice her breaking up with him. So it’s much easier when the time comes. It’s not a bad idea tbh. This is where it gets hilarious. Lucy brings up them looking at houses. Aaron kinda judging her for letting get as far as looking at houses. Telling her 'Yikes....' HA Tell us how you really feel my man. Lucy reprimanding him saying that is not helpful....Oh Aaron I love you so very much.

Lucy starts her speech trying to find her footing in what she is trying to say. She looks over at Aaron in the middle of it and see he is crying. lol If you didn't laugh at this scene you're dead inside. It's so damn funny. Lucy asking him WTF he is doing? Aaron telling her he is channeling Chris's pain LMFAO I mean he's not wrong she had to be prepared for an emotional response. It's just the way he went about this that is so hysterical. He is having way too much fun with this.

Telling her they should do angry next. I'm rolling. Lucy is doing some channeling of her own. She is channeling her man in this scene. It’s so funny. So aggravated with his role playing in this. Wondering why she asked for his advice in the first place? hahaha They then get a call about a 'Navi'. Lucy is so confused. Aaron geeks out and says it's from Avatar. Tells Lucy she should ask if it’s full grown. The look she gives she is channeling her husband again so much. ‘Aaron, it’s a fictional character...’ LMAO

I really love this ending scene with them. Aaron wants to do one more practice run with her. Lucy tells him she doesn’t need it. (Oh but you do....) That she’s just going to go with her gut on this one. It sounds like a solid idea in the moment but it's honestly the worst thing to wing it. Especially when it's something this intense.

When something is this emotional the right words tend not to just come to you IMO. They sure don't for me. I love him being brutally honest with her about it LOL Saying it’s a terrible idea. That he likes the sentiment but this isn't going to end well. I mean he’s not wrong as we will see here in a bit. Lucy once again channeling Tim in this moment. Cutting him off from saying anything else and just tells him good night haha

We get to the breakup scene we’ve all been waiting for. Lucy is bumbling and awkward. Not knowing where to start. Chris once again blind as a bat. He has no idea why she’s acting this way. Lucy curses Aaron for being right about this moment. Saying she should practiced more LOL I adore her panicking and defaulting to Tim’s playbook advice haha idk what’s funnier that or her being shocked Chris knows what she means by saying that.

All that prep and thinking this out and she went with her man’s advice on how to end this. This makes me giddy to no end. I bet you it’s cause Tim was on her mind from the minute Chris entered the apartment. My guess is that is part of the reason she fell back on his advice. Literally the most Lucy Chen thing ever to use it then be surprised Chris knew what she meant. I love her sfm haha

Chris stumbles around shocked as hell she’s breaking up with him. He seems so very blindsided by the whole thing. I mean if the man opened his eyes for once he wouldn’t be that shocked…But this Chris we are talking about. Lucy tries to get him to talk to her more. Saying they should sit down and talk this out. Chris just bails not wanting to talk at all. Not wanting to fight for her at all. Just takes off like a child who didn't get what he wanted.

Now I’m ok with this. Obviously we all are. Just goes to show you Tim was willing to fight for her and Chris wasn’t in the end. Lucy said it was over and he just left. I mean he wasn’t wrong there isn’t much to talk about out. She doesn’t love him. But still no fight in him at all after Lucy does this. Just folds like a cheap suit. A clueless clown from beginning to end...

We’ve reached the scene of the ep that made us all swoon and squee. I remember feeling so anxious to get to this scene. I had to re-watch the episode to truly appreciate it all. I was too antsy to get back to them sharing a screen. I was so damn giddy this was the place we were in. They spent the majority of this episode apart. So all I could focus on was her coming back to him in this moment.

I adore Lucy coming back into the station to talk about the breakup right away. Needing to share this news with him as soon as she could. I love that she returned to work just to tell him about this. So anxious to get back to Tim after it was done. Lucy wanted him to know as soon as she could it was over with Chris. Knowing he was just as anxious as she was about the breakup. It's sweet how he tentatively approaches her when she says why she is back.

He wants to be understanding about it. Seeing if she wants to talk about it more. Doesn't just want to jump the gun and bulldoze her feelings about the matter. Lucy isn't there to chat about that though. She wants to cash in on him asking her out. Because she couldn’t wait another second without him asking her out again. They're both so damn nervous and sweet in this scene. Fidgety and excited about the prospect of their future. Lucy messing with her hands the entire time as she explains the breakup. Tim keeping his distance while she explains it.

Gah I love her fidgeting near her ring as she approaches Tim. Anxiously awaiting for him to ask her out again. Lucy’s nervous way of reminding him to ask her again like they decided. How she looks into the bullpen before approaching Tim. Saying ‘So…’ He looks nervously excited by her doing this. Eric the king of expressions strikes again. The way his eyes go to check the bullpen as well before refocusing on her. He isn't sure what she is going to do in this moment.

The entire station can see into this office. He looks so friggin cute in his nervousness. I love that that she makes him nervous like this it's so adorable. Lucy gains her confidence and looks him directly in the eye flirty as can be. Asking him if there's something he wants to ask her? The whole purpose of her returning to work is to secure their date. Telling him about the breakup was the catalyst yes. But truly she was wanting to hear him ask her out again.

Tim see's her confidence and starts shaking off his own nerves. Replying in a sassy manner. Their banter the undercurrent of this moment going forward. Fueling them with the courage to say what they want to. Tim can't help being playful and sassy with her replying ‘I can’t remember.’ Doing that cute smirk of his that I love so very much. Wanting to push her buttons a little because well it's Tim.

Lucy is affectionately violent in her reply haha Look at her she is beaming with adoration. She loves this goober in front of her so very much. ‘Don't make me hurt you.’ Because she would legit hurt him if she had to in this moment haha I saw a funny parallel from this to her ripping that tape off in 4x07. She'll do it Timothy LOL Don't test your girl.

I love how he gets serious after she says this. It's the way he slowly moves towards her. That intent look on his face in the first one. *fans self* gah. Then in the second one the way he melts for her. In a way only Lucy gets to see. Asking with as much giddiness and excitement as I ever seen in this man. "Do you wanna go out on a date? Look at this puppy of a man. He is beyond excited to ask her this question again. Knowing now he will get a yes with no stipulations this time around. There is still a little nervous hesitation in his delivery which is precious.

Lucy is bursting at the seams with absolute giddiness when she replies ‘Yeah. I do.’ So happy he's asked her again. How one looks when the man they love asks them out. There’s so much to love about this scene. He’s asking her out in the Watch Commanders office. I love that sfm. Both ecstatic they’re finally going on a date with nothing holding them back now. They’re at work and have to restrain themselves from being too obvious. Which you know they suck at heh

