your scars shine like dark stars
your wounds are where the light shines through
your wounds are where the light shines through
Noah didn’t move at first. Her presence filled the room like the slow rise of dawn—quiet, steady, impossible to ignore. He hadn’t realized how hollow the silence had become until Hotaru stepped into it, and suddenly the ache inside him had shape.
She didn’t try to fix it. She never did. That was what he trusted most about her. But she was here to care for him in the ways that only she was able to — not Sah, not Deimos — no one else but her. Because even through all the pain that Caido put others through, there had always been some connection between the Forsaken and the Valkyrie and Noah knew it from their first meeting and felt it sink deep into his chest when their fingers laced together as they ran through the streets of Snowcloak and he commanded her to flee.
The space between them felt thinner than breath, but he couldn’t stay there. She asked if he had eaten, and he admitted, ”No, I can’t remember when I did last.” He finally took a step back and moved to sit at the counter that faced the makeshift kitchen, because he knew that was his place. He did not dare take away the action behind Hotaru’s question, didn’t dare brush off her offer. Didn’t dare do anything but sit in the vulnerability of why he had called her here.
The grief lived in him like a second spine—unbending, sharp-edged—Cordelia’s name still lingered behind every thought, every heartbeat, every unfinished sentence he couldn’t speak aloud, yet it bashed and hammered across the attuned bond. Despite having no love for the fallen One-Shot, Hotaru stood there anyway. It was more than enough.
His breath hitched as the weight of everything he carried pressed against the steady, grounding comfort of her presence. She didn’t ask for answers. Didn’t demand he be okay. And in that stillness, the thread that had always tethered them pulled taut—familiar, enduring, unspoken.
“I don’t know how to keep going,” he murmured.
But he had to, and Hotaru helped. They talked for hours, through the night and well into the afternoon, trying to piece together what his life would look like now.
FIN
She didn’t try to fix it. She never did. That was what he trusted most about her. But she was here to care for him in the ways that only she was able to — not Sah, not Deimos — no one else but her. Because even through all the pain that Caido put others through, there had always been some connection between the Forsaken and the Valkyrie and Noah knew it from their first meeting and felt it sink deep into his chest when their fingers laced together as they ran through the streets of Snowcloak and he commanded her to flee.
The space between them felt thinner than breath, but he couldn’t stay there. She asked if he had eaten, and he admitted, ”No, I can’t remember when I did last.” He finally took a step back and moved to sit at the counter that faced the makeshift kitchen, because he knew that was his place. He did not dare take away the action behind Hotaru’s question, didn’t dare brush off her offer. Didn’t dare do anything but sit in the vulnerability of why he had called her here.
The grief lived in him like a second spine—unbending, sharp-edged—Cordelia’s name still lingered behind every thought, every heartbeat, every unfinished sentence he couldn’t speak aloud, yet it bashed and hammered across the attuned bond. Despite having no love for the fallen One-Shot, Hotaru stood there anyway. It was more than enough.
His breath hitched as the weight of everything he carried pressed against the steady, grounding comfort of her presence. She didn’t ask for answers. Didn’t demand he be okay. And in that stillness, the thread that had always tethered them pulled taut—familiar, enduring, unspoken.
“I don’t know how to keep going,” he murmured.
But he had to, and Hotaru helped. They talked for hours, through the night and well into the afternoon, trying to piece together what his life would look like now.
FIN
the forsaken
let's go there, to that place where
we sing these broken prayers, where the light shines through
we sing these broken prayers, where the light shines through
