Kalt
let the rain wash away
Reality slowly seems to start sinking in as she listens to what I have to say, as she looks at my handiwork on my leg. Mort might be generous when allowing the dead to come back for a visit, but I haven’t heard of any additions to their persons. Certainly not a random new injury that carries through to the land of living.
“You survived,” she starts tentatively
“I survived,” I answer rhetorically.
“You survived?”
I smile, chuckling lightly when she breaks out in a wide smile and throws herself into another hug. My burning eyes screw shut, and I squeeze her tightly, hating that I know I have to eventually let go. There’s just so much time to make up for…
“If we’d known,” she starts. I can hear the tears in her voice, but I have a feeling they’ll be coming intermittently from all of us—Ashe included—for some time. “If we’d had any hope…” I shake my head; they couldn’t have known. “How? How did you survive?” She leans back, and I reluctantly loosen my hold on her until I meet her eyes. “It took us two days to find our way down, and when we did and saw it went further…” I give her a half smile despite the tension in my jaw. “This doesn’t feel real.”
“No, it doesn’t,” I agree quietly, absently touching her arm, pretending like I’m handling this as well internally as the face I’m putting on for her. But the truth is that this is going to be an adjustment. The best adjustment I could ask for—being able to reunite our family—but still an adjustment, and I don’t know how all of our pieces will fit together after three years apart.
Honestly, I’m utterly terrified of the possibility that they won’t.
“I think it was knowing how to fall correctly combined with dumb luck,” I say, flashing a crooked smile. “Hit my head and blacked out at some point, so I don’t know exactly how far directly the fall was, but woke up with a pretty bad concussion. Had to deal with my leg after that, and then figure out how the fuck to get out of the tunnels that opened up.”
She knows all of my tricks—how to not get completely turned around when you’re lost, how to optimize everything in your surroundings, how to track people when they don’t want to be found... She doesn’t need to know the rest of what it took, though… She doesn’t need to know the gory and agonizing details of what it took to get out and back to them.
Ashe, sure. She had the same upbringing as I did, had her stomach steeled in the same ways…ways we sheltered Theea from.
My gaze flits all over her face, still taking in every detail. She looks so much like her mother. “I’m sorry it took me so long to come back,” I whisper, leaning forward to kiss the side of her head. I don’t need her forgiveness—gods know I’ll never forgive myself for it—but I need to say it.
“You survived,” she starts tentatively
“I survived,” I answer rhetorically.
“You survived?”
I smile, chuckling lightly when she breaks out in a wide smile and throws herself into another hug. My burning eyes screw shut, and I squeeze her tightly, hating that I know I have to eventually let go. There’s just so much time to make up for…
“If we’d known,” she starts. I can hear the tears in her voice, but I have a feeling they’ll be coming intermittently from all of us—Ashe included—for some time. “If we’d had any hope…” I shake my head; they couldn’t have known. “How? How did you survive?” She leans back, and I reluctantly loosen my hold on her until I meet her eyes. “It took us two days to find our way down, and when we did and saw it went further…” I give her a half smile despite the tension in my jaw. “This doesn’t feel real.”
“No, it doesn’t,” I agree quietly, absently touching her arm, pretending like I’m handling this as well internally as the face I’m putting on for her. But the truth is that this is going to be an adjustment. The best adjustment I could ask for—being able to reunite our family—but still an adjustment, and I don’t know how all of our pieces will fit together after three years apart.
Honestly, I’m utterly terrified of the possibility that they won’t.
“I think it was knowing how to fall correctly combined with dumb luck,” I say, flashing a crooked smile. “Hit my head and blacked out at some point, so I don’t know exactly how far directly the fall was, but woke up with a pretty bad concussion. Had to deal with my leg after that, and then figure out how the fuck to get out of the tunnels that opened up.”
She knows all of my tricks—how to not get completely turned around when you’re lost, how to optimize everything in your surroundings, how to track people when they don’t want to be found... She doesn’t need to know the rest of what it took, though… She doesn’t need to know the gory and agonizing details of what it took to get out and back to them.
Ashe, sure. She had the same upbringing as I did, had her stomach steeled in the same ways…ways we sheltered Theea from.
My gaze flits all over her face, still taking in every detail. She looks so much like her mother. “I’m sorry it took me so long to come back,” I whisper, leaning forward to kiss the side of her head. I don’t need her forgiveness—gods know I’ll never forgive myself for it—but I need to say it.
all the pain of yesterday