My god anyone looking in on them in that last gif could see how in love these two are. They're so excited just to be around each other right now. The way they’re just standing there looking into each other’s eyes with the dopiest in love smiles. I cannot. I remember thinking the break was gonna take forever to get through. What a time to be alive watching this the first time I remember. LOL

~~~

Side notes -non Chenford

Is it just me or does John have more chemistry with Genny than he does Bailey? Thought I’ve always had from this ep. Probably just me but I always thought they had solid chemistry.

Greys have a ROUGH SL in NYC.

Celina also has a hard time in the ep. With their suspect dying in custody. She has a tough rookie year.

66 notes · View notes

vivaislenska · 1 year

Text

Seatbelt Situation / hurt!Tech & comforting!Wrecker

Relationship: Tech & Wrecker mostly (Omega, Echo, and Hunter are there to help, too)

Basis: Missing scene from TBB 2x2. While they're fleeing Serenno, Tech's injury gets the better of him. Wrecker shows his love.

Word count: 3,295

Warning: mildly graphic description of injury

This was originally written to show the reactions of the other brothers when they learn of Tech's broken leg. Then, Tech get the love and comfort he deserves that wasn’t shown in the episode. Also, I ended up lightheartedly grumbling about a small dialogue detail on Tech's behalf.

It's also posted on AO3. Feedback, corrections, and more ideas are welcome! Reblogs are appreciated :]

The final, trailing TIE fighter goes up in flames when it gets a punch from Havoc Marauder's aft laser cannon. It sails like a comet in the night sky and careens into the cliffside, lighting up the ridge and treeline in a brief flash of vivid luminosity. Immediately after, Wrecker feels Hunter guide the Marauder downward to the wide, flat clearing to make their pickup.

Debarking the gunner’s mount, Wrecker waives his habitual tidying of the bedroll and pillows on the deck to transform the small compartment back into Omega's bedroom. They may no longer have an Imperial tail, but there's likely more on the way, and they're not out of danger yet.

He descends the ladder to the main deck with one sweeping, practiced backward lunge. He’s on his way to the cockpit to help Hunter anyway, so he stops by the open side port to hurry his wayward siblings inside.

He hasn’t heard much from any of them since they agreed on the necessary radio silence, so it’s an immense relief to see Echo, Tech, and Omega all in one piece and all standing there, poised to board. There’s a fourth person too; an elderly gentleman who might be a Serennian local. He’s sure Tech will fill him in about every single detail, but they really need to get out of here. He motions them in with a smirk but nothing else, so as not to compromise his façade of silent, menacing, muscle-bound sentinel in front of the Serennian stranger.

Echo is the first to climb the ramp, and as soon as he does, he scampers into the cockpit to join Hunter. Good, because he’s better at copiloting than Wrecker anyway, and Wrecker wants to be by the ramp in case of any unwanted trouble near the open hatch. He maintains his post directly across the hold from the open side port, watching, waiting.

Ugh, what’s taking them?

Omega is next to come up the ramp, aided by Tech to hop onto the first rung at the bottom. She's holding something small in her hands when she steps aboard, but only has eyes for Wrecker when she makes her way into the cabin. Now that Echo and Omega are home, a large chunk of Wrecker’s tension has eased, but it won’t do so any further until he sees Tech come jogging up.

“What’s taking him?” Wrecker grouses verbally this time, his eyes not leaving the clearing below as Omega gives him a quick hug and takes a seat.

“He’s coming!” Omega reports. “He’s just saying 'bye to Romar.”

That was probably the last thing Wrecker anticipated Omega would say. Who the hell is this Romar? And Tech is… saying goodbye to him? As if this mission couldn’t have gone any more sideways than it already has. But these are concerns to be addressed once they’re all safely well away from Serenno, and not a moment sooner. Tech knows they’re in a hurry here, so why’s he wasting precious time?

Wrecker’s about to voice as much when he finally sees his younger brother come bounding up the ramp. It’s about time, too. They’ve blown their cover so hard on this “covert” mission that more squadrons of TIE fighters are definitely in hot pursuit of them. Not wanting to waste another moment, Wrecker's hand hovers over the control for the ramp to close.

But Tech, likely to make up for those seconds spent saying his goodbyes, engages the mechanism remotely and beats him to it. The side port's hydraulics hiss obediently as Tech ascends the ramp. Any moment now, Tech will come trotting into the hold and zoom past Wrecker in a hurry to get to the cockpit and help with piloting. At least that’s what Wrecker’s expecting.

What he isn’t expecting is for Tech to come tumbling down the last stretch of the ramp as it nestles into the bulkhead.

But that’s exactly what does happen. In a graceless, stumbling mockery of the agile somersaults that he’s actually capable of, Tech comes sliding down the top of the upended gangway to land in a sprawled heap, on his ass, on the deck of the Marauder.

Wrecker, having just put a hand on Omega’s safety harness, snaps his head over to witness Tech’s ridiculous entrance and can only stare, mouth agape, at his younger brother in silent bewilderment.

“Tech? What the-!?”

Tech, having landed in a seated position with his legs sprawled out in front of him doesn’t reply. He only looks up at Wrecker, blinks his giant, goggled eyes once, twice, and then starts to sway.

“Tech!” Wrecker yells in alarm, wondering what the kriff happened in those split seconds between when Tech was standing there, conversing with a local, bounding up the ladder with haste, and then now. As much as he wants to rush to Tech’s aid, he finishes securing Omega’s safety harness first. Once it clicks into place and endures one or two of his aggressive, tentative tugs, he’s hurrying to Tech’s side and bellowing his younger brother’s name again.

“Tech!”

“It could be from his leg,” Omega says from her seat, her voice rife with fear and concern. “He said he broke his femur! The left one!”

Whatever the reason, Tech now has collapsed fully on the deck, and Wrecker is careful to sidestep said leg as he makes his way over to him and gathers him in his arms. He removes Tech’s pack and slams it up against the only magnetic storage mechanism he can reach from this angle. His little brother is breathing steadily but out cold.

“I gotcha, buddy,” says Wrecker nesting Tech’s smaller frame in front of his own, then scooting backward to get them both safely into a crash seat. “Sorry if this hurts, but we’re about to make the jump outta here.”

Carefully but swiftly, Wrecker drags Tech up from the deck, wincing a little as he doesn’t have the time to make sure that no weight (however much diminished by his very capable maneuvering) is placed on Tech’s reportedly broken leg. But broken leg or not, it won’t be helpful for anyone if neither Wrecker nor Tech is strapped into a crash seat when they depart Serenno’s atmosphere. So Wrecker makes the executive decision to prioritize flight safety.

Tech makes no objection to the abrupt maneuvers anyway and remains completely out of it. His helmeted head bumps inertly against Wrecker's cuirass as the larger clone pulls them both into the same seat and under the same crash harness.

“You all strapped in back there?” calls Echo urgently from the cockpit. “We’ve got heat!”

“We’re good!” Wrecker yells back, not pausing to tell them that no, they aren’t officially strapped in yet and that they might be testing the limits of said safety mechanism if Wrecker can actually get it locked around the both of them. “Go!”

Wrecker can feel the Marauder humming with urgency as she's primed to flee them to safety, and he knows he only has mere seconds to make this seatbelt situation work.

“Alright, buddy, suck it in!” he tells his unconscious brother as he reaches up with one hand to pull on the harness while keeping his other arm protectively coiled across Tech’s chest.

Tech does not, in fact, suck it in, as he’s still mercifully unconscious, but Wrecker does as he hugs his little brother's frame as tightly to him as he can possibly get. Though he’s very lean and a good six inches shorter than Wrecker, Tech is still fully armored and laden with tools and gadgets. Combined with Wrecker’s own massive and armored frame, it's going to be a tight squeeze…

The crash harness screeches in complaint as Wrecker jerks it into place in front of them and forces the locking mechanism to engage. And just in time too, because the Marauder makes a few evasive twists and turns before lurching onto a predetermined hyperlight trajectory.

Despite the safety harness having been successfully muscled into doing double duty, Wrecker still holds onto Tech fiercely. He takes care to grapple his legs and arms around Tech’s own, pinning Tech’s limbs safely in place and (hopefully) preventing further aggravation of whatever injuries they’re working with here. Worried about what Tech’s wounds specifically entail, Wrecker hugs him all the tighter, resolved to keep this carbonite-like lock on him until they can safely unbuckle and assess what Tech got himself into this time.

Finally, the automated alert chimes, informing Marauder’s crew that it’s safe to move about the shuttle. Omega undoes her harness at once, leaping down to her feet and hastening to Wrecker’s (and Tech’s) seat. She finds Tech’s pulse, lifts his helmet off, then crouches down in front of them, likely to try to make some sort of initial medical assessment.

“Oi! A little help back here!” Wrecker bellows to the lads upfront, knowing that the urgency in his voice will have Echo and Hunter both rushing aft in an instant.

And they don’t disappoint. Both brothers come hurrying out of the cockpit, eyes alight with concern that only swells when they land on Tech, slumped unconscious in Wrecker’s lap.

“What happened?” Hunter demands, running to the crash seat and helping Wrecker unlatch and lift the safety harness into the up position. “Careful now. Let’s get him on a rack.”

As they work to shift their youngest brother onto one of the racks, Echo produces one of their sturdy trauma kits and slides into his role as assistant medic.

“He broke his left leg,” Echo says sadly, flicking a medical scanner to life and running it along Tech’s form. “And he’s been running around on it now for hours.”

“He... broke his leg!?” Hunter repeats, devastated. “When?”

“When we crashlanded that cargo container,” Omega supplies. “A heavy crate fell on top of him.”

“How heavy?” Hunter asks, eyeing the medical scanner’s red flashes of warning over Echo’s shoulder, undoubtedly dreading the prospect of a dire report.

“He said—Wrecker, get his tool belt off, will you?—” Echo says, recounting the events as he delegates the tasks that he’s less suited to and gathers supplies from the medical kit. “He said his ‘left femur’ was fractured by ‘150 kilograms of pressure.’ Something to that effect. And the med scanner agrees. It’s closed, but he’s got a pretty nasty oblique fracture. Diaphyseal. And fighting on it didn’t do him any favors.”

“It’s that bad?” Hunter asks sadly. “You think he needs a specialist?”

“It is,” Echo says morosely. “And I do. His leg's already swollen to twice its normal size, and the fracture's been harmfully manipulated.”

“Oh yeah, he does,” Wrecker agrees, empathizing greatly with the misery that accompanies a broken long bone. “Better go find an med center and plug it in now, Sarge. Sheesh, he musta been in a lot of pain.”

“Adrenaline masked most of it, I reckon,” Echo says, planting a small torch between his own lips, then gently sliding Tech’s goggles up to check his pupillary light reflex.

As Wrecker watches Echo conduct the test, something dawns on him.

“No,” Wrecker decides. “No-no, he was really hurting.”

“That’s not what it looked like to us,” Echo says, stowing the light, consulting Tech’s stats further, and searching through their supplies for something they can use as a splint. “He was handling it.”

“It’s just… 150 kilograms… of pressure? He said that?” Wrecker asks, lending a hand in the rummaging. “Tech said that… just like that?”

“Yeah, I think so,” says Echo glancing at Omega and receiving a confirmatory nod from their sister.

“That’s what bugs me,” Wrecker tells them apprehensively.

“Why?” Hunter asks, still looking stricken at the discovery of his brother’s injury. “That’s a typical Tech report. Even if it’s to do with his own kriffing bones.”

“But that’s not quite right, is it?” Wrecker tells them, as the sheer amount of pain that Tech must have really been in from the injury finally dawns on him. He reaches over and gently cups the side of Tech’s face, wishing there was any possible way that he could take away some of the pain Tech had endured and was still going to have to endure for a while longer because of this. “Well, kilograms ain’t… a unit of pressure, is it?”

“What?” Echo asks, his tone supplementing Hunter and Omega’s visible confusion.

“Kilograms ain’t… well, you know… used as a unit of pressure. It’s a… unit of mass,” Wrecker says carefully, his tongue feeling cumbersome in his mouth as he repeats the information that Tech, himself, had helped him learn. “I’m just saying, he musta been really kriffed if he said that is all, and I hope we got something strong in that kit to give him when he comes ‘round.”

Hunter and Echo blink in surprise at him for a moment before a shared look passes between them, and they grasp the gravity of Wrecker’s remark.

“I’ll get in touch with some friendlies,” Hunter says, somehow sounding even more resolved than he’d been moments ago and making for the cockpit, “I’ll find us an orthopedic specialist we can trust. Let me know when he wakes.”

“You got it,” Echo says, now searching for a stronger hypo to administer to Tech.

It’s only a few moments later, as Wrecker is easing off the last of his younger brother’s armor and gear that Tech begins to stir.

“Tech? Tech, hey,” Echo says encouragingly, “you with us?”

Intermittently, Tech becomes aware of voices and all the ambient noises of his beloved ship in flight. Though… the sounds are all muddled and greet him as though they’ve been hurtling through time and space to chase and catch up to him. The voices are talking quietly over him. Which is fairly unusual.

Ah. Serenno. He must have succumbed to his injuries on Serenno and lost consciousness. Again.

The previous time it happened, it had been Romar who roused him from his ill-timed syncopation. This time, however… he isn’t quite sure. He summons all of his strength and forces himself to wake up.

Just as he’s blinking his heavy eyelids open, pain lances through his left leg like a bolt of lightning, and he sucks in a breath through his clenched teeth. Instinctively he tries to curl forward and reach for the limb, which is now ablaze with a pain that he’s seldom (if ever) experienced quite like this before now.

Gentle hands grasp him firmly, forcing him to lay back down with his arms securely, benignly at his sides. Yes, his left femur, he recalls. Fractured substantially and now with an accompaniment of soft tissue damage and further injury from rigorous use of the limb immediately after the precipitating event. He starts to hyperventilate at the memory of it and the implication of how said injury will impact his effectiveness to his team... to his family...

“Easy, Tech,” says a gentle, deep baritone voice directly above him. Echo. “We gotcha. You’re okay.”

Tech cracks his eyes open but is only met with a blur of indistinct colors and shapes. He can’t help but gasp in alarm. His goggles hadn’t been compromised, had they? He really didn’t suspect they had and would be distressed beyond measure if that were the case.

“They're right here,” says Omega’s voice, a small shape bobbing around the periphery of his bleary view. Small hands gently lift and slide his goggles from his forehead down onto his face so that his corrective lenses are seated properly in front of each eye. He sighs in immense relief when his surroundings come into sharp focus to reveal that he’s supine in the main hold of the Havoc Marauder with Echo, Omega, and Wrecker, all either directly next to him or nearby.

“Hunter?” is Tech’s first thought, and the question is on his tongue before he can even think through and catalog the probable answers. They all need to be together. It’s a priority.

“In the cockpit,” Echo assures him. “Finding us a safe place to get you looked after.”

“Oh,” Tech says. “Am I the only one injured?”

“You are,” Echo confirms. “But enough so for the lot of us, Tech. I’m just glad you waited until you got to Marauder before passing out.”

“I did so in the forest as well,” Tech reports pragmatically. “Romar located and assisted me.”

“Oh, so when you ate it on the ramp coming back, that was round two?” Wrecker chimes in, sounding indecently impressed.

“I did not ‘eat it’ coming back aboard Marauder,” Tech huffs, though he reasonably can’t recall what exactly happened that lead him to the predicament he’s in currently.

“Did too,” Wrecker insists, radiating his perplexing approval for when any one of them pushes through an injury severe enough to ultimately render them unconscious. “Omega and I both saw it.”

“Yeah, sorry, Tech, you kinda did,” Omega admits. “Wrecker and I were scared.”

“Apologies for that… entrance,” Tech says with a sigh. “That sounds somewhat more dramatic than what I had intended.”

“S’alright!” Wrecker says, as Omega makes for the cockpit, likely to update Hunter. “You made it, and that’s all that matters!”

“How’s your pain?” Echo asks soberly. “I can cut it. Keep you comfortable for the ride, at least.”

“It is tolerable,” Tech reports, cringing at the idea of their ever-dwindling medical supplies being expended on him.

“Nah, I’ll cut it,” Echo decides for him instead.

“I suspect I do not have any say in the matter?” Tech hedges.

“You don’t,” Echo confirms in a tone that is patronizing and infuriating and, indeed, meant to be both. Adding to the infuriating aspect. “The med scanner doesn’t lie.”

“That is because it has been properly calibrated. Are we—agh!” Tech’s next question is interrupted by a sharp stab to his jugular vein, chased by a burning, cold sensation. He flinches involuntarily at the abrupt contact but doesn’t begrudge the relief that follows. The intense pain in his leg ebbs and morphs into innocent numbness very rapidly, and he'll now be able to focus more adequately on all pertinent tasks. But still, “that gesture warrants warning to the patient,” he grumbles at Echo.

“He never does that,” Wrecker gripes, commiserating with Tech likely because of the injury sustained when they first fled Kamino, pursued by...

Crosshair. Tech's heart aches with a pain that doesn't even touch the pain that was caused by his broken femur. No, it's too much to think about right now. He has to focus on their next move. What they need to make ends meet and keep them safe.

“I know what the module says to do,” Echo tells them regarding his proclivity to employ surprise hypo attacks, “and I know what Kix says to do.”

“Oh, so they are mutually exclusive concepts,” Tech complains, “and you practice the latter.”

“Ehh, the lessons intersect here and there,” Echo says with a smirk, gathering what he’ll need to perform the application of traction, depending on how long their voyage to get medical help will be.

“Well, that is very comforting to know,” Tech says drily. “And do Kix’s teachings dictate that I be allowed my datapad to distract me during any impending procedures?”

“They do,” says Echo lightly, grabbing Tech’s coveted datapad from where his gear has been piled and placing it in Tech’s lap. Wrecker grabs something soft and carefully helps Tech prop his head up enough to read.

Tech gladly accepts the help and the offered datapad. He toggles it to life and settles in. He has a lot of work to do, and he can’t let something like an inconvenient femur fracture deter him from providing for his family.

And... just maybe… eventually recovering their lost brother too.

Thank you so much for reading! I really hope you enjoyed this little fic. The kg of pressure idea isn’t meant to be wELL aCtuALlY, but I’ve never seen pressure expressed in kg and it doesn’t make sense to me 😅. I think Tech really was jacked up by that wretched crate, and that’s why he said that. They showcased his resilience (among other qualities!) in this episode and it was fantastic

I plan to post my fics to Tumblr, make recs, and share the fics of others from AO3. I'm also experimenting with making some dividers/banners (thank you so much, @freesia-writes)! I got some serious undergrad EE course vibes when recreating Tech's technical doodles lol.

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tobiasdrake · 2 months

Text

Digimon Adventure 01x30 - The Digimon's Great Traversal of Tokyo / Almost Home Free

Previously on Digimon Adventure: The Chosen Children searched for the Eighth Child in Hikarigaoka's local library, where they were able to look up a copy of the OVA and remember the plot. Mammon tried to cause a ruckus when they got to the Parrotmon part but it's okay 'cause Garudamon stepped out and took care of it.

The Chosen Children and Tailmon's mercenaries have all failed to find the Eighth Child in Hikarigaoka. But the Children have learned much about how they were Chosen.

This episode comes with a trigger warning: Human adults being child predators.

We open on PicoDevimon reporting back to Vamdemon about what happened.

Vamdemon: What? Garudamon has been sighted? PicoDevimon: Yes, sir. It's been reported that the Chosen Children have arrived in this world. Vamdemon: Have you located the Eighth Child yet? PicoDevimon: We're currently raising our efforts and expanding our search perimeter.

As he speaks, we see glimpses of Tailmon and a few mercs no longer in silhouette.

Tailmon is roaming around the city, continuing her manual search from last episode.

Wizarmon is street performing at the amusement park to lure in children so he check the counterfeit Crest against a crowd.

SkullMeramon is skulking about in a trenchcoat watching children like a creep.

Gesomon is patrolling the waterways. I... guess he's looking for water children?

(Wizarmon is the stand-out smart guy of the bunch. He's letting the children come to him in an innocuous fashion. SkullMeramon, meanwhile, is likely to be reported to police by concerned onlookers. As he should; He has hostile intentions towards children.)

Vamdemon: The children must also be looking for the Eighth Child. Hurry! We cannot let the children gain the upper hand! PicoDevimon: Yes, sir!

Almost no change in the dub, with the exception of silence-breaking dialogue added to the shots of the searching Digimon.

DemiDevimon: We're looking everywhere! Air, land, and sea! We've got it covered, no problem!

I'm as confused by why the Eighth Child would be in the air as I am by why she'd be in the sea.

Then again... frame of reference. Aerial children and aquatic children are completely normal where Tailmon and PicoDevimon come from.

Meanwhile, the children make plans to leave Hikarigaoka.

Taichi: If the Eighth Child's not here in Hikarigaoka, we should hurry up and look in other places. We can't waste time here or Vamdemon will get ahead of us. Mimi: But couldn't they just be goofing off somewhere? Koushiro: No, I don't think so. The other connection between all of us is.... Sora: We all moved away from Hikarigaoka? Koushiro: Yes. Unless that is a coincidence, we should assume that the Eighth Child also moved. Taichi: So they could be in Odaiba like us? Koushiro: That is our most likely possibility. Mimi: (excited) I want to go home! Taichi: Yeah... Alright, let's head for Odaiba first!

Irony: We didn't actually need to come to Hikarigaoka and spent all that time manipulating Fujiyama for nothing. And now we have to find a way to reach Odaiba 27 miles away, because we got off our transport to Odaiba so we could come to Hikarigaoka.

The dub skips the discussion of why we're going to Odaiba. Tai is convinced right from the get-go that the Eighth Child is in Odaiba, for reasons unexplained.

Mimi: Can we get a snack before we go looking? Tai: There's no time. We've got to get to Odaiba and find that Eighth Kid before somebody else does! Mimi: How will we get there? Do you think there's any fast food places along the way? Tai: Would you knock it off about the food? Anyway, we've only got enough money for our subway tickets. Joe: Subway? Oh, wow. My parents won't let me ride the subway by myself. Tai: You're not by yourself. Now come on! Mimi: Are subways like regular trains? I mean, do they have snack cars? Tai: JUST DROP IT!!! And stick together, everybody. It can get kind of confusing down here.

They also tweak Mimi's dialogue so that Tai can yell at her. This one's a bit odd, in that it actually fits Mimi's established characterization from the original pretty well. As we know from the Kentarumon episode, Mimi's stubborn when she's hangry. So, unlike the Valley Girl bits, this bit is rooted in her original persona pretty well.

But I'm still miffed that Mimi gets three lines in this scene and they're all prompts for Tai to tell her to shut the fuck up.

Also, Joe gets one too. Pretty much the entire scene has been replaced with Tai dunking on Joe and Mimi to show how much of a boss he is. Izzy, the actual main character of this scene, doesn't even get a word in.

The Chosen Children descend into the incredibly complex Tokyo rail network.

Jou: Let's see... The fastest way to reach Odaiba is.... Mimi: (shrug) I can't tell because there's so many routes available. Koushiro: (laptop) Please wait just a minute. The fastest way to get there is... If we take the Toei #12 Line from here to Nakano-sakaue, transfer to the Marunouchi and Ginza Lines and leave from Shimbashi, the Yurikamome route will take us to Odaiba. Taichi: Okay then! (approaching ticket machine) Let's head to Nakano-sakaue first.

Glad we have Koushiro here to Computers our way through the incredibly intimidating Tokyo rail network because Jou probably would have been here all day and Mimi, I'm sorry but you are no help here.

In the dub, Joe starts us off with a quip and Mimi's still on about the food.

Joe: I just hope Myotismon has as much trouble reading this map as I do. Mimi: Okay, what do we do now!? Besides starve to death! Izzy: I'm just figuring it out. ...okay, that'll work. Now, the fastest route to Odaiba is to take the #12 train to Nagano and transfer to the Marunouchi Line. Then transfer to the Ginza and get off at Shimbashi. Mimi: ...huh? Tai: Sounds simple enough. (approaching ticket machine) Now we just have to figure out the right fare.

Surprisingly, Izzy relays Koushiro's directions for navigating the Tokyo subway system almost word for word.

He cuts Nakano-sakaue down to "Nagano". Point off for mispronouncing it, but dropping the "-sakaue" isn't necessarily wrong. Nakano-sakaue is the name of the subway station for Nakano Ward, so both ways of saying it work.

In a refreshing change of pace, this scene is completely unafraid to be in Japan. They even show us the subway map unedited, with all of its Japanese text marking the different stations intact.

While Taichi's buying tickets, the Digimon chime in.

Koromon: (hops up on the counter) Hey Taichi, what's that? Taichi: A ticket. This is what we use to ride the subway. Palmon: Subway? Patamon: What's that? Jou: Shhh! Don't talk so much in front of other people. This place isn't like your world. If anyone sees you talking, they'll cause a fuss. Sora: Listen, while you're here, you need to pretend to be stuffed animals. You can't move around, okay? I know it's going to be tough, but please bear with it. Pyokomon: Okay, I understand! I won't talk or move. It's much easier to be carried around by Sora anyway. (wiggles and sings) Hehe ~Sora~-- Sora: I just said not to move!

It's not easy being Digimon in the human world. I feel for them. I'd hate to have to pretend to be a plushie all day too.

(Oh, so that's why Mimi's so hungry. Off-model Chonky Patamon ate all the food. Now he can see through time.)

The dub follows the script until it gets to Sora and Yokomon. Pyokomon's bit is a callback to her and Sora's first episode on File Island, but the dub cut the clingy ~Sora ~Sora ~Sora conflict from the episode so the callback doesn't work here. Instead, Yokomon has an idea.

Sora: Yeah, while we're here, you've got to pretend to be toys or stuffed animals. But remember to keep still and no fidgeting. Yokomon: Here's an idea! I'll be one of those dolls you told me about. The kind where you squeeze them and they go... (wiggles and sings) ...WAHH! WAHH! WAHH! Sora: Be a doll that doesn't talk!

Once the tickets are purchased, IT'S FIGHTING TIME!!!

...wait, what?

While the Chosen Children wait for the train, Tsunomon and Koromon start chatting despite what Jou said a moment ago.

Koromon: Is this a cave? Tsunomon: It's a weird cave. Yamato: (hisses) Hey! Be quiet. Announcer: The train is arriving on time. Please remain behind the white line.

Hearing the rumbling of the approaching train, the two Baby Digimon grow concerned.

Koromon: W-What's that sound? Tsunomon: Is that a Digimon's voice!? Koromon: LOOK!!! THERE'S SOMETHING GLOWING IN THE CAVE!!! Tsunomon: That's it! It must be one of Vamdemon's minions!

Before Taichi and Yamato realize what's happening, Koromon and Tsunomon leap onto the goddamn train tracks to fight the oncoming train.

Taichi: HUH!?!? Yamato: TSUNOMON!!!

