#I HAVE ONLY TWO STAR WARS FOLLOWERS AND ONLY TEN FOLLOWERS TOTAL BUT IT WON'T STOP ME FROM SLAMMING THIS DOWN

[hebina]

More Man Than Machine - on Tarkin & Vader’s relationship

One thing that really really sticks out to me about their dynamic in current canon is that Tarkin is one of the only people, if not the only one, who liked Anakin Skywalker as a person both before and after becoming a Sith Lord.

It makes sense for this to still  be somewhat underappreciated since their relationship in Legends was apparently very negative, but Disney-era Vader and Tarkin have an astoundingly friendly and healthy personal dynamic. So because I can never shut up about things I like, here’s a long collection of their best moments / essay-ish post of rambling about their new-canon dynamic.

The seeds of this are certainly already present in A New Hope (however accidentally, since at the time of filming the whole plot wasn’t yet planned..).

The movie very clearly demonstrates that Tarkin knows who Vader used to be and this is an established fact between them. They have talked about this before, maybe often, as there’s no uncertainty or confusion in their dialogue.  Vader is comfortable with Tarkin knowing this much, too, and sees no need to distance himself from Anakin in this speech (which he does even with Luke or Palpatine). In front of Tarkin, he uses first person to refer to his old life. 

This makes clear that there is trust between them by ANH time, whether it be with this private knowledge or with military strategy (after all, Tarkin trusts Vader’s homing beacon plan, which ironically gets him killed in the end).

That is picked back up on in the Darth Vader comic series set after the movie:

We know that Vader thinks of the Death Star as a “technological terror” that he doesn’t approve of, yet he defends Tarkin’s plans for the battle station against Tagge without hesitation. Vader may not like the Death Star itself, but that doesn’t diminish his respect for Tarkin’s military ability. 

The situation with Tagge is especially nice to view in contrast to Vader’s relationship with Tarkin, as Vader is technically placed under Tagge’s command in the comic. Which... Tagge repeats in, uh, very clear words.

Vader is... not taken with this. For understandable reasons. He does not need a hand to wield his lightsaber - at least not this hand.

But that puts this situation in a very stark contrast to Leia’s (also very.... interestingly worded) line in A New Hope.

Unlike Vader and Tagge in the comic, Vader and Tarkin don’t outrank each other. Tarkin holds no official command over Vader - and even if he did, Vader tends to undermine command anyway. Tagge certainly suffers through that. Yet, it appears Vader listens to Tarkin often enough for this to be known outside their immediate military associates. Tarkin is the only person except for Palpatine that Vader ever shows this much deference to.

We also get to see this in action during the movie, when Vader releases a man who insulted him personally on Tarkin’s request. The wording “as you wish” also seems to imply he’s doing Tarkin a favor more than following orders.

Vader listens to Tarkin by choice. That is more than even Palpatine can truly say.

Looking at them this way, Tarkin calling Vader ‘friend’ starts to look less and less like merely a casual figure of speech - and the new EU expands on that.

They first meet in The Clone Wars, when Anakin is still a Jedi Knight and Tarkin is still a captain in the republic military. Anakin’s group rescues Tarkin from the Citadel and they don’t initially seem to get off on the right foot, yet...

Anakin: Trust me. Tarkin: I reserve my trust for those who take action, General Skywalker. Anakin: Then let me remind you, we rescued you back there. And I reserve my trust for those who understand gratitude, Captain Tarkin.

At the end of this confrontational dialogue, we are pointedly shown Tarkin’s smirk. He is evidently pleased that Anakin matches him in verbal confrontation, so in the end the impression Anakin leaves on him is not negative.

This confirms itself as, less than a full episode later, this exchange takes place:

Anakin: Captain Tarkin, haven't you learned to trust me by now? Tarkin: You may have earned my trust, General Skywalker, but my faith in your comrades is still lacking.

Despite Tarkin’s marked dislike of the Jedi order, Anakin impresses him in the shortest amount of time. They have immediate chemistry.

On Anakin’s end, he finds himself surprised to hear someone openly voice the same opinions about the Jedi order that he himself holds in secret.

Anakin: You lack faith in the Jedi. Tarkin: I find their tactics ineffective. The Jedi code prevents them from going far enough to achieve victory, to do whatever it takes to win, the very reason why peacekeepers should not be leading a war. ....Have I offended you?

