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subwaysurf45 · 3 years

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Winter Makes Ice (Ep.1)

Summary: you’re captured after a brawl at the Avengers building, Bucky and others must save you before Hydra makes a new Winter Soldier out of you, Bucky has given up that title.

Episode: One

Words: 3948

Warning: depiction/description of violence, kidnapping, killing, PTSD, depression.

A/N: I will be making a masterlist for this specific series!

Masterlist!

Winter Makes Ice (series masterlist)

Time: 1:36pm

Date: September 23rd, 2024

“Bucky, I swear to fucking god-” You threw the person you just knocked out onto the ground of the common room, “you have to get out of here, It’s you or this entire building!” Bucky gave you a sympathetic look as you fought off Hydra agents, your gun fired three shots behind you to another agent you sensed running up.

“But I can’t leave you!” Bucky screamed back over the fire and bullets, Hydra agents were running in from every which way. The smoke rising made it harder for him to see you and Sam, who was also there a couple seconds ago. Everyone else was trying to stop the agents from the outside or other levels. It was a complete break-in.

“Fuck all that Bucky, I love you but I can’t love you if you’re dead- Fuck!” You screamed in pure anger as you began hand to hand combat with an agent, he wasn’t good at all so it was a quick take down. “James!” you looked over to just see him standing there, his eyes were watery from the pain and smoke, “you need to fucking leave! Run!” you shouted, waving him off.

“I love you!” He yelled over, hands cupping his mouth to make sure you heard him.

“I’ll tell you I love you after this, we’ll be okay,” you looked over your shoulder to find three new agents running in, their eyes weren’t even looking at you. You looked back to find Bucky still standing there, “fucking run!” Your throat felt raw, all the screaming and fighting was taking a massive toll on you.

Bucky took off in the other direction, the fire was subsiding as he got further from you. The serum gave him lungs like no other, so running through fire and smoke was easy. With a frantic mind and tunnel vision his left and right mixed up, all Bucky was trying to find was an exit and it should’ve been easy but he’d turn back after remembering this wasn’t the right hallway. His hand was gripped tightly on his gun while the metal hand held a knife firmly, after getting his mind back he found he could throw better with his left and shoot with his right- his dominant hand is right anyway.

“Anyone on their com?” Everyone had quickly shoved theirs in during the start of the ambush; half the SHIELD agents weren’t wearing their tactical gear.

“Rogers is here,” Steve ended his sentence with a grunt.

“So is Romanoff,” Nat sounded a bit more composed but still out of breath.

“y/n is down on the main floor, she told me to run because all they’re after is me, someone needs to go down and help her,” he received a few confirmations before focusing back to the task at hand. The bright light of the afternoon sun blinded him for a second, with all the lights shutting off and the smoke it made it seem like it was night. Bucky reached up to rub his eyes to help adjust to the sun but ended up just rubbing smoke and fumes into them, “fuck!” He stumbled back against the closed door as he used his shirt to rub his eyes but that was also covered in his smoke.

Bucky reached back and grabbed a completely full water jug that was the size of his palm, Bucky could feel his heart shatter as his eyes cleared because it was you who- only a matter of hours ago -was leading a very relaxed meeting about these water bottles, ‘you need to hydrate to stay on your feet’ you had said a couple times. His mind was as clear as his eyes, the way you were screaming at him to leave, the way you stood directly between him and the Hydra agents so they had to shoot through you to get him, the way you kept looking back to him with tears in your eyes because all you wanted was for him to stay but you knew better and sent him away. The tears mixed with the water as he sprayed his face, the smoke clung to his sweat like he did to you after a nightmare. The entire Avengers building was slowly caving in on itself, he could feel his heart lurch with every new piece of the building fall on the inside, he just hoped it didn’t hit you.

He kept walking further from what he once called home, trying to get a better view of it all. He wanted to look away because he felt like all at once the building could crumble to pieces and consume you with it, there was no saving the building; and quite possibly you.

“Wh-gent-hu?” Bucky had walked too far away from the building and the coms, all of them were close to low battery because of the last mission. Bucky ran towards the building and couldn’t see anyone on the roof, but as he ran closer the clearer the coms got. “Where-agent-I can’t-what is happ-sto-!” It was three different voices screaming together at once, Bucky whipped the doors open and saw just how much the inside changed.

The walls weren’t a sophisticated grey anymore but rather charred and black, there was no roof, at all. Bucky ran into the common room to find everyone looking under fallen planks and bars of steel, he started lifting them too. Everyone was running around and screaming at eachother, everyone had a different level of injury. Steve was throwing support beams like nothing, Bucky ran over. “Who are we looking for, Steve?”

Steve just looked at Bucky with tears falling down his face, his skin was brown with dirt but his tears left trails down his skin. “Bucky, man, I’m sorry…” Steve sniffled and covered his mouth. Natasha had walked over, her hands were shaking and clutching something close to her heart.

“I think we have our answer,” Nat cried and handed Bucky the water bottles you introduced.

“Who’s-” he was cut off when Bucky flipped the bottle to check the bottom, and there in your hand writing was your name, and a little heart next to it.

Bucky felt as though his soul had just left his body, everyone was getting close to giving up the search for you. If your body would be found it would be a miracle for you to still be alive, your lungs would have been fried due to the smoke and a pillar could crush you like it was nothing. Sparks flew off of snapped electrical that could be electrocuting you at this moment, small fires still burned which could be living off our ashes, any of the pure destruction could be killing you. And yet people were giving up, by the look on Steve’s face Bucky knew he should as well.

Time: 11:45am

Date: September 23rd, 2024

“So you’re saying we have little squirt bottles, this is fucking great!” Sam laughed, he looked at the clear bottle that was shaped into a big teardrop, the kind marathon runners keep on their belt. He pulled a sharpie out of his pocket and wrote his name.

You sat next to Bucky who was still feeling the effects of the last mission, it was at a Hydra base to just get intel but even then, it was still hard. Everyone got back a day ago and decided to push the debrief for the next day because of the shared exhaustion. Bucky slept for twelve hours because of it.

“Do you like them?” you asked, referencing the bottles, you both held yours as you waited for the marker to be passed to you.

“Anything you do, I like, sweetheart.” Bucky pulled you into his side and cuddled with you for a bit, he had always found your touch was a good way to stay grounded. Your heart beat could be felt anywhere, and Bucky would always try and match it. The marker was passed to you both and you wrote your names, a little heart found its home next to the last letter of your name, Bucky could only smile wide and shake his head and he took the marker and wrote his.

You and Bucky made your way back to your shared room before cuddling up in bed, a movie was thrown on and you both watched it as your eyes started to close. Bucky was awake, he kept looking down at your head on his shoulder to leave a little kiss, he’d always let his lips linger on the top of your head so he could smell your shampoo. Normally you were clinging to him for warmth but he could feel you were radiating heat, your sweater was actually his and the covers were tucked to you and Bucky got the edge, this wasn’t new for him. You were almost asleep but still every minute or so you’d subconsciously snuggle your cheek deeper into Bucky’s shoulder, small little circles in Bucky’s shoulder as you got more comfy.

Bucky ended up falling asleep too, it was weird when he would wake and realize how vulnerable he was to be asleep with you beside him and the door unlocked, he would smile at himself and make a mental note to bring it up to his therapist that he slept soundly again. Bucky probably could’ve gone the entire night but was woken up by a hard time breathing, something was caught in his throat so his cough woke him up. Then his dry cough woke you up, right away your nose turned up at the smell.

“Smells like burnt,” you said and stood up, a couple joints popping back into place.

“Ya, that’s what it was,” Bucky nodded, he pulled his shirt over his nose.

“Wanda needs to leave Nat alone with the cooking thing, Nat doesn’t like to cook so I don’t know why Wanda keeps bugging her, right?” you turned back to Bucky, he was nodding along. “Everyone has their thing, cooking isn’t Nat’s thing but that's fine,” you sighed, “I’m gonna actually talk to Wanda about-”

Three bangs landed right on your door, you jumped back from it and Bucky stood up. Two guns were pulled out of the bedside tables, Bucky tossed one of them to you. The banging went again and it wasn’t a friendly bang, you both knew this wasn’t one of your friends. The safety of the guns were both pulled back with a ticking sound, Bucky put his clip in his gun, you like to use a revolver and it was already ready. The top hinge blew off and the door slightly fell forward, the lights were off and the emergency ones gave little light, there was smoke crawling through the cracks in the door. Bucky had made his way to the other side of the bed to you, now you were both in front of the door.

“Who do you think it is?” You whispered to him, your shoulders rubbed against his with quick breathes.

“No idea,” Bucky muttered back, his lips barely moved.

The door busted down and because you both were ready the guy didn’t stand a chance, the intruder fell back in an instant at the rapid fire from the guns, the sound would be as loud as the banging on the door. The intruder wasn’t even ready to fire, his gun flipped out of his holster and slid a tiny bit on the tile floors before stopping. The emergency lights hit the silver gun perfectly, you noticed red on it but it didn’t look like blood, there was some type of symbol or branding on it. You slowly walked closer, your bare feet not giving away you were moving in case someone was waiting before the threshold of the door.

“Bucky…” you whispered and turned to him, “you gotta get out of here,” you slowly bent down and picked up the gun, the Hydra symbol was hard to see now that it was not getting any light. Bucky’s nostrils flared as a way to hide what he was feeling, his mouth opened to try and talk this through but the sounds of coughing, guns, and screams took its place.