They realize their mistake once they see the train approach. It's not super clear how Koromon and Tsunomon survive this, but they're intact after it passes and seem to have pressed themselves against the back wall to avoid being hit.

Fortunately, this train is apparently not stopping here and speeds right on past. I guess that one isn't not ours.

In the dub:

Koromon: It's some kind of cave. Tsunomon: I don't like being underground. Yamato: Hey! Put a lid on it. Announcer: Attention, attention. #12 train now arriving at platform 7. Koromon: What? Where'd that voice come from. Tsunomon: You heard it!? Then it's not just inside my head! Koromon: SOMETHING'S COMING!!! Tsunomon: LOOK AT THOSE GLOWING EYES!!! IT'S ONE OF MYOTISMON'S GOONS!!! (Koromon and Tsunomon leap onto the tracks) Tai: HEY!!! Matt: Watch out!

The dub puts a commercial break right here, moments before the train threatens to splatter Koromon and Tsunomon. Which is honestly a great place for it. A+ commercial placement. Solid cliffhanger to keep the kids from changing the channel.

It also claims that this is the train we're waiting for. Which makes it odd that the train doesn't stop at our platform. Excuse you, we would like to get on, please.

The kids board the subway with their "stuffed animals".

It does not go well.

The seven Chosen Children have a row of seats to themselves on the crowded train, with their Digimon in their laps.

Taichi: (angrily) Making me worry....

Taichi punches Koromon in the head for that stunt.

In the dub, it's:

Tai: We can't take you guys anywhere!

Suddenly, they overhear a baby crying. A woman, forced to stand for lack of available seating, is trying to soothe her crying baby. Sora stands up, offering her seat to the woman.

Mother: There, there. Stop crying and be a good boy. Sora: (stands) Um, here you go. Mother: Oh! Thank you so much. (sits, patting her baby) Good boy... Good boy... Don't cry.

Suddenly, the baby stops crying. He sees Pyokomon in Sora's arms. Without warning, he reaches out and grabs her pistil.

(RUDE. In case you are not familiar with the anatomy of a flower, that orange stem sticking up from Pyokomon is her pistil. It's the female sex organ, containing her seed pod. The yellow ones are her stamens, which are male sex organs that produce pollen for germinating the pistil. Flowers have both.

This child is basically yanking Pyokomon's ovaries. Her pistil and stamen may be strictly aesthetic but it's still rude!)

The child's mother is oblivious to the yanking, having shut her eyes to enjoy a blissful moment of rest once her child stopped crying.

Sora: E-Excuse me. Mother: Huh? ...oh, I'm so sorry. Come on....

She tries to pull her child's hand off of Pyokomon's pistil, but that infuriates the boy. He starts yelling and tugging harder, as if trying to rip the pistil out.

Mochimon: ...that has to hurt....

Finally, Pyokomon reaches her breaking point and screams.

Pyokomon: THAT HURTS!!! STOP PULLING ON ME!!!

The entire train goes deathly quiet.

In the dub:

Mother: Aww, there now. Hush. Come on. Sora: (stands) Here, take my seat. Mother: Huh? Oh! Thank you! (sits) Wasn't that nice of that girl? We've been on our feet all day, haven't we? (The mom shuts her eyes and the baby starts yanking on Yokomon) Sora: Uhh! Excuse me! Mother: Huh? Oh! What are you doing now!? No... (The mother tires to pull the baby's hand away; The baby yanks harder) Mother: No no, honey! Let go now! That's the girl's toy. Come on! Honey! Motimon: Ouch, that's gotta hurt. Mother: Oh come on, honey. Let go of the girl's toy before you break it! HONEY.... Yokomon: HEY!!! WILL YOU LET GO OF ME!?!?

The mother gets some silence-breaking dialogue during the hard yanking, which comes through pretty well here. We don't really see much of the mom after that initial attempt, so the implied continued effort to control her child is good for the scene, I think.

Also, "We've been on our feet all day, haven't we?" is a lovely addition to the scene. I really like the dub's take on the mom here.

I do think the original version of Pyokomon's outburst hits harder than Yokomon's. Pyokomon breaks protocol because her pain tolerance has hit its limit and she can't take any more of this torture. Motimon tries to sell it and we do see Yokomon grimacing in pain, but Yokomon's line just sounds like she's mad that her personal space is being violated.

For a good ten seconds after Pyokomon's outburst, you can hear a pin drop. Then a kid points and shouts.

Kid: IT TALKED!!! THE DOLL TALKED!!! Sora: (lightbulb) That must have hurt! You poor thing! There, there....

Sora gently pets Pyokomon and whispers the plan to her. From here, when Pyokomon speaks, Sora covers Pyokomon's mouth with her hand and subtly moves her own lips to make it look like she's throwing her voice.

Sora: (whisper) Play along with whatever I say. Pyokomon: U-Uh-huh. Sora: (loudly) But you know, the baby only did that because he really likes you, Pyokomon! Pyokomon: Really? Sora: It's true! So forgive him for what he did, okay? Pyokomon: I'm sorry for yelling at you.

The plan works. The baby starts laughing and having a good time.

The dub starts this scene with another Good Actually silence-destroying line, with a bewildered Sora attempting to explain. Meanwhile, the pointing kid is noticeably played by Izzy's actor trying and failing to differentiate his voice by putting on a Rough Kid tone.

Sora: ...I guess my toy didn't like when you pulled on it.... Kid: Did you hear that!? That stuffed animal talked! Sora: ...AH! It worked! All that practice is paying off! Fooled 'em, didn't we? (pets Yokomon and whispers) Hush, just keep quiet and play along.

In the original, Pyokomon speaks while Sora subtly but visibly moves her lips to disguise the source of her voice. Sora holds her hand over Pyokomon's mouth to disguise the movement of Pyokomon's own mouth, so it looks like the one speaking is really Sora.

In the dub, Sora tells Yokomon to keep quiet, then she badly attempts to imitate Yokomon's voice with her subtle lip flaps.

Sora: Come on! The baby pulled your hair because he likes you, that's all! Sora-Yokomon: Oh, really? Sora: There's no reason to bite the poor thing's head off! Sora-Yokomon: Oh! I'm very sorry I shouted!

Since Sora has no experience with ventriloquism and obviously can't be throwing her voice correctly, I'm not sure why the dub ploy works. There's also no reason for her to be covering Yokomon's mouth, since Yokomon isn't saying anything.

The plan works well and the crowd buys it. In fact, the plan works too well.

Kid's Father: Oh, she's doing ventriloquism. It's really the young lady who's speaking for the doll. Isn't that amazing? Bystander 1: It's just ventriloquism. Bystander 2: I really thought it talked! Bystander 3: Obviously, it couldn't have!

The other Chosen Children, watching Sora's near-disaster with bated breath, finally exhale. Everything looks to be ov--

Kid: I want one! Dad, I want that doll! Buy it! Buy it! Buy it, Dad! Come on, buy it! Father: (gets up and approaches Sora) Excuse me, miss. Sorry to bother you, but where did you get that? Sora: W-Where...?

The other kids watch Sora with fear and horror on their faces once more. How the hell is she supposed to answer this question? Ten seconds of silence pass as Sora struggles to think of something to say.

Announcement: (bing bong) Nerima. This is Nerima. Please exit to your right. Sora: ...the... NERIMA DAIKON DEPARTMENT STORE!!! Father: Aha! Thank you!

Father, son, and every other passenger all rush out the door at once, leaving the Chosen Children alone on the train. Except the mother and baby, who wait for the rush before departing much more calmly.

Mother: (to Sora) Thank you very much. (disembarks) Pyokomon: Farewell!

At long last, we are out of the danger zone.

Over in the dub, the pointing kid manages to be even more obnoxious, and the father fills those ten seconds of silence with dialogue.

Kid: I want one! Daddy, give me that toy! I want that doll! If I don't get one RIGHT NOW I'LL START SCREAMING AT THE TOP OF MY LUNGS!!! Father: Shhh. (gets up and approaches Sora) Excuse me, young lady. Can I ask where you bought that doll? I need one right away. Sora: Uh... Where I bought it? Father: It's not that hard a question, is it? Come on. You'll be doing me a big favor. Where did you find it? Announcement: This stop is Nerima. Please watch your step. Again, this stop is Nerima. Sora: Ohh... THE NERIMA DEPARTMENT STORE!!! Father: What? Nerima! Thanks a lot! Come on, son! (Crowd races out; Mother stands up to leave last) Mother: (to Sora) Thanks again. (disembarks) Pyokomon: Goodbye!

Nobody does pushy, entitled brats like Americans. We are the MVP of spoiled rotten children. And spoiled rotten adults, too. That the Japanese father patiently waits for Sora to come up with her answer while the American father jumps down her throat and won't let her think seems very fitting of both cultures.

Though he's actually supposed to be Japanese in both versions so... IDK.

Now that we're finally alone in the car and we've managed that crisis, the kids start to relax. Sora returns to her seat and everyone breathes a collective sigh of relief.

Sora: That was a close one. Taichi: I thought we were goners for a second there. Jou: What is the Nerima Daikon Department Store? Sora: No idea. Takeru: I'm tired.... Mimi: Now that my tension's drained, I'm starting to feel sleepy.... Yamato: Yeah, me too.... Takeru: Hey, where are we supposed to get off again? Koushiro: At Nakano-sakaue.... Takeru: Nakano... sakaue....

Coming down off the adrenaline surge and already tired from a long day, the children drift off to sleep.

In the dub:

Sora: Wow, that was a close one. Tai: Pretty weird how nuts that kid went over Yokomon. Joe: If we don't find the Eighth Child, we could go into the-- Sora: --toy business? T.K.: How much longer? Mimi: Who knows? Someone wake me when we get there. Matt: Yeah, me too. T.K.: What's the name of the stop where we're getting off again? Izzy: We get off in Nagano. T.K.: Okay... Nagano....

We lose Sora's admission that she made up the department store she just sent those people to, which is a funny punchline replaced by an awkward quip about selling toys if Myotismon kills Kari.

We also lose Mimi's exposition that coming down off the adrenaline high is why the kids are suddenly taking inappropriate naptime.

By the time the train pulls into Nakano-sakaue, the children are fast asleep.

Patamon wakes up to the announcement they've arrived.

Announcer: Nakano-sakaue. Nakano-sakaue. Please exit to your right. Patamon: Nakano...saka... Huh? Why aren't we getting off here? Palmon: Shh. Don't talk.

Patamon claps his front paws over his mouth and hushes up. The train doors close and the train continues on its way.

In the dub, an interesting thing occurs with the announcement. The sign over the door in the original has the kanji for "Nakano-sakaue" in orange lettering, with red English lettering under it that says the same.

Despite all the uncensored Japanese lettering we've seen up to this point, apparently that sign is a bridge too far. Odd place to draw the line in the sand, given that this one comes with built-in English next to it, but okay.

The dub edits it for the "Nagano" station, so that it just has large, orange English lettering. The new orange lettering spells out "Nakano-sakaue".

Announcer: This stop is Nagano. Please watch your step. Again, this stop is Nagano. Patamon: Ohh! Huh? Hey! Here's our stop! Loo-- Palmon: We're supposed to be quiet.

So chalk this up to yet another example of the people editing the animation not communicating with the scripting team, I guess. The voice saying "This stop is Nagano" plays while the Nakano-sakaue sign is front and center onscreen.

At least it's not as bad as Shogunmon.

Eventually, the children wake up to find themselves at the wrong stop.

Sora: Huh? Jou: This is... (Cut to the sign) Jou: SHINJUKU!?!? GACKKKKK!!! Taichi: WE SLEPT THROUGH OUR STOP!!! Takeru: Patamon, you were awake!? Patamon: Yes. Takeru: Why didn't you wake us up!? Patamon: Because you told us not to talk. Children: (collective heavy sigh) Jou: Should we go back to Nakano-sakaue? Koushiro: No. I think we can still transfer to the Marunouchi Line from here.

In the dub, it's Mimi that notices where they are. Tragically, she does not make angry throat noises.

Sora: Ugh... huh? Tai: Huh? Joe: Whuh? (Cut to the sign) Mimi: HOW'D WE MISS OUR STOP!?!? Patamon: All of you slept right through it. T.K.: Patamon, you were awake!? Patamon: Sure! T.K.: What's wrong with you!? Why didn't you wake us up!? Patamon: How could I? You told us not to make a sound! Children: (collective groan) Joe: What now? Go back to our stop? Izzy: No. It's out of our way, but I think we can change trains here and be okay.

With the exception of Jou's angry throat noises, this is otherwise mostly the same. The other main difference is that they give Patamon a line for T.K. to react to. In the original, Takeru just sort of... somehow knows Patamon was awake, without explanation.

So this one goes down as a rare improvement over the original.

As the kids make their way through the station, appetites begin to flare up.

Koromon: Hey, Taichi, I'm hungry.... Tsunomon: Me too.... Palmon: So am I. Taichi: Deal with it. I'm hungry too, y'know. Mimi: I want to eat a hamburger.

Yes, Mimi is actually craving a hamburger in the original. "Watashi hamburger tabetai." That is not a dub line change. The thought of a hamburger, in fact, brings the group to a halt.

Sora: A hamburger? Yamato: I haven't had that in a long time.

Then they just stop. Looking to one another with glum expressions; The weight of this simple pleasure they've been deprived for so long hanging over everybody's heads. Seven seconds of silence pass as everyone processes what they've been missing. Finally broken when Mimi offers everyone a pleasant smile to try and raise the mood.

The dub plays this straight from the start, but then breaks script at Mimi's line and extends conversation to break the silence that follows.

Koromon: How much longer? I'm getting awful hungry, Tai! Tsunomon: Yeah, I'm starving! Palmon: Famished! Tai: It can wait. Hey, I'm hungry too, y'know! Mimi: I keep visualizing cheeseburgers. And I don't even eat cheeseburgers! (Group stops, beat) Matt: It has been a long time since any of us have eaten. And our Digimon get weak when they're hungry. (beat) Tai: ...okay.... Mimi: (pleasant smile)

Tonal shift. The English scene uses the burgers to point out that the kids haven't eaten since arriving in the human world, rather than that they've been away at war for several months. This is a tactical conversation, rather than a lingering realization of mutual hardship.

Additionally, it's Tai that cheers Mimi up by agreeing to get food rather than Mimi attempting to cheer everyone else up by putting on a brave face.

Two members of our nakama, however, are suspiciously absent from this conversation.

Jou and Koushiro navigate a crowd of people, trying to find their way.

Koushiro: The Marunouchi Line.... There are a lot of stations here. Jou: (calling over the noise) LISTEN UP, EVERYONE!!! BE SURE TO STAY CLOSE BEHIND US AND.... Uh.... (beat) Jou: (meekly) Hey, Koushiro? Koushiro: What is it, Jou-san? Jou: (meekly) Everybody's gone. Koushiro: Eh!? Jou: Honestly, where did they all go!? Koushiro: Oh, right. (pulls out Digivice) If we use this, we can find where everyone is right away! (looks at it) Wait. Why isn't it reacting? It worked fine when we were in the Digimon's world. Jou: Maybe it broke when we got here. Koushiro: (shakes the Digivice) That can't be right.

Koushiro tries shaking his Digivice to rattle it into working. I see he's finally beginning to side with Taichi on the topic of percussive maintenance.

As they walk, a woman in cosplay offers Jou a free sample of something.

Woman: Here you go.

Gomamon opens his mouth and happily bites it out of her hand.

Woman: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! (beat) Jou: AHHHHHHHHHH!!! THIS IS A TOY!!! A TOY!!!

Jou very unsuspiciously runs like hell while screaming "It's a toy" over and over at the top of his lungs. We are doing such a good job of keeping a low profile. :D

In the dub, Izzy and Joe seem to have psychically predicted that we'd be going for food because they are not looking for the Marunouchi line.

Joe: This place is a zoo! And not a restaurant in sight. The first one to see someplace to eat, give a shout, okay? ...huh? (beat) Joe: Oh, uh, hey, Izzy? Izzy: What is it? You see something? Joe: The other guys. They're gone. Izzy: WHAT!?!? Joe: I can't believe this! They ditched us! (groan) Izzy: Okay, okay. Don't panic. (pulls out Digivice) As long as we have this, we can always find them. (looks at it) Huh? That's funny. Why isn't it working? You think something might have happened to it when we came back to the real world? Joe: All I know is that this is one of those days where everything goes wrong. Izzy: (shakes the Digivice) Come on!

He also has a different terrible excuse for the sample incident.

Woman: Free samples! Gomamon: (chomp) Woman: AHHHHHHHHH!!! (beat) Joe: Uh... BAD DOG BAD DOG!!! (runs like hell)

So it seems like, in the dub version, Koushiro and Jou were just offscreen during the last scene and then this one takes place chronologically after. Tai and the others ditched them once they'd all decided to go look for food.

This is particularly weird, given how Jou will react to them finding food later in the episode.

In the original, they weren't in the scene because they'd already gotten separated. Koushiro and Jou were not privy to the hamburger depression spiral.

Jou and Koushiro leave the subway to look for the rest of the group. We're treated to an ominous and tense sequence of Jou and Koushiro hurrying down the sidewalk one way while SkullMeramon in his trenchcoat comes around the other side of the building.

As they approach collision, suddenly Jou spots the other kids. Taichi and the others are eating hamburgers in an upper floor of a building across the street, visible through a window.

Jou: AAAAAAAUGH!!! There they are! Koushiro: EHHHHHH!?!?

Against all odds and reason, despite the Digivice trackers not functioning, Jou manages to find the other kids with nothing but the notion that they're probably somewhere in Shinjuku to go off of.

(This would make way more sense if the trackers still worked. Why turn them off, show? Is it because you left a Digivice at Hikari's house during Taichi's visit and then realized that her having that would completely destroy this entire Search for the Eighth Child plotline?)

I guess his Senpai Sense told him where to go. His wards are kinda misbehaving....

In the dub, Joe and Izzy's exclusion continues to be extremely rude for reasons unknown.

Joe: Huh!? LOOK!!! THEY'RE EATING WITHOUT US!!!

Fucking jerks. They'd better have a good explanation for this.

Suddenly, Jou and Koushiro get the green light to go. Miraculously, a pair of workers carrying a large painting walk by, with the painting obscuring them from SkullMeramon as they pass in front of him. Jou and Koushiro continue on their way and SkullMeramon on his, neither aware of the other's presence.

Inside the restaurant, five of seven Chosen Children enjoy the first taste of greasy Western fast food they've had in years.

Taichi: Ahhh! Delicious! Mimi: So good! Sora: I almost forgot what this tasted like! Tsunomon: This isn't fair, Yamato! You get to eat tasty stuff like this every day! Yamato: Be a little quieter while you're eating. What if the other customers see you? Mimi: No one is paying attention to us, though.

Jou and Koushiro enter and approach their table.

Mimi: Huh? Takeru: It's Jou-san and Koushiro-san! Taichi: Hey! You guys should get something to eat too! The food's amazing! Jou: (quietly fuming) You... You guys didn't use your fare money for this, did you? Mimi: (cheerful) Yeah! We used all of it!

Jou fucking drops Gomamon on the floor and hangs his head, despondently groaning and shaking.

Sora: Sorry. We just couldn't resist the temptation of hamburgers. Jou: A-All of you... (eruption) WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU ALL THINKING!?!?

Suddenly, Jou's stomach rumbles, undermining his outburst. He slowly turns beet red, then storms off to go order food.

Jou: (furiously) I'll eat. I'll eat using ALL OF THE MONEY THAT I HAVE!!!

Guys, I think we broke Senpai.

Fujiyama was right when he tried not to let us go to Hikarigaoka. Now we're stranded in Shinjuku burning our fare money on McDonalds.

In the dub:

Mimi: I feel like a new woman! Tai: Man! Tastes great! Mimi: Yum-ilicious! Sora: Boy, I sure needed this! Tsunomon: You people are lucky! Yum yum! You get to eat this stuff every day! Matt: A little louder, why don't you? There's a couple of people that aren't staring yet. Mimi: Actually, nobody noticed yet but Matt's right, you should-- (gasps, seeing Joe and Izzy enter) Ohhh! Patamon: Uh-oh. T.K.: Joe! Izzy! Well, it's about time. Tai: Hey, what are you guys waiting for? Order something! Joe: How? When you guys have got all the money? Huh? Mimi: Whoops! We went and spent it all! Joe: (drops Gomamon, hangs head, and starts shaking) Sora: See, we were all so hungry, we ordered the super duper combos. Joe: Great. You spent it all? (eruption) THAT WAS ALL THE MONEY WE HAD IN THE WORLD!!! (Joe suddenly stops for no clear reason. He slowly turns beet red, then storms off) Joe: (muttering) Of all the dumb, greedy, selfish little things. It's unbelievable. These guys are supposed to be my friends! My friends! My friends!

Completing the dub-exclusive saga of Joe and Izzy being on Team Restaurant, it turns out he's upset in this version because they spent all the money on food for themselves and didn't get him anything. After ditching him and Izzy in the subway.

This scene is super ambiguous with regard to how malicious the other kids are being. On the "This is unapologetic bullying", we have the fact that they ditched Joe and Izzy in the subway to begin with. Why did they ditch them?

Patamon even gives out a little "Uh-oh" when Joe enters, like he's realizing they're about to be caught red-handed betraying Joe and Izzy. That "Uh-oh" is peculiar if they aren't doing anything wrong.

They just. Stole away with all the money, then burned it all on themselves and let Joe and Izzy starve. Fucking assholes. Joe's usually a target for the American group's bullying but what did Izzy do to deserve this? He's been trying to help them navigate the subway! Pricks! All of them pricks!

...part of me appreciates that Mimi gets to be on this side of the bullying for once.

But on the other hand, Tai's just like, "Hey, order food!" when he sees Joe. So. Like. It's possible they just got separated, like in the original. And also Tai somehow doesn't know they inexplicably pooled their money in this version, even though one of them has the entire money pool? I guess?

Who did we trust to carry the money pool? Because that person is still a complete fucking asshole. That kid knew they were screwing Joe and Izzy, even if the others forgot somehow. That kid should have said something when they were all ordering "super duper combos".

Probably goes without saying that I like the Senpai Meltdown version better, right? Because if they really did maliciously ditch Joe and Izzy, steal all the money, and go splurge on themselves, that is unacceptable character assassination of every single kid at this table. They would not fucking do that.

They made questionable choices in the original too, but they aren't actively hurting other members of their nakama in the process. Jou and Koushiro can still eat. This slap in the face to Joe actually made me angry.

Anyways. Moving along.

While Jou is furiously ordering his own food, Koushiro checks his Digivice to find that it's showing radar blips for everyone now.

Koushiro: The Digivice is reacting. Sora: It's because everyone's here, right? Koushiro: No. I mean, when I looked at it earlier, it wasn't reacting at all. Sora: That's strange. Koushiro: Maybe it only works at short distances in this world.

You were also in the subway when you checked it, Koushiro. We should consider the possibility that you had bad phone reception.

This is the human world. We have signal limitations. You can't coast on the fabric of reality itself being made of wifi anymore.

(This makes it even weirder that the writers turned off Digivice Tracking for the Shinjuku search then turned it back on right after they miraculously found everyone.)

Mimi: Hey, more importantly, where do we go from here? Takeru: Yeah, we don't have any money so we can't ride the trains anymore. Yamato: How do we get to Odaiba for free? Taichi: Hehehehe... Leave that to me! I have a fool-proof plan. Yamato: (curiously) Do you, now?

In the dub, Izzy's chat with Sora has no changes. T.K. brings up an idea for how to get home.

Mimi: That's great but, meanwhile, what are we going to do now? T.K.: We start walking. They won't let us back on the train without any money. Matt: I'm sure not looking forward to walking all that way. Tai: Ha! I know a way that won't cost us a penny! Just leave everything to me! Matt: (sarcastic) Oh, great. You're a genius.

I like that they discuss walking in the dub, because it is a viable option. It would suck but Shinjuku is close enough to Odaiba that we can walk if we must.

The kids are about 9 miles from home right now. It would take them probably 3-4 hours to get there, but they're now well-fed and they're all at least somewhat athletic after several months of exploring the Digimon World on foot. It would be nice if an alternative means of transit could be employed, but we should at least consider walking.

It can't be worse than Etemon's desert.

The kids head outside to put Taichi's master plan into action.

Taichi holds out his thumb to hitchhike, but the cars speed right on by.

Taichi: HEY!!! SOMEONE GIVE ME A RIDE!!!

Then he tries jumping, screaming at the top of his lungs, and flailing his limbs like a wildman for attention.

Taichi: HEY HEY HEY HEY!!! COME ON!!! LET ME IN!!! Yamato: Oh, come on. Hitchhiking in this modern day and age? Koushiro: It's not as easy as it looks on TV.

A car almost hits Taichi because he's out too far in the road. They honk angrily at him while he screams back at them.

Car: HONK HONK!!! Taichi: THAT'S DANGEROUS, YOU MORON!!! Yamato: Speak for yourself. Jou: It will take three days for Taichi to get us a ride. Koushiro: Agreed. Taichi: I'd like to see you try it, then! Jou: YEEP!!! U-Us!?

The dub cuts the shots of Taichi holding out his thumb to hitchhike. We go straight to Tai jumping and flailing his limbs.

Tai: HELP!!! POLICE!!! MY CAT IS STUCK IN A TREE IN ODAIBA AND I'VE GOT TO GET THERE RIGHT AWAY SO I CAN GET HER DOWN!!! HEY!!! Matt: The police!? That's his brilliant idea!? Izzy: If the police do stop, they'll lock him up for disturbing the peace. Car: (nearly hits Tai) HONK HONK Tai: HEY!!! I've got the right of way! Matt: (sarcastic) Looking good, Tai. Joe: Good grief. At this rate, we could be sitting here all day. Izzy: And night. Tai: THEN YOU TRY AND GET US A RIDE!!! Joe: Me!? No way! Tai: How about you, Matt!? You think you're so smart!

I'm going to guess this was edited because they didn't want children to see their heroes hitchhiking and try to copy it, or something like that. The 90's were really nervous about imitable acts on children's television.

It's the reason Spider-Man could grab a crate with his webs and smash it on a bad guy's head but was forbidden from throwing a punch. Children can't grab crates with webbing but they can throw punches, and parents thought if they saw Spider-Man punch someone, they might start punching people.

So now Tai's plan to get to Odaiba is to scream at random passing cars that he wants the police. You know, they probably had a phone back in the diner. You could call the police. On the phone.

Taichi makes Jou and Koushiro try next, in retaliation for their mockery. They both awkwardly stick out their thumbs.

Jou & Koushiro: ...y...yay?

Multiple cars speed by and honk at them. Realizing this isn't working, they both exchange uncomfortable glances, then take a deep breath.

Jou & Koushiro: Ready. Set.

And then they begin screaming at the top of their lungs and flailing their limbs like wildmen.

Jou & Koushiro: YAY-AY-AY-AY-AY-AY-AY-YIIIIII!!!

And it fucking works. A car pulls up to the restaurant to let them in.

It's. Uh. It's a taxi. The taxi closes its doors a moment after, presumably after being informed they do not have money, and drives away. Jou and Koushiro hang their heads in failure while the other kids laugh.

(Still better than Taichi managed.)

Yamato takes the third attempt.

It does not go well.

Yamato takes a deep breath and slowly, reluctantly, puts out his thumb. The instant his thumb is raised, a pedophile pulls up to the curb.

Yamato: (blush) Woman: (sultry) Hi~! Come in, little boy. Yamato: (blush intensifies)

Yes, she is doing graspy fingers with that hand up there. It's incredibly uncomfortable. Cut immediately to Yamato reporting to the others, still blushing and bowing his head in embarrassment.

Taichi: WHY DID YOU SAY NO!?!? Yamato: WE COULDN'T ALL FIT IN THAT CAR!!!

Taichi and Mimi both grin and giggle at Yamato, implicitly teasing him for what they all know just happened.

Asshole behavior from the both of them but in their defense, children don't know better. They don't have the perspective to understand how fucked up that was. That's why it's the responsibility of adults to protect them from shit like this. Yamato was just accosted by a legitimate Stranger Danger.

No surprise: The dub heavily edits this scene to remove the pedophile. Matt stands there for a moment, but can't even bring himself to... do whatever he would do since we aren't hitchhiking. He just turns right around to the others in failure, with a blush of embarrassment.