Anakin: No. I've also found that we sometimes fall short of victory because of our methods. Tarkin: Well, I see we agree on something. 

Sadly, I can’t embed a clip here because Youtube doesn’t offer me any, but the tone of voice in which Anakin denies being offended is very soft and full of surprise. This is not an issue he expected to relate to someone over and he is pretty ecstatic about it, as evidenced by a later dialogue with his team:

Ahsoka: Why did Master Piell have to share half the intel with that guy? It's like he's not even grateful we rescued him. Anakin: Captain Tarkin feels the Jedi should be relieved from the burden of leading the war effort. Ahsoka: That's ridiculous. Anakin: Maybe, but we aren't soldiers. We're peacekeepers.The Jedi code often prevents us from going far enough to achieve victory. Obi-Wan: A rather simple point of view. Anakin: Either way, he is a good captain.

Anakin both defends Tarkin from his fellow Jedi and even quotes the exact wording Tarkin used earlier, displaying his longing for someone else to put into words what he only felt (and wasn’t allowed to feel) before.

These episodes also mark the beginning of a long era of Anakin defending Tarkin whenever someone questions him. Here is another one just from this arc:

Tarkin: I am beginning to admire the design of this fortress. It's rather formidable to evade. Ahsoka: How can you admire such a horrible place? Tarkin: Ah, you reveal your shortsightedness. This ordeal only demonstrates how effective facilities like the Citadel are. Pity it ended up in separatist hands and not ours. Anakin: He has a point.

And though Ahsoka saves Tarkin’s life over the course of these episodes, Anakin remains the only Jedi Tarkin holds in favorable regard. In fact, he goes so far as to basically compliment Anakin for Ahsoka’s achievement:

Tarkin: My thanks, Padawan Tano. [to Anakin:] I see you've trained her well.

The arc then finds its resolution in a very firm and charged handshake.

At this point, Obi-Wan picks up on the positive tension between Anakin and Tarkin so clearly that he feels the need to warn about it. (You can practically hear the air quotes around ‘new ally’, too). Anakin, again, defends Tarkin.  If you go back up to Vader’s dialogue with Tagge, you can see that this pattern of defensiveness lasts for the following 20 years. (Another example is his immediate topic change when Tarkin is incriminated by Krennic in Rogue One.)

Later, in the Tarkin novel, Tarkin describes what he felt for Anakin as “grudging appreciation”, for despite his dislike of the Jedi, Anakin had proven himself to him. Both of their opinions and/or circumstances should make them dislike each other, yet the two forge an immediate bond. As it turns out, this chemistry can even endure a fall to the dark side and the total destruction of Anakin’s self-image.

Beforehand, of course, Tarkin winds up the prosecutor at the trial of Anakin’s Padawan Ahsoka which results in her leaving the order entirely... This lets their relationship take a huge one-sided hit as it appears Anakin can’t forgive this even years into his life as Vader (see: Tarkin novel). Tarkin meanwhile, never changes his mind about Anakin.

So now that we have established their baseline during the Clone Wars, onward we go towards Tarkin and Darth Vader. I’d like to start this off with a quote from the Tarkin novel:

Nothing about Vader seemed natural - not his towering height, his deep voice, his antiquated diction - yet despite those qualities and the mask and respirator, Tarkin believed him to be more man than machine. Although he had clearly twisted the powers of the Force to his own dark purposes, Vader’s innate strength was undeniable. His contained rage was genuine, as well, and not simply the result of some murderous cyberprogram. But the quality that made him most human was the fierce dedication he demonstrated to the Emperor.

I took this posts’ title from this line, because it reverses a much more prominent quote from the original movie trilogy:

Even Obi-Wan, who used to be so extremely close to Anakin, chooses to think of him as something that has left humanity behind. The rest of galaxy seems to echo his sentiment. The topic of whether Vader is droid or human at core is brought up over and over again in Star Wars canon and most characters decidedly reach the former opinion. Tarkin doesn’t.

And this is despite the fact that when Tarkin first sees Vader as Vader, two of his mechanic limbs are in plain sight, which is a more clearly robotic appearance than most people have ever seen on Vader.

When they then meet officially as both are introduced to the Death Star project, they immediately reconnect in a way. The Tarkin novel goes out of its way to give a lengthy description of how Tarkin feels that  Vader “regarded him with clear recognition”. This is incredible because, as we know, Vader wears a motionless mask. And yet, despite this, they somehow manage to stare so intensely at each other that this wordless communication takes places.