You both ran to the common room, everyone was there, fighting an agent. Coming from a third angle you took out some of the agents with your gun, they didn’t see it coming; neither did Nat as she pointed her gun in your direction.

“They want their intel back, go to the computers!” Steve screamed, you turned and ran.

Bucky joined the fight in the common room, he kept looking back to see you getting smaller and smaller down the hall. All he had was his gun and a knife he picked up from his dresser, both were used as more and more Hydra agents ran in and came from the ceiling that was falling apart.

You turned quickly into the room, computers and wires everywhere. Your time was spent in the training room rather than here, but you logged in mission reports on the computers. Hard drives of every mission, every person, and every thing were connected everywhere. Tons of information that could give Hydra the upperhand, there were still hard drives you had just stolen from Hydra that no one had looked into yet. This was all they wanted, but it was weird to see how many agents were coming in and not making their way to the intel room. You stood on guard with your gun out and ready, you weren’t wearing anything protective so you stood behind an old computer that was yet to be thrown out.

A man walked in, he was tall and slim. Brown hair curled down to his shoulders and his eyes were a dark green, they pierced right through you. You were about to shoot but he just put out his hand, his index finger coming up and wagging you off. “I wouldn’t do that,” he warned, his voice was like gravel.

“Why not?” You grunted, finger ready on the trigger.

He didn’t even reach for his gun, his hands out in front of him. “Because, you’d never shoot the messenger, would you?” His hands lowered but he kept them out. You slowly lowered your gun but kept your hands ready, fingers still holding the trigger. “I came on my own terms, no leader sent me,” He added and pulled a chair out.

“Out with it, I don’t need your cryptic bullshit!” your gun was raised again, “hands up!”

He raised them, “we don’t want intel.”

“What?”

“You stole our intel, that’s fine.” his nose stuffed up, “but you steal our weapon, rid him of his purpose...then we have an issue.”

“He’s not a weapon!” you knew exactly who they were talking about, “and we didn’t steal him, we saved him, we saved Bucky!” you yelled again, tears gathering in your eyes.

The man sat back on his chair, “I don’t care at this point, none of us do, you either give us our Winter Soldier or we will burn this place to the ground.” He stood to size you up, “the message has been given, shoot me if you want, I heard humans are flammable so I’d help burn this place-”

The man's brain flew out and hit the walls, blood sprayed over you and the computers. His knees folded in and the hole in his head slammed against the floor, you should have let him suffer but he probably was working for Hydra, and that’s suffering everyday. The man’s skin whitened in a matter of seconds, all the blood rushing out of that one spot was getting near the electrical, so you ran back to the common room.

Bucky was there, “most of them went to the roof, we got it down here!” He screamed.

“They’re after you!” you yelled and shot a few agents down, “this isn’t intel, they want you Bucky!” The smoke was flying up and with all the fast movements, it was getting harder to see him, but you saw the metal arm in the reflection.

“It doesn’t matter, I’m staying here!” He stopped to reload, but you knocked someone down and turned to face him.

Bucky took off but as he ran away, right before you lost sight of him, an arm wrapped tightly around your neck. You couldn’t see a face but you heard a voice, “he’ll turn himself in if he knows we have you, now this will hurt.” the butt of a gun slammed your temple, all you saw was black.

Time: unknown

Date: unknown

Your head hurt so bad, right as you were waking up it was a pulsing ache everywhere from between your eyes to your neck. It felt like waves, for a moment the pressure would drop but then slowly crawl back in, nothing was rigid. In the room you found yourself in there wasn’t much to register, just a cell that was a little longer than arm's length and some black box on the ceiling, it wasn’t a light but it seemed to hold something. There was no bed as well, you were sat up against the wall in a corner. As you moved to look around your neck all the way down to your knees ached; not to mention the pressure building in your head. It felt like you had been struck in the back of the head even though you thought it was in your temple when you were knocked out, your hand cupped high on your neck, right where your hair started. There was a sting and you pulled away with a hiss, a few pieces of scab came with it.

There were no windows, no source of light to see what time it was. But the fact that whatever cut was made to the back of your head was a fully scabbed and not bleeding gave away you had been asleep for a bit, that almost made it worse.

“Welcome, Soldat,” a voice with an accent came through, it was one you couldn’t figure out. “It seems our other weapon got away, we were gifted you instead; we are happy about it no less.'' the voice was coming from a speaker in the top left corner, not the black box directly above you.

“Where am I?” your voice sounded like sandpaper.

“In your cell,” you could hear the smirk, “but you’re not in Avenger’s territory anymore, would you like to know where you are?” he didn’t wait for you to answer, “I’ll give it to you if you follow this simple task, would you mind getting on your knees?” the voice asked, you stayed still, “right, I forgot. Soldat, get on your knees.” right away your knees smashed into the concrete floor. “Would you look at that, how pretty?”

“What that fuck?” you gasped out, your hands folded neatly on your lap as you sat back on your calves.

“Now that we know your abilities, you’re in Iceland, Hydra gifted us you.”

“You’re not Hydra?” you asked, this time louder and looking at the speaker.

“Oh, we are Hydra.” the voice laughed, “just not how you think we are...”

Time: 9:59pm

Date: September 27th, 2024

Bucky didn’t know how long he’d been curled in his bed with the curtains drawn, there was no perception of time at all. All he did was cry, all day. His body ached and crumbled into itself more and more as time went on. Everyone was mourning the loss of a friend, but to Bucky it was a lover. He held the picture you framed after your first date as a couple, that was one of the first times Bucky had truly smiled.

You both went to a really nice restaurant and when you were finished you waiter offered to take a picture because they saw you getting self conscious when your arm was up to take a selfie. The both of you leaned over the table and close to one another, right before the picture was taken Bucky reached over and placed his metal hand over yours, allowing it to be seen in the picture. It was something he regretted but after you framed it and kept it on your side of the bed, Bucky looked at it everyday with a smile.

The picture was still in the frame but it wasn’t on the bedside anymore, rather pushed up against Bucky’s chest. He’d pull it away to look at you from time to time, after picturing all the good times with you, your face seemed to change and warp until it wasn’t you. Bucky would run his finger down the glass and try to imagine the feeling of your skin again, he’d lost almost everyone in his life, all he wanted was to feel you one last time if it really was your time to go. Your smile was so bright it lit up the pitch black room he was crying in, your smile and your personality could keep an entire country running for years.

He ran out of salty tears and all that was left was wheezing and rocking back and forth in his bed, the emotions were working him out, sweat lines the neck rim of his t-shirt, but he’d also use the neck line to wipe the tears that slipped past his nose and lips. They would roll down and hit his pillow, he had already flipped it to get a dry surface.

Steve walked in, he didn’t need to knock because he knew what’s coming. Steve had watched you and Bucky grow from barely speaking to napping on the couch for everyone to see, it took a while but Steve knew from the beginning that you were perfect for him. Steve brought Bucky a sandwich everyday at noon because he refused to eat dinner and breakfast. Some days he wouldn’t eat at all but noon seemed to be the best time for him to eat everything.

“Wanda made it today actually, she added some chips on the side and made it real nice, Buck,” Steve went to the windows and opened the blinds, he did that everyday but when he would come back 24 hours later they’d be closed. “I also have news, about y/n…”

Steve saw for the first time in four days Bucky sit up, he saw the grief fade and a small shred of hope appear.

A/n: if you want to be tagged in this series let me know through an ask or anything!

#bucky series #bucky barnes series #bucky #Bucky Barnes #Bucky angst #bucky x reader #bucky fanfic #bucky x you #bucky barnes x reader

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whatstruthgottodowithit · 2 years

Note

I love your strories . Could you write a steve rogers x civilan reader angst maybe ? Where steve always puts reader in the back burner unintentionally . And after civil war bucky maybe stayed with steve . And as he's stressing about bucky he takes it out on the reader . Angst with fluff maybe . I'm sorry if it's too specific or weird .

AFTERTHOUGHT

Fandom: Marvel, MCU,

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Female Reader

Characters: Steve Rogers, Reader, You, Female

Word Count: 2017 // Rating: Teen & Up

Summary: Steve always does what’s best for Bucky

Tags/ Warnings: My Writing, Afterthought, Requested Fic, Steve’s kind of an ass, Steve and Bucky’s Friendship, Established Relationship, Love, Hugs, Fluff, Angst, PTSD, Trauma, Mentions of Infertility, Pregnancy Tests, Marriage, Marriage Problems, Afterthought, Requests, Careless, Steve, Fighting, Arguing, Rows,

Notes: hope you like it

I frowned as my eyes fell on the little window of the plastic stick and I found the one line staring back at me.

Negative. Again.

I didn’t know why I got my hopes up. Maybe because this was the first month Steve and I had been together. Maybe it was because we had time to try or at least time to try properly. Steve and I had been married for nearly two years and both of us wanted a family. We kind of assumed it would happen naturally…but that was well over a year ago and still no positive test. I tried not to worry. I was busy and Steve was always here there and everywhere. In fact, the last few months had been crazy. But this month hadn’t. This month had almost seemed normal even if we did have an extra house guest/fugitive on our hands. I liked Bucky. And I loved Steve, so having his best friend come stay with us was a no-brainer. That didn’t mean it had been particularly easy. He was nice, he never complained, he was neat and tidy but he was just always…there.

It didn’t help that Steve accommodated for everything. Bucky was having a bad day? It was Steve’s job to make him smile. Bucky was having a nightmare? Steve was out of bed like a shot sometimes even driving him around until he had shaken whatever horror was in his head away. Ironically it was as if we had a child already. And I understood why he acted like that. I just wish he’d widen his focus a little.

