noah
I feel the pages turning, I see the candle burning down before my eyes
Of the depths and caverns of Hotaru’s heart that Noah knew, there was always another turn. Another carved path that she opened up to him, step by step. The name, the boy’s title, and his relation to the Valkyrie were from a time before him. A life before him. It was the same sadness he knew in her eyes, however, after Enzo’s passing. The same hole in her heart. He palmed the jar with one hand, and his other hand immediately closed the distance between it and one of her own. He grasped it like he had so many times before, his warm skin intending to comfort her. He held her gaze firmly.
”I hope that, too.” Noah’s smile met his eyes, and it was sincere. He rubbed a thumb over the back of her hand, giving it a squeeze before letting go. ”Mort is kind and protective of his gifts from Vi. I know he is tending to your son in his afterlife.” He had no other words to quell the ache in her heart. His own losses were great, but now having two babies, he knew there was no pain that could hold a candle to the loss of a child. Especially to a mother, who nourished and grew and protected and loved the child with every fiber of her being, while Vi formed it—them—in her womb, and after.
Then, Noah noticed the spider. It crawled first over the table then over their hands. Noah noticed it and slammed the jar down on top of it.