This alone makes Tarkin suspect Vader is in fact Anakin Skywalker, a suspicion that then hardens when he sees the way Vader interacts with his troops or fights with his lightsaber. This, admittedly, isn’t all that weird for Tarkin who is extremely used to observing people, but it still speaks of him paying more attention to Vader as a person than is the general average.

Wordless communication continues to be a theme in the novel as well. Tarkin is rather skilled at reading what’s going on behind the mask, and if he’s not able to then he still makes the attempt. Where most people see Vader as his mask, as the terror the mask represents, Tarkin always puts his priority on seeing past the mask because to him, Vader is a person. Vader’s general existence doesn’t intimidate a man like Tarkin, so he has the leeway to look at who Vader is and used to be. He gives Vader a human treatment that is largely missing from his life otherwise.

And knowing who Vader used to be doesn’t diminish his appreciation of him at all. It’s sad in the novel he holds Vader “in high esteem” and “[hopes] Vader [feels] the same towards him”. His appreciation only rises during the novel, too. After Vader kills a large group of people it is explicitly said that Tarkin finds himself warming to him, so... isn’t it nice they’re on one wavelength in cruelty? Hah...

In turn, Vader gravitates towards Tarkin even in a time period when he’s still mad at him regarding the Ahsoka trial - the novel goes out of its way to show Vader initiating what is extremely close to small talk with Tarkin ("We haven’t stood together on Coruscant for some time, Governor”; “How is life on the Sentinel moon, Governor?”). 

During the novel, Vader also learns to relate more to Tarkin. This is thanks to Palpatine, who by the way has canonically spent years (since the Clone Wars!!) trying to set up Anakin and Tarkin to get along and forge a great partnership. I’m just going to paste this paragraph here so we can all see the great determination the Emperor has to make Vader like Tarkin...

Palpatine ends this conversation requesting Vader to ask Tarkin why he named his ship Carrion Spike and thus indirectly to ask about Tarkin’s past.

By the end of the novel, Vader does just that and is treated to lengthy backstory. Interesting about this is the way Vader acts while being told as much. Though normally he is hard to read, in this dialogue he goes out of his way to look down to Tarkin and make sure the other knows he’s listening. He also asks a great many specification questions. Vader is interested in Tarkin and more than that, he wants Tarkin to know as much. 

This is the turning point in their Empire Age dynamic, this is where Vader accepts Tarkin fully and they enter a proper two-sided connection. By the end of the novel, Vader appreciates Tarkin openly and shows it by delivering Tarkin’s regards to Tarkin’s enemies and even staging said enemy’s execution as a homage to a famous execution Tarkin staged in his youth. 

All of this is before they ever truly talk about Vader’s identity too, though Tarkin makes numerous references to his suspicion throughout the novel - which Vader never denies. But somewhere in those 15 years between the novel and ANH, they have to have laid it out in the open to be able to speak like they do on the Death Star. Their relationship isn’t static, they steadily grow closer and more trusting of each other over the long time they both work for the empire.

Their great co-operations during the following years at least find some appearances in canon (Tarkin delivering prisoners to Vader, their cooperation in assassinating Minister Tua, the whole of Krennic-bashing...), though I am certainly sad we don’t see them have the private-ish conversations that they logically have to have had in this timeframe.

Their relationship is an amazing one because they genuinely like and respect each other as people. To Tarkin, Vader isn’t a war machine he’s an appreciated coworker. And in return, to Vader, Tarkin is someone he can be human with, someone with whom he can afford to say ‘I’ about Anakin Skywalker. It’s subtle and certainly not alike to the hearty friendships we see on the rebel side of things, but they are as close as they can be with their personalities.

I admit that some of the scenes I covered here have alternate interpretation options, but I don’t feel like the overall point is all that off-the-mark. Vader and Tarkin in current canon just get along very well in a fashion that is more genuine than most of their relations to other people.

If you read this to the end, thank you so much. I hope I could share a bit of the fire-y love I have for them together. And a warm thanks to @skywvlked for not only dragging me into Star Wars but also helping me IMMENSELY with writing this whole thing <3

PS: on a shippy end-note, comparing Tarkin POV descriptions of Vader, like ‘rich bass of his voice’ and ‘midnight orbs’ (with regards to his mask’s eyes), to descriptions of Palpatine, like “many thought [his voice] sinister, but to Tarkin [it] merely sounded strained”, is... also something.