As I looked at the test again I could feel tears stinging my eyes but I refused to let myself be sad. Instead, I threw the test in the bin and washed my face hoping my morning routine would help distract me. By the time I got downstairs, Steve was already there cooking breakfast on the stove. I walked up behind him and wrapped my arms around his front. I was almost a foot shorter than him but I didn’t care as my head fit snuggly in between his shoulder blades.

‘Morning,’ he said causing his chest to rattle against my ear. I smiled to myself the pain of this morning disappearing a little.

‘Morning,’ I said pulling back as he started to turn around. He looped his hands around me as I placed mine against his chest smiling as he leaned down to give me a quick kiss.

‘Sleep okay?’ he asked. I smiled and nodded as I replied, ‘you?’

‘Not really,’ he said his smile lessening a little, ‘Buck had a bad night…Tony.’

I nodded knowing not to push the matter further. Steve still felt guilty about everything that had gone down between him, Tony and Bucky. He also felt guilty about all the havoc it had caused between us. I pulled away and went to sit at the table as he went on cooking. I grabbed the morning paper which was something that I had come to like. I used to read all my news on my phone but Steve still like the feel of the morning paper in his hands and soon enough I had come to like it too. I skimmed through it. The headlines today weren’t overly cheerful and I didn’t really feel like reading it in case I put myself in a further bad mood.

Only a minute later Steve placed a plate of bacon and eggs in front of me and then one in his place. He moved away for a minute pouring us both a cup of coffee and bringing it back to the table. He smiled as he sat down next to me. As soon as the plate hit the table I realised how hungry I was and I was halfway through my bacon making him chuckle.

‘Hungry?’ he asked.

‘Starving,’ I said my mouth half full.

‘I take it I can read the paper then,’ he chuckled reaching out for it. I passed it to him and nodded watching as his gaze flicked over today’s headlines. I smiled watching him read. He looked calm and unworried for once. I sipped my coffee and continued watching him. Though this time he felt my gaze on him. He looked up with his brow furrowed, ‘what?’

‘Nothing,’ I said with a smile.

‘Hmmm,’ he said with a questioning eye which then fell back to the paper, ‘hey babe.’

‘Yeah?’ I said as I continued eating.

‘Why’s today’s date ring a bell?’ he asked.

‘Oh,’ I said, ‘we’ve got an appointment today.’

‘Oh?’

‘Yeah Doctor Mohan,’ I said waiting for the dots to connect in his mind. He seemed to be thinking about where he’d heard that name before but before he could say anything we heard footsteps thundering down the stairs. Steve’s gaze left mine looking through the kitchen entrance from which he could see the front door. I peered around too just in time to see Bucky yanking the door open and sprinting out.

Steve was up like a light his breakfast and newspaper soon forgotten as he grabbed his coat from where he had left it on the sofa. He turned for a second catching my eye and then he smiled at me sadly.

‘Doll,’ he said but I waved him off knowing it

was fruitless. He nodded and started to head out. As he slipped on his shoes by the door I called, ‘don’t forget Dr Mohan’s office at 2 pm!’

If he heard me or not I wasn’t sure. I slipped back in my chair in a huff. As I stared at my breakfast I realised I suddenly had no appetite. I got up somewhat angrily and scraped both plates into the trash. I threw the coffee cups and the plates into the sink and left them too angry to contemplate household chores. And then I headed upstairs, to start my day.

————————————————————————–

I got home later than usual that night. As I pulled into the driveway I could see Bucky sitting in his chair by the window watching the TV. I sighed as I parked and switched the engine off. I sat there for a moment not wanting to go inside. My heart was aching from today and I knew that what lay behind that door wasn’t going to be anything that helped it.

I stared at the garage door trying to muster the energy to climb out of the car and as I did my phone rang from where it was being kept in its hands-free holder.

STEVE flashed on the screen and I looked at it for a moment watching as the slide to answer button glinted begging for me to touch it. It rang a few times before it went back to my home screen the missed call joining the other notifications making it 6 missed calls in total.

With a sigh, I grabbed my bag from the passenger seat and climbed out of the car trudging into the house. Steve was standing in the kitchen, stirring something on the stovetop, and Bucky was still in his chair though they both looked up as I came in. I took off my coat and shoes and put them in their place slinging my bag onto the couch as I walked into the kitchen.

‘Evening,’ Steve said with an edge as I walked to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of wine.

‘Evening,’ I said as I grabbed a glass from the cupboard and poured myself a large one.

‘You’re late back,’ he said as I took a seat at the kitchen table.

‘Am I?‘ I said taking a swig.

‘I rang you know,’ he said looking at me, ‘I saved you some dinner.’

‘I know,’ I said.

‘It’s your, wait, you know?’

The pair of us were quiet for a moment watching one another. We only looked up as the recliner chair squeaked shut and Bucky stood watching us from the lounge.

‘Erm, I think I’m going to head upstairs,’ he said. Steve nodded but I said nothing swigging my glass of wine once more. Once we heard Bucky’s door close upstairs Steve turned watching me again.

‘So you’ve been screening my calls?’ he said throwing the tea towel that was over his shoulder down on the counter and coming to sit down opposite me.

‘What would you rather I pretend I wasn’t?’ I said.

‘No,’ he said, ‘but some reason why wouldn’t go a miss.’

‘I was busy,’ I said simply.

‘Busy doing what? Something that makes you two…no three hours late for dinner?’ he said checking his watch. I couldn’t help but snort as he did so which made his jaw set as he looked at me angrily, ‘something I said?’

‘I just think it’s funny you have a problem with me being on time,’ I said. He rubbed the bridge of his nose and fell back against his chair looking at me, as he said, ‘look are you gonna whine about whatever or are you going to tell me what I did because I’m a loss here sweetheart.’

‘You missed our appointment,’ I said simply.

‘What appointment,’ he started but then his confusion switched to realisation, ‘Dr Mohan.’

‘Don’t worry,’ I said getting up and heading to the fridge to replenish my drink, ‘he let me wait 15 minutes before we realised you weren’t coming. Even kept popping out into the waiting room to make sure.’

‘Babe,’ he said standing up but I put my finger up to silence him.

‘Don’t, just don’t,’ I said turning around and placing my hands on the kitchen counter as I tried to hold myself together.

I felt Steve’s strong arms around me pulling me towards him. He spun me around and grabbed my chin tenderly but I pulled from his grasp though I stayed in his arms.

‘I’m sorry,’ he said I looked at him, ‘really I am. It just slipped my mind, Bucky-’

‘Needed you, yeah I know,’ I said pulling away from him.

‘He had a rough night,’ Steve said shortly, turning around so he could watch me.

‘Yeah I know,’ I said.

‘He was up half the night,’ he said, ‘he ran damn near 12 miles this morning trying to distract himself-’

‘I said I know.’

‘So why are you giving me such a hard time-’

‘Because it’s always something. Bucky needs this, Bucky needs that. And you’re there. Where does that leave me, Steve? You’re out there fixing everything I’m in bed alone. Or eating breakfast alone. Or in the doctor’s office for one of the most important appointments of our lives-’

‘We can rebook the damn appointment!’ he shouted.

We fell silent for a moment. I sniffed suddenly feeling a lump in my throat which I tried my best to ignore, ‘you don’t get it, do you? It’s not about the appointment. It’s not about being left alone. I love Bucky. I do…but you didn’t marry him. You married me. And sometimes, sometimes, it just doesn’t feel like that. It feels like I’m an afterthought.’

‘What do you want me to do Y/N? He’s my friend. My best friend,’ Steve said.

‘I know,’ I said walking forward and wrapping my hands around his waist, ‘I know and I know you think everything you do is for the best. You’re trying to help…but I need you to see that it isn’t helping everyone.’

He looked down at me with a sad smile as I pulled back a little kissing my fingertips and placing them on his cheek. His hand covered mine holding it to his face as his eyes closed.

‘I’m sorry,’ he whispered as his eyes opened and I nodded.

‘I know you are,’ I said slipping out of his grasp. He watched me as I grabbed my glass off of the counter and walked through the lounge grabbing my bag as I went as I reached the stairs I looked through and smiled at him weakly before walking upstairs.

‘Sorry,’ I thought, ‘yeah you always are.’

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sashi-ya · 3 years

Text

{+18} - Law x Fem Best Friend ♥ CH.1

♥ Daily living with the Heart pirates crew AU ♥ Spoilers after Dressrosa Arc. Law´s backstory. ♥ Female reader. Little physical description. Everybody is 18+, canon ages. ♥ TW: Nightmares related to PTSD. no further warnings. If you think I should include some feel free to tell me ♥ ♥English is not my first language, so If you happen to find some grammar or vocab mistakes, I’m sorry ♥´

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/31053383

Word count: 4.1K

» List of parts: {CH1} {CH2} {CH3} {CH4} {CH5} «

Chapter 1

- Polar Tang, somewhere underwater on the Grand Line. July 14th. -

“Ay ay captain, I need fresh air please, I’m dying!” Shouted Bepo asking our captain, and my best friend, Trafalgar D Water Law to please emerge from underwater. Bepo is a polar bear mink, and does not like hot environments, so he is usually hot whenever we pass a lot of time underwater in the submarine.

“Let’s emerge, guys” said Law, annoyed, but willing to make the polar bear feel better. Me, despite not being a polar bear, I’m always hot, so I praised the lord for the decision.

“Aya aya, Thank you captain!!!” Bepo celebrated and grabbed me by the arm pulling me eagerly to the main door, because he knew how much I love to get fresh air, as much as he does.

