Brave Like You
Episode 108
Cerianfliespastthetreeline toward the tiny clearing where he planted his first patch of daisies and almost falls on Arisanna.
Whistling wind. She’s curled up in the decaying flowers with her face hidden as she hugs her knees and rocks back and forth.
“Arisanna.” He drops to the ground and reaches for her, pulling her into his arms and cocooning her with his heat. “It’s all right. I’m here. You’re safe.”
She doesn’t cry, but she’s terrified. That much is evident as she scrambles onto his lap and clutches at him, almost strangling him.
No wonder her heart was pounding.
“I’ve got you. I won’t let anything hurt you.” He runs his fingers through her hair and rubs her back, whispering every reassuring thing he can think to say.
“I got off the train,” she eventually says against his neck. “I followed you the way I said I would. Though it took me a little while to be brave like you.”
“Brave like me?”
“When you leave our suite.”
She thinks he’s brave? He feels like a fool when he stares at the door, willing himself to move. Not brave. Never brave.
But he just holds her closer. “You were so brave. And I’m here now. I was trying to find you. I don’t know why the heartlanding separated us like that.”
“I think maybe it was testing me. To see if I really would follow you anywhere, like I said I would.”
He presses his lips to her temple and pushes more heat into her. “Maybe it was trying to teach us both to find each other and cling to each other when hard times come.”
Either way, the lightning has stopped, and the wind has died down. The woods no longer feel threatening, at least not to him. And both their hearts have slowed.
She’s still latched on to him with her face buried against his shoulder, but he won’t complain about that.
It’s unlikely she wants anything more to do with this forest, though. Even if it’s growing less frightening by the minute.
Where would she wish to go? Where would she feel safest? Will the heartlanding even let them leave this forest?
Perhaps the heartlanding will be more amenable now that they’ve passed whatever test this was.
He wishes for the mountain chalet, and to his relief, their surroundings transform around them. He sits in the snow now, but he doesn’t complain. The cocoon of warm air he’s surrounded Arisanna with will soon melt it.
She doesn’t notice the change, and he just holds her. Comforts her. Slowly, her tension fades until she’s relaxed against him.
Then she gasps. She must have opened her eyes. When her arms tighten around him again, he smiles. He must have got it right.
“Thank you.” Her words are soft but full of emotion.
“Do you wish to go in the water? Just to relax?”
“Will you come with me?”
“Of course.”
As if he has any intention of letting go of her.
When she nods, he helps her to her feet before scooping her up and carrying her to the stairs and onto the platform. He wishes for the elven small clothes she wore last time.
“I’m not sure I need these anymore,” she whispers when her clothes transform around her.