[skitter-kitter]

ao3 wrapped reader: 6 28 29 30?

reader asks

What's your absolute favorite works you read this year?

I have two!! They’re some of the only long fics I’ve read this year and they just blew me away. The first is Runner by Jessepinwheel. It’s a The LEGO Movie fanfic which is an AU where Good Cop lives instead of Bad Cop and then goes “what if he got sent back in time and had to try and save Bad Cop”. It’s a brilliant fic and really explores morality and the consequences of Good Cop’s actions both in the present and past. I read it during May and started sobbing during the climax so you know it’s good.

My other fic is from me to you by microcosmo. It’s a Pokemon Sword and Shield fic. It takes place in an au where Leon has been distant from his family for the last few years following becoming champion. This all changes however when their mother dies and Leon is given custody of Hop, forcing Hop to leave his life behind and move in with a brother who he never really knew. There’s a heavy exploration of their bonds and their relationship and how the title of champion impacts Leon and Hop in their daily life. Here’s a snippet of it that I adore:

He offers condolences instead, because it’s the very least he can do for a brother who was never really a brother, but someone he shared a mother with nonetheless.

Did any line/passage stick with you after you read it?

I would say the line I just put, but I’ll do something else lol

He's alive.

But soon, he won't be.

He takes a deep breath, counts to ten, lets it out.

He gets it now. He isn't meant to take the Piece of Resistance and stop the Kragle, after all.

He's meant to die.

The realization settles on him gently, and he takes it in, breath by breath. It feels like clarity.

This quote from Runner haunts me. I think about it once a month at LEAST.

“Wishful thinking,” Robotnik echoed. Stone had wished to be his friend? That was perhaps even more strange. He thought about that – about Stone wishing, and his old bitter certainty that nobody would ever have that wish. “I wish we had been friends too,” he said.

He felt the regret of a missed opportunity – and that angered him, because in his current form there should be no opportunity that he wasn’t able to take advantage of.

But of course being friends with this creature now was out of the question, given their disparate situations. “In this moment I think I almost wish I were human again,” he mused, “So that I could experience a friendship with you.”

This quote from Welcome To The New Age by LMT is what I think of every time I think of Stobotnik

Stone understood that he would no longer be property of the government once he was assigned to him. Instead, he would be Robotnik’s and Robotnik’s alone, no longer his own, yet nothing to Robotnik either. To the Doctor, he was an object to use and dispose of as he saw fit, and most days, even less.

LAST ONE I PROMISE. This quote from Total Apathy by @bread-bird-writes redefined how I thought of their relationship and I think about it Constantly

Do you have any works you think are required reading for (fandom)?

YES. Runner is most definitely the fic for The LEGO Movie, but I have a few others. You know, I won’t miss you when you’re gone by @leftofrevolution was the first fic I ever read for the fandom and it made me love the characters so much. Plus literally any SpellCleaver fic for the Star Wars fandom

Biggest surprise for you as a reader this year?

can I just say “read and loved The LEGO Movie fanfics” because I did NOT see that one coming

[nothing-but-dreamy]

STORM

Pairing: Gladio x Reader

Words: 3.069

Warnings: slight mention of panic, fluff

Synopsis: An upcoming storm terryfies yn but Gladio is there to help

"Maybe we should stay in the hotel tonight. The weather seems to change.", yn said as she watched the sky slowly turning grey. There was still some blue between shreds of clouds but it looked like rain and the local weather forecast already had spoken out a severe thunderstorm alert. Not the best weather to be outside. At all.

"I think yn has a good point there.", Prompto said and yn was glad to have his support in this moment.

"This little bit of rain? Couldn't stop me from going out.", Gladio said, what caused yn to roll with her eyes. Gladio smirked as he saw her grimace. To tease her at any time was one of his most favorite hobbies. She knew that. It was their thing. A big part of their friendship was to tease each other about everything. And still, yn couldn't stop to lay herself open to attack right now.

"It's for Noctis to decide this.", Ignis said, maybe taking the easiest way even if yn could see that he preferred her idea as well. And it was true, the prince made the decisions on this adventure. That was the point where yn got new hope that they would stay in the hotel. Therefore, they would be able to avoid the upcoming weather. Noctis hated camping in the rain.