From the control room, Shachi and Penguin shouted, announcing that we can fully unlock the door. And so, we did. Outside there was a clear blue sky, the sun was shining, but apparently, we were close to some winter islands, so the temperature was lower than we were expecting.

Fresh cold air hit my freckled cheeks and it felt wonderful. “Oi, Y/n-ya, don’t go outside without your coat. You are going to catch a cold”, said Law while placing a white coat over my shoulders. My best friend, despite the unfriendly appearance he normally shows, has the biggest heart and takes care of the one he loves.

I’ve known him since we were 13 years old, while wandering on a certain island of the North Blue after losing my family. A few weeks before knowing him, I found the Nagi no mi and became the user of it. So, when we introduced ourselves, we realized I was the new user of the devil fruit that had “Cora-san”, the person that saved Law’s life. Both of us were alone, and sad, so we held onto each other, striving to survive. I wanted to become a doctor like him, so we studied together. Now I’m his right hand whenever we have a surgery.

“Aren’t you coming outside?” I asked Law, which was still inside, looking through the door with a listlessly gaze at the immense sea around us. He looked at me, sighed and said, “Tomorrow is 15th”. He didn’t wait for my response and walked away.

Our captain still misses “Corazón”, Rosinante, or “Cora-san”, as he usually calls him, and on July 15th was his birthday. He was killed by his brother, Donquixote Doflamingo, who was taken down and sent to prison by Law and the Mugiwaras, a few months ago. I didn’t say a word, mainly because I knew how Law hates to show his feelings and even if I decide to say something, it wasn't going to help at all. The afternoon went by, and while the crew was having fun relaxing on the deck, Law didn’t show up. So, I proceeded to go see him, he usually loves to be alone, but this time I felt he needed some company.

I headed straight to the kitchen, made his favorite tea and went to his room. “Oi, Doc, you’ve been there for a good 5 hours, I brought your fave tea. Can I come in?”, I asked, but didn’t receive any answer, so I knocked, and the door opened. “I’m sorry dumbass, it was unlocked, I brought some tea for… “I stopped when I saw Law on the floor, with red cheeks, sweated and unconscious holding something red on his hand. “Law, what the hell?” I said while placing my hand over his forehead. His skin was burning. He was running a strong fever that caused him to faint. I was worried because I didn’t know how much time had passed since he had fainted. In any case I needed to make the temperature go down, as quick as possible.

“Law, Law, are you with me?” I asked him while grabbing him by the shoulders making soft movements. The captain vaguely opened his eyes and said “Y/n-ya… I’m ok, do… don’t worry”, “Of course you are not, your temperature is really high, why didn’t you tell me you were feeling like this?, come on you should take a bath right away”. He passed his arm around my neck and I grabbed him by his waist. Law is pretty tall, but I am stronger than I seemed, so I made him stand up and took him to the bathroom.

I turned on the shower and helped Law to undress. Taking off first his sweated white shirt and then unbuttoning his jeans. I left him only with his boxers on, that made me giggle a little ‘because they had a heart pattern all over.

The laughing was over because he became pretty weak so in order to avoid him falling, I had to grab him real tight, making myself enter to the open douche. We remained for a few seconds looking at each other under the running water, until he slipped a sloppy laugh at how I was becoming wet. “Dumbass don’t laugh” I apprehended him. I remained there for a few minutes letting the slightly cold water bathe his whole body, waiting for the temperature to drop. I realized I’ve never been that close to him, we usually had zero physical contact, and as weird as it might sound this was the first time, I saw that he has more tattoos than I thought.

“Sexy motherfucker look what you’ve been hiding”, I thought, but quickly I uprooted those thoughts off my head. “Come on, Y/n, he is like your brother….”.

I turned off the water, extended my arm out of the shower and grabbed a towel. Wrapped him with it and as I was doing so, I noticed that Law was looking at my chest, still weak but now able to stand up without my help.

“Take off your wet boxers, I’m not watching” I said, turning my back to him. To which he responded, “I don’t care if you look, you are like my doctor”.

“Oh, come on, tell me when you are ready”, I said, a little embarrassed.

A few seconds later he told me he was ready and I turned back at him again, realizing that now the towel was hanging from his hip bones, leaving his whole tattooed torso naked, his hair was pretty straight from being wet and his cheeks now don’t show as much blush as before. I admired the image of the handsome man I got before my eyes for less than two seconds and told him to go to bed. I helped him to get into bed carefully not to untie the white towel, because he was still a little weak.

“Wait here, I’m going to the infirmary to get you some antipyretics, ok?” I ordered pointing at him.

I was about to walk out the bedroom when I heard him say “Oi, dumbass, are going out looking like that?, Put on one of my shirts” and I realized that my underwear was showing through the transparency of my wet clothes. I widened my eyes, and my cheeks turned to fire. Without saying anything I opened the drawers grabbing a shirt and some shorts he had there. I ran to the bathroom where I got changed and left the bedroom without even looking at him.

I walked through the hallway feeling my heartbeat faster, trying to dismiss the embarrassment I was feeling, until I got to the infirmary.

While searching for the medication I asked myself why this whole situation was making me lose my cool so easily, but no answer came out of it.

I then went to the kitchen to grab some water for Law to take the antipyretics and came back to my captain's room.

I gave him the pills and water and waited for him to take them.

"Let me check on your temperature" I said, and he raised his arm for me to put the thermometer under his armpit. "I don't want to feel sick; I hate those pills you gave me", complaining and acting almost as if he was a little boy. I remember when we were younger. He rarely got sick after he cured himself from the amber lead disease, but whenever he felt bad, he acted as he was a kid. I always thought that was really cute and today it wasn't the exception. I teased him a little bit for being a capricious little child and he smiled, gave him shorts, because his temperature was getting lower. I asked him if he was hungry and he assented.

The whole crew was still having fun on the deck, so I went back to the kitchen and made Law some soup.

I brought the meal to the room that he devoured, despite feeling sick. We chatted a little bit until he fell asleep. "How angelic you seem sleeping and acting as a child, Law…" I whispered while contemplating his face that was slightly illuminated by the moonshine that enters from one of the little windows.

Suddenly, something on the floor caught my eyes. It was some sort of red cloth. Picking it up I realized it was Law’s most precious treasure, Cora-san’s hat, that he was holding when I found him on the floor. I put the hat next to his face and caressed his cheek softly, "Sleep tight, Law, Corasan and I will take care of you tonight”.

A few hours passed and the bustle of the crew slowly turned to silence as they went to bed.

Sitting on bed next to him I must have fallen asleep until I was woken up by some grunts. Law was still asleep, but he seemed uncomfortable, he was again starting to sweat, and a few tears were running through his cheeks. I placed my hand over his forehead and his skin was burning once more, not only was he having one of those nightmares he always has, but also his fever was getting serious again.

I went to the bathroom, got some towels wet and put them over his face and under his armpits.

I held his hand and softly said “everything is going to be ok, Law”. You see, when someone has nightmares related to PTSD it's better not to wake them up instantly. With Law it has always been better if I slowly do it, making sure I am there for him. He woke up, looking at me embarrassed but relieved I was there to tell him it was just a bad nightmare.

The night went by, with me frequently changing the wet towels for more cold ones and the fever slowly stopped. My best friend went back to sleep until the next morning.

The sunrise was invading timidly the room and the clock strikes 7 am. Time for Law to take the medicine again, I said and stand up from bed.

I headed to the kitchen to prepare some tea and bring a glass of water to my patient.

When I got there, I saw Penguin and Bepo looting the fridge. "Excuse me? What are you both doing?" I shouted, scaring the hell out of both of my nakamas. "Aya aya Y/n, you are gonna kill us!!". But after looking at me both of them changed their facial expression from scared to confused. "Y/n, are you wearing the Captain's clothes? “asked Penguin, scanning my whole image from head to toe. "They suit you, really". “Whatever you are trying to suggest, stop it right there, you little shit” I said frowning and continued, “Law is sick as hell, he had a fever all night long, I’m taking care of him. He is still sleeping, don't run to him, especially you, Bepo.” I sentenced the Bear that was about to run through the hallway to hug his captain.

“Law, oi Law, wake up, you have to take your meds”, I whisper to wake him up. Slowly he opened his eyes, letting myself admire the bold grey irises that were looking at me. He gave me a weak smile and sited on the bed, grabbed the glass of water and chugged it with the pill. “How are you doing? feeling better?”, I asked. “uhm, I am”. “Go back to sleep, then, you should rest”, I suggested - ordered - him. He nodded getting under the sheets again, covering his face with them. A little laugh slipped out of my mouth until he said “Y/n.. can you… stay here with me? If you don’t want to, it's ok.”. How cute he acts when he wants some care… “Of course, I’m staying here, I’ve been here the whole night, what makes you think I’m leaving you now?”. A silence invaded the room, until he broke it with “Thank you, do you mind getting in bed with me?”. We have slept in the same bed before when we were younger so at first it didn't surprise me, but then, something hit my insides. I didn't know why but It made me nervous. Nevertheless, I acted cool and agreed, "Ok, make some space".

Law moved and I got under the sheets. My body didn't know how to react, so I stayed laying down facing him until he buried his face onto my chest hugging me by my waist, really tight. I put one hand over his hair and place my other hand on his back caressing it softly up and down. I couldn't see his face, but I knew he was crying as my t-shirt began to have wet spots where his face was. He then placed his ear onto my chest, as he was trying to feel the beating of my heart and said, "I needed to hear your heartbeat, I don't want to ever stop hearing it". There weren't words to be said, I knew what he meant, so I simply gave him a kiss on his head and hugged him even harder.