Tai: I'm waiting! Matt: (turns around in surrender) Tai: NOT SO EASY, IS IT, MATT!?!? Matt: WELL, AT LEAST MY CAT'S NOT STUCK IN A TREE!!

Then Tai and Mimi grin and giggle at him, presumably entertained by his snappy comeback.

The dub then puts Izzy and Joe's attempt here, moving it to third place after Matt's. Like Tai, their initial thumb-out try is cut so their attempt at hitchhiking can be disguised as something else: They're intentionally trying to hail a taxi despite being broke.

Joe & Izzy: (deep breaths, then flailing) HEY HEY TAXI TAXI OVER HERE TAXI HEY TAXI TAXI Taxi: (pulls up) You kids want a cab? Joe & Izzy: YEAH!!! Taxi: You got any money? Joe & Izzy: ...no.

This was almost as bad an idea as hailing the police. I don't know why they thought they could take a taxi for free.

Finally, Sora and Mimi take their turn.

Sora & Mimi: Take us to Odaiba! Jou: It will definitely work this time. Koushiro: Girls are better at this. Mochimon: That's right. The men will be all over them! Koromon: Is that how it works, Taichi? Taichi: Yep!

Sure enough, a blue minivan pulls over pretty quickly. We don't hear the conversation between Sora and Mimi and the occupant of the car.

Takeru: Someone stopped! (Sora and Mimi turn towards the others and give them okay signs) Jou: Yes! It's okay! Taichi: Hehe! Piece of cake! Koromon: (awestruck) So that's how it works....

Teaching Koromon very dangerous behaviors here. We have learned nothing from Yamato's attempt.

Dub Sora and Mimi don't even get to make an attempt. The driver of the minivan is reimagined completely. The car just pulls up all of a sudden, unprompted by anything. They even edited the footage to erase Sora and Mimi with their signs from the scene of him pulling up.

Driver: Sora!? Sora: It's my cousin! Hi, Duane! Duane: Need a lift? (Sora and Mimi turn towards the others and give them okay signs) Mimi: YAAAAAY!!! Sora: Alright! Mimi: GIRL POWER!!!

Mimi, how is Sora having a cousin a triumphant moment of girl power? Why are you even over at the car?

The dub then moves the scene of the boys grossly commenting on the girls' ability to lure in vehicles to after "Duane" shows up.

T.K.: Her cousin!? Joe: What are the odds of that happening? Izzy: One in 4.2 million. Motimon: Whatever! I'm just glad we have a ride! Koromon: Excuse me, but what's a cousin? Tai: Skip it.

Just like that, the hitchhiking sequence is complete and the censors can go cry themselves to sleep in a closet somewhere for how much work that was. (Wait 'til we get to Pinocchimon.)

As the minivan makes its way, the visibly unhappy driver calls out:

Driver: Those of you in the back! Everyone in the back: Yes?

Small note: He's trying to address the boys, but Japan's frequently gender-neutral language causes a small miscommunication and Sora answers with them.

Driver: You're extras that Sora-chan and Mimi-chan brought with them. Understood? Boys: (resigned) Yes, sir. We're extras. Driver: Extras better keep quiet. Otherwise, I'll dump you on the side of the highway or something. Boys: (resigned) Yes, sir. We'll be quiet.

The car pulls up to a red light.

Driver: Would you like some candy, Mimi-chan? Mimi: Yes! Driver: (gives a candy to Mimi) You too, Sora-chan. Sora: Thank you.

As the driver passes the candy back, Pyokomon's eyes follow it. She opens her mouth, wanting, but behaves herself and doesn't say anything. Sora, seeing what Pyokomon wants, quickly feeds the candy to Pyokomon rather than eating it herself.

Taichi whispers to Sora from the back.

Taichi: (whispers) What's the deal with this guy? He pisses me off. Sora: (whispers) It can't be helped. After all, he is taking us to Odaiba. Jou: (whispers) Actually, are we sure that he's taking us to Odaiba?

Senpai coming in with the real questions now that it's too late to back out. He really shouldn't have let us do this to begin with. What would Fujiyama say, Jou? He trusted you.

In another brief near-encounter with one of Tailmon's mercenaries, Wizarmon, carrying balloons, leads a group of children over the crosswalk in front of this creep's car.

Mimi, too, feeds her candy to Palmon rather than eating it herself.

In the dub, Duane lays down the same obnoxious rules. Kinda weird that Mimi's riding shotgun in Sora's cousin's vehicle, gotta say.

Duane: Okay, here's the rules. I'm gonna say this once, so listen! Everyone in the back: Yeah? Duane: You're only here 'cause Sora's my cousin. You're like her luggage. Boys: (resigned) Yeah. We're like her luggage. Duane: And luggage doesn't make a sound. You got me? Or else it's liable to get itself thrown out of the car, right? Boys: (resigned) Right. Luggage doesn't make a sound. Duane: (to Mimi) You want some gum? Sugarless. Mimi: Sure. Duane: (gives one to Mimi) How about you, Sora? Sora: Thanks, Duane. (takes the gum and feeds it to Yokomon) Tai: (whispers) Hey, Sora, I think your cousin's a major lame-o. Sora: (whispers) He's sorta the black sheep of the family. But he's giving us a lift, so be nice. Tai: (whispers) I will! But just make sure he takes us to Odaiba.

Jou's concern about Stranger Danger running off with us is a valid thing to worry about. Not sure where Tai thinks Duane is going to take us, though.

Also, the weirdness of Mimi being up front continues. Why isn't she luggage? Is it for creepy reasons? I bet it's for creepy reasons.

While Tailmon's mercenaries continue expanding their search of Tokyo, PicoDevimon rides the ferry and complains.

PicoDevimon: Vamdemon-sama's always beating and shouting at me. It won't get better unless I can achieve something soon. Where could that kid be?

Over in the dub, he's having a crisis.

DemiDevimon: How did I ever get into this!? Knocking myself out searching for some pipsqueak kid! I've got half a mind to chuck this whole lousy job! But... The master might not like that....

I feel DemiDevimon. This job sucks. Aimlessly wandering around the city hoping to stumble onto a person is the worst way to find someone. The Eighth Child is a needle in a haystack. A haystack that is hostile to discovery of your true identity.

So. Like. A haystack full of bees. And fourteen wasps.

In the car, the nameless driver blasts deafening music. Mimi tries to get his attention.

Mimi: E-Excuse me, Onii-san! Driver: (head banging to the music) Mimi: ONII-SAN!!! Driver: Eh? Did you say something? Mimi: COULD YOU PLEASE TURN DOWN THE VOLUME!!! Driver: Eh? What did you say? Mimi: VOLUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUME!!! Driver: Bathroom? You need to go? Mimi: THAT IS NOT WHAT I SAAAAAAAAAAAID!!!

In Japan, it's common to use respectful familial terms like onii-san to address older people. By addressing the driver as Onii-san, Mimi is respectfully addressing him as an older man, but not so much older that otosan (father) or ojisan (grandfather) would be more appropriate.

Before this argument can continue, the driver's music is interrupted by a news broadcast.

Reporter: We interrupt this broadcast for important news. A few hours ago in the Nerima district, a bombing occurred near the housing complexes of Hikarigaoka. This may have been responsible for putting telephones, wires, and optical cables in Hikarigaoka into temporary disservice. Investigations are underway in the local area. We will bring you a news update if anything is uncovered. In other news, unconfirmed sources have insisted that an elephant and a huge bird were witnessed at the scene of the crime. Investigation into these claims is also currently underway. Driver: Whoa! An elephant! Freaky. It must have escaped the zoo! Hehe! Reporter: There is some speculation that this incident may be related to the terrorist bombing that occurred four years ago in Hikarigaoka. To those just tuning in, a few hours ago in the Nerima district, a bombing occurred near the housing complexes of Hikarigaoka....

Haha. Hahaha. Hahahahaha we are wanted fugitives that's great.

In the dub, Duane calls Mimi "babe", confirming that she's up front for creepy reasons.

Mimi: Excuse me! Do you mind? Duane: (head banging to the music) Mimi: EXCUSE ME!!! Duane: Oh, what's up, babe? Mimi: THE RADIO'S KIND OF LOUD!!! Duane: The tunes are kinda what!? Mimi: LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUD!!! Duane: The radio? It's too loud? Mimi: MAYBE JUST A LITTLE!!! (news report interrupts) Reporter: And now for a news update. Officials have yet to find a clear explanation for the devastating explosion that rocked the Highton View Terrace apartments in the Nerima district earlier today. Power in the area is still out and the injured are still being counted after the bizarre incident. While official sources have offered no further information, there are reports of several eyewitness accounts. However, these accounts have only served to further mystify investigators. The details of their accounts differ but several of these eyewitnesses agree that an elephant and something described as a giant firebird were seen in the vicinity. Duane: (laughing) A giant WHAT!?!? Firebird!? Hehe, you gotta love the crazies in this town, HAHAHA!!! Reporter: When asked about the accounts, officials would give no comment. A similar incident took place at the Highton View Terrace Apartments four years ago. It's unknown if there is any connection between the two.

Mostly the same, but of note: This is actually darker in the dub. The dub blames the electrical chaos in Hikarigaoka on Mammon which isn't entirely wrong. The original instead talks about a power outage and "still counting the injured", meaning there were a lot of human casualties from the fighting between Mammon and Birdramon/Garudamon.

According to the dub, while we were drifting in and out of OVA flashbacks, people were exploding and being crushed by debris offscreen.

You know, it's funny the driver mentions going to the bathroom because Koromon suddenly has an emergency right there in the car. Taichi manages to dodge aside just before Koromon would have shit on his lap, causing it to hit the seats instead.

Driver pulls over and everyone evacuates immediately to escape the smell.

Jou: GAAAH IT STINKS!!! Driver: (furious) ...you bastards... WHO THE HELL JUST TOOK A DUMP INSIDE MY BELOVED CAR!?!? Taichi: ...sorry, I-- Sora: ME!!! IT WAS ME!!!

Sora takes the fall for Koromon, likely realizing that the guy isn't going to treat her the way he would one of the "extras".

Her lie is terrible, of course. She was in the passenger side of the second row, while Koromon pooped in the center seat of the back row. It's actually quite impressive, given that Taichi was in the back row passenger side and jerked away towards the center, which would push Koromon towards the door. But Jou was sitting in the center seat there.

In order to make this happen, Koromon would have had to leap for it, hurdling Taichi to dive-bomb projectile-shit at Jou, who clearly scrambled out of the way as Koromon deposited right between his legs. I take it back, this is way worse than ditching Joe at lunch.

I guess he panicked and was hoping Senpai would take care of it.

In any case, Driver takes a moment to process the claim that a girl like Sora would do something so vulgar.

Sora: I'm so sorry. I'll be sure to clean up all of it! Driver: ...LIAR!!! I know you'd never do something like that, Sora-chan! The one sitting in the back was... you, right!?

The driver correctly identifies Jou as the occupant of that seat.

Jou: Eep!? Driver: Don't try and fool me with that nice guy face of yours!

The driver grabs Jou angrily by the his collar. Koushiro tries to pull him off.

Koushiro: Please stop! Driver: SHUT UP!!!

The driver backhands Koushiro away, sending him stumbling back into the barricade. Both barricade and Koushiro go over the edge, plunging off the bridge.

In a subtle moment of characterization, despite being in the clutches of this (rightfully angry but still) asshole, Jou-senpai is more concerned with Koushiro's wellbeing than his own. His eyes are on Koushiro after the backhand, and he screams when Koushiro goes over the edge.

The dub, for once, lets a poop be a poop. They don't even edit out the onscreen shot of it. I guess there was no way they were going to be able to claim it was hair gel or whatever.

Duane: WHOA!!! WHAT IS THAT!?!? Tai: Koromon, you couldn't wait!? Duane: Okay, who did it!? HUH!?!? WHICH ONE OF YOU MADE A MESS ON MY NEW SEAT COVERS!?!? Tai: ...I'm sorry, I-- Sora: RIGHT HERE!!! I'm the one! Duane: Huh? Sora: I'll clean it up. I'll even detail it for ya! Duane: ...RARGH!!! Don't try covering up for these losers! Which one of 'em was it!? (Driver looks around, then spots Joe) Duane: YOU!!! Mr. Peepers! IT WAS YOU, WASN'T IT!?!? Izzy: Hey, let him go! He didn't d-- Duane: Back off! (backhand)

Sora trying to take the fall works just as well for Cousin Duane as it does with the creep who wanted to be alone with minor girls. The sentiment is pretty similar: She knows he won't lash out at her the way he would the others, so she steps up to try and de-escalate.

They did cut out the driver's reasoning for blaming Jou, though. Duane just seems to select him arbitrarily.

They also put another well-timed commercial break in right as Izzy goes over. Once again, good spot for a cliffhanger..

As Koushiro goes over the edge, Motimon suddenly evolves into Tentomon to catch him by the ankle. Trying with all his might to lift Koushiro. Unfortunately, something else is lurking in the river, which notices the Chosen Child suspended in the air.

Tentomon: (catch) Koushiro: Tentomon! (They drop a foot sharply) Tentomon: Ack! Heavy.... (Gesomon explodes from the water) Tentomon: IT'S GESOMON!!! Koushiro: Gesomon!?

Gesomon is an Adult-stage Virus-type Mollusk Digimon. Their name comes from the Japanese word gesou, which are the tentacles of a squid.

Gesomon is not a Nightmare Soldier. They're from the Deep Savers line; One of the few non-Nightmare Soldier's we'll be facing in the Tokyo sub-arc.

Narrator: Gesomon. A Mollusk-type Virus Digimon. Their special attack, Deadly Shade, paralyzes their enemies! Driver: AHHHH!!! A SQUID BAKEMONO!!! (runs away) Gomamon: I can handle ocean Digimon!

Remember bakemono, shapeshifting yokai who impersonate people, animals, and objects? The driver accuses Gesomon of being a bakemono in the guise of a squid. Which. Isn't that far off, really.

In the dub, Tentomon quips about Izzy's weight.

Tentomon: I've got you, Izzy! (catch) Izzy: WAAAAAUGH!!! Thanks, Tento! (They drop a foot sharply) Tentomon: Eugh, you had to have that extra side of chili fries, didn't you? Izzy: Hey, what's that!? (Gesomon explodes from the water) Tentomon: Yow, it's Gesomon! Izzy: It's what!? Tentomon: (rundown) Gesomon. Take a bit of everything nasty that lives underwater, stick them together, and that's him. Duane: YOU KIDS ARE ON YOUR OWN!!! (runs away) Gomamon: Good riddance! You were a lousy driver anyway!

Izzy didn't get to eat chili fries. He and Joe went hungry. I have no idea what Tentomon is talking about. Unless they were lying to Joe about spending all the money and then bought Izzy a meal after Joe left? I guess that's what happened.

Man, this dub plot point just gets worse and worse.

Gomamon hits the water and evolves into Ikkakumon.

Driver: AHHHHHHHHHH THERE'S ANOTHER ONE!!!

While creepy driver offscreen becomes the next person to shit himself, Ikkakumon attacks, bashing Gesomon back with a headbutt. Gesomon tries to slap one of their tentacles down from above. Ikkakumon sidesteps, then fires a Harpoon Vulcan point-blank through another of Gesomon's tentacles. The missile penetrates Gesomon's claw and detonates, blowing the limb to shreds.

In the dub, Duane bailed much more concretely than Driver so he doesn't get to scream and cry about Ikkakumon's arrival. What we get is a line from Tentomon while he and Izzy flutter offscreen.

Tentomon: I think we'll just get out of the way!

Like Mammon, Gesomon is one of those bestial Digimon that doesn't speak, but the dub lets him nonetheless call attacks in English. When he tries to slam his tentacle down on Ikkakumon, he calls it "Coral Crusher".

This extremely public kaiju brawl draws spectators.

A crowd gathers around the Chosen Children on the bridge.

Bystander 1: Senpai, look at that! Bystander 2: Are those kaiju!? No way! Bystander 3: Dad, get the camcorder! HURRY!!! Bystander 4: They're pretty well made. Bystander 5: Do you think they're real? Bystander 4: That's impossible. This must be some kind of event.

Meanwhile, in a nearby cafe on an upper floor of a building, three girls have a bird's-eye vantage of the kaiju brawling in the river.

Girl 1: It's so annoyi-- Girl 2: EH!?!? WHAT IS THAT!?!? Girl 3: Awww, they're so cute!

At a rest stop, one salaryman gets a drink from a vending machine while another reclines on a bench; The fight raging behind him. The first salaryman suddenly sees the fighting and stops in his tracks.

Salaryman 2: What's wrong? Salaryman 1: (sigh) I can't even. (drink)

I guess this is happening now.

XD That salaryman is the entire vibe of my generation.

In the dub, it's ads.

Bystander 1: HOLY COW!!! WHAT'S GOING ON!?!? Bystander 2: They must be advertising something! Bystander 3: Advertising something!? Get out of here! Bystander 4: Maybe they're shooting a movie! Bystander 3: I don't see any cameras! Bystander 4: Oh well. Maybe they're just rehearsing.

Bystander 3, get out of here with your naysaying. Also, Bystander 2 was ahead of his time. Modern-day Digimon would stop what they're doing every five minutes to tell you about Surfshark.

Girl 1: And so then do you know what he said? Girl 2: OH! WHAT'S THAT!?!? Girl 3: What's going on over there!?

And Zero Fucks Salaryman remains a legend.

Salaryman 1: Rough day at work, huh? Salaryman 2: Eh, you know. Same old, same old. (drink)

Finally, Ikkakumon strikes the killing blow: Stabbing Gesomon straight through the head with his horn and driving him down into the water. We're spared any shots of impalement, as Gesomon implicitly dissolves into pixel dust offscreen after being submerged.

Since Gesomon dies underwater, the bystanders are also spared from having to see that. The only confirmation of Gesomon's death is that the fight music dies down and Gesomon's counterfeit Crest is seen floating down the river.

(Another Digimerc isn't going home.)

Bystander: (disappointed) What the hell? It's already over!? Driver: ...oh, right! The kids!

Too late for him, the kids are already gone. I guess he'll have to clean Koromon's poop out of his car by himself.

(Honestly, probably for the best. I'm not saying it's good that we pooped in his car, but Mr. "You're all just Sora-chan and Mimi-chan's luggage!" did not have good intentions and was probably going to pull some dudebro shit when we got to Odaiba. So bailing on him in the chaos is a good idea.)

The dub adds a silence-breaker when Ikkakumon stabs Gesomon.

Bystander 1: My money's on the big hairy one!

Then, after Gesomon's implied disintegration:

Bystander 1: (same as the previous comment) Aww, they're gone. Too bad! Bystander 2: Man, did you guys see that? Duane: Sora? HEY, SORA!!! Where'd all those kids go!?

Dub Sora is not so lucky as original Sora, as she will most certainly get an earful from furious relatives over the poop we left in Duane's car.

With new transportation options opened up, the children tie logs to Ikkakumon and swim to Odaiba. It's Jou's Digimon so he gets the seat of honor. Sora and Mimi get to ride on Ikkakumon's back while the boys take the logs.

Sexist, but they were the ones who got us this far by putting up with being leered at by a pervert. If we'd gone with the convertible lady then maybe Yamato could be on Ikkakumon's back.

Yamato: We drew a big crowd back there.... Taichi: Couldn't be helped. Oh, well! It'll all work out. Jou: Set course to Odaiba. LAUNCH!!! Narrator: And so the Children made their way safely to Odaiba. However....

PicoDevimon: I've found you. I must inform Vamdemon-sama right away! (flies off) Narrator: Where could the Eighth Chosen Child be? Vamdemon's night draws closer.

Yeah, those skies are looking pretty sunset-y. We close on the ominous reminder that Vamdemon will be loosed upon Tokyo soon.

In the dub:

Matt: Well, so much for keeping a low profile. Tai: At least we got away from Lame Duane and we're all in one piece! Joe: Nice work, Ikkakumon. You NAAAAAAILED him! Ikkakumon: RAAARHAHAAAA!!! Tai: Anyway, wouldn't you rather travel in the fresh air than under the ground in that subway? Sora: Oh, yeah! This is great! Tai: And best of all, it's free!

Since Tai and Sora are filling space where the Narrator should be talking, they have to play a really noticeable game of "Only speak when the camera isn't on you". The camera is on Sora and Mimi for Tai's subway line. Then Sora speaks when it shifts to Tai, Matt, and T.K. And then Tai starts talking again as soon as it moves to Izzy.

DemiDevimon: Here's good news! Now that they've shown themselves, we can finally take care of them! (flies off) Tai: Next stop: HOME!!! Kids: YEAH!! WOOHOO!! WE'RE GOING HOME!!! Mimi: Does anybody have something to eat? Tai: Ugh, Mimi, not that again! Mimi: I was just asking!

The episode closes on one last Mimi gag for good measure.

Assessment: The hitchhiking portion of this episode made me feel my age. Watching these children get sexually harassed by people old enough to drive is deeply uncomfortable. But creeps like the ones these kids ran into are a genuine peril of attempting this.

The dub censored that sequence heavily because, I guess, they don't want kids to try doing what the Chosen Children were doing. But the original sequence goes to great lengths to examine the perils of what the Chosen Children were doing. Yeah, we don't want children hitchhiking, here's why.

In fact, points from me for pointing out that boys can be victimized by predatory adults too. It's not just something that happens to girls. Both Yamato and Sora/Mimi get preyed on by exactly the kind of people who would eagerly pick up isolated 11/10-year-olds off the side of the road, though Yamato gets it much more directly.

This was a terrible idea that Taichi had.

The dub, meanwhile, was very polarized. This episode's dub has high highs and low lows. Some fantastic dubbing and even a scene that's improved on the original one minute, and then total dipshittery the next.

This is the meanest episode to Joe and Mimi that the show's been yet. Mimi got it in quantity but Joe got the fucking "Ditch Joe and go eat" bit. A bit which wound up becoming a plot hole later on when Tentomon clearly mentions Izzy eating.

...wait a second, why can Dub Gomamon evolve? Shouldn't he also be starv-- Holy shit, did they feed Gomamon too? Joe did drop him in the diner before storming out. It really was just Joe that they screwed?

#digimon #digimon adventure #revisiting digimon #revisiting digimon adventure

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imzadi-caskett-huddy · 4 months

Text

It Started With a Kiss (8/?)

Thanks so much, everyone for your reviews on the last chapter! I’m so glad you all enjoyed my take on the Alex Conrad situation. And now for one of my favorite episodes of the show, To Love and Die in LA. Seriously, this episode is in my top 5…maybe even top 3 depending on my mood that day.

Date wise, the last chapter took place around April 11, and this one takes place around May 2. So that’s a 3 week time gap. Wonder what our favorite couple got up to after the way Kate kissed him in the last chapter, hmm?

Again, I want to remind you that this will be the last update on this story until after I return from vacation on June 15…and Hell Hath No Fury will be due for an update first. So enjoy this one, because it will most likely be several weeks before I get around to writing the next chapter. I promise I’ll get it up as soon as I can though!

Also…there is a section rated M in this chapter. It is clearly marked where you will want to stop reading, and then when it ends. It’s sex heavy, but not smut heavy. Still, read at your own peril, lol!

I still don’t own Castle…

xxxxx

Castle had barely seen Beckett since that night 3 weeks ago when she’d kissed him. The first week she’d been tied up prepping with an ADA for a trial, which worked out with him needing to finish a couple of chapters for the next Heat book, as well as some edits. And then Gina and Paula had worked together to ambush him with some promotional book signings and appearances in an effort to drum up more presales for his newest novel, not to mention the graphic novel for Storm that was being put together.

He’d seen her exactly twice…both times at the precinct when he’d brought her coffee. Neither time for very long, so they hadn’t been able to discuss their relationship or if the kiss she’d given him was a sign she was ready to move forward, but she had made time to spend several minutes with him in the break room since he had come all the way to the precinct just to bring her coffee. They would spend those ten minutes or so in the break room together, innocently flirting and occasionally standing just close enough to brush up against each other. And it always ended with the most brilliant smile from her, thanking him for the coffee. Castle knew he would go out of his way to bring her coffee every day for the rest of his life if she continued to smile at him the way she had those two days.

They had, of course, chatted via text and twice over the phone, but neither of them seemed to want to discuss the kiss or their relationship over the phone or text messages, and rightfully so. It was a big step for them; when it happened, it needed to be in person. She had known he was returning to the city that afternoon, so when his phone rang, he didn’t bother to look at the caller

ID, simply assuming it was her. No one else usually called him after 9 anymore.

“Did a body drop, or did you just miss me so much you couldn’t wait another day to see me?” he asked with a grin.

“Castle, I’m going to send you an address, and you need to get down here,” Lanie said simply.

“Lanie? What’s wrong?” he asked, the smile falling from his lips. Lanie never called him. Kate was the one who called him about a body drop.

“A body was found…”

He swallowed hard. “Kate? Did something happen to her?” he had to ask, interrupting before Lanie could finish her sentence. He felt his heart sink. Was Lanie calling to tell him something had happened to Kate?

Hearing the worry in his tone, Lanie realized what he must have thought. “The body we found is Mike Royce. Espo is just now calling her, so she’s not here yet, but you need to hurry. I doubt she’ll admit it, but she’s going to need you on this one.”

“I’m on my way,” he said, already out the door. He’d watched her go through hell several months ago when she’d realized Royce was part of their investigation and she’d had to arrest her former training officer. He could only imagine how his murder was going to hit her.

xxxxx

Castle’s eyes were on her the moment she got out of her unit. He could tell, just in the way she carried herself…the tension in her shoulders, the firm set of her jaw...she was torn up and doing everything she could to not appear that way.

“Where is he?” Beckett asked as she approached.

Montgomery stood beside Castle, shaking his head. “Turn around, go back home, and let me handle this.”

“Sir, I’ve seen dead bodies before,” she insisted.

The captain studied her for a moment but knew it was better for everyone if he just let her through. He nodded toward the back of the alley where Lanie was standing.

Castle was immediately at her side as she headed in that direction. “Come on, Kate…you don’t want to remember him like this,” he tried to get through to her.

“Castle, if it were me lying there, would you just walk away?” she turned to look at him.

Just the thought of that possibility sent a chill through his body and made him nauseous. He didn’t have to answer her question; the look he was giving her was answer enough–hell no, he wouldn’t just walk away. He would find whoever had hurt her, and then no one would ever find the body.

“I’m so sorry, honey,” Lanie offered her condolences.

Beckett clenched her jaw and blinked, but Castle could tell she was struggling to hold onto her composure. “Tell me what happened.”

“He was shot in the leg. Judging from the blood trail, I’d say the bullet broke the bone. He tried to hide, but…” she trailed off with a shake of her head. “I found this in his pocket,” she handed Beckett an airplane ticket stub. “He flew in from LA this afternoon.”

Castle took a step closer to Beckett then. “What was he doing in LA?” he asked curiously.

“I heard he moved there after he lost his bounty hunter’s license. I guess he was trying to make a fresh start,” Beckett answered, looking over the ticket stub.

“When was the last time you spoke with him?” he asked her softly.

She swallowed hard, staring at the ticket stub before folding it back. “When I arrested him.” She took a deep breath. “Lanie, could I?”

“Sure,” Lanie answered, stepping out of the way and exchanging a look with Castle as Beckett approached Royce’s body.

Castle watched intently as she crouched down near the body and took a few minutes. He watched as her shoulders tensed a little more. He watched as she touched Royce’s hair and either sniffled or inhaled deeply…he couldn’t tell. He was ready to move to her side the minute she stood and headed back in his direction.

“Royce had something else in his pocket. It’s addressed to you,” Lanie handed her a note.

“Is it about the case?” Castle asked her as she opened it.

After reading for a few moments, Beckett folded the note and put it in her pocket. “No.”

Esposito approached them, carrying a gun. “I think we got the murder weapon. Found it in the garbage around the corner.”

“Gun was definitely fired recently,” Ryan added as he joined them. “Shooter took the time to empty the ammo before he dumped it.”