The only thing yn hadn't considered was Noctis' willingness to help the people on their way. So, while the group sat around, watching the strolling people and the view of the meteor, they also waited for Noctis to come back. He had excused himself for a moment to speak to one of the merchants in sight distance to be on Gladio's observing glance. As Noctis came slowly back to join his friends, yn's heartbeat dropped in fear. She noticed the piece of paper the prince was holding. It was one of these countless hunting quests yn and the group did on their journey.

"What's that?", Gladio asked and nodded to the paper in Noctis' hand.

"A bunch of saberclaws are terrorizing the outskirts of Lestallum. We got asked for help.", Noctis explained.

Gladio already jumped up from his seat, "Alright, what are we waiting for?", he said, already willing to go on the next hunt. Ignis and Prompto also stood up. Yn followed them reluctantly.

Once again, yn checked the sky which was more troubled with grey clouds than before, "Boys, please, the weather... These beasts won't run away. We should wait till tomorrow until the weather is better.”, she suggested.

It was Gladio who walked over to her, placing one of his massive arms over her shoulders, pressing her against his side with a lopsided smirk on his lips, "Since when do you say no to a good fight, huh? That's not you. I checked the position. It's not that far away. If we go now we will be back before the rain even has a chance to destroy your pretty hair style.", Gladio said while guiding her to the car. Noctis and the others already were sitting inside waiting for them. Defeated, yn gave up. There was no way to argue against all four boys if she wouldn't have any kind of support...or good arguments.

*

Around sixty minutes later, yn was breathing heavily as she pulled out her bloody short sword out of the lifeless corpse to her feet. With her foot, she stemmed her bodyweight against the dead animal to drag the material swiftly out of the flesh with a squishy sound. She was still trying to catch her breath as she looked around to check on the others. But everyone was alright, dirty and kinda bloody, but unharmed. It was then that yn noticed how the sun already set behind the treetops. It became darker with every passing second. The black, rain filled clouds increased her worries even more. They had to hurry if they wanted to reach Lestallum before the storm would break loose.

As if reading her mind, Prompto looked at the sky as well, "We should hurry. These clouds don't look too promising."

Yn thanked silently for Prompto's words and already was on her way into the direction where the Regalia parked as Ignis said the words she feared to hear, "We shouldn't drive back. It's already too dark."

"But Ignis the city isn't that far away. Ten or twenty minutes. We still can make it before it's getting too dark.", yn tried to convince the most reasonable of the group. If she could convince him, the others would follow.

But she couldn't.

"We really shouldn't drive back. We should find a good spot for the tent to camp here instead.", Ignis argued.

"But the weather-", yn tried once again. Camping during a thunderstorm didn't seem to be less dangerous than to drive back into the city through the darkness.

And once again it was Gladio who walked over to her, pushing her into the direction where the others already went, "Forget the weather, sweetheart. The Coleman gear can withstand everything.", he said in his typical light manner.

But this time, yn pushed Gladio's arm from her shoulders, "Yeah, it can...", she muttered and followed the others with a sullen expression.

Gladio frowned and looked after her with a confused expression. Never before, yn had acted like this and mostly not towards him. Usually, they were a unit as best friends. Inseparable. They always could count on each other no matter what. And she never, really never, had pushed him away before.

*

Twenty minutes later, the group had found a good place for the tent. They made a fire and got ready for the night. Ignis worked his magic with the food and all were eating in silence. Everyone except yn. She was just pushing the food around on her plate with her fork.

Ignis watched it for several minutes before he lost his patience, "Alright, yn, that's enough! I'm used to this behavior of Noctis but since when aren't you eating your meal?", he asked sternly mixed with concern in his voice.

Releasing her breath, yn put the plate down, the food was completely untouched, "I'm sorry but I'm not hungry. I go to bed. Goodnight.", yn said low, stood up and went into the tent without another word of explanation.

Speechless, all four boys were staring after her. Noctis was the first who reacted. He smacked Gladio's arm and looked seriously at him, "What have you done to her? You were talking with her lastly. Why is she mad?"

"I have nothing done. I don't know what's wrong with her.", Gladio said in his defense.

"Maybe it's this time of the month again?", Prompto asked carefully, hinting at the point that yn was a girl.

But Ignis shook his head firmly, "No, it's not this time.", he said, being the only one of the group who was cautious enough to know her cycle, "And even if, you all know her. She never acts like this. And mostly, she never leaves her food untouched.", he pointed out, worried about this totally unusual behavior.