We both passed out at some point until a well-known voice woke me up saying "Daaaaaamn the captain and vice-captain are sleeping together!!!" Shachi was shouting and I realized I had the whole crew watching us from the door. The image they saw Included Law half naked, myself with my shirt up letting my back and stomach out, Law's hand over my waist and his head over my breasts, my leg over Law's legs. The perfect image to imagine every sexual situation.

"It is not what you all are thinking! Law is sick, shut up!" I told everybody as I stranded up from bed arranging my clothes. The whole crew was laughing and making a fuss of it. “Hey, get out, Law didn’t get so much sleep last night, shut the hell up!” ... As I finished my sentence, I regretted it instantly and everybody started to laugh. Suddenly everyone shut up. I saw their faces turned to happy to fully serious followed by the voice of my captain saying “Oi, all of you, prepare to submerge. Bepo, resume the course to our destination, tomorrow we have to arrive at the next island, I don’t know why you all are wasting time. And, remember this is the last time you disrespect your Vice Captain. Is that clear?”, “Yes, Captain. We are sorry. Excuse us Y/n”, said everybody in unison, and rushed to their positions.

I grabbed my face with both of my hands, I wanted to hide for a week. Law approached me and placed his hand on my shoulder saying, “don’t worry, they ‘ve always been like this, it’s ok”. I sighed hard and turned my face to him. He looked better than yesterday but still needed to rest. “Are you feeling better?” I asked him, and he nodded.

I told him to go get some more rest, that I was going to have a bath and get some rest too, and then come back to check on him, and left to my room.

Only Law and I have private rooms, so I was going to be safe from the looks of our nakamas as long as I didn't leave.

I open the faucet and let the water fill my bathtub. Undressed and left Law’s clothes aside for me to clean them after and return them to him. I realized I had left my wet clothes and underwear on Law’s bathroom, but I didn’t stress much about it, he wouldn't see them, because I left them in the laundry bin. I relaxed for a few minutes in the hot water until the image of Law’s body covered in tattoos, hit my thoughts.

Suddenly I discovered myself enjoying the fond memories of his anatomy. He had become such a grown-up man throughout all of these years, and I didn’t realize about it until last night. I wonder if he thinks the same way about me…? My mind sailed through the memoirs of yesterday, seeing his body covered in sweat, having him close under the shower, the feeling of his skin on my hands, his face over my breasts, him holding me from my waist, being in the same bed… every memory was making my body react and… I shook those thoughts out of my head. What the hell am I thinking? Law is my best friend; he is like family. Stop Y/n, stop right there.

After eating something I headed to Law’s bedroom and stood up in front of the closed door. I’ve never felt the need to rehearse what I was going to say to him, but this time, I did. I felt the need. To my surprise I heard from behind the door as If someone was breathing with trouble, little moans perhaps. So, I instantly thought that my best friend was again running a fever, perhaps having trouble breathing. I opened the door without even knocking, worried and expecting to found Law suffering. I tripped and fell on my knees and what I saw next, was something far from distress or sickness…

There he was, sitting on his bed, fully naked, holding my bra with his left hand, breathing heavily, arching his back and neck with his head thrown back. His right hand stroking his hard member up and down, violently.

I was still on my knees when he concluded someone had entered his room, and as fast as he could said “Room… Takt” and closed the door behind me with the simple movement of two fingers. “La… law… what… I mean, I’m sorry, I’m…” I barely mumbled still with my mouth open, unable to move, mortified for interrupting such a private practice. But at the same time unable to understand why the hell he had my bra on his hand while touching himself.

He looked at me, still naked, meeting our eyes, both without even moving. Until he expressed a little smile and stood up. Me still on my knees, I contemplated him and his glorious body reaching to where I was. He stopped in front of me, grabbed my chin up in between two fingers. “Wha.. what are you doing, Law?” I asked, even though I didn’t take my eyes off him. “Shh…” he said rubbing his thumb over my lips and softly opening my mouth…

“Puru puru puru puru” the Den Den mushi next to my bed woke me up from my dream exalted. “Oh… It was just a dream…” I said and picked up the snail transponder. “Y/n, dinner is ready, you haven’t eaten anything all day, come to the dining area!”, I heard my nakamas shout through the speaker.

I washed my face and looked into the mirror. My cheeks were red, my head was spinning, I was agitated, sweaty. I replayed the dream over and over, it felt so real… so… enticing.

When I got to the kitchen my nakamas were already drinking beer and shouting as always, Law was seated on his usual spot, and Bepo was passing plates. “Oi Vice Captain! have a drink!!” some of them shouted, while Bepo handed me a big bowl of my favorite meal, read bean soup. Shachi, who was seated next to me, bumped me with his elbow and said, “Oi, the dinner was chosen by the Captain specially ‘because he said it was your fave, fufufu… are you both sleeping together again tonight”? I turned my face to him with the most psychotic expression I’ve ever had… “I’m sorry”, he said and directed his gaze to his plate.

I looked at Law who smirked a little and kept eating without any talking. I gave him a little side smile and did the same. He had a better semblance than the night before, so I think his fever hasn't come back since last night.

We finished eating and discussed the plan for tomorrow. We were supposed to arrive at a new island in the morning, not for anything special but for us to buy food and supplies needed. Usually, the whole crew divides the work, so some of them buy food, the others stuff for the submarine, and normally Law and I take care of buying medical supplies.

Through all the conversation I was trying to avoid looking at Law as much as I could. Whenever our gaze locked, I remembered the dream over and over… I felt guilty, stupid. My cheeks burned every time I replayed it on my head.

After having the plan settled, I waved goodnight to everybody, and left the kitchen. I was almost running through the corridor to get to my room as if I was trying to hide when I remembered that my underwear and clothes were still in Law's bathroom.

“Ok, he is not here, this is my chance, I just have to recuperate them and run to my room”, I said while entering my best friend's bedroom.

I was scrutinizing the laundry bin in the bathroom, when I heard the door of the bedroom close. I stood still. "Damn, what should I do?" … so, I decided to use my devil fruit powers in order to avoid making any sound until I was able to figure out what I was going to do. I mean, I couldn't just get out of the bathroom like nothing happened, what would Law think?

As the bathroom door was not fully closed, I was able to peek through it and observe what Law was doing.

The captain took off his hat first, and then his shirt. He jumped on the bed and grabbed a book.

I was hoping for him to read some more and fell asleep, so in that moment I could get out from my now hiding spot.

Twenty minutes passed and he was still reading. Meanwhile I admired every movement he did. From brushing his hair back, to how he licked his finger to turn the pages. My core felt fancy, I couldn’t escape from watching, deep down I wished for him to even untied his pants. I wanted to see more…

Finally, he put the book down and turned off the lamp.

"YES! FINALLY!" I said getting excited for my big escape but suddenly he said, "I know you are in the bathroom; I don't need to hear you to sense you, you know?".

I froze, closed my eyes and remembered how strong his Observation haki got during the last months. I didn't say anything simply because I didn't know what to say.

" Room… Shambles!", and without any warning I was teletransported to his bed. My ass hit the mattress hard making myself lose stability falling with my whole face over his lower abs.

The scent of his skin invaded my nose for less than a few seconds, because I regained my posture as quickly as possible. "Law, how many times I have to tell you not to use shambles with me without any warning?!!" I scolded him. "Excuse me? You've been hiding in MY bathroom for almost half an hour and I'm the one who gets shouted at?" He said, frowning and staring into my eyes. “I was trying to recover my clothes, I wasn’t trying to hide…”, I confess, to which he responded this time laughing, “Don’t lie, I’m sure you are into voyeurism”. Widening my eyes, still seated on his bed, covering my mouth, my cheeks blushing, my heart beating faster, I was embarrassed, because deep down, after all it was what I was doing. I was enjoying the view from the bathroom, I wanted to see more, I wished I could witness an image as my dream…

“I’m kidding…”, he said ruffling my hair and smiling. God, I love his smile… I wasn’t still saying anything back when he came close to my face, and whispered into my ears, “unless… you like it…”

Chapter 2

#Trafalgardwaterlaw #one piece law #law x reader #trafalgar d law x reader #Trafalgar law x reader #one piece x reader #one piece x y/n #one piece x you #one piece x oc #one piece fanfiction #monkey d luffy #wano kuni #dressrosa #laugh tale #bepo one piece #shachi #penguin one piece

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rosiehunterwolf · 3 years

Text

rainy days

Prompts: Storm

Word Count: 10,561 (i KNOW i'm sorry)

Characters: Jay, Nya, and Lloyd

Timeline: Snapshots throughout the series

Trigger Warnings: Brief mentions of nightmares, brief PTSD, Grief/Mourning

Summary: There are many reasons why people may dislike storms. Maybe, like Kai, they find few things worse than being cold and wet. Or maybe, they dislike the eerie sounds of the whistling wind and booming thunder, like Cole. Or maybe, like Zane, they are concerned about the safety hazards. But for the other three members of the ninja team, storms offer a much more pleasant experience.

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Jay should have been sleeping.

He didn’t know what time it was, but it was late. The rest of his team had gone to sleep hours ago. He could tell by the sounds of their breath- Zane’s clear and even, Kai’s with a rougher edge that came from years of breathing in smoke at the forge, and Cole’s deep with a light snore to it.