“Worried we’d find fingerprints on the bullets?” Castle raised the question.

Beckett took the gun and examined it. “This is a cheap street gun. It’s a throw away.” She studied the gun a little more. “There’s threading on the barrel.”

“Silencer?” Castle suggested.

Esposito nodded. “Yeah.”

“Allowing our killer to shoot Royce in broad daylight,” Beckett stated, handing the gun back to Esposito to bag as evidence.

“Listen, Beckett…we’re gonna get this guy,” Ryan assured her. “We got uniforms heading to every store and apartment within a 5-block radius.”

“This is New York. Somebody had to have seen something,” Esposito added.

Castle turned to her, placing his hand on her shoulder lightly after the boys walked away. “Kate…”

“Castle, I’m fine,” she insisted.

“You’re not fine,” he said softly. “Royce was your friend. It’s okay to take a few minutes to grieve,” he added. After a minute, he let his hand fall from her shoulder. “Why don’t you let me take you home? There’s nothing else you can do tonight. You can get some sleep and start fresh on the case in the morning,” he suggested.

Beckett was about to protest when Montgomery walked over to join them. “Alright, you’ve seen him. You paid your respects. Now go home, Beckett.”

“Sir,” she started to protest.

“There’s nothing else you can do here tonight. Dr. Parish won’t have anything for you until she does an exam. Uniforms are canvassing everywhere. Ryan and Esposito will handle anything else. They’ll call you if anything pops. Go home, Beckett. That’s an order.”

She looked between her captain and her partner and finally relented, wordlessly stepping away from them to go back to her unit. Castle was quick to follow her.

“Castle, you go home too,” she told him, stopping him as he went to get into her car. “You just got back from a book tour. I know you’re tired.”

“I’m okay. I can just sit with you. You shouldn’t be alone…you don’t have to be alone,” he offered.

“I’m fine. I’ll be fine,” she assured him.

“Kate…”

“Rick, please,” she said. She needed to be alone. She was going to fall apart when she got home, and the last thing she wanted was for him to see her break like that.

The way she said his name, coupled with the look in her eyes had him nodding. “Okay. I’ll go home. But if you need anything…you call me. Even if all you need is me to sit on the phone with you in silence, ok?”

“Do you even know how to be silent?” she teased lightly, trying to show him that she was okay.

“I do, actually, when it matters. And I’m serious. Call me,” he insisted.

She nodded. “Okay.”

xxxxx

“Beckett, I’m not sending you to LA. You have no solid evidence linking Neal McCauley to this murder,” Montgomery insisted.

“He came to New York for 6 hours. Who flies in for that short a stay?” Castle pointed out.

“Businessmen do it all the time,” Montgomery countered.

“Businessmen don’t use fake IDs,” Castle countered back.

“Or pack silencers,” Beckett added.

Montgomery shook his head. “That’s supposition. I need a lot more than that to justify flying a detective across the country.”

Beckett shook her head as well. “You and I both know the longer I wait to go out there, the colder this trail gets.”

“Take a day to shore this up. And then if there’s sufficient evidence, I’ll contact the LAPD.”

“You’ll contact the LAPD?” Beckett asked incredulously. “This is my case! This happened in our jurisdiction. You think the LAPD is gonna lift a finger?”

“Kate, you’re too close to this!” Montgomery insisted.

“No, Sir, I am committed. I am not compromised.”

“You’re torn up,” he interrupted her. “Kate, things between you and Royce ended badly. I get it. But that emotion is exactly why I need to assign this to someone else.”

Beckett paused then, taking a step back. “You know what? You’re right. I am too close to this. I have some vacation days coming up. I think now would be a good time,” she stated, turning to head out of the office.

“Kate,” he called, stopping her. “I hope you’re not thinking about doing something reckless.”

She turned to face him, meeting his eyes for a long moment. “No, Sir,” she stated, leaving the office.

Castle’s eyes met Montgomery’s and both men seemed to understand each other. Montgomery’s look told Castle to follow her…something he would have done anyway…because neither man believed she was stepping back and doing nothing.

“Where are you going?” Castle called after her.

“Home,” she insisted.

“The hell you are. I know you better than that,” he tried to stop her with a hand on her arm.

“Castle, please,” she pulled it away. “He was my training officer…my friend. I just…I really need to be alone right now,” she told him, making her way to the elevator.

Castle watched helplessly as the doors closed. Why did it always feel like they’d take one step forward and then something happened to make them take two steps back? He was really beginning to hate that dance.

“You know she’s going to LA,” Espo said, coming up behind him.

“I know,” Castle sighed.

“You really think she’s going to just willingly let you go with her?” Ryan asked as he joined them.

“She won’t have much of a choice if she doesn’t find out until the plane is already in the air,” Castle stated simply, already pulling out his phone to check for the next flight to LA, knowing she’d be on it. “Whether she likes it or not, someone’s got to have her back…and I’m her partner.” He headed for the elevator himself; he had a couple of hours to pack a bag and get to the airport, already calling to arrange a hotel suite for them.

xxxxx

Kate Beckett hated the middle seats in airplanes. Unfortunately, that was all that was available to her last minute. She knew she was lucky to have gotten on the flight at all considering she’d been on standby status. Still, being squished between two larger men was going to make for a very uncomfortable flight across the country…especially if the baby screaming in the cabin didn’t eventually tire itself out and fall asleep.

“Excuse me, Detective Beckett?” one of the flight attendants approached her.

“Yes?” she answered.

“You’ve been upgraded to first class.”

Beckett didn’t even question the reason. “Thank you,” she smiled, standing quickly. “I’m sorry…excuse me,” she said to the man, climbing over him to get out of the cramped row. She followed the flight attendant to the first-class cabin.

“Seat 3C,” the attendant told her.

“Thank you,” she smiled her relief. She stopped in her tracks when she saw the man she’d be sitting next to.

“Champagne?” he asked innocently with a smile.

She took the seat beside him, fastening her seatbelt. “Castle, what are you doing?”

He shrugged with a grin. “The studio’s been after me for weeks to fly down and do a set visit for the Heat Wave movie. Imagine my surprise when I saw your name on the standby list,” he took a sip of the champagne.

“You cannot be a part of what I’m gonna do out there,” she told him simply.

“I thought you were on vacation,” he pointed out.

“Castle,” she shook her head. “Look, it’s one thing for you to follow me when we’re in New York, but I’m not a cop in LA. I don’t have any authority or backup,” she told him.

“I’ll be your backup,” he insisted. Seeing her roll her eyes, he continued. “I’m your partner. Besides, going rogue is kind of my specialty.”

“Yeah, but subtlety isn’t,” she countered with a small smile. “I’m not going to get rid of you am I?” she asked him. Seeing him shake his head, she sighed. “Okay, if we do this together you have to promise me that we’re gonna fly under the radar.”

“Of course,” he smiled, offering her the extra glass of champagne.

She studied him for a moment before taking it with another roll of her eyes. She took a sip, offering him a small smile. “Thank you for upgrading me. I was kind of miserable back there.”

“You mean, you didn’t enjoy your seat sandwiched between two of the linemen for the Giants?” he asked with a chuckle.

“No,” she smirked. “The screaming baby didn’t help either.”

He laughed softly. “You’re welcome. Besides, how are we supposed to talk strategy with you in the back of the plane and me in the front?”

“We weren’t supposed to talk strategy at all,” she laughed, nudging his shoulder playfully.

“We have a 6-hour flight, Beckett. It’s going to be a long 6 hours if we don’t talk.”

She smiled and took another sip of her champagne. “Some people sleep on a flight.”

“Are you one of those people?” he asked with a smile.

She shrugged. “Sometimes. Probably not this flight. I’ve got too much on my mind.”

He nodded, placing a hand over hers. “I’m here for whatever you want to talk about,” he offered her a smile. “Or we could just drink,” he joked.

“I think one glass will suffice,” she chuckled, stretching her legs out.

He smiled and squeezed her hand before releasing it. The surprise was evident on his face when she took his hand back in hers a moment later.

“Thanks for coming with me, Castle,” she said softly, offering him a smile and pulling their joined

hands back into her lap.

“Always,” he smiled, stretching his legs out to get comfortable as well.

xxxxx

“Is this what you call under the radar?” Beckett asked, gesturing to the red Ferrari they were currently in.

“In LA, this baby fits right in,” Castle insisted. “So what’s our first stop?”

“My hotel. It’s on Ventura Blvd.”

Castle shot her a look. “That’s all the way in the Valley. How are we supposed to work together if you’re an hour away?”

“Castle, we weren’t supposed to work together at all,” she reminded him.

He shrugged. “Okay, well the studio comped me a two-bedroom suite at a 4-star hotel. You just stay with me,” he stated as though it were a no-brainer.

She snorted a laugh. “Yeah right!”

“What?” he asked, turning to look at her. “You’ll have your own room.”

“No! I am not staying with you!” she insisted, biting back another laugh.

He raised an eyebrow, almost in a challenge. “Worried you can’t control yourself when we’re alone together?”

Her smile faltered only slightly. It was a legitimate concern of hers, yes, considering the current state of their relationship and how close they currently were to crossing the line between friends and lovers…but she wasn’t going to admit that to him. “Actually, it’s not me that I’m worried about,” she replied.

“I assure you, Detective, my intentions are pure,” he insisted as the light they were stopped at turned green. He paused a moment before continuing. “Need I remind you that the last two times we were alone together, you were the one who kissed me,” he commented nonchalantly, keeping his eyes on the road.

She tugged her lower lip between her teeth. She couldn’t even deny that. Even though it had been months ago and she hadn’t ended her relationship with Josh at the time, she’d still been the one to kiss him on Valentine’s Day over wine in his loft. And now that they were both single,

she hadn’t been able to resist kissing him when they’d gone out 3 weeks ago after he’d been so jealous of Alex Conrad.

Yes, they were here to work…at least she was…but she also couldn’t deny the attraction and connection that pulled them together, couldn’t deny that they were one “Yes” from her away from becoming romantic partners in addition to professional ones. Here to work or not, she knew it was a very real possibility that when they were alone together she would give into the temptation that was her desire to be with him. Simply having her own bedroom didn’t guarantee she wouldn’t seek him out in the middle of the night without anything holding her back anymore.

“Fine, I’ll stay with you,” she finally agreed. She knew herself well enough to know there was a very real possibility she would find herself in his bed…or invite him into hers…before they left LA. She only hoped she was ready for everything that entailed. Because once they crossed that last line between them, she knew there would be no going back. If she messed it all up, if they crashed and burned, she would lose him forever…and she wasn’t sure that was a loss from which she’d recover.

xxxxx

“We’re so happy to have you back, Mr. Castle,” Maurice the concierge smiled. “I’ve taken the liberty of setting up the suite just the way you like it.”

“Thank you,” Castle returned the man’s smile.

“And I’ve scheduled a couple’s massage at 7,” Maurice added.

Beckett paused looking around the suite for a moment to cut Castle a look. “Pure, huh?”

Castle’s eyes widened slightly. “Uh, Maurice, you can cancel the couple’s massage. We’re actually here to work, so we won’t be needing that tonight.” He didn’t ask for the champagne or flowers to be removed, however.

Maurice nodded. “Very good, Sir.”

Castle handed the bellhop who handled their luggage a tip and offered Maurice one as well. “Thank you, Maurice.” He followed the men out and closed the double doors behind them. “The last time I was here, I brought this Parisian supermodel, so he…” he trailed off when he caught the look Beckett shot him and he realized bringing up the fact that he’d been with other women here was probably not the best idea considering they were working toward a relationship with each other. “You know, that is not important. Would you like to choose your bedroom?”

She rolled her eyes and went to her carry-on to get her jacket. “No, I would like to start the investigation.”

“But we haven’t even ordered room service yet,” Castle pointed out.

“Castle, I’m not here for room service, I’m here for justice,” she stated, heading for the doors.

“Can’t we have both?” Castle called as he followed her. “Wow. In LA for all of a minute and already she’s spouting cheesy movie dialogue. Must be something in the air.”

xxxxx

“Picture this: a gullible young actress, desperate to make a name for herself. She meets our mastermind at a club. He needs a pretty girl to help him get the voice code. He tells Violet he’s a producer, promises to make her famous if she helps him play a practical joke on a friend,” Castle theorizes. He turns to face Beckett on the couch in the living room area of their suite.

Beckett turns a little more facing him, her elbow resting on the back of the couch with her head resting on her hand. The bottle of champagne from earlier is opened and mostly empty on the coffee table in front of them. “She doesn’t even realize that she’s participating in a crime until afterwards. She can’t call the cops, so she contacts Royce.”

“But then, our Mr. McCauley finds out,” Castle continues to build theory with her.

“And Royce tries to change the game. He goes to New York; home-field advantage. Classic. Classic Royce,” Beckett smiled slightly. “I was so in awe of him, Castle when I first met him. I just hung on his every word. And then later, I realized he was just making up stories to mess with me,” she gave a soft laugh, but her smile faded. “I can’t believe that I’m never gonna see him again.”

He studied her for a moment, shifting just a little closer. “You know what I first thought when I met you?” he asked her.

She turned her attention back to him. “Mm?” she hummed the question.

“That you were a mystery I was never gonna solve. Even now, after spending all this time with you, I’m still amazed at the depths of your strength…your heart…” he trailed off as the faintest smile teased his lips, “and your hotness.”

She looked down for a moment and then met his smile with one of her own. “You’re not so bad yourself, Castle.”

Their eyes locked and they held each other’s gaze. He wanted to kiss her…so badly. Under any other circumstance, he would have. But she was vulnerable now. She was dealing with her grief over the loss of her friend whom he knew she cared for deeply. He wouldn’t be the guy who took

advantage of that. He cared too much about her to be the guy who did that to her. If there was a move to be made, she was going to have to be the one to initiate it.

“I should go. It’s late,” Beckett stood, finally breaking the moment between them as she headed for her bedroom door.

“Kate…”

“Goodnight, Castle,” she stated, stepping inside and closing the door. She leaned against it, running her hands over her face and through her hair. A hundred thoughts were running through her mind: She should have kissed him. Why was she running? How badly she wanted to kiss him. How badly she wanted to lose herself in his arms tonight, let him make her forget everything else but him and the way she knew he would make her feel. But was that fair to him to do it this way? Was it fair to either of them to spend their first night together under these circumstances? Was she ready to fully embrace the depth of her feelings for him? Was she ready to embrace the depth of his feelings for her?

Her hand lingered over the door handle for another moment as she hesitated. The words from Royce’s letter echoed in her mind: And now for the hard part, kid. It’s clear that you and Castle have something real. And you’re fighting it. But trust me, putting the job ahead of your heart is a mistake. Risking our hearts is why we’re alive. The last thing you want is to look back on your life and wonder, if only. A moment later, she’d made her decision. She wanted the comfort he would provide. She wanted to touch him, to taste him, to feel him. She just wanted him. She opened the door and met his eyes as he stood from the couch. “Castle…” she breathed from her doorway.

He wordlessly approached her, coming to stand in front of her in her doorway. In her bare feet, she was a good 5 or 6 inches shorter than him, and his eyes were soft as he looked at her. “Kate…” he murmured, unable to resist reaching out to run his fingers gently across her cheek.

Her hands moved to his chest and her eyes closed as she leaned into his touch. Her fingers tightened in his shirt and she pulled him closer against her, opening her eyes to look at his lips.

He leaned down, his lips stopping just before they touched hers. Swallowing hard, he had to make sure. “Kate, I don’t want to take advantage of you,” he murmured in a whisper.

Her nose nuzzled his, her lips moving the tiniest bit closer until they were only a hair’s width apart and she could feel his breath tickling her lips. “You’re not…” she breathed, her lips barely brushing his as she spoke. “If we hadn’t been so busy the past few weeks, this would have already happened…”

He swallowed hard again. She was making it so damn hard to think straight, to try to be the

gentleman. “I thought you wanted to wait…”

The last words from Royce played over again in her head. The last thing you want is to look back on your life and wonder, if only. “I’m done waiting,” she told him.

“You won’t regret this in the morning?” he had to ask her. Because he wouldn’t be able to handle it if she did.

“No regrets,” she promised, unable to take it anymore and closing the almost invisible distance between their lips with a slow kiss. She stepped back from him into her room a few moments later, her lower lip tugged between her teeth and the look in her eyes inviting, imploring him to follow her.

He was powerless to resist her now, and he knew it. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Opening them a second later, he followed her into her bedroom and closed the door behind him.

xxxxx

IT’S ABOUT TO GET STEAMY

SKIP THIS PART IF YOU DON’T WANT TO READ SEXY TIMES

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

Her eyes never left his as he approached her. She took the final step toward him necessary to close the distance between them again and took his face in her hands. This time when she kissed him, the dam broke; her feelings for him, their physical attraction to each other, the past two+ years…everything poured into her kiss. She was drowning in his kiss, in him, and for once she didn’t care.

Her tongue ravaged his mouth, and he let her take what she needed, what she wanted from him while his hands gripped her hips and pulled her closer. One hand slowly ran up her back and curled into her hair, deepening the kiss until both needed some oxygen. His mouth ran along her jaw to her neck and finally along her throat, grazing her skin lightly with his teeth as he tasted her.

Her hands moved to his plaid button-up shirt and shoved it over his shoulders, causing him to release his hold on her long enough to yank his arms free from it. She grabbed his t-shirt and tugged it over his head as well, her eyes and fingers traveling the lines of muscle across and down his now bare chest appreciatively. Her lips grazed against the hollow of his neck where it met his chest, her tongue darting out to taste his skin. Her arms moved around him, her fingers sliding up the muscles of his back as she pressed an open-mouth kiss to his chest, smiling against his skin at the low groan that escaped his throat.

When he felt her fingers at his belt before he’d even had the chance to get her shirt off her, he

caught her wrists and brought them to his lips for a gentle kiss. “Not so fast,” he murmured with a smile. He caught her playful look and returned it with one of his own before grabbing the hem of her shirt and bringing it up and over her head. His eyes darkened at the exposed skin, the black lace of her bra a stark contrast against her tanned skin. His fingers gently traced along the length of her bra strap at her shoulder as he circled behind her.

The feel of his lips on her shoulder and then her neck as he pushed her hair aside drew a gasp from her lips. His mouth lightly danced along the curve of her neck as his fingers unclasped her bra. She leaned back against him as his hands slowly slid the straps down her arms until the piece fell from her body to the floor. Her head fell back against his shoulder and her eyes closed as his lips slid to her shoulder, one hand flattening against her stomach to hold her against him, the other moving to her breast, eliciting a soft moan from her lips.

He bit her shoulder gently as he squeezed her breast. One of her hands moved to cover his on her breast, and her other moved to his head, pulling him into a smoldering kiss. As she tugged his lip between her teeth and bit gently, the hand on her stomach slid lower, dipping inside her pants, his fingers lightly tracing along her underwear. She moaned her approval into his mouth and released her grip on his hand to guide the hand in her pants lower until she could press his fingers into the heat between her legs.

Even through her panties, he could feel her arousal, causing him to groan against her lips. “Kate…” he breathed, his mouth moving to her neck as his fingers slipped past the barrier of her underwear to slide between her legs. The feel of his touch where she was already so ready for him caused her hips to buck against his hand and nearly sent her spiraling. The hand still joined with his on her breast flexed and squeezed, while her hand that had guided his into her pants gripped his hip, her fingers curling in his belt loops.

He continued to work her up with his fingers at her core, his lips gently sucking and nipping at her skin, and his other hand on her breast, alternating between massaging and rolling her nipple between his fingers. It wasn’t long before he had her a whimpering mess, his name escaping her lips in a breathless moan as she crashed over the edge. His fingers continued to work her through her orgasm until she couldn’t take it anymore and gripped his forearm, tugging his hand away. He smirked against her skin, moving his hand to her stomach to hold her against him as she recovered, his lips softly caressing her skin.

Once she regained her senses, she turned in his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck and meeting his smile with one of her own. “Hi,” she murmured, kissing him slowly.

“Hi,” he returned, resting his forehead against hers. He slowly walked her back toward the bed, easing her back and lowering her down on it when her legs hit the edge. He moved over her, capturing her mouth with his in a passionate kiss, his tongue slowly stroking hers. This time when he felt her fingers slide down his chest to his belt, he didn’t stop her.

She easily unfastened his belt and the button on his pants, and then slowly slid the zipper down. Her fingers teased just underneath the waistband of his boxers before her hands moved to his hips. She pushed both his jeans and boxers over his hips, her hands sliding around to grab his ass, squeezing the ample flesh as she pulled him into the cradle of her thighs. “Get them off…” she murmured, her lips brushing against his jaw as she pushed them as far down as she could.

He did as he was told, standing and removing his last remaining clothing. She pushed up to her elbows to watch, her eyes darkening as she took in the sight of him for the first time. She sat up, her hands moving to his hips as she pulled him to stand in front of her.

“Kate…you don’t have to…” he started.

“I know,” she met his eyes with a smile. She knew he would never expect or even ask her to do what she was about to do. But she wanted him, wanted all of him; she had for awhile. “I want to taste you.”

Her lips pressed a soft kiss to his stomach, glancing up at him as one hand moved to his length, her slender fingers stroking him slowly. She smirked against his skin at the low groan and moved her mouth to his hip, nipping playfully before blazing a trail of open mouth kisses across his skin as she worked her mouth further down. She looked up at him watching her and saw his eyes close as she ran her tongue the length of him before taking him in her mouth and sucking gently.

It took all of his willpower not to buck his hips into her mouth, but he somehow managed. He forced himself to keep his eyes open, watching her, one hand tangling in her hair…not to guide her movement, but to simply caress her. After a few moments, he hand to stop her. “Kate…” he managed to choke out her name on a strangled moan, his hand gently caressing her cheek. “I can’t…you’ve got to stop…or it’s going to be over to soon…” he managed to get out, trying to force his breathing to return to normal.

She raised an eyebrow, slightly amused as she leaned back on her elbows. He moved with her, leaning down to kiss her again, moaning against her lips as her tongue sensually tangoed with his. His hands gripped her leggings and pulled them down her legs slowly, standing to toss them aside as she shifted to push herself up on the bed, resting her head on the pillows.

He crawled up the bed to her with a grin, dropping soft kisses to the inside of her knee and trailing his tongue along the skin of her thigh. When he reached her underwear, he paused and looked up at her. “You’re sure?” he asked her again.

She pushed up on her elbows so she could gently caress his face. “Make love to me, Rick…” she told him softly, pulling him to her for a slow, deep kiss as she slid her body against his.

He groaned, wrapping her in his arms as he deepened the kiss. When he finally broke away, he pushed up to his knees and hooked his fingers in her panties, drawing them down her legs slowly before dropping them to the floor to the side of the bed. He swallowed hard as his eyes traveled over her body slowly. “You’re beautiful, Kate…” he murmured in awe. His hand slowly, lightly ran up her thigh as he settled between her legs.

He trailed kisses across her stomach before getting sidetracked by the tattoo on her hip, which she’d fully expected, tracing the outline with his tongue. His mouth continued it’s path, until his tongue dipped inside her, finally tasting her, and he knew at that moment he was addicted. Each touch of his fingers to her skin, each press of his lips, each stroke of his tongue was reverent, as though her body was a temple at which he was worshiping. He took his time as he worked her up, enjoying the taste of her, enjoying the soft moans and whimpers of pleasure as he explored her body, learning the way she liked to be touched so intimately.

It wasn’t long before she was moaning his name as she came, her fingers clenching in the comforter on the bed. He gently but firmly held her hips in place as mouth continued to work her through her orgasm, and then suck on her bundle of nerves until she quickly came undone again, his name falling from her lips in a strangled scream. Only when her fingers curled in his hair and pulled him away slightly did he move his mouth to her hip, biting enough to leave a mark and soothing it with his tongue.

His kisses were slow and gentle as they moved back up her body, giving her time to recover. It wasn’t until he was settled in the cradle of her thighs with her hips rocking against his as they kissed passionately that he realized–he didn’t have protection on him. “Kate…” he pulled away breathlessly. “I didn’t bring…I mean, I didn’t expect that we would…I don’t have condoms…”

“Neither do I…You don’t carry one in your wallet?”

“Not if I don’t think I’m going to need it…which I didn’t…because we weren’t together…and I did not come out here with the intention of sleeping with you…” he murmured, moving to shift off her.

She gently stopped him, her fingertips lightly caressing his jaw. “Castle, it’s okay,” she assured him softly, pressing a kiss to his chin. “I’m clean. And I’m on birth control. So I’m good without one if you are.” He was the only man she would ever consider doing this with, and only because she trusted him implicitly. She'd never even had unprotected sex with Josh. There was no one she trusted the way she trusted Castle.

He stared at her for a moment, because he knew the level of trust that she was putting in him with that statement, with that action. “I’m clean…” he promised. “You’re…you’re really sure about this, Kate? Because I can’t promise you I’ll be able to pull out before I…”

She interrupted him with a kiss. “I’m sure. I trust you completely, Rick…”

This time it was him who cut off her words with a deep kiss. I love you, was right on the tip of his tongue to say, but he didn’t dare say it now. He’d told her before…on more than one occasion, admittedly not always at the best moment. The last thing he wanted was to send her running now if she wasn’t ready to hear those words from him again. Instead, he’d show her.