"Should we ask her?", Prompto asked.

Once again, Ignis shook his head, "No, we should give her a break. I'm sure tomorrow, she will be the old one again."

*

The boys stayed outside around the campfire until it started to rain. The announced storm was finally arriving and darkened the night even more as the stars and the moon disappeared. As the boys crawled into the tent, yn already laid in her spot. Like every time they were camping, Gladio laid next to her. The other three boys changed their position almost every night. Usually, Gladio and yn were talking quietly until one of them would fall asleep but now, as Gladio laid down, yn already seemed to be sleeping, facing the inside wall of the tent.

'Odd like everything else on this weird day', Gladio thought as he stared at her small back. But maybe Ignis was right and she would just need time. And if she was still weird the next day, Gladio would ask her about it.

The wind increased and tugged violently on the ropes of the tent that it was shuddering into every direction. The leaves on the trees were crinkling and the branches whipped against each other. Yn knew that the sound she heard was just the wind flying through every small gap but for her, it sounded more like howling ghosts on their hunt for every living soul they could find. The heavy rain poured on the tent surface like violent war drums calling for a battle. All of this was already too much for yn but then, the thunder started.

First, it was just a rumbling in the distance but soon, driven by the stormy wind, the thunderstorm reached their position. As the first lightning cut through the night sky, yn counted the seconds to establish the distance. The next thunder boomed through the night, followed by the next lightning and yn didn't need to count any further to know that the thunderstorm had almost reached them. Maybe five to ten minutes away.

The next lightning illuminated the tent and several seconds later, the thunder echoed through the air. It was the loudest and strongest thunder so far during this storm and yn knew it wouldn't be the last. As the thunder broke loose like a bellowing shot, she winced and curled into a ball. While trying to calm her racing heart with steady breathing, yn placed her hands over her ears to silence the sound. But as the next thunder exploded, she knew that it wasn't working.

Hot tears were building in her eyes because of the panic she felt deep inside of her and while squeezing her eyes shut, the tears were running down her cheeks, soaking her pillow. Small sobs were escaping her throat and she placed a hand over her mouth to silence the sound in fear to wake one of the boys.

But it was too late. As the next lightning shot through the night followed by the thunder, she winced and two seconds later, she felt a strong and heavy hand softly lying on her shoulder. Even without looking, she knew it was Gladio's hand. It was always Gladio who cared for her the most. Slowly, he tried to turn her over so she would face him. She let him do it but avoided his eyes in hope he wouldn't notice her state, "Yn, are you alright?", he whispered but his voice was filled with concern and worries.

Yn felt bad that he was awake because of her and that he was worried. She had tried to stay as quiet as possible but Gladio had always been more empathetic when it came to her and her mood, "I- I'm fine, Gladio. Just go back to sleep.", she whispered in hope it would work.

Of course, it didn't. Gladio searched her eyes and as she still refused to look at him, he cupped her chin carefully between his fingers to force her to look up. It was then that he noticed the shed tears on her skin, "You cried.", he said low, matter of factly.

Reluctantly, yn raised her eyes to meet his amber orbs which were now filled with so much concern that it almost hurted her to see it, "Y-yeah but it's nothing.", she said weakly with a small smile that didn't reach her eyes. It was a bad attempt to reassure him and she should have known better that Gladio wouldn't buy it for one second. Even if he was goofing around a lot, he could also be very serious if needed to be.

"I don't believe you, yn. What is going on with you? The whole day you act strange. Did I do something wrong? Or one of the others?", Gladio asked carefully while replaying the day but everything had been the same. Everything...except the weather.

"No, of course not. None of you had done something-", she got stopped by the next loud rumbling thunder. Violently, she squeezed her eyes shut and winced.

Gladio watched her in shock. He never had seen her acting like this and he knew her since so many years, "Y-you're scared.", he breathed, watching this small woman curling into a ball, embracing herself and ducking her head, removing herself from his touch, waiting for the storm to end. Carefully and with a soft touch, Gladio stroked strands of her wet hair out of her face, "I... Yn, I watched you fighting fearlessly so many times against the biggest beasts on this planet and now, you're scared of this storm?", he asked.

"I never expected you to understand that. That's why I never told you anything about it.", she whispered breathlessly, trying once again to calm her racing heart.