The sounds brought him comfort, and Jay felt the tension in his shoulders from hunting down Serpentine all day ease up. It was funny, how, less than a year ago, he had slept in a trailer home in the middle of the desert, no one but his parents for miles around, and even then he had slept in his own room. But now, he was crammed in a small bedroom on the Destiny’s Bounty with three other teenage boys, and he couldn’t imagine life any other way.

Although, that life also included waking up early every morning and spending the better part of the day training and hunting Serpentine, meaning one ought to get a full night’s rest.

It wasn’t that Jay didn’t want to sleep. It had been a long day, and he was tired.

But he couldn’t. It was one of those nights where the wind whistled in the trees and the rain pattered against the windows. There was a dull ache in his left shoulder, the one that usually alluded to-

A flash of light illuminated the room, casting long shadows across the wall for an instant before it grew dark again.

Jay smiled. Lightning storm. Never failed.

Now he was even more awake though, the hair along his arm standing up. He sighed, pushing himself into a sitting position and dangling his feet over the edge of the bed. Groaning, he rolled his shoulders, and they popped. Making his way over to the ladder, he climbed down and tiptoed across the room, easing the door of their room shut behind him.

Thunder rumbled from outside, and as Jay reached a window, lightning lit up the dark ship again. He smiled, feeling excitement bubble in his chest. Storms had always given him an odd elation- although he guessed it wasn’t so weird now, knowing he was the Master of Lightning.

Not that he had succeeded in summoning any lightning without the Golden Nunchucks yet, but the point still stood. This was his element. This was where he was meant to be.

Peering out the window, he saw the rain looked to be fairly light, and decided to go outside. I’m already awake, why not?

As he walked down the hallway towards the doors leading out to the deck, he paused as voices filtered towards him. Curiously, he stepped forward, and froze at the sight of two figures.

Nya had a bath towel in her hands, wrapping it around Lloyd as she tried to dry him off. The kid was scowling, attempting to pull away from her and grumbling something about buzzkills.

“What are you guys doing up so late?”

“Jay!” Nya jumped, dropping the towel and giving Lloyd the opportunity to slip out of her grasp. “You scared me.”

“Sorry. I couldn’t sleep, ‘cause of the…” he waved his hand at the window, “‘cause of the storm.”

She smiled. “Me neither. And apparently,” she added with a grimace, “not this little guy either. Found him standing out in the rain looking like a drowned rat.”

“I did not look like a rat!” Lloyd insisted, stomping his foot.

“Oh, so the drowned part was right then?” Jay snickered. Lloyd shot him a hot glare, and Jay held up his hands. “Geez kid, I’m just joking.”

Lloyd huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. “I just wanted to be out in the storm. I like watching them.”

“I get that,” Jay told him. “I love watching the storms too. Especially when there’s some killer lightning bolts. I’ve got some great lightning pictures I’ll have to show you sometime.”

Lloyd’s eyes lit up. “Really?”

“He can show you tomorrow,” Nya insisted. “It’s two am, and it’s way past your bedtime.”

Jay winced. Geez, he really was going to be tired tomorrow morning, wasn’t he?

“But I didn’t even get to see the storm!” Lloyd whined. Turning to Jay, he added, “You’ll let me watch it with you, won’t you?”

Jay laughed nervously. Great, now the kid was trying to rope him into this to gain an advantage on Nya. No thanks.

…He did have a point, though. From the sounds of it, this was a big storm, and Jay wasn’t going to be able to fall asleep until it passed.

Nya must’ve guessed what he was thinking, because she sighed loudly. “I’ll let you stay up for half an hour more if you watch it from inside.”

“It’s not the same!” Jay and Lloyd burst out at the same time, then froze, glancing at each other. Jay broke into laughter at the look on the kid’s face, and, after a moment, Lloyd tentatively joined in too.

“C’mon, Nya, I’ll be with him. The Bounty is mostly sheltered, anyway. We’re not even flying! Let him out for a little while.”

Nya glared at him. “I don’t know how you talk me into these things.”

“Alright!” Jay whooped, high-fiving Lloyd.

“If he comes down with a cold, I am never forgiving you,” Nya muttered, reaching for her rain poncho. She handed Lloyd a spare one of theirs. “At least wear this.”

Lloyd wrinkled his nose at her, and she crossed her arms over her chest. “Wear it, or don’t go at all.”

Lloyd sighed, slipping it on, and Jay had to bite back a laugh. The poncho was much too big on him, coming down to his ankles like some sort of strange dress. Lloyd didn’t look very happy about it though, so Jay refrained from the teasing.

As the three of them trekked out onto the deck, gentle rainfall pattered across their ponchos, and Jay immediately felt himself relax, the stiffness in his shoulders easing. Lloyd perked up too, skipping over to the railing to peer over the side, trying to spot lightning in the distance. Even Nya began to smile, tilting her face up towards the rain.

“See?” Jay teased, elbowing her. “You like it too!”

“I like the rain,” she told him. “It doesn’t mean I have the sense to stand out in the middle of a thunderstorm.”

“I told you, we’ll be fine! It’s perfectly safe here! Stop being such a grouch and come on!” Hooking her by the elbow, he pulled her over to where Lloyd was standing at the railing.

“See any cool bolts, Lloydster?” Jay asked, leaning his elbows on the railing next to him.

Lloyd narrowed his eyes. “Not yet.”

“Well, keep looking. It’s when you’re not watching carefully that you miss all the cool ones.”

Lloyd’s eyebrows furrowed as he squinted at the sky, almost as if he was commanding it to do something. Jay laughed. “You have to be patient, Lloyd.”

“Lloyd doesn’t know what that is,” Nya snorted.

Lloyd bristled at that. “Hey!” he snapped as Jay burst into laughter. He elbowed Nya, hard, and she flinched back with a whine.

“Ow! Kid, that hurt!”

“Hey, don’t think just because I’m smaller than you, I’m not strong!”

“Duly noted,” Nya muttered, rubbing her side.

Lightning crackled down not too far off, leaping across the sky in spindly strands, the flash blazing across the sky. Lloyd’s eyes widened, but he didn’t flinch, not even as thunder boomed loudly, practically shaking the Bounty.

“Never seen a big storm like this, bud?” he asked, grinning up in awe at the light blazing in the sky.

“We weren’t allowed to go out without permission at Darkley’s. And the teachers never let us go at night. Some of the older boys snuck out anyway, but they never let me come with them.” Lloyd sighed, resting his chin on his hands. “I missed all the best storms.”

“Well, you’re in luck, bud, because I come out here to watch storms all the time! And you can join me anytime!” Nya shot him a look, and he quickly amended, “Well, before a reasonable hour, at least. This is a special occasion.”

Lloyd had an odd look on his face, but he smiled tentatively. “Thanks, Jay.”

“You’re pretty brave, out here in the storm like this. When I was your age, I remember always running to Kai’s room every time there was a storm.” She smiled, but her eyes were sad as she gazed off into the distance.

Lloyd shrugged. “I dunno, some of the other young kids at Darkley’s were scared of storms and tried to hide it… but I don’t think that’s me. I’ve never been afraid of them. I can’t really explain it, I just feel a connection.”

Something odd tingled in Jay’s chest, and he sensed a spark coming from the boy, a warm glow, like a soft, green-

Jay blinked, and the sensation passed. He must’ve just been imagining things again. Maybe it was his supposed “elemental powers” reacting to the storm. Jay didn’t understand what the point of feeling them was if he still couldn’t use them without his Golden Weapon.

“It’s dumb,” Lloyd muttered, kicking the ground sullenly.

“Hey, it’s not! I feel some sort of pull to the storm too!” Jay assured him.

“But you’re the Elemental Master of Lightning! That makes sense for you.”

“What about Nya?”

Lloyd turned to look at her, gaze questioning. “You feel it too?”

Nya closed her eyes. “The rain- it calms me. It patters across my skin, wiping all my thoughts and worries away, leaving just me and the storm, the gentle rumbles of thunder filling my mind.”

Lloyd smiled shyly at her. “You do get it.”

“I never thought it was an elemental thing, anyway,” Jay told him. “I’ve always felt this way- long before I found out I was an elemental master. Granted, we didn’t get many thunderstorms in the middle of the desert, more dust storms than anything… but when we did, it always felt special. Every time it stormed, I would always run to sit on the steps of our trailer- my mom wouldn’t let me go any further- and watch the lightning. I had a notebook, where I would sketch it, and once I got a little older my mom got me a camera and I started taking pictures. By the time I was seven, I could name pretty much every type of lightning formation and storm there was.”

Nya smiled. “I remember being pretty intrigued as well. Like I said, when I was young I was scared, but after a little while I realized that the things I feared were the things I didn’t understand. I checked out like, pretty much every book from the library on storms. And I made those little raincatcher things to measure rainfall, and placed them all over the place whenever we travelled to the city. Kai got annoyed whenever I dragged him all the way down there again the next day to check them all. He never understood my “experiments.” I mean, technically it was more of an analytical study, but… tell that to him.”

Lloyd looked out at the storm again as another lightning bolt flashed. “I wish someone had taken me out to see the storms when I was little.”

Nya elbowed him lightly. “You’re still little, silly.”

Lloyd puffed out his chest. “Am not! I’m getting taller and taller every day, and-”

“Okay, okay,” Nya laughed. “Cool it, big shot.”

Shortstack, Jay mouthed above his head, but apparently Lloyd still caught it, he realized quickly, as he was delivered a kick to the shin.

“Ow,” Jay whined. “Will you stop doing that? It’s a good thing you’re not a ninja, sheesh, or you’d be pummeling all our enemies before we could even get them to speak.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about, I’d be a great ninja!”