One of his hands found hers and he laced their fingers, pushing their joined hands above her head. His other hand lightly caressed her thigh and shifted, meeting her eyes as he slowly slid inside her. She gasped softly, and his forehead rested against hers as they both took a moment to savor the connection.

Her hand squeezed his and her free hand caressed his cheek as her lips met his again in a tender kiss. One of her legs hooked over his hip, pulling him in closer, and a soft moan escaped her throat. Another moan escaped, this time from each of them, as she rocked her hips against his to get him to move.

They exchanged breathless kisses, gentle caresses, soft moans as their bodies moved together almost seamlessly, meeting each other perfectly, each knowing what the other needed or wanted as though they were in a well-choreographed dance and not coming together for the first time.

As he felt his climax approaching, he released her hand and shifted so that he had a deeper angle. “Kate…I’m close…” he warned dropping his mouth to her neck.

Her lips moved to his ear as her hands slid down his back, her nails raking across his skin. “Let go with me…inside me…” she panted breathlessly, tugging on his ear with her teeth as her legs pulled him in closer to reinforce her words.

Her breathless moans and the way she moved her body with his, the way her legs tightened around his waist, was enough to push him over the edge and pull her with him. He thrust a few more times until he was completely spent, and dropped down, rolling them so she was on top of him.

xxxxx

SEXY TIMES IS OVER

IT IS SAFE TO READ AGAIN

EVERYTHING BELOW IS RATED T

They stayed wrapped in each other's arms silently, both catching their breath. He caught her hand drawing patterns on his chest after a few minutes and brought it to his lips for a gentle kiss.

“You were right…I had no idea,” he admitted with a grin.

She laughed softly and pushed herself up on his chest to look at him. “You still don’t,” she grinned. Seeing his look, she kissed him as she laughed again. “That was just a preview,” she murmured against his lips before pushing herself up off the bed. “Be right back,” she promised, pressing one last kiss to his lips before disappearing into the bathroom.

When she returned, he’d gotten under the covers and made no attempt to hide his enjoyment in the fact that she hadn’t bothered to put any of her clothes…or his…back on to cover up. She met his gaze with an amused arch of her eyebrow, turning the lights off on her way back to bed. “Staring is still creepy, bud.”

He chuckled as she slipped back into bed beside him. “Can’t help it,” he shrugged, turning on his side to look at her. “I told you before…I’m still amazed at your hotness.” He couldn’t help but reach out and let his fingers trace along her curves.

“You’re not so bad yourself,” she echoed her own words from earlier, sliding closer to kiss him. She grinned against his lips as he deepened the kiss and threw her leg over his hips, quickly straddling him, running her hands over his chest as she stared down at him. “You wanna find out what you really had no idea about?” she asked in a husky tone, already sliding her body sinfully against his as she bit her lower lip.

He swallowed hard, his hands moving to her thighs. “Yes, please,” he managed to choke out. The way she was moving her body against his was similar to every fantasy and wet dream he’d had about her since that undercover date in the club back in February. Only now it was real…she was really here, it was really her body moving against his, and it was better than any fantasy.

She leaned down to kiss him with a wicked grin. “Your safe word still apples?” she purred against his lips.

All he could do was nod.

xxxxx

Okay, I am aware this is only the first half of the LA episode. I went a little crazy here…I told you guys it was a favorite of mine! And I am sorry, but you will have to wait until I return from vacation to get the chapter dealing with the second half of the episode. But I did make this a long one to tide you over in the meantime!

I really hope you enjoyed this one! And I look forward to reading all your comments for those who leave them!

#castle #caskett #kate beckett #richard castle #castle fanfiction

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riverhag2 · 11 months

Text

my favorite characters die in my favorite media all the damn time

my current hyper focus is a tragic opera that ends with my blorbo having his life flash before his eyes in a horrid fever dream where he's confronted for perhaps the first time with how horribly he's failed everyone he's ever loved and then he dies

death isn't the problem

pointless and hurried stuff-her-in-a-fridge death that doesn't actually even serve the narrative purpose cobbled together as an after-the-fact explanation is the problem

the idea that Izzy's arc was "over" is frankly ludicrous

he'd only just begun to rediscover the parts of himself he'd buried away or lost to piracy, to Blackbeard, to Ed

he'd only just found love with the crew

he'd only just started the arc that Stede and Ed set off on in the beginning of s1

his death does nothing for his character

it also does nothing for anyone else's

smarter people than me have spoken extensively on why the "mentor/father figure" thing is just outright non-existent in the text

even without that, the show is obviously trying to use Izzy's death to free Ed from the mantle of blackbeard and that would be a valid and interesting narrative choice if you'd set that up at any point before the last five minutes of the last episode but um

Ed had already begun the work of releasing himself from blackbeard, and even when he dons the leathers once again, it's not even the tiniest bit for Izzy's sake nor in any way at Izzy's insistence or encouragement (and in fact, Izzy had already encouraged him to step away from it)

whatever is still tying Ed to blackbeard, it is textually very much not Izzy

Izzy's dying sentiment of "they love you" holds no water because out of Ed, Stede, and Izzy, only one of them has actually connected with the crew this season and it sure as fuck isn't Ed

Izzy's dying admonition of "you're surrounded by family" is immediately followed by Ed and Stede fucking off and leaving the ship

there's nothing in Izzy's death that serves Ed narratively

there's apparently then the argument that Izzy is representative of old piracy, a dying world, and therefore he must die (which, ok, fine, but to what end?) but that's *actually insane* in the context of a show entirely about starting over in middle age

killing a character is often a good narrative choice, but if you're gonna kill him, doing it with a stray bullet in the middle of his arc in a way that does nothing to further anyone else's narrative is at best a cheap emotional punch

death also is the problem though

in a show where mortal wounds seem to pass almost unnoticed amongst our heroes, casual death by a stray bullet is bonkers

in a show where the only real villain is a cruel and corrupt state, to punish with death someone at the mercy of that cruel and corrupt state is bonkers

most importantly: in a show that presented itself as ultimately being about queer outsiders finding family in each other, there's no good reason for any of the foundlings to die

even assuming they're planning some miraculous resurrection for Izzy in s3, they work very hard to show you precisely how dead he is here

they want you to know and believe that he absolutely is dead

Lucius falls into the sea in a way that no one ever once believed actually meant he was dead

in contrast, we watch the light go out of Izzy's eyes after he tells Ed he's ready to go

we see him buried in the dirt

if this truly is meant to be impermanent, then it is even more cruel and meaningless than if they actually just killed him for nothing and no amount of "indestructible little fucker" foreshadowing redeems it

I hate everything about this ending, for everyone involved

it's such a disappointment

#ofmd izzy #izzy hands #ofmd #ofmd s2 #our flag means death season 2 #ofmd spoilers

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damn-stark · 6 months

Text

Chapter 31 All through the night

Chapter 31 of Sugar

A/N- Last fluff filled chapter, next are all angst 🫢

Warning- Swearing, angst, pregnancy, FLUFF, talks of drinking, spoilers!! LONG CHAPTER, NFSW makeup sex, back shots, p in v, I guess you don’t have to wrap it when you already got yo girl pregnant

Pairing- Choso x Gojo!fem-reader, Suguru Geto x Gojo!fem-reader

Episode and or chapters-

(Let me know if you want to be tagged)

————

As soon as you wake up you see an empty spot next to you on the bed where Choso is supposed to be.

Perhaps he’s in the bathroom?

However, when you peek in the bathroom's general direction the lights are off, so he’s not in the room. That’s weird. If Choso isn’t asleep by the time you wake up he’s usually holding you in his arms lost in thought whilst he watches you sleep. He does usually like to go off and make breakfast while you’re asleep, but as you sniff the air you don’t get a whiff of breakfast.

There isn’t even a note on the nightstand. This must mean you really upset him after turning down his proposal. But in your case, it was a pity proposal.

You deserve better than that, don’t you?

Regardless, considering there’s no one to cuddle with, you get up and do your morning routine. When you finally walk out of your room you intend to wake up Satori or tell her to start getting ready for breakfast, but when you’re in the hall you notice that her door is creaked open and the lights are off, so she’s awake too. You can’t say it’s weird that she doesn't wake you up in your room because she stopped walking in your room in the morning after Suguru died.

Is she downstairs watching TV? You ask yourself before you head down and walk to the living room in search of your daughter.

Nevertheless, the living room is empty, and you hear nothing from the kitchen or her playroom. So she must be outside.

Thus you check the courtyard in case she’s climbing the giant tree in the middle.

But it’s empty. Okay? You’ll look elsewhere now.

She better not be with her pony, she never likes to leave him after going to see him. He gets lonely, she says, so she always makes it a battle, and it especially happens when you have something to do!

But whatever, you cling onto a knitted blanket for warmth and walk out in search of her. You’ll look for Choso after, or call him. He might have left if he’s that upset…

Nevertheless, much to your relief when you walk away from the front of your house you spot Choso and Satori by the lake watching something you can’t make out from where you stand.

Now you could walk back inside and wait for them to return, but your curiosity doesn’t leave room for much debate so before you know it you walk towards them with a warm smile decorating your features.

And of course, Satori is the first one to notice you. “Mommy! Come look!” She exclaims with her eyes wide and gleaming like twinkling stars, and a bright smile on her face.

Choso peers over his shoulder and much to your surprise he offers you a gentle smile before he looks back at what Satori is also watching.

“What are you two doing out here so early in the morning? It’s cold out,” you interject and hold tighter onto your blanket for more warmth.

“Just come!” Satori gives you insight which only excites you more so you quicken your pace to a hurried walk.

Once you reach the pair, Satori grabs your hand and pulls you down. “Look!” She shouts and points to a family of swans in the distance. “I saw them fly to the lake earlier and I came to see them from up close.”

Your smile softens as you’re struck with awe at the beautifully serene sight of a mother swan swimming with four little babies on her back, while her much bigger partner swims next to her.

“Choso tried to go catch a little baby swan, but uh,” she starts to laugh. “He started getting chased.”

“Awe,” you coo and touch your chest as you look at Choso with pity. “Honey.”

He smiles and shrugs. “I should have known. Satori warned me.”

“Did you get bit?” You ask and slip your hand away from Satori to sit down next to Choso, not caring if the ground is a little moist from the morning dew.

“No, the swans stopped chasing me after I put some distance between them,” he says, making you chuckle.

“Missed you in bed when I woke up,” you comment and just slightly squint your gaze to see if he’ll show some signs of being upset.

“Oh, sorry I was going to make breakfast, but that’s when I caught Satori putting her boots on to come outside and she invited me,” he shares and stops crouching to sit next to you on the ground. He meets your gaze with a soft look that can’t be shaken, and now as you hold his sweet brown eyes you feel guilty for being so quick to turn him down last night.

Why is he not mad though?

“I'm sorry about last night,” you tell him softly as you begin to fiddle with the edge of the blanket wrapped around you. “I was a bit rude when turning you down.”

Satori glances back as her curiosity is piqued, but she doesn’t dare chime in. Nor do you tell her anything.

“It’s alright,” he assures you with complete sincerity. You can tell, it’s easy to tell if he’s still hurt by his face. He might be nonchalant, but he’s very expressive. “It took me some time at night, but I understand now.”

You draw out a deep relieved breath and without saying anything you lean over and wrap your arms around him to take him in for a gentle embrace. “Thank you,” you whisper in his ear.

Choso’s smile widens and as he returns your embrace he gives you a little squeeze. “There’s nothing to thank, but of course.”

You turn your head and press a peck on the side of his neck before you pull back and turn around to lay back against him and watch the family of swans in the distance enjoying their morning.

“I had a dream I was a swan once,” you share randomly. “It was quite weird.”

“I dreamed about that pirate you love so much,” Choso shares quite bothered

“Oh?” You grin and tilt your head back to look at him. “Did you fight him in my honor in your dream or what?”

He scoffs. “I wish. I don’t remember it anymore. It was stupid and I was angry.”

You hum and look back ahead. “I wish I could dream about what you did. Maybe I’d change it so we sail off into the sunset.” You joke around, and Choso of course groans in protest.

“I dreamed I fed Christina, the chicken a piece of chicken and I cried because I felt bad,” Satori shares over her shoulder, but then she blinks and looks down. “Oh wait,” she quickly backtracks and purses her lips. “It was real.”

You and Choso laugh, and much to your surprise Satori giggles along with you.

When your laughs die down a moment of silence passes and you continue to watch the swans. After a while, you start to notice Choso become fidgety, his touch stiffens and then softens again. He swallows thickly and takes a deep breath that makes you move as his chest rises and falls. You try to pay attention to the scenery ahead, but all his moving is making you uncomfortable, so you sit up and slowly churn your head to look at him with a sassy look.

“Are you okay?” You quiere.

Choso meets your gaze and swallows thickly, making you peel your eyes wider to pass a pressing look.

He doesn’t answer though, he drops his head and brushes back the hair that drapes over his eyes.

You don’t worry even if you should start to, instead your eyebrows pinch together as you grow confused. You part your lips to call his name, but he then lifts his head and you notice that adoration and anxiety storm in his rich honey-like brown eyes.

“Marry me,” he blurts, causing your annoyance to be forgotten, and Satori’s attention to be completely stolen by his words too.

“Because I love you,” he continues to say in a honey-laced voice that makes you just feel adored. “Because I want to spend the rest of my life with you because I want to be by your side until my last breath and my heart stops beating. Marry me so we can live out our future that I dream of. I know we haven’t been together long, I know you might say that if we live through the battle between evil I’ll have the chance to know the world and other people, but I know what I want, I know that no soul in this world will ever measure up to you. Marry me so even if I meet my fate I’ll forever be your husband.”

Well, that totally knocked last night's proposal out of the park. You weren’t expecting a proposal so soon even if you know how much he loves you.

“Choso,” you gasp and feel your eyes sting as tears begin to form in your eyes.

Said man digs his hand in his pocket to pull out a small black velvet box that you know only contains one thing. One incredible thing.

“I bought it before our first date because I was certain I wanted forever with you,” he whispers before he opens the box and shows off a beautiful white gold ring that has an intricate hand-engraving in the band, while the borders are subtle milgrain, and a bright round diamond shines in the center.

“Oh, Choso,” you coo and touch your heart. “I…” you trail off as your breath is stolen from the disbelief, so you nod eagerly.

Choso’s nervous smile spreads to a grin and his eyes fill with happy tears. You’re at such a loss for words and pumped with so much rushing excitement that all you know is the sound of your rammering heart, and how much you want him; at this moment not sexually, you want him in a simple way, you want to feel his warmth, his touch on yours, his comfort, his attention, and his undying love, you want him forever. There’s nothing you ever wanted more, and marrying him is a guarantee for forever and all you want from him.

You probably could say all of that in so many ways, ways that go beyond nodding, but you share it all by throwing yourself on him. And you only manage to not fall back because he holds on tight.

“Thank you,” he whispers as he holds onto your neck and nuzzles his head in the crook of your neck. “Thank you.”

You blink with surprise and pull back to face him and question him. “For what?”

He grabs your left arm and pulls your hand to him to cup it in the warmth of his flesh before he gives you a sweet answer. “For making me happy.”

You flash him a beaming grin and he mirrors your gesture and keeps that charming grin on his face as he pulls the ring off the box and slips it on your finger.

“Perfect fit,” you assure him because if you didn't say it you know that’s something he would probably be worried about. “It’s beautiful, Cho.”

“You really like it?” He asks with insecurity. “I know you like pretty expensive stuff and this—”

“It’s perfect,” you cut him off and finally lean in to take him in for a deep passionate kiss that you have to cut short because of who else is with you.

“Yay!” Satori cheers and claps her hands, breaking Choso and you apart. “Congratulations Mommy!”

You meet her gaze and ask her the most important question. “Does this make you happy?”

She glances at Choso and then at you and nods without thinking about it. “Yes, because you’re happy.”

“Oh,” you coo and crawl to her to embrace her. “Thank you, my sweet girl. And just so know,” you trail off into a whisper. “I will always love your father. He will always hold a special place in my heart, okay? I will never ever forget him. And Choso will never be your father, but he will love you like one, is that okay?”

Satori draws in a deep breath and clutches onto you, but she doesn’t argue. “Yes. As long as he’s not mean to me.”

You giggle and pull back to caress her cheek. “Never,” you comfort her. “Now why don’t you congratulate Choso too, hm?”

She nods and scoots to the side as she keeps on holding you. “Congratulations Choso.”

You look over at your fiancé and see his cheeks flush. “Thank you, Satori. And just so you know, I will always love your mother, and I will always protect you too.”

“Mhm, okay,” she hums. “But did you ask my uncle Satoru’s permission? Because one time I saw a movie with my uncle Kento and the prince asked for permission from the princess' parents to marry her.”

You snort and he parts his lips and looks confused. “Uh—”

“Satori, he doesn't need to ask your uncle anything,” you correct her fantasy. “It is done, but in this instant, he does not.”

Her eyebrows furrow and she scoffs. “Well, when my boyfriend asks me to marry him I will tell him not to ask you.”

“Excuse me? First of all, who said you’ll get married? You’re going to live with me forever, until I grow old and need diapers,” you tease her and poke her side before you throw your arms around her and squeeze her, making her laugh.

“No, stop!” She says between laughs and pushes herself away, but grows sad. “Mom,” her voice quivers and she leans over to whisper in your ear. “You’ll always love me, right? You’ll never replace me if you have babies with Choso?”

You scoff and look at Satori as if she had hurt you. “Of course not. I would never ever replace you,” you whisper back. “You, like your dad, will always have a special place in my heart.” You assure her and offer her an adoring smile.

Satori smiles back and sighs with relief. She then turns around to face the lake after hearing all the reassurance to content her, and a minute later she jumps up.

“I’m going to bring some bread and bird food to feed the swans!” She blurts and runs off.

“Make it quick!” You shout back. “We’re going to make breakfast soon!”

“Yeah, yeah!”

You huff at her sassiness and watch her run off for a moment before you slowly turn your attention to Choso with a mischievous smile now that you’re alone.

“So where were we?” You coo and lean over to smash your lips on his.

Choso doesn’t protest, he’s aware of where you are and that you can be interrupted at any moment, but he needs you too. Last night he was left aching with only a few kisses and your embrace to tame his craving for you. And he can’t say he’ll reach his satisfaction right now either—the truth is he’ll never get enough of you, but right now just being able to feel your warm and wet lips move so in sync with his is enough.

Being able to feel the smoothness of your tongue graze his bottom lip satisfies a fraction of that ache that fiercely burns for you. Feeling that twinge of electricity, as you hold onto each other rushes through his veins, and hearing your soft whines as his tongue dances with yours makes his heart run so fast with excitement and satisfaction that a part of him thinks he might just die in your embrace.

Albeit, you both come back from the heaven you were getting lost in before your daughter could rejoin you, and try the wipe the trace of you still on his lips, but Choso grabs your wrist and kisses the tip of your fingers before closing the small gap and stealing more of that slickness on your lips.

“Choso,” you purr as he starts to move down past your lips. “This is why I’m pregnant, you know.” You giggle but instead of pulling away you wrap an arm around his neck and tilt your head away to give him easier access to your neck.

“Sorry,” his voice vibrates in your flesh as he talks against your skin. “I just need you all the time.”

Your face burns and a flustered smile tugs on your lips

“We should get married soon,” Choso manages to say as he’s kissing you. “I don’t want to go to this battle without being your husband.”

Maybe it’s the rush of hormones, or a rush of emotions as the big battle approaches, or maybe you just simply love him that much, but his suggestion sounds like an incredible idea. You can’t even think of saying no.

“Well it’s better than getting married in 6 or 7 months when I’m big and become the talk of the town,” you mention.

Choso stops pressing kisses against your flesh and you feel him smile a toothy grin against your skin. “I can’t wait to see you big,” he says, making you scoff and roll your eyes.

“I can wait,” you complain. “People say pregnancy is magical, and sure it’s special, but what about swollen feet? Breaking out like I’m going through puberty again. Needing to go to the bathroom every other minute, and now there’s two, so that means more pressure on my bladder!” You rant.

Choso pulls away and faces you with an amused smile, trying hard not to laugh at you.

“Oh and I doubt I’ll be able to even sit or lay down since getting off any surface will be hard as hell…can’t you carry them?”

Choso chuckles and grabs the blanket that slipped off your back to fix it back around your shoulders. “If I could, I probably would. Sorry darling.”

You pout and huff before you turn around to lay back on his lap so he can caress your head.

“I read the papers the doctor gave you, there wasn’t much information though,” Choso shares. “So I was hoping you could show me the books I need to read about, well, what will become of our lives.”

You smile in admiration and nod. “Yeah, I have a couple here that I read when I was expecting Satori.”

Choso hums and lets his eyes wander on your belly before he brings up his question. “You don’t have uh, morning sickness do you?”

He meets your gaze and you shake your head. “No, but it’s still pretty early on so we’ll see. And I never got them with Satori, I would get disgusted by stuff though, and I can’t see, smell, or eat those things til this day.”

“Like what things?” He asks as if he’s making a mental note. “Perhaps we should be careful when we meet up with the others.”

You chuckle and take his hand to press it against your heart. “Honey, it’s okay. I won’t just combust. Besides, things can be different this time around. Don’t stress yourself out just yet, the babies are not even here. That’s when we should worry.”

Choso smiles softly and reaches his hand over to feel your belly.

“Can you feel them?” You finally express the curiosity you’ve been dying to share. “With your technique?”

Choso’s eyes snap to you and he looks at you with shock and realization as if you had sparked the idea in his head.

Has he not thought of that before?

“Or are they too small?” You ask.

Choso adds a bit more pressure to your belly and loses his gaze on where he has his hands as he starts to concentrate. You’re tempted to blurt with a question, but you manage to bite your tongue and watch in silence.

The longer the takes the more impatient you get, and the more you start wondering why Satori is taking so long. Also, you’re starting to get hungry.

But you wait and not much longer you catch an awe-struck smile spread on Choso’s lips, and a glimmer grows in his eyes.

“Like my brothers, I can feel the twins too,” he muses. “I was so used to just feeling Yuji’s presence that I thought nothing of the additional two. Not until I concentrated.”

You beam and feel proud for him that he gets to have this special connection because he will get to cherish it for as long as they live.

“Now I will still get to feel them close to me when you leave,” he says and piques your curiosity.

“What do you mean?” You ask lightheartedly.

Choso meets your gaze and his eyebrows knit together. “Before the battle on the 24th?” He says as if it wasn’t obvious. But it wasn’t because what the hell does he mean by leave?

“I’m not leaving,” you clarify with a puzzled look as you sit up from his lap. “Who said I was? I thought we went over this.”

Choso blinks and nods. “Yes, that was before we found out you were pregnant. You won’t be out on any battlefield now that we know.”

What does he mean by won’t?

“I’m more than capable of protecting myself,” you argue with growing irritation since this is a recycled argument. “I’m not leaving just because I’m pregnant. People need me, there’s people depending on me.”

“Yes,” Choso snaps. “Your daughter, your people leaving the country, and our unborn children. They are depending on you to stay alive. You already died once, you almost died in Shibuya and both times were because of my father, I’m not going to risk your life now more than ever.”

You shake your head and part your lips to argue, but he cuts in to try and defend his case. “What if Noritoshi finds out and hurts you and the twins just to torture me or even one of our own brothers?”

“He won’t touch me this time, plus I won’t be alone,” you interject to get your point across. “He won’t hurt me. He has to pay for what he stole.”

Choso swallows thickly and his frustration starts to show in his pinched eyebrows, scrunched-up nose, and heavily seething glare that could probably kill.

“All right, you beat my father, but what about Sukuna? He can hurt the three of you,” he protests, but that does nothing to sway you in his direction. Call it stubbornness, or stupidity, but you can’t just sit back and do nothing while everyone else is fighting for their lives. Even if you are pregnant.

“And if I told you to come with me?” You blurt out of frustration at the fact that he’s not even trying to be reasonable with you. “If I told you to leave your brother behind so you can leave with me, would you?”

His breath hitches and this time he’s not quick to counter.

“The twins will need their father too,” you continue. “So what? It’s okay if you risk your life but not me? I know I may have not trained with my technique for as long as you did, but I am still a master at my cursed technique, I am well-versed in multiple fighting styles, and I carry high-class weapons in my cursed spirit. I am more than capable of staying to fight alongside you, my students, Itadori, my friends, and my brother. And if you don’t like that, well that’s too bad because the only way I'm leaving everyone behind is if you tie and force me. I doubt you’ll do it so I'm staying.”

Choso draws in a deep breath to get ready to argue, but at that moment Satori rejoins you.

“I’m back!” She announces herself.

You hold Choso’s gaze for a longing moment, knowing that he was far from done trying to win, but with Satori back neither of you continue, you just ignore the problem and feel a tension build between the two of you. A tension that Satori thankfully doesn’t notice, but one that immediately starts hurting the both of you.

