a line at the edge

Ashe the woods are lovely, dark, and deep but i have promises to keep    Ashe looked up again at the squeeze to her shoulder, the weight of his words sinking down into her and wrapping around her heart. She hadn’t thought about it, not outright, but she knew there was every possibility that her life would be asked for in exchange for Ronin’s. She held Remi’s sea-glass green eyes, and the pleading she found there was hard to look at.    Because Ronin… he was worth more than her. Wasn’t he? He was a good man, with a good heart, and while she might have been working hard at healing… there was never going to be a time when the havoc she had wreaked for over a decade would leave her. The things she had done and gone through and allowed and craved would forever be a stain on her soul. She had done precious little to improve any life she entered, often made things worse. Ronin in contrast was a blazing light.    Still, she finally nodded. The alchemist.. He knew her better than she thought he did. She loved him, he loved her, and she wasn’t sure why it was surprise that he would know what kind of self-worth lay within her. At least, he certainly knew the depth of her love for their friend. And she had a feeling wouldn’t hesitate to offer such a sacrifice if he were in her place. ”I think Ronin would find a way to bring me back and kill me himself if I did something that,” she said with a sad sort of amusement.    Ashe reached her hand up to rest over the top of Remi’s, squeezing his hand gently and appreciating the contact. ”I won’t make you trade one grief for another,” she promised. and miles to go before i sleep.