“Let’s not put that idea into his head,” Nya said hastily. “What I was trying to say was, your childhood isn’t over yet, Lloyd. We can take you out to see storms now.”

“Really?” He perked. “Like, all the time?”

“Well…” Nya hesitated. “A good night’s sleep is important. But it’s okay to stay up late once in a while.”

“Aww, I’m gonna get to watch so many cool storms from here! It’s a way better view than my tiny window back at Darkley’s. Or trapped in the Serpentine tombs, I couldn’t even see the sky then. Or when I was alone in the city streets-”

Nya and Jay exchanged a glance of horror. Jay swallowed. “Hey, um, Lloyd, maybe now isn’t the best time to discuss, uh… childhood trauma?”

Nya facepalmed, and Jay shot her a glare. Like you can do better. Sure, he knew he had all the tact of Kai high on Venomari venom, but what else was he supposed to say? ‘Sorry your childhood sucked so bad?’ Somehow, he didn’t think Lloyd would appreciate that.

Lloyd didn’t seem to be listening to them anyway, still babbling on even after Jay and Nya finished their intense glaring match. “D’you think Kai would like to watch the storm with us?”

Jay snorted. “Hard no, bud.”

Nya grinned. “He hates getting wet, Lloyd. You couldn’t lure him out here with the green ninja gi itself.” She paused. “Well, maybe you could with that. But not with anything else! He wouldn’t like it. And he would complain about it until you wanted to chop your ears off.”

“The others aren’t too big on storms,” Jay told him. “Kai’s a hydrophobe, Zane would just spend all his time harping about ‘safety’ and ‘taking proper shelter’ during a storm, and Cole complains that they’re too loud and throw off his focus, although- and you didn’t hear this from me- I think he’s just a big ‘fraidy cat.”

“In short, they think we’re weirdos. It’s their loss though, they’re missing all the cool views from out here.” She waved her hand at the sky as a barrage of lightning bolts showered down across the horizon, paling the sky as Lloyd gasped in amazement.

“Oh, that’s a sweet one!” Jay whooped, raising his phone and snapping a picture with it.

Nya eyed him. “Jay, if you keep that out in the rain, you’re going to end up wrecking it.”

“If I put it in my pocket I might miss all the cool pictures!”

Nya rolled her eyes. “Okay, but I’m not buying you a new one.”

“Can you show me all your lightning pictures when we go back inside, Jay?” Lloyd asked, dangling his arms over the edge of the railing.

“Can I? Oh man, I’ve got hundreds in there to show you-”

Nya cleared her throat, and Jay glanced down at the time on his phone. 3:12? Had they really been out here for over an hour already? He grinned sheepishly at Lloyd. “Maybe just a couple photos tonight. We can look at more tomorrow.”

“Alright, but you hafta promise to show me all the good-” Lloyd broke off in a big yawn, revealing his small, gleaming fangs, and Nya smiled softly at him.

“Think that’s our signal for bed, kid.”

“No! No, I’m not tired at all-” Lloyd slapped his hand over his mouth before he could yawn again.

“Hey, we let you stay up way past your bedtime, mister. You don’t get to complain now.”

“But I’m gonna miss the storm,” Lloyd whined, although he let Nya drag him back towards the doors by the arm.

“The storm’s beginning to pass now, anyway,” Jay assured, stretching a hand out as the raindrops began to lighten. “It’ll be back though, eventually.”

Lloyd grinned at him. “And we’ll be ready to watch it?”

“That we will, bud.” Jay reached forward, ruffling Lloyd’s hair. “That we will.”

---

After long days of stifling, dry heat, the evening rain came as a relief to everyone. Lloyd sat on the roof of the Brookstone residence, watching and feeling the rain pour down. He hoped Mr. Brookstone wouldn’t mind him sitting up here, he had been kind enough to let them stay with him until the repairs to the Destiny’s Bounty were complete, and Lloyd didn’t want to overstep his boundaries.

Lloyd felt like this cool summer storm was just what the city needed, not only because of the dryness, but because of the darkness that had scoured the streets here only nights before. The Overlord was gone- he had made sure of it- but he couldn’t shake the feeling of grime left in the city, and hoped the rain would be enough to cleanse it.

“We thought we’d find you up here.”

Lloyd glanced behind him to see Jay and Nya gingerly picking their way across the rooftop behind him, before plopping down into a sitting position beside him.

“See any cool lightning?” Jay asked.

“Not yet. All I’ve heard is a little thunder. It seems to be mostly rain.”

“Good,” Nya sighed, turning her face up to the sky as rivulets streamed down her face. “We need it.”

“How you doing, bud?”

It took Lloyd a moment to process that Jay was talking to him, and he turned to him, blinking. “What?”

Jay grinned. “Y’know, great and mighty ‘Master of Gold’ and all that- or have you already gotten over that? Too insignificant for you?”

“It’s ‘Golden Ninja,’ not ‘Master of Gold,’” Lloyd grumbled.

“Yeah, whatever. How you doin’? You just fought like, the biggest battle of your life a few days ago. You can’t tell me you’re not at least a little tired.”

“Speaking of which,” Nya frowned, tapping lightly at his bandaged leg, “You’re still supposed to be resting that for another two weeks. You shouldn’t be climbing up here. Or letting the cast sit out in the rain.”

“Here.” Jay pulled off his jacket, tossing it over Lloyd’s cast to keep it dry. “That’ll help. That way, you can stay out here for a little longer.”

Lloyd shot him a weak smile. “Thanks, Jay.”

Jay didn’t return it, watching him carefully. “You sure you’re okay?”

Lloyd lowered his head. “I’m fine. It’s just a lot to take in.”

“Sure is,” Jay whistled, rubbing at the gold silk of Lloyd’s gi. “It seems like just yesterday you were a little bratty, messy haired kid we were dragging, kicking and screaming, onto our ship.”

Lloyd rested his chin in his hands. “Feels both like yesterday, and a million years ago. So much has changed since then. I feel like a completely different Lloyd, now.”

“One thing hasn’t though.”

He looked up at Nya. “What’s that?”

“You’re still our heart-of-gold little brother.” She slung an arm around his shoulder. “Nothing, not some prophecy, not the tea, not the Overlord, not even your special, shiny new powers are going to change that. Ever.”

“I know,” he whispered, leaning into her. He felt Jay wrap a hand around his other side, and, for a moment, just let himself be held.

“We’re proud of you,” Nya murmured after a moment. “I know it hasn’t been easy getting this far, but now, thanks to you, all of Ninjago is safe.”

He leaned back slightly, elbowing both of them. “Yeah, well I couldn’t have done any of it without you guys.”

“You big sap,” Jay laughed, ruffling his hair.

Lloyd felt a grin split his face, shoving Jay’s hand off. “Well, it’s true! If it weren’t for you guys, I’d probably be in Pythor’s stomach right now.”

Nya choked a laugh. “Thanks for that grim reminder.”

“What, you forgot about Pythor?” Jay teased.

Nya shrugged. “I didn’t forget, just… compared to the Overlord, Pythor seems much less intimidating, now.”

“That could partially be due to the fact that he’s probably half-digested inside the gut of a giant, dead snake.”

“Ewww!” Nya jabbed him, hard. “Lloyd, that’s disgusting. Ugh, now I’m not going to be able to get that image out of my head all night.”

“Hey, better him there than here,” Jay said, leaning back to lay on the roof, letting raindrops sprinkle his face. “After all the training and fighting we’ve done over the last few months, I just want a break from villains.”

Lloyd shot him a glare. “We’ve done? Last time I checked, it was me doing most of the training.”

Jay sat up again, sputtering. “Hey! The rest of us weren’t exactly sitting on our bums, were we? Back when you were just a little sprout, we were the ones busy saving Ninjago! And who taught you everything you know, hmmm? You weren’t an easy student, you know that, right?”

Lloyd laughed. “Okay, buddy.”

“Don’t you ‘okay, buddy’ me! If it weren’t for me, you’d still be shattering all our lightbulbs! Remember who taught you to control the lightning!”

Lloyd blinked at him, pretending to look thoughtful. “I thought that was Nya.”

“Nya?! I’m the Elemental Master of lightning!”

Nya laughed, knocking her leg gently against his. “Stop messing with him, dude. Let him have this one.”

Lloyd mockingly rolled his eyes. “Yeah, alright.”

Silence fell between them, but it was a comfortable one. Lloyd closed his eyes, cherishing the feeling of rain dripping through his hair and the warmth of his friends at his side.

It was funny how something so horrible had brought him to these people, this moment- something he would never give up for the world.

“Do you think the Overlord’s really gone?”

That remark earned him two very shocked glances.

“Where did that come from?” Nya spluttered.

“Why wouldn’t he be?” Jay agreed. “You defeated him. We all saw it.”

Lloyd shook his head. “Yeah, I know, it’s just… if the Overlord’s dead… my father is cleansed of the venom… and the Serpentine are good now… where does that leave us?”

Jay and Nya exchanged a glance. “What do you mean?”

“Things are so different, now. I’m not even the green ninja anymore. I’m wearing-” he tugged at his golden gi, “this. Being a ninja is the one place I’ve felt like I really belong, but if the world is at peace now, where are a bunch of ninja and a Samurai supposed to fit into it? It’s crazy, how we’ve spent the last months- the rest of you guys, over a year- training for this one big moment. And now it’s over. What happens next? What happens to us?”

