you don't know that you're living 'til you're carrying scars
Flora frowns at Soh’s words, but it’s not a scolding kind of frown—it’s gentler than that, teasing in the edges as she nudges her friend lightly with her hip. "I’m not saying just leave," she says with exaggerated innocence. "I’m saying you tell them the truth. That you were kidnapped, nearly killed, that you watched the city rot from the inside out with Dahlia’s bullshit. That you fought, and you won, but it cost you. You lost Tarak. You lost a piece of yourself."
Her hand finds Sohalia’s again, squeezing it with steady warmth. "You were once Stormbreak’s heart. But if you go back now, you’re just going to be a broken one. Not because you’re weak, not because you failed—but because that city makes you sad now. And no one leads well from that kind of sorrow." Her tone softens, losing its humour entirely. "You deserve to heal somewhere that doesn’t keep cutting you open."
When Soh’s head presses into her shoulder, Flora wraps her arms around her without hesitation, tucking her cheek gently against her friend’s hair. She breathes in the ocean, the wind, the ache between them, and lets it out slow. "I know," she murmurs. "I know it feels like giving up, but there’s a difference between quitting and letting go. When you and I are together, it can feel however you need it to feel. Just..." Her voice hitches for the first time, soft but sure. "Just don’t let something you loved become something that makes you bitter. That’s what the bar was turning into for me. And I hated that."
She lets them stay like that a moment longer, then Sohalia lifts her head, and Flora raises her brows at the crooked little smile on her friend’s face. "Now you’re talking," she says, grinning back like the tide just brought her something shiny and new.
"We could build a floating spa," she declares, tossing her curls like it’s the obvious next step. "We could take the Sugartide to all the places no one maps. You could name mountains and rivers. We could go anywhere. Do anything. And not one part of it has to involve saving the world with flower planting or stabbing void things in the face."
Her hand finds Sohalia’s again, squeezing it with steady warmth. "You were once Stormbreak’s heart. But if you go back now, you’re just going to be a broken one. Not because you’re weak, not because you failed—but because that city makes you sad now. And no one leads well from that kind of sorrow." Her tone softens, losing its humour entirely. "You deserve to heal somewhere that doesn’t keep cutting you open."
When Soh’s head presses into her shoulder, Flora wraps her arms around her without hesitation, tucking her cheek gently against her friend’s hair. She breathes in the ocean, the wind, the ache between them, and lets it out slow. "I know," she murmurs. "I know it feels like giving up, but there’s a difference between quitting and letting go. When you and I are together, it can feel however you need it to feel. Just..." Her voice hitches for the first time, soft but sure. "Just don’t let something you loved become something that makes you bitter. That’s what the bar was turning into for me. And I hated that."
She lets them stay like that a moment longer, then Sohalia lifts her head, and Flora raises her brows at the crooked little smile on her friend’s face. "Now you’re talking," she says, grinning back like the tide just brought her something shiny and new.
"We could build a floating spa," she declares, tossing her curls like it’s the obvious next step. "We could take the Sugartide to all the places no one maps. You could name mountains and rivers. We could go anywhere. Do anything. And not one part of it has to involve saving the world with flower planting or stabbing void things in the face."
you're either falling in love or you're falling apart