Up until now, all your problems have been solved right away by talking to each other, but not this time, and it’s odd. He’s usually quiet, but this silence he holds is unbreakable; there’s no small comments or full conversations during breakfast. You get ready to leave to join the others, and he can barely even look at you. And the car ride to your current headquarters is almost painful.

You’re so tempted to apologize for perhaps not being understanding, but no matter how you try, your own frustration resurfaces, and chooses to keep the tense silence strong because you won’t give up your decision.

You only hope that no one senses your tension, you don’t want to be asked questions.

Then again those who will ask questions are probably the same ones you’re okay with knowing you’re expecting.

But still, it’s hard enough as it is, so it’s better not to be asked questions.

“Master!” Kirara greets the moment they spot you walking in.

You can’t help but grin and quicken your pace when you see both them and Harkari approaching you to meet them halfway with an embrace you give the both of them.

“Hello my star students,” you greet giddily and push your weight on their shoulders to hover over the ground and swing your legs, catching Satori making a beeline toward Shoko since she said she’d teach Satori some doctor stuff, and just briefly watching Choso walk away towards Itadori without a lingering glance your way.

“You ready to kick ass today?” You exclaim and push yourself off them to hit the ground and twirl around to face them. “I thought that we should practice your reflexes in a field training aspect just with the other three boys.”

“Hm, well as long as you’re ready to get your name taken master,” Hakari jokes around with you, making you chuckle.

“Just like we beat you in volleyball!” Kirara shows off proudly.

“Pft,” you blow out and shake your head. “Lucky win.”

Kirara smirks and grabs Hakari’s arm. “Luck was on our side, besides our hot fever.”

You roll your eyes and in that moment catch your brother approaching with a goofy smile on his pale face. “Y/N,” he interjects and waves. “I was hoping we could talk before you get busy.”

Well, there’s no point in trying to avoid or ignore him, he won’t leave you alone even if you try. Besides, what's the point of staying angry at Satoru? You just made up and soon your life will be in rambles due to the battle of the century. As long as his apology is genuine then you have no reason to stay upset.

“Why don’t you guys start stretching and do some meditation,” you tell Kirara and Hakari. “I’ll join you in a minute. And after our training, I do have something to tell you two so.”

“Like bad?” Kirara can’t help but ask.

You shake your head. “No, good news, so don’t worry.”

You turn away and follow your brother someplace more quiet and private where there’s no prying eyes or listening ears.

“How was yesterday?” You interject to not suffer in this tense silence between him and you.

Satoru scoffs. “A lot easier than fighting other sorcerers, that's for sure. But it wasn’t trouble it all, it’s always easy for me.”

You can practically hear him smirking from behind him. How annoying.

“You never answered my message, how did the visit at the clinic go? What did the doctor say?” He gets right to it whilst he actually lets you walk into a separate and lonely room that has a wall of windows that overlooks the field below.

“Well,” you sigh. “The babies are too young as of now, so she couldn’t really tell me anything, but everything that’s supposed to be there is there.”

He hums and stops by a window, but instead of looking outside, he turns to his side to face you with his blindfold creasing as his eyebrows knit together. “I’m sorry for what I told you. I was just worried. I mean it’s not like you have a good life track record, you actually died once.”

You laugh softly and nod. Satoru exhales deeply and reaches for his face to pull his blindfold up to wear it like a headband for now.

“But me being worried didn’t mean I had to be rude,” he adds in a soft and kind voice. “I’m sorry.”

Again you can’t stay mad at him, so you smile and can’t help but step in for a hug. Not only because you needed it after your disagreement with Choso, but because it feels right.

“It’s okay, I forgive you,” you assure him. “You don’t have to worry, I know these babies aren’t what you or Choso fear.”

“You can’t know for sure,” he mutters as he gently wraps his long arms around you.

“No,” you whisper. “Not yet, but if they do somehow end up putting my life in danger I’ll take care of it. But…I know in my heart that they’re not dangerous.”

You pull back and slide your arms down to hold his biceps.

“I’ll say I’ll keep nagging until I see proof that they aren’t posing a threat, but I’m sure your children’s father will be on top of that. He’s very…overbearing.”

You giggle and nod. “Yes, he will be checking too. I’ll let you know either way, or Shoko will. Either way, you’ll know and gloat.”

Satoru rolls his eyes. “I wouldn’t gloat about that.”

You hum with contentment and step back to slowly turn and look out, catching your students and the other three guys you’re currently mentoring warming up; along with Kashimo.

“It seems we’re always apologizing to each other,” you point out.

“Well our road to mending our relationship won’t be easy,” he actually surprises you by sounding so…mature.

“How mature of you,” you can’t help but share out loud, making him scoff loudly as if you just offended him. Which you probably did.

“I am mature,” he defends himself as he turns to look out the window too. “It’s just these kids need to know that we don't have to be serious just because we’re in this business. The higher-ups and other adults try to implement in their heads that they have to live a certain way, and yes this business is serious, but life doesn’t have to be so dull and gray. That can really affect them.”

You look at him proudly and pat his back. “Well, it’s good that they have you then…I’m glad I have you too,” you grow sappy, making his bright blue eyes drift to you. “I need you in my life. I missed you when we didn’t talk, plus.” You smile warmly. “Who else is going to walk me down the aisle?”

A narrowed look flickers on his face before his eyes widen. “Don’t tell me he proposed?” He asks.

You get all giddy and nod before you flip off your ring finger to show him the engagement ring Choso gave you. “This morning,” you share and let him take your hand so he can study the silver ring.

“Pity proposal? Pft, you deserve better than that—”

“No,” you rebuttal. “It was not a pity proposal. He asked that one last night and I rejected him, but this one,” you pause and pull your hand out of his grasp to admire your ring. “This proposal was genuine. He even asked in front of Satori.”

“Oh? What did she say?”

Your eyes flicker up to look at him and you grin. “She’s like did you ask my uncle for permission?”

Satoru’s laugh booms. “Ha! That’s how it’s done!”

“Tsk. If only she knew her father didn’t even ask permission either,” you comment and fold your arms over your chest. “Regardless, she was happy about it. A little worried, but it’s normal.”

Satoru hums softly now and from the corner of your eyes, you see his eyes are on you. “Well,” he interjects. “Congratulations. When’s the wedding?”

“Well,” you sigh. “We want to do it before the 24th so soon. It won’t be big, just an intimate thing, you know? So…” you trail off and look at him with batting lashes. “Will you be there? Walk me down the aisle? I missed you last time, but we have a chance now.”

A soft smile tugs on your brother's face that matches the softness of his overwhelming eyes. “Of course, I’ll be there.”

You grin proudly and feel an even higher impatience to already start living through that day. You haven’t even started planning it or chosen an exact date, but you already want it to be here.

Maybe you’ll ask Shoko to go wedding dress and kimono shopping with you tomorrow!

“Oh,” Satoru cuts in. “Now that you are pregnant can I make an effort to have you leave with Satori?”

You look at your brother with a hardened glare and stiffly shake your head. “No. Choso is upset with me for the first time because I won’t turn my back on this fight, I don’t want to argue with you either.”

Satoru raises his hands and backs up. “Okay, alright I’ll leave it alone.”

“Mhm, now,” you change the subject and look at your unaware students. “Why don't you help me scare these students? I’m training their reflexes today so they can think quicker on their feet as if it were a real battle.”

A mischievous smirk grows on his face and without saying a thing he nods in agreement, making you both quickly walk out of the room with rushing excitement that really shouldn't be so high considering you are training your students. But you can’t help it, you get worked up fast.

That fact is incredibly present when you walk over to an open window and instead of running down the stairs and running at them like a normal person would, you jump out the window to really catch the students off guard.

However, Inumaki notices gravity pulling you down and points you out to his fellow friends, but it’s too late. You land on the ground with your fist creating a crater as you punch it on the ground. Before they can even think of reacting you use your technique to manipulate the earth around them and raise dirt and rock-made walls to trap them inside. Not realizing you trapped Kashimo with them too.

After raising slabs of the earth you begin to elegantly swirl your arms around as you manipulate the air around you to have it twirl around the walls like a small tornado. Satoru finally joins you outside and puts his arm out to threaten them with one of his finishing moves and end this mock fight when they make it out.

Nevertheless, just as you hear the crackle of lightning the walls around the students explode and send dirt and rocks flying everywhere, setting Satoru off his plan. You on the other hand manage to keep the tornado swirling and add more pressure, but then like a flash of lightning, Kashimo is running at you and jumping off the ground to knock you off your feet with his staff.

Kashimo doesn't think you’ll block or avoid his staff's swing in time, but you undo the tornado and throw your hands up to catch the staff midswing. The moment his feet hit the ground he uses his strength to try and snatch his staff out of your grasp, but you counter by using your strength to pull back, making Kashimo sneer.

You shoot him back a cocky smirk and gather wind around an end of the staff before you swing it towards him and strike him with a heavy lash of wind that causes him to fly back several feet. And to end this mock fight you run over to him and imbue your hand with hot flames to threaten Kashimo with.

“That’s a point to me,” you show off smugly.

Kashimo claws the ground and glares at you.

“It would’ve been stupid if you lost with that advantage,” he grumbles, making you laugh and drop your threat to instead reach your hand out.

Kashimo glances at your help with hesitance, but surprisingly he doesn’t pass up on the help, he takes your hand and lets you help him up.

“It’s surprisingly very light,” you say and replace your hand with his staff as you hand it back. “I might just have to get myself one.”

You turn to continue the battle with the other students, but when you find them you see that Satoru has caught them all and ended the fight against five students.

“Kashimo, you should join mine and my brother's team so we can team up against these students,” you suggest, making a smirk flicker on his lips that you don’t manage to see.

“Finally a good idea, although I think your boyfriend is going to bite me. He looks rabid.”

You follow his line of gaze and see Choso pouting and with deeply formed wrinkles in between his furrowed eyebrows.

“You’re so dramatic,” you brush Kashimo off and shoot him a wobbly pointed look because you stifle your laugh. “Oh!” You clap and spin around to face him. “I actually have a cool move that involves your lightning and my technique,” you share excitedly.

“Okay?” He doesn’t cut you off. “What is it?”

You shoot him a deeper smirk this time. “You’re going to have to trust me. All you need to know is that you need to use a lot of lightning. Like when we fought!”

Kashimo should turn this idea down, but it doesn’t sound stupid and you’re promising some fun, so what the hell? He goes along with you.

“Fine,” he gives in nonchalantly.

You wink at him and spin back around to face the others as you get close.

The battle that follows is longer because you don’t catch them off guard this time, but as hard as they fight and as much as Satoru is holding back the students don’t win this game. Especially not when it comes to your finishing move with Kashimo.

He strikes his lightning and you gather a large body of water. He didn’t know what it was you had planned, but he chose to follow your lead, and without having to tell him he aimed his raging storm of lightning at the water, making the water start to boil at the moment of impact. And since you’re using cursed techniques the electricity produced by the lightning jumps out and radiates the water, so you quickly wrap the body of water around the five students without letting the water touch them of course, and bring an end to the battle.

“Good fight,” you tell your students regardless of the fact that they lost, and throw the water far so it doesn’t hurt anyone here. You then turn around and face your partner. “Cool huh?”

Kashimo folds his arms over his chest and shakes his head. “Not if you say that.”

You snicker and put your hand up to ask for a high five. “Come on,” you urge him with a grin.

Kashimo sighs and looks at your hand before he drops his arms and returns the high five, making you beam at him.

After that, you turn to meet up with the students and maybe take a small break. However, as you turn the first thing you see is Choso with his eyes on you and that once bothered look seething now. Adding another thing you need to talk about.

——

*LATER*

Night had come around and the long day was coming to an end. And throughout it all Choso has yet to talk to you, he doesn’t even take a glance at you when you walk in the parlor room.

“Satori,” you interrupt the tea party she had dragged Choso to. “It’s time for bed Chipmunk, clean up and go get ready for bed.”

Satori sets her cup down with a groan and snaps a glare at you. “No,” she whines. “I don’t wanna. We’re busy.”

You sigh. “Tell you what, just wash out your cups and leave it all there, you can continue tomorrow, okay?”

She folds her arms over her chest and Suguru’s same pinched eyebrows and scowl show on her features. “No thank you.” She fights back even though you can see the exhaustion in her eyes.

“Satori,” you plead softly. “He’s not going anywhere okay?”

“It’s okay Satori,” Choso interjects now and gets off his seat. “We can continue tomorrow. Why don’t you go get ready for bed? I'll clean up for you.”

Your daughter pouts and debates whether to listen to him or not, her dark eyes flicker over to you, and glares one more time before she drops her head with a dramatic sigh. “Fine. Come you guys,” she directs at her tiger cursed spirit and your worm cursed spirit who she had plopped around the table to have them join her tea party.

“I’ll tuck you in a minute,” you let her know as you watch her drag her feet away.

“Okay, but I want a new story tonight,” she mutters before she’s out of sight, leaving Choso and you alone. “It’s okay, Cho,” you try to stir up a conversation. “I can clean it up.”

You walk over and reach out to grab a small plate off the table, but he blocks your attempts by putting his hand over it. “No,” he rebuttals. “I got it. You can go tuck Satori in.”

He doesn’t even spare you a damn glance. “Choso, come on,” you try to address the situation. “Let’s not go on like this. Talk to me.”

Finally, after what seems to be like hours without seeing him, he meets your gaze. “Not here,” he brushes you aside and walks past you.

Damn it.

This side of him is something you didn't expect. You’ve seen him mad before, he’s been vengeful and furious, but this kind of anger is the silent type, the worst kind.

It leaves this terrible pit in your stomach that was faint before, but now you feel nauseous and like it’s stealing your breath, making it hard to breathe. You can hold yourself together when you’re reading Satori her bedtime story, but when you walk in your room and notice that Choso hopped in the shower alone and without saying a word, you feel that anguish clawing at your throat, making it almost impossible to breathe.

What if you never come to an agreement and you stay upset with each other until that day? What if you don’t even get married because he’s so upset?

What if he keeps refusing to talk to you or even glance your way?

That’d be a nightmare!

You can’t handle this, you can’t let him stay upset.

Thus when you hear the water turn off and after you give him a minute to change you knock on the bathroom door with the things you need for your own shower.

“Can I come in?” You ask first since he's upset.

“Yes,” he quickly answers back behind the door. “The door is unlocked.”

You reach for the door handle and let your hand hover for a second as you let out a deep breath before you slide the door open and walk in, seeing him in gray sweatpants, and a tank top that did nothing to cover his chest. You can see his tight and perfectly carved chest, you can see the prints of his abs peeking out of his shirt from the mirror, and those sweatpants!

The way those sweatpants fit on him makes your mouth water. You can see his bulge hiding behind the material. He looks so delicious. If he wasn’t mad you would totally urge him to just fuck you against the counter with the sweatpants hanging around his knees or something. Fuck!

But that’s not why you’re here, you’re here…to talk things out! So after you brush your teeth and while he’s brushing his own you interject in a sweet and comforting voice so he can feel encouraged to talk.

“Choso, talk to me, I don’t want to go to bed angry.”

Choso sighs out of his nose and spits out his toothpaste first before he washes his mouth and then finally looks at you. Albeit not with nonchalance or in a serious manner, he looks upset.

“You don’t listen to me, and if I try to share with you why it’s a bad idea for you to be out on the battlefield that day, you won’t listen,” he blurts with angry determination. “Will you?”

You can’t lie just to win him over, nor can you fall in order. “I won’t,” you admit, making him drop his head and exhale deeply out of his nose. “But Choso, you know I’m strong. Just listen to my reason, please. Nothing will happen to me or the babies—”

“You don’t know that,” he cuts you off and snaps his head up before taking a big step forward. And since you weren’t far apart initially he stands close, leaving a small gap left between the two of you, but not big enough, you can feel his heavy breaths unfurl over you.

“You could die this time, why can’t you understand that?” He argues. “You can die and twins can die. I don’t want to see you go through that pain, I don’t want to lose you!”

You shake your head and grab his jaw to try and assure him. “But you won’t, my love. You will not lose me this time. We will live through it, we will live to meet our babies, and I will live to see you be their father. I know it’s no guarantee but you have to trust me.”

Choso holds your gaze with his mind and heart being tormented by what you say and by what his fear is screaming at him. And it’s not hard to see, you see the storm raging in his honey-brown eyes, and you see the way it controls his eyebrows and his lips.

It seems that he tries to understand you, but he suddenly backs up and huffs. “No!” He exclaims. “I will not risk your life nor that of my unborn children. I won’t lose you.”

You scoff and step forward to stand your ground with growing frustration, missing the way his eyes flicker to your lips. “Then you will have to bind me somewhere Choso, I will not hide while everyone is fighting for their lives. I’m strong, I can do something to help, and you nor anyone can stop me.”

Choso clenches his jaw and turns around to walk to the door. However, when he grabs the handle he stops and instead quickly spins back around to stride to you. Before you can question his behavior he slams his lips on yours and grabs you forcefully by your cheeks.

“Cho—“

He cuts you off by moving his lips against yours roughly, with hunger fueled by his anger at you for being so damn stubborn.

You should stop him, and continue to talk it out, but you’re entranced by the way he takes control, and turned on by his roughness that’s fueled because he’s upset, so all you can do is tingle as you think about him.

You slap your hand on the back of his neck and grind your body towards him to try and get any friction from his cock that’s at attention and already seeking your warm silky walls.

“Choso,” you moan as he attacks your neck, “please let’s talk.”

He pulls back and rather than stepping back like you thought he would, he instead takes your lips again and you respond by kissing him back in complete sync, and grinding against him again.

This time you get a muffled groan out of him as your clothed pussy brushes against his aching tip. Yet he still doesn’t pull back for air, nor do you break the connection, you breathe through your noses and pull yourselves close to each other's warm bodies. You should, you need to stop this, but when you pull back, he just pushes you back against the counter, completely pulling you away from that need to stop.

Now all you think about is him and his weeping cock leaking through his sweatpants.

“Choso,” you make your voice sound like honey. “I’m wearing your shirt, do you want it off or on?”

A smirk twitches on the corner of his lips, but his anger is still boiling within so he doesn't show it, instead, he continues to grab you by the flesh of your hips and flips you around, causing your panties to be drowned by your arousal.

He hardly ever likes to take you from the back, he says he prefers facing you when you’re having sex, and as rough as you like to be fucked you prefer to face him too. That way you can kiss anytime you want, and feel him kiss your body however he wants.

However, right now…fuck…you’re so excited!

“Keep the shirt on,” he finally answers your question and takes no time to feel you up, he pulls your shorts and panties down. His shirt you wear drapes past your ass so he rolls it up and reveals your needy pussy to him.

“I’ve been dreaming about this,” he mutters and leans down to lick a stripe up your weeping pussy, making you whimper with need.

“Choso, please,” you plead and reach down for his shoulder, but he pushes your hand away and stands up to face you through the mirror.

“No,” he counters and pushes himself against you, letting you feel his clothed erection where you need him the most. “You don’t talk.”

There’s nothing else you can think of doing but smiling and grinding your ass against his cock, making him groan.

“Fuck,” he grumbles and leans forward to wrap his hand around your mouth, whilst with the other he uses to drop his sweatpants and boxers, letting you hear the tip of his cock slap against his skin.

You groan with need at the sound and wiggle your ass back, making the corner of his lips twitch up.

Yet just as he grabs his cock and pushes his tip forward he stops himself and meets your gaze in the mirror with deep concern. “Will I hurt the babies?” He asks and drops his hand to let you answer.

“Just don’t be rough for the next couple of weeks, and maybe don’t put it in all the way in if you’re too worried. Just halfway, ‘kay?”

Choso's eyes fall and he hesitates for a moment. You don’t urge him this time and decide that if he doesn’t feel comfortable you won’t push him to do anything. You just watch intently.

Which is why you don’t miss the way his eyes snap up and bore into you as he pushes his tip past your folds, and eases only half of his cock in your tight wet pussy.

It was only half and you really felt like coming undone.

“Choso,” you whimper.

He tries to disapprove of your talking, but he loves the way his name rolls off your tongue, especially when you’re so needy. So instead he slides his hands up your shirt and squeezes your breast before he slides his hand forward and punches your nipple, making you moan out and push back against him so more of him can ease inside you.

And as if triggering him he finally starts to rut himself up into you with no mercy. He makes sure not to be rough though, but makes sure to gently hit your g-spot with the tip of cock so as to not hurt you, and then starts grinding slowly, lighting your body on fire. He kept that movement up for a few moments, watching as your mouth was left agape as breathless ‘ahs’ came out.

He could actually come undone by the way your face is twisted in pleasure, you look so angelic, but he holds himself back. He remembers his anger instead and continues to punish you by pulling almost all the way out before thrusting halfway in, pulling a whimper out of him.

“Choso!” You cry out and reach your hand back to grab his pelvis and push him all the way in, but he grabs ahold of your wrist and pins your hand back, adding more burning desire to your already burning body.

“You’re doing so good,” he whispers in your ear and pulls back to thrust in again slowly. “You're so beautiful. So stubborn.”

You clench around him and whimper, making him chuckle and pick up his pace, going in and out halfway with breathy huffs.

And you would say this way is torture, but it feels so good. Your desperation to pull him in deeper has your walls fluttering around him like crazy, bringing you both to the edge sooner.

“Choso,” you cry out and dig your fingers on the marble counter as he sets a heavenly pace that makes the coil in your stomach ready to snap.

“I said stop talking,” he hisses and gives your tit another squeeze before he slips his hand out of the shirt and covers your mouth again, quickening his thrusts and throwing his head back to chant your name to the ceiling.

You can’t take it anymore and pull his hand down to tell him. “So close, Choso,” you mewl.

“No,” he spats and ruts in deeper, to the point his tip hits your g-spot. Albeit he doesn’t thrust, he strands grinding against you and you lose it, you shut your eyes and clench around him to gush around his length, causing Choso to drop his head to watch your cum leak out of your hole.

“Damn,” he groans and thrusts once, twice, and then thrusts a bit harder before the tip of his cock twitches and he snaps and shoots spurts and spurts of his seed inside you, painting your walls white with his cum.

If you hadn’t been pregnant already, this would have definitely gotten you there.

“Oh damn,” he mutters and stills, sliding his hand up to wrap around your neck and pull you up against his chest. “Are you okay? Did I hurt you?”

Your eyes flutter open and after a deep breath, you shake your head. “No, no. I’m fine. I’m good. You were so good Choso.”

He hums and presses his lips on the back of your ear.

What was left now? He fucked his anger out, so what was left but talking to come to an agreement. You can’t go to bed upset.

However, you still peel away from Choso, causing the both of you to gasp at the loss of connection.

“Maybe,” you catch your breath and pull your shirt off. “You need to be mad at me more often.” You flash a faint smile and he meets your gaze through a mirror and shakes his head.

“I don’t like being mad at you,” he says. “As exciting as this was, I don't like being mad at you.”

“I don’t like having you be mad at me either,” you whisper and turn to press a kiss on his cheek. “I need to shower.”

You step out of your shorts and panties and open the shower door to start the water first and wait for it to reach the right temperature before you step inside, feeling the warm water wash away the mess Choso and you just made. You close your eyes and feel that warm water help ease your muscles, and calm your mind from what was driving it rampid.

You’re so lost in the warmth of the water hitting your skin that you didn’t pay attention if Choso left or not. He didn’t say anything either. So out of curiosity you open your eyes and open the door, and much to your surprise he’s walking over.

“I want to talk,” he finally says the words you wanted to hear.

“Okay,” you mumble and smile.

Instead of staying out there, he walks right in.

“Choso!” You exclaim and chuckle. “You just showered.”

He shrugs. “Taking another one won’t hurt.” He says and offers you a soft amused smile that fades away too soon and gets replaced with guilt and anguish. “I don’t want to control you, y/n, I don’t like fighting with you. I’m just scared of losing you,” he admits with ease, not shying away from admitting a truth others would have a hard time with.

That’s one of the many things you love about him.

“You won’t lose me,” you assure him softly even if your future isn’t certain. “I know my fate isn’t certain, but I’m strong, I fought hard to be strong. I can fight and,” you grin. “I have so much to live for. You’re one of them.”

He scoffs timidly and drops his head to try and hide his blush, letting the water trickle down his head.

“You trust me right?” You ask and cup his jaw to tilt his head up so his gaze meets yours.

“Of course, more than anything,” he whispers.

“Then you have nothing to worry about,” you add and start to tuck his hair behind his ears. “I’ll fight hard, I’ll protect myself and our babies. I swear because I meant what I said, I want to see you be a father to our twins and other little babies we have yet to make.” You giggle, making Choso laugh softly. “I want to live my future with you. That’s why I will live.”

