before you went and let me down

Noe

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail
Strategy sets the scene for the tale

With the strongman game completed, and neither Noe nor Koa the winner, the crowd began to disperse. After bidding Kaisel goodbye, Noe turned to her brother, her arms crossed over her chest, and tilted her head towards Pacifist Plaza. "Wanna get some ice cream?" she asked, raising a brow. "I could really go for some chocolate right about now."

Assuming that Koa agreed, Noe linked arms with him and led the way towards their favorite little ice cream shop. Unfortunately for Noe, it was right around the corner from her new workshop, and she had become quite the frequent guest. They walked in silence for a few moments, and for that brief time, Noe could pretend that all was right with the world - that Koa was home from some mission or other, that they were just spending time together like always.

But this wasn't like always, and their last time spent together hadn't been her favorite memory. And now that she'd cooled down, she was ready to make up.

"Sooooo did Jude make you come talk to me?"

I'm the wind in our free-flowing sails
And the liquor in our cocktails

Koa

I'm the king, and you're the queen
and we will stumble through heaven

After the circus ends without fanfare, Koa allows himself a second to relax, tension sliding from his shoulders as he silently celebrates the lack of any major disaster. Only a second, though, because as soon as one danger eases another rises up.

This one takes the form of his sister, arms crossed and eyes briefly unreadable as she stares him down, giving him a look that would make many men feel very small indeed. Not Koa, though; Koa knows Noe too well, knows her like he knows himself. He waits her out with fraternal patience, the same way he had so many times before. And when she finally accepts the invitation for ice cream and slots her arm into the crook of his, Koa releases a breath so relieved it surprises him, because he hadn't truly realized until that moment just fucking hurt he'd been if she had told him no.

They fall into comfortably familiar step, the stone city a playground they mastered many years ago. It feels achingly comfortable and right; it feels like being home. It's enough to make Koa briefly forget how fucked everything is, until Noe mentions Jude. Immediately the taste of fond nostalgia sours to pain and anger; a scowl flickers over his features, and his grip on her arm tightens imperceptibly. "No," he answers quickly, sending a sharp glance her way. "I mean - Yeah, I did see him." He doesn't want to go into it, because it feels like something they'll fight about, and Koa is not particularly inclined to forgive the singer right now.

"But I already had plans to come back when I got his letter." Again he looks at Noe, expression softening into something anxious, Jude's cruel accusations buzzing in his brain. "I'm really sorry I left the way I did, No. I never meant to make you feel abandoned, or like I didn't have your back. You know I love you no matter what, right?"

Even if her new best friend is literally, literally, nightmare fuel.

If there's a light at the end, it's just the sun in your eyes
I know you wanna go to heaven, but you're human tonight

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Noe

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail
Strategy sets the scene for the tale

Noe couldn’t have told Koa no even if she’d wanted to; he was her brother, the one soul who had been with her through thick and thin, who she could always rely on. Even when they fought - which admittedly wasn’t often, and never before on this scale - she knew that he’d come running the moment she called. That he would drop everything and everyone to be at her side, no matter what.

So maybe they disagreed on the teensy tiny matter of the Family. They could get past that.

Right?

Noe might have inquired about Jude, but something in the set of Koa’s jaw and the tone of his voice shepherded her away from that particular topic. They had a complicated history, after all - maybe sending Jude to talk some sense into her brother hadn’t been the best idea, in retrospect.

”Yeah, ‘course I do,” Noe said softly, squeezing her arm around Koa’s affectionately. ”And I love you, too.” She was quiet for a moment. ”I guess it’s just been hard with you gone so much. Me and dad get along better than you guys, but he’s still dad, y’ know? And I know it’s not your fault, since you were sent on missions or whatever, but like… I dunno. I just miss you, is all.”

I'm the wind in our free-flowing sails
And the liquor in our cocktails

Koa

I'm the king, and you're the queen
and we will stumble through heaven

"Yeah, I know," Koa sighs about their dad, because yeah, at the end of the day he is still dad, and there will always be a lot that goes with that. He runs his free hand through his hair, feeling quite sufficiently guilty - and that's before she says she misses him. "I miss you, too. And I'll come home soon, I promise." Just as soon as he finds a flower, or Soh finishes her quest.

They pass beneath a wide stone archway, the shadow causing a brief chill to prickle Koa's skin. He wants to breathe easier, to thoroughly enjoy the reconciliation, but the knowledge that Noe is still infected remains ever-present at the edge of his mind. Every topic feels like a potential landmine, just waiting for him to make a misstep and blow their peace to smithereens. "So how's work been?" Koa settles on, smiling encouragingly down at Noe. Her studio had been flourishing the last time he'd seen it, and he makes no attempt to hide his pride. "Any cool projects going on?"

If there's a light at the end, it's just the sun in your eyes
I know you wanna go to heaven, but you're human tonight

[/code]

Noe

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail
Strategy sets the scene for the tale

Koa promised to come home soon, and Noe smiled, perhaps a little sadly, because she wasn't sure she believed him. Even if it wasn't his fault, he'd still been away more than he'd been present, and if he'd been sent out on missions before, wouldn't the same hold true in the future? "Just... promise you'll write, at least?" Noe pressed, squeezing his arm where it met hers. It wasn't the same as having him home, but it was better than nothing.

With their reconciliation complete, Noe brightened. Talking about her work was something she could do, and she chattered on willingly enough. "Oh, it's been great! I still haven't finished setting up my office - oops - but I've got a couple of projects I'm working on. Guess who's refreshing the Dragoon training grounds?" she bragged, holding her head a little higher with pride. "It's not a total redesign, but I guess they don't want to fix what isn't broken. There's just a few places where improvements can be made. So I put in a bid, and I got it!" Never mind that it was probably because she'd undercut her competitors, unable to charge their exorbitant prices when she was still so young and inexperienced. It was still a win.

I'm the wind in our free-flowing sails
And the liquor in our cocktails

Koa

I'm the king, and you're the queen
and we will stumble through heaven

"I promise," Koa replies, forcing a smile through his discomfiture as he returns the squeeze upon her arm. There aren't many things he can promise, these days, with the world constantly moving and the rules changing every time he thinks he has them in his grasp, but writing to his sister? That, at least, shouldn't be hard. Though he does fully intend to make good on his initial promise to come back home again.

It's just that he plans to take her with him, the next time he leaves.

Koa listens patiently to her enthusiastic recount of her recent goings on, eyebrows raising, impressed, as she reveals this very major contract. "Dude, that's killer!" He beams with pride, bending over to press a proud kiss upon his sister's head. The rest of the afternoon is spend discussing her plans for his beloved training grounds over ice cream, Koa contributing his thoughts and (many) opinions to Noe's already pretty fucking great plans. It's the reconciliation he'd prayed for and hadn't dared to hope he'd get, and while things are still fucked in a major way, at least they aren't as irreparably broken as Jude had led him to believe.

[fin]

If there's a light at the end, it's just the sun in your eyes
I know you wanna go to heaven, but you're human tonight

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