Gladio felt a pain stinging his heart by her words. He thought he would know everything about her. They could talk about everything and now, he had to learn that there were still things he had no clue about, "But why? Why have you never said anything?", he asked.

Slowly, she raised her teary glance to look at him, "Because you're Gladio, the King's Shield. You're fearless. I know you wouldn't take me seriously if I tell you that I'm scared about some stormy weather. I knew you would make fun of me.", yn said bitterly, closing her eyes slowly. New tears were running down her cheeks.

Her words pained Gladio but mostly, it pained him to see her like this. Here he was, lying next to her, thinking of himself as her best friend and yet, she wasn't brave enough to talk with him about her fears because she really thought he wouldn't understand her. If he thought about it, she had mentioned her concerns about the weather several times and he had made fun of it. He hadn't really thought about the reasons behind her concerns. Now, he understood it and felt bad. Slowly, he scooted closer to her, "Look at me, please.", he pleaded.

As yn opened her eyes, Gladio's face was as close as possible to hers. His glance bored into hers, a stern expression on his face. With slow moves, he cupped her face with his hands, tangling his fingers with her hair to tickle her calming, "I'm sorry, yn. I really am. I would never make fun of you about something that scares you, believe me. I'm sorry that you couldn't tell me this. I would fight against the storm to stop it if I could help you with it."

"Oh, I would like to see you trying. I'm sure you're the only person in this world who would be able to terrify a thunderstorm.", yn said with a soft chuckle between two sobs, feeling a bit better.

Gladio smiled softly before he became serious again, "I... I don't like seeing you scared like this. It's nothing I'm used to.", he said what caused yn to smile once again.

"It's silly that I'm scared. Mostly, considering the fact what we're facing every day since we left Insomnia. But it's the sound of the thunder and the ravenous natural force that always scared me since I was a kid."

"That's why you wanted to stay in the hotel.", Gladio understood, nodding slowly, "Sure, staying in a tent is not really helpful."

"Yeah, but having you boys with me is already helping, at least, a little bit.", yn said but was wincing as the next lightning and thunder shook the tent.

"You know what, maybe I can help you even a bit more.", Gladio whispered with a smile that caught yn's attention.

"W-what are you doing?", she asked surprised as she saw Gladio moving.

"Just trust me, sweetheart.", he said. Swiftly, he snaked one of his muscled arms underneath her head and around her shoulders to pull her close to his chest. He took his blanket to place it over both of them before he laid his other arm protectively around her frame as well. While she snuggled against his warm skin, relaxing slowly, she listened to his steady and strong heartbeat. His natural body heat enclosed her and his familiar scent flooded her brain.

Gladio buried his face into her hair, "I'm here for you. You're not alone. Nothing can happen to you. I will protect you.", he whispered reassuringly while drawing patterns on her skin with his fingers.

"Thank you.", yn breathed against his chest, snaking her arm around his body to pull him even closer.

The next lightning cracked through the night sky followed by a loud thunder and even if yn winced a little bit, she already was calmer than before. Gladio noticed the change immediately. She stayed where she was, lying in his arms. As the next wave of the storm broke loose over the tent, Gladio noticed her staying even calmer. And ten minutes later, yn didn't even respond anymore to the harsh weather outside. Gladio didn't have to check on her to know that she had fallen asleep lying secure in the protection of his body. Slowly, he drifted back to sleep on his own, keeping yn in his arms the whole night.

*

The next morning, yn awoke by the first rays of sunlight that fell through the open tent door. She could hear Noctis, Ignis and Prompto talking about something outside of the tent. It sounded like a discussion about breakfast. Cool air was flooding the tent and yn breathed in the freshness. She was slowly moving but got stopped by warm, muscly barriers: Gladio's arms.

Without waking the still sleeping, peacefully looking man, she tried to sneak out of his embrace. But as yn was almost free, she got dragged back to her former position by the said arms and their tightened grip around her, "Where do you think you go?", Gladio mumbled sleepy.

Yn looked up into Gladio's face, "It's morning. The storm is over.", she explained quietly with a soft smile.

Gladio tightened the embrace a bit more, "I don't care. It's perfect like this.", he whispered.

"So, you want me to stay?", yn asked surprised.

"Always.", Gladio mumbled and drifted back to sleep.

And just like that, a ravenous storm had changed a friendship to a next level.

Instead of destroying something, it had built something new.