He doesn’t feel reassured and you doubt he will ever be until he sees you alive and healthy the day after the battle. So you continue.

“I’ll tell you this,” you propose. “If things turn from bad to worse, or if I get badly injured, I will leave. All right?”

Choso's lips pursed together, he wants to argue and change the compromise, but he doesn’t want to argue again, and it’s not like he had much of a choice either.

“All right,” he mutters. “But I’ll be by your side.”

You shake your head and step back, grabbing the product you need and pouring some on your palm. “No,” you argue. “We will stick to what we’re assigned to do. Don’t add additional risks to your life because people are relying on you too. Your brother, me, our friends, our babies. I don’t want to raise them without their father.”

Choso swallows thickly and watches you massage the product in your hair before he steps forward and helps you.

“You can look out for me when we’re both somehow out of the fight okay? Other than that, trust me.” You press.

“Mhm.”

You wash off the product first before you meet Choso’s gaze with a pitiful smile. “I’m sorry I made things hard for you. Do you forgive me?”

He shakes his head. “You have nothing to apologize for. I’m being difficult.”

You laugh softly. “Well let's just agree to forgive each other all right or else we will stay here all night. Now,” you exclaim and grab a nice-smelling shampoo for Choso. “What I need from you to get things ready for our wedding.”

Choso’s attention heightens and you start to lather his hair before sharing the first thing you need from him. It might bug him but it’s important to you. “Stop being jealous of the guys I talk to. Especially Kashimo.” You snap and nudge his shoulder.

Choso’s eyes widen and he shakes his head.

“No, what?” You remark. “You get jealous and as cute as you get, I don't appreciate it.”

Choso pushes forward to get under the water and chooses to delay his response by washing his hair off. When he’s done you place your hand on your hip and the moment he turns to face you you shoot him a pointed look.

“I appreciate my male friendships just as I appreciate my female friendships,” you clarify and grab the lilac soap Choso loves to smell on you, and then get the loofah. “Please understand that. I’ve told you this already.”

Choso lets out a defeated breath. “I'm sorry, I try not to get upset, but I can’t help it.”

You giggle and start scrubbing your body. “Honey, I’m going to marry you. I accepted your proposal after knowing you for a month. I’m pregnant with your babies, you do not have to worry, my eyes are on you.” You smirk and wrap your arms around his shoulders, causing the water to wash off the soap covering only part of your body since you haven’t finished yet—“I love you.”

Choso takes the loofah from your hand whilst he leans in to press a kiss on your lips. “I love you too. And just be patient with me I’ll try…but he gets too smug.”

You chuckle and turn to give him your back so he can help you scrub your back without needing to tell him.

“You have nothing to worry about, he doesn’t get smug about what you imagine, he has some power problem,” you assure his concern. “He’s like…my brother in some way…the same craziness in their eyes maybe…But! if I ever get a hint that he is trying something I’ll stop being his friend all right?”

“I wish you would now,” he grumbles.

You huff and peer back, meeting his eyes right away when he notices you looking back.

“I’m going dress and Shiromuku shopping with Shoko, Kirara, and Satori tomorrow. You need to go get your montsuki haori hakama. Even though,” you smirk and turn around to rub your hands on his chest and down to his carved abs. “I love seeing all of you.”

He grows flustered but he can’t help a small smile from showing on his face. “No one else would appreciate it.”

You slide your hands up to his biceps and lean in closer. “What a shame. You do look sexy without any clothes.”

Choso’s cheeks burn hotter and his smile grows timid.

You smirk and drag your hands down to grab his and take the loofah to finish scrubbing. “You don’t want an outfit change, do you? If you do let me know so we can coordinate and you don’t wear, I don’t know, navy blue and I wear a light shade of pink.”

“I'll just wear the hakama, don’t worry about me,” he tries to assure you, but he doesn’t know this should be stressful.

“Eh, no, no, I worry,” you rebuttal and toss the loofah to step under the water, seeing Chosos watchful eye as the soap rushes off every curve on your body. “It’s a big deal. So it’s just a Hakama?”

He can’t help but smile and nod. “Yes, now will you show me what you will wear, I want to know what to expect.”

You scoff and touch his chest with your finger. “You wish. It’s bad luck for you to see me in my wedding attire, so you will wait. Just know 3 outfit changes.”

Choso flashes you a smile.

“And,” you tap his chest. “You will take Kinji, I trust his fashion sense better than Itadori’s so don’t rely on your brother. He’ll make you wear a hoodie or something.” You laugh and turn and walk around Choso, making sure to drag your finger around him. “Also I will send you the colors Itadori’s kimono can be. I already told Kinji. I don’t need your bother in a ridiculous color.”

“All right. What else?”

You tap your chin and think.

“Special shoes?” He teases.

“Haha, no. I’ll tell you when I remember, but from what I can gather just be there on the wedding day. With your hair up or down I don’t mind, I like either. Just be there, don't leave me stranded.” You tell him in a sweet voice that also shows off hints of excitement.

“I’d be stupid to leave you. I’ll be there,” he assures you and turns to face you. “I’ll be waiting for you. Eager to see how beautiful you look.”

Your face burns and you giggle. “I’ll be there,” you assure him. “In white, waiting to say the words “I do”

A blush grows on his face and he can’t help but smile wide before leaning for a gentle and passionate kiss under the warm running water.

——

*A COUPLE DAYS LATER*

“Wish me luck today,” you whisper to the picture of the twins and of Suguru you have on the altar. Just for a bit of comfort, you’re all jittery and it’s making you nauseous.

Plus you wish that twins could be here.

“I love you,” you finish and bow your head before you get up and head back to your room where Satoru is now in a nice gray kimono.

“You’re on time,” you interject whilst you grab your slippers off the ground. “I’m honored.”

Satoru turns away from looking at the dress you’re going to wear later and instantly a sweet smile decorates his face.

It’s not a rare sight, but it still makes you rather flustered since you are wearing your beautiful but heavy shiromuku.

“You look very beautiful,” he says in a soft and sincere tone.

You sigh and probe. “You think? I feel heavy.”

He snorts and walks to you. “Well, you’re wearing a thousand layers.”

You share a breathless laugh and nod softly. “Yeah.”

He reaches over and straightens the feather hair clips on the side of your head. “It blends in with your hair.”

“Pft, I know, but they’re faux swan feathers and there's a sweet meaning behind swans between Choso and me, so I thought it’d be a nice touch.”

He hums and steps back to get another look at you with that same sweet smile. “I know this is mostly a Western tradition but I still thought it’d be nice. And you needed a bit of luck considering what follows.”

Your curiosity piques and you tilt your head to watch him pull out a square box out of his pocket. “What is it?” You can’t help but ask with a giddy smile.

“Wait,” he whispers sharply before he taunts you by showing off the black velvet box first like it’s something important.

“Show it,” you press him.

He snickers and opens the box, showing off a gorgeous gold tennis bracelet with oval aquamarine diamonds and smaller white diamonds in between them.

“Wow,” you gasp and grin. “It’s beautiful, Satoru.”

He wiggles his eyebrows. “Right? It’s your something blue.”

You drift your eyes to him and beam at him. “Thank you,” you whisper.

His goofy smile turns soft and he then pulls the bracelet out and you offer him your arm to let him hook on the bracelet.

“Are you my something old?” You tease as you admire the bracelet from up close.

“Haha,” he feigns his laugh. “We’re only months old. Your baby's father is your something old. He’s ancient.”

You chuckle and nod.

“Oh!” He blurts, pulling your eyes to him. “I heard you’re getting married 'cause you’re knocked up.”

You frown and mutter, “who started that? You?”

“I told Hakari, Yuji, and Todo,” he shows off proudly.

Your eyes widen with joy. “Aoi is here?” You ask.

He nods. “He got here a while ago. He’s been bothering Yuji ever since.”

Todo was the first one you invited, but you didn’t think he’d show since he’s been down ever since he lost his hand and his cursed technique. But now that Satoru said he came, you’re relieved. Now all you’re missing is…Yuki…

“Hey, so you invite any hot friends?” Satoru queries in a partial teasing tone that makes you scrunch your nose, and furrow your eyebrows in disgust.

“Don’t flirt with my friends in front of me,” you tell him, and don’t actually warn him to leave your friends alone, you don’t mind, he actually needs someone, so he can go right ahead. “And my friends are all in the sorcerer community. A couple of them just have cursed energy, and some others have techniques, but I don’t have non-sorcerer friends, so if you’re into that you’re shit out of luck.”

“Unlike you,” he says as he stuffs his hands in his sleeves. “I’m not picky. The problem will be deciding whose heart I don't want to break.”

You frown at his cockiness but scoff in amusement considering he’s all talk. You only know of a select few women he’s dated throughout his life.

“Hey,” your brother calls out in a softer voice.

You back up to sit on the edge of the bed and probe. “Hm?”

Satoru sighs. “Thank you for asking me to walk you,” he says. “It’s really an honor.”

Your heart flutters and your smile appears again. “You’re my brother,” you tell him. “My first best friend, it’s my honor.”

He smiles at the ground and doesn’t make a funny comeback this time. He takes what you said to heart while you watch as the doors open to make sure it’s not Choso pretending to need something only to steal a peek at you.

Nevertheless, Satori walks in with Shoko who was helping her with her kimono.

“Are you all done?” You address your daughter in her cute little pink kimono. “We were waiting for you.”

Satoris' eyes fall on you and widen with fascination. “Wow,” she gasps and runs over as you stand up. “Mommy you look so beautiful!”

You beam at her and crouch to be at her level. “You look stunningly beautiful, my girl.”

She smiles wide before she turns to snatch her basket full of flower petals off the vanity. “Okay! I'm ready, let’s go!” She exclaims before she runs out the door, leaving Satoru with his compliment said to the empty space she left.

“Well,” Shoko mutters. “She didn’t get her dad's patience.”

You shake your head. “No.”

“No, but really,” Satoru interjects as he walks to the open door. “Are you ready? I might’ve just messaged Ijichi to tell the orchestra to start.”

Shoko and you share a teasing gaze and she shares your quip. “As long as the money keeps filling their pockets they’ll play until midnight.”

Satoru’s eyes narrow. “Funny,” he deadpans as Shoko and you snicker. “Not that I'd go broke though. Now let’s go.”

You let out a deep breath and drop your shoulders from the tense hold your jitters were holding them at. “Okay, let's go,” you finally let them know with a boost of confidence.

Albeit no matter how close you are to Choso, how excited you are to be down that aisle and utter those three special words, your nerves rush through your veins and make your hands start to shake. Satoru notices when you reach the last corner before you’re exposed to your guest and Choso.

“Hey, it’s going to be okay”, Satoru whispers very sweetly. “I mean he already got you pregnant, what is there to be nervous about?”

You meet his gaze and share a breathless and shaky laugh, feeling this new rush of relief and gratitude that he’s here this time. You cried last time because of how much you missed him, this time his towering beside you and holding your arm. This time it’s really your older brother.

“You know I love you, right?” You share from the bottom of your heart, making Satoru’s eyes soften even more than they already are.

“I love you too. Thank you for accepting me back into your life and letting me be part of you and your kids' lives. No matter what, you will always be my home.”

Tears well in your eyes, but you don’t shed them now, you just offer him a quivering smile before you continue to follow the trail of pink flower petals Satori left behind.

When you reach the entrance of the new beautiful stained glass greenhouse you rented for this event, your heart skips a beat the moment your eyes find Choso at the other end of that flower-covered aisle with his hair up in his two buns that didn’t really hold his hair down, and in a traditional black and gray montsuki haori hakama.

A beautiful red hue casts over him, exposing the twinkling tears that immediately run down his face the moment he sees you walking toward him. The closer you get the slower his world gets, and the blurrier his vision gets as all he focuses on is you basked by hundreds of different colors reflected in by the candles that hang from the ceiling over the aisle.

When you reach him both of your breaths get stolen, and your world seems to grow even brighter with colors he brings as he stands there minutes away from being your husband.

“I love you,” Satoru tells you one more time.

You shoot him a wobbly smile and don’t hesitate to say it back. “I love you, big brother.”

Said man looks to Choso and sighs deeply, dropping his smile for a second before offering him a faint and genuine smile. “Love her always.”

Choso nods. “I will.”

Satoru looks at you one more time before he leans in and presses a gentle kiss on your forehead, pulling the tears you were holding back down your cheeks. He then gives your hand to Choso and his breath hitches.

“You—” you both say in sync, making you laugh to yourselves.

“You look very handsome,” you say first while you caress the mark on his nose. “Very beautiful.”

Choso scoffs and his pupils dilate even more than you thought possible. “You look breathtakingly beautiful.”

You share a smile and hold that gesture as well as your lovestruck eyes as the priest speaks to the guests. You’re both too lost in each other to pay attention.

It was just you and him under the vibrant colors of the stained glass, you were one at this very moment, you shared one beating heart. It was a mere miracle that you heard the priest say that it was time to share your vows.

“Okay,” you exhale deeply as you go first. “Well…I have so much to say, but I’ll start by saying thank you for being a part of my life. We may have had a bumpy start, but you are the most important part of my life now, you brought the light back to my life. You kept me from losing myself after the loss of my daughters and my best friend, you love me besides everything and I never thought anyone else would. I love you, I’m in love with you, Choso, and to me, you will always be so beautifully human.”

He sniffles and wipes away the warm tears that stream down your blush-dabbed cheeks.

“All my life I was in the dark with nothing but my brothers,” Choso starts in a quivering voice. “Until I saw you and your fire-kissed eyes. You brought light in my dark world, and gave me hope. You never saw the bad part of me, the curse that makes up half of what I am, I don’t know why, but thank you. I love you with all that I am, and every day I thank whatever higher being there is that I have the chance to love you, to be near you and your fire. Everything you do lights me on fire, and no matter what you do I will never drift away, I will love you until my last breath, and the last beat of my heart. I love you now and always my moon, my sun, my beloved. Until forever.”

You sob quietly and he grabs your cheeks and presses his forehead against yours since he can’t kiss you or hug you yet.

“Now the couple will drink sake from the nuptial cups,” the priest announces, “followed by the parents—or in this case the brothers.”

You break apart and turn to the altar to each take three drinks of the sake which is symbolic for exchanging your vows. Next Satoru and Yuji step up and take drinks from the sake to seal the bond between your families, followed by you all taking three sips from three cups. The first three sips represent the four of you, the next represents the flaws of hatred, passion, and ignorance. And the last three sips represent freedom from the three flaws.

What ends the tradition is your offering of small twigs from a sacred tree.

The next and last thing that follows is the exchange of the rings. And since you wanted to include both Hakari and Kirara, they each bring one ring.

“Thank you,” you tell them with a smile.

They both bow their heads and leave once Choso and you take the rings.

“Now with the exchange of the rings they will bond their fate,” the priest interjects, “y/n Gojo do you take this man to be your husband?”

Without hesitation, you respond. “I do.”

You then slide on his wedding band and wipe away tears that rolled down his cheek.

“Choso, do you take this woman to be your wife—”

“Yes, I do,” Choso cuts the priest off just as he finishes, and grabs your hand to slide in your wedding band.

“Now their fate is forever sealed, you may kiss the—”

Before the priest can finish Choso cups your jaw and pulls you to him to smash his lips on yours without any timidness, making the room erupt in a round of applause and cheer.

Not like either of you knew, you were lost in the taste of each other's lips as if this was the first time ever indulging in something so intimate.

Then again there is something special about kissing each other as husband and wife that makes this first kiss feel like the first. It’s the excitement rushing through your veins, the love filling your hearts, and the desire lighting your bodies on fire.

It’s something you both want to stay doing forever, but you break away from your secluded world knowing you’ll divulge in your passion later, and mostly, for the sake of the guests. You then take Choso’s hands and giddily run with him down the aisle hand in hand as husband and wife.

——

*LATER*

“I would just like to make a toast,” Satoru announces to the silencing crowd who drift their attention to him. “To Choso and my sister.”

You turn away from Shoko and grow curious yet nervous about what he has to say.

“I have to confess that I was against this relationship, but…” he sighs. “Over the short time that has passed, Choso keeps proving how much he really cares for my sister and my niece, so sorry, and thank you for forgiving me. And thank you Choso for caring so much for them, but just know that I will always look out for my little sister and her kids above anything and everything. I love you, y/n, and I wish you all the happiness in the world. Oh, and welcome to the family Choso.”

A smile decorates your face and to thank him from afar you touch your heart and bow your head, making him raise his cup before he walks off stage and sits down. You don’t think anyone else will follow, but Hakari clinks his glass before he runs up on stage, getting a wolf whistle from one of his friends in the crowd.

“Master,” he begins and raises his cup towards you whilst you make it back to your main table with Choso—“Thank you first and foremost for inviting us!” He grins. “I'm loving the drinks! And I hope you can make it to the battle on the 24th and don’t get carried away in your honeymoon.” He snickers, and you and Choso share a teasing look.

“No, but really, thank you for everything, for believing in Kira and me. For caring for us like we were one of your own without hesitation. I will always be grateful to you, congratulations to you and Choso. And I hope you know she never stopped talking about you since you met.”

You share a flustered laugh and see Choso smile at you, making you grin at him and lean over to give him a peck on his lips.

After Hakari, Kirara pops on stage and grabs the mic off the stand to hold it up close to their lips. “I hope you know, Master, that you are the best teacher and person I have ever met. Thank you for accepting me for who I chose to be and thank you for never judging me. Me and Kin love you so much. And Choso, thank you for trying to befriend us, I appreciate it and I appreciate you for being so nice, and I hope you get used to us going to visit without letting either of you know. Congratulations!”

You shoot them a wink and they wave before they walk off, letting Satori walk up with her cursed spirit protector and Shoko, so she can help her take the mic off the stand.

“Uhm, hello everyone,” she speaks without any kind of timidness. “I just want to say congratulations to my mommy and Choso. And that I, uhm, I’m happy that my mommy married Choso because he makes her smile all the time…”

You grin and hook your arm around Choso’s.

“And also because Choso is very nice,” Satori continues. “Uh, and he’s not scared of my tiger…and…oh! I hope you guys can bring me a little sister or a little brother because I really want one.”

The crowd erupts in laughter, and you and Choso can’t help but share a knowing look before you laugh along with the crowd.

“Okay, that’s all goodbye!”

Satori runs off stage and Shoko takes her turn to speak now. “Well that will be a tough one to beat,” she says, making laughs spread throughout the crowd. “But I’ll try my best. This is my first time being someone’s maid of honor, and you know what? It was really fun. Today has been really fun, but I hope you know Choso that she has a lot of celebrity crushes and she’ll get mad when they get married, she'll be dragging you on shopping trips that last several hours because she’s very indecisive, she’ll ask you what color she should get her nails and go with a complete other color so never feel bummed, and when she’s sad all she needs is you to cuddle with her and offer her something sweet while you watch her favorite movies or the old seasons of Grey's Anatomy. I love you, y/n, and you will always be my person.”

You wipe tears off your cheeks and as Satori reaches your side she offers you a comforting hug.

“I love you too!” You exclaim to Shoko before she gets off stage and Yuji follows up on stage.

“I hope everyone is having a good night,” he says, making Choso smile before he can say anything else. “I want to congratulate my sister-in-law y/n, I hope you know never in a million years did I ever imagine we would be this close when I saw you on a magazine cover for the first time. We may disagree on some points in life, but you have taught me a lot of valuable stuff that I will carry with me forever.” He raises his cup to you and you bow your head softly to give him your thanks before he shifts his attention to his big brother.

“Choso, you came in a point in my life where my hope dwindled,” he goes on with a sweet smile. “After Shibuya I wanted to give up a lot, but you were always there to pick me back up, you have been there without hesitation since the moment you found out I was your brother, for that I will always be thankful to you. And I know that the parent we share is horrible, but there is one good thing that came from him, you, big brother. I love you.”

Choso’s breath hitches and tears stream down his cheeks, so you kiss his cheek and rub his back.

“I wish you all the happiness in the world and y/n, I know that if the rest of mine and Choso’s brother were here they’d like you and appreciate you as much as I do, congratulations.”

You clap and everyone, including Choso, follows. After the crowd has calmed down you walk up on stage to give a few words. “Hello everyone, first off thank you to every single one of you who accompanied me and my husband…” you giggle when you use that word, and you see Choso blush—“I hope you’re having fun, and I hope you enjoy the rest of the night. There will be fireworks later so I hope you can all stay for that. And thank you to my brother for paying for this entire wedding, I love you. And before I go back to my seat,” you exhale deeply. “To everyone I have been training with for the past month, I have faith in all of you, and it makes me very happy to see such a united front. And to my husband, my Choso, I love you, thank you for loving me the way you do, and thank you for loving my daughter, and for understanding how special she is to me and Suguru. I love you with all I am, with all I’ll ever be. If we have forever, I will love you forever.” You finish with a smile, and the crowd and him give you a round of applause.

A couple of other people went up to give a toast thereafter and then the party went on. You and Choso cut your cake, and you danced and danced some more with Satori. And since all the stressing matters were already lived through and or handled by someone else all you did was have fun. But it’s because the night was so fun that it was passing by quickly.

You don’t even recall just taking time to sit or relax. The only time it felt like you caught your breath was after you put Satori to bed; while you were watching the party from the outside.

And the only thing you could think of was how much you wanted this to go on forever so you don’t have to live through the horror on the 24th. As much as you want Sukuna and Kenjaku to die and be gone from this earth forever, you still want to live in this moment where everyone is happy.

“You guys are lucky,” you talk to your unborn babies as you turn away to face the lake and the stars reflect on the calm waters. “You won’t come until after this horror is over. Then again I wouldn’t want it any other way. The only bad thing is that you won’t get to meet some of these great people here.” You sigh and then smile. “But I know you will meet your daddy. He's excited to meet you, and your sister, she is already anticipating you even if she doesn’t know about either of you yet. When you’re here I’ll tell you about Kiyoshi, Nanako, and Mimiko. And all the great people that we lost.”

“Y/N?” You hear Choso call out.

You peer back and see him approaching you with some concern in his eyes.

“Is everything okay?” He asks and looks around to see if you are talking to anyone. “Who are you talking to?”

You let go of your belly and turn to face him. “The twins,” you assure him. “And yes, I’m fine, I was just catching my breath before going back.”

“Oh. Mind if I join you?”

You shake your head and stick your hand out.

Choso quickly takes your offer and lets you pull him to you.

“Todo and Yuji were making your celebrity friends laugh, I think you made Yuji’s entire teenagehood by inviting them,” Choso says with a laugh.

You snicker as you wrap your arms around his neck. “I’m sure I did. But most of them aren’t single, and one of them is here to meet my brother or Shoko, she couldn’t decide.”

Choso shares a short breathless laugh and when he meets your gaze he steals a glance at your house. “Did Satori stay in bed?”

You smirk and nod. “Yeah. She’s all partied out, she didn’t even wake up when I put her down. I’m getting tired too.”

“You haven’t really sat down at all today, it’s not good for you,” he scolds you.

You roll your eyes and scoff in amusement. “I'll sit down soon.”

Choso sighs and his gaze soon drifts to the party and returns to you with some worry behind them. “Uh, y/n, I've been thinking…could I ask Yuji to live with us? He’s still young, and after all this is over I’m sure he’ll return to the school, but he still needs a place to call home. I was hoping this could be it.”

You blink and right away you scoff in relief and offer him a soft grin, feeling grateful that it isn't a question with bad news like you assumed. “Yes, of course. There’s a lot of spare rooms. There’s two upstairs with us, he can pick one of those. I appreciate that you asked, even if it is your house now too, we do have to make these kind of choices together, so thank you for asking, and of course, you can ask him to move in.”

You lean in and press a small kiss on his lips before you rest your forehead on his. “I love you,” you whisper against him. “I’m happy fate let us cross paths.”

Choso smiles and caresses your cheek with his thumb. “I love you too, my wife.”

You giggle and steal a deep but short kiss from him.

“I know I’ve said this multiple times today, but you look absolutely beautiful, in all three outfits you have changed to.” He says making you smirk before he pulls his head back.

“But I think this is my favorite dress because of them,” he says, and even if they’re not big enough to show he still rubs your belly where the twins are before he crouches and presses a kiss on your belly.

“Now I hope neither of you mind, I’m going to ask your mother to dance,” he whispers to them before he stands to his given height and faces you with a charming smile. “Can I have this dance?”

You listen in to the song playing inside the greenhouse and hear “Song for Zula,” by Phosphorescent playing, so how can you say no?

“Of course my husband,” you accept his offer and press your palm against his before you interlace your fingers together. You then press yourself so close against him that you can feel his heart beating and he can feel yours. When you wrap your other arm around his neck you nuzzle your head in the crook of his neck and bask in his comforting scent, and when he wraps his arm around your waist he actually leads the slow dance under the stars.

A/N 🥺😫

Tagged- @deniseabad1928 @secondary-character-25 @starlightanyaaa @notsaelty @d4rno @moonnime @kodzukein @yozora7154 @heijihattorisgf @elegantweirdorchest @natakina

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