Lena
and sweetest in the gale is heard
and sore must be the storm
and sore must be the storm
They worked on the fires, and then they worked on the pathway, striving to clear out the rubble. Covered in ash, dust, dirt, and soot, the Caretaker continued, persisted, where she’d be best able to assist. If she were the type to be given over to distraction, she might’ve glanced every once in a while, hoping for her sibling’s face in the crowd, picking apart pieces of ruin. But there was nothing.
Resolved and persistent, she ducked her head down, ignoring the way her hands shook, hoping, hoping, hoping. Her glance only momentarily went to Ronin, carrying a body she didn’t recognize, and she swallowed down the trail of bile threatening to overwhelm her throat. Everything’s fine she told herself. We’ll be okay. Sera will be okay. And if she could echo it, resound it, in her heart and soul, that meant it’d be true.
Except, an instant later, it all crumbled again.
Not like the Tower. Lena wasn’t a building. She was human and flesh and whole, but she could feel pieces of her beginning to break and shatter the moment she looked up, and caught October’s gaze.
And Sera.
Sweet, beautiful Sera –
She didn’t know how long it took her to get to her sister’s side. Maybe an eternity. Maybe an instant. It felt like a lifetime, with her hands reaching, everything shaking again (a leaf in the wind). “She’s fine,” she whispered to Tobi, like denial would make it better. “I’ll take her for a second, and she’ll get out of here, and everything will be fine.” The tears were threatening, and then falling, and she crashed against the side of the stone and tucked her sibling underneath her chin, a safeguard, a shelter, for someone who wouldn’t be able to feel it anymore.
Resolved and persistent, she ducked her head down, ignoring the way her hands shook, hoping, hoping, hoping. Her glance only momentarily went to Ronin, carrying a body she didn’t recognize, and she swallowed down the trail of bile threatening to overwhelm her throat. Everything’s fine she told herself. We’ll be okay. Sera will be okay. And if she could echo it, resound it, in her heart and soul, that meant it’d be true.
Except, an instant later, it all crumbled again.
Not like the Tower. Lena wasn’t a building. She was human and flesh and whole, but she could feel pieces of her beginning to break and shatter the moment she looked up, and caught October’s gaze.
And Sera.
Sweet, beautiful Sera –
She didn’t know how long it took her to get to her sister’s side. Maybe an eternity. Maybe an instant. It felt like a lifetime, with her hands reaching, everything shaking again (a leaf in the wind). “She’s fine,” she whispered to Tobi, like denial would make it better. “I’ll take her for a second, and she’ll get out of here, and everything will be fine.” The tears were threatening, and then falling, and she crashed against the side of the stone and tucked her sibling underneath her chin, a safeguard, a shelter, for someone who wouldn’t be able to feel it anymore.
that could abash the little bird
that kept so many warm
that kept so many warm