“There’s no way to tell the future, Lloyd,” Jay murmured. “We won’t know until it’s here. The world is going to change around us- people will change, circumstances will change, our lives will change. But do you know what won’t change? Us. We might look different in the future. Act different, live different, I don’t know. But this group- this family- is never going to change. This-” he gestured at the sky above them, “is never going to change. Do you remember how, before your green ninja training got so intense and demanding, we would always go out to watch storms together? And yet, even after all those months, your first instinct was to come back to it again. Those kinds of things don’t just go away.”

“Jay’s right,” Nya agreed. “This is always going to be our special thing. Just like we are your special people. Time can’t erode memories. It can’t erode love.”

Lloyd smiled, as lightning cracked across the sky in the distance. “You’re right. The future is open to us. No matter what happens next, nothing can change who we are.”

---

Nya flopped over on the armchair, sighing.

It had been a long night.

After a villain had been defeated, Nya always looked forward to coming home, back to the Bounty, and just sleeping for about fourteen hours straight.

That hadn’t happened this time.

Even just coming home to the Bounty hadn’t been as warm and welcoming as it usually was. The hallways had felt empty, desolate, the rooms lifeless, and their bedroom bare except for the few things her and Lloyd had left behind- the rest of the guys’ beds made unnaturally neat and spotless, as if no one had slept in them for months.

Which, they hadn’t.

As the guys had filed in, she had tried to focus on the fact that they were here now, not the emptiness they had left behind in those months after Zane had died. Even Lloyd, who had been the only one to stay with her, had felt distant and standoffish in those days, hardly speaking to her or anyone else.

Ushering everyone off to bed had been a whole other fiasco. All the guys that had left had taken a moment to adjust back into the Bounty again, but Zane had been the worst. He had spent a long time just walking around the ship, staring at things and saying nothing. Poor Lloyd had been shaken about losing his father- after a while, Cole had insisted on sitting with him instead so that she could go check on Kai- who had still been trembling from Chen’s staff. It had taken her hours to get him to drift off.

She knew that she better head to her bed soon- if she didn’t sleep herself, Cole would come to chew her out- but she wanted to make sure everyone was staying asleep before she did. It would be just like them to get out of bed as soon as she was asleep.

She must have drifted off at some point though, because when she blinked open her eyes again, the gentle patter of rain sounded against the side of the Bounty. Lightning illuminated the room, and she stretched, getting out of the chair and walking over to the window.

As she reached out to close the curtains, though, she noticed the deck lights of the Bounty were on. Frowning, she pulled open the doors and walked outside.

Jay and Lloyd were leaning on the railing, staring at the sky. Neither of them spoke, but their elbows bumped together comfortingly. Nya felt a flash of frustration that Lloyd had managed to sneak out of bed already.

“Hey, I can’t believe you guys came out here without me,” she teased, walking over to stand on the other side of Lloyd. “This is our thing.”

Lloyd shrugged. “Sorry. You were sleeping.”

Nya narrowed her eyes. “You were supposed to be, too.”

“I was-” he yelped at the glare Nya shot him. “I swear! I was! But the storm woke me up.”

She sighed, letting it drop. For now.

“What are you guys thinking about?”

Lloyd shifted on his feet. “My dad-”

“Griffin Turner,” Jay said at the same time.

Nya and Lloyd looked at him. “...What?”

Jay blushed slightly. “The Elemental Master of Speed? From the Tournament?”

Lloyd snorted, and Nya rolled her eyes. “We know who he is, Jay. Why are you thinking about him?”

“Speed is a dumb element. Y’know, I wouldn’t even really consider it an element. Like- he can run fast. So what? The elements are supposed to help you create stuff. Speed isn’t a tangible thing you can make.”

Lloyd laughed. “You’re still upset about that, Jay?”

“What? It doesn’t make any sense! Like, speed isn’t an element, it’s an ability. Like, you know how Cole’s the Elemental Master of Earth and has super strength, right? Makes sense. So, shouldn’t, say, an Elemental Master of Lightning, be super fast?”

“Oh, I see what this is about,” Nya grinned, leaning over to poke Jay in the arm as Lloyd dissolved into giggles. “Someone’s jealous.”

“I am not jealous! I just think that it makes a lot more sense that an elemental master who possesses the power of lightning, which is made of light, literally the fastest thing in the universe, should be the fast one, not some random dude who claims his element is ‘speed.’ Like, that’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard! He’s not a true elemental master if you ask me.”

“Someone’s still upset about my father saying he wasn’t special,” Lloyd whispered loudly into Nya’s ear, and she slapped a hand over her mouth, trying to contain her laughter, as Jay kicked Lloyd’s ankle.

“It is interesting, though,” she admitted after they had all calmed down a little bit. “That there are others like you. I thought you five were the only ones in the world with powers like this… but elemental masters of Shadow? Metal? Nature? It’s crazy to think how many people there were that were just like you guys living in Ninjago with us, and we never even noticed.”

“Well, not just like us,” Jay muttered. “We are the four elements of creation… and Lloyd’s the Elemental Master of Energy, so we’re hardly comparable to their sub-par elements…”

Lloyd elbowed Jay in the ribs, and he yelped. “Yeah, it is kind of crazy… and it makes me wonder. Did every elemental master in existence decide to come to the tournament? What if there were more, ones that saw through Chen’s tricks and didn’t attend?”

Jay’s eyes widened. “Oh, I’m sure there aren’t more-”

Nya grinned, winking at Lloyd. “Oh yeah, wouldn’t that be awesome? What do you think they could be? Maybe Master of Space? Wood?”

“Maybe Silver! Or Plasma! Water?” He paused, frowning. “Actually, I’m surprised there wasn’t a Master of-”

“Let’s not get outrageous, here,” Jay insisted. “What do you need those for? Lightning is plasma, and frankly those others just sound useless-”

Nya snapped her fingers. “What about a Master of Crystal? Or, I know, a Master of Thunder!”

“Okaaaay, people, now we’re just laying it on me!” Jay snapped. “Thunder is stupid! Storms are my thing!”

“I dunno, Jay, I think it could be cool. What do you think, Lloyd?”

“Oh yeah, that would be awesome-”

He was interrupted by a loud bang of thunder, and Lloyd and Nya burst into laughter.

“Looks like the universe agrees with us, Jay!”

“Are you kidding? If anything, that was showing that it disagrees with you!”

Lloyd smiled, slinging an arm around his shoulders. “Relax, big shot, we’re kidding. No one could ever replace you.”

“Hey, you don’t get to call me that! Only we can call you big shot.”

Lloyd looked at Nya, and she nodded. “He’s right. You’re the only big shot around here.”

Lloyd whined. “You guys keep saying that like it’s a good thing but I feel like it’s supposed to be offensive.”

Nya laughed, and Jay ruffled his hair. “Don’t worry your pretty little head about it, big shot.”

Lloyd narrowed his eyes at him. “Stop that.”

“Make me.”

Nya pushed the two apart as they broke into a scuffle, rolling her eyes. “Guys, stoppit, you’re going to miss the lighting.”

They stopped at that, turning their gazes up to the sky as a bolt shot across the night, fizzling out at the end. Smiling, the three of them leaned forward on the railing, watching as the light show commenced.

---

Nya loved the rain.

The rain was carefree, playful- it took away a need for words, for thoughts, for worries. The rain didn’t bother with such frivolous things. It just was.

She hadn’t understood the tingle under her skin, however, every time rain was about to come, the slight ache in her bones leading up to every storm. These things had finally been made clear when she had found out that she was the next Elemental Master of Water- but everything else had become foggier.

Now she didn’t know who she was, what she was meant to be, what was supposed to become of Samurai X, if she would ever be able to truly fit in with the ninja group-

And most of all, she didn’t know how she was going to get her little brother back.

Right now, she hated the rain.

It was cold and heavy and grim- it only served as a reminder that she had failed. Her element was the one thing that could get Lloyd back, and she couldn’t even control it.

“Hey. I’ve been looking for you.”

Nya jumped nearly a foot in the air at Jay’s voice, and he put a hand on her shoulder, smiling sheepishly. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” The smile quickly faded as he got a better look at her. “Geez, Nya, you’re trembling.”

“Am I?” She hadn’t even noticed.

“Here.” Slipping off his jacket, he wrapped it tightly around her, before pulling her into a hug. For a moment, Nya let herself relax against him, the steady beat of his heart soothing her.

“How’s Cole doing?” she asked after a moment. She had hoped her talk with him earlier had helped- although the Earth Ninja had still seemed to be upset about his new, ghostly form. Not that she blamed him.

Jay was quiet for a moment. “He’s hanging in there.”

Nya squeezed her eyes shut. Wasn’t one teammate to worry about more than enough? Why did destiny seem to throw everything on them all at once?

“Hey, you’re wearing your gi.”

“Huh?” Nya blinked her eyes open, glancing down at the maroon and blue garment she was wearing. “Oh. Yeah. Sensei said I should wear it now.”

Jay grinned. “I take it your training is going well, then?”

Nya shrugged, looking away.

“Hey.” Jay took her hand. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s going okay, I guess. I’m a lot better than I was. But I’m still nowhere near the level of you guys.”

“Are you kidding? We wouldn’t expect you to be! Nya, it’s only been a few weeks since you started training. Me and the guys have been at it for years, and were training for several months before we even got a decent handle on our powers. You’re doing great so far.”

“Yeah, but, it’s not enough. And we don’t have months. I need to be a good Master of Water now.”

Jay’s expression softened. “Nya… we’ll find a way to save him. With or without your powers.”

“I just…” she stopped, gulping back a sob. “I just wish I could be more useful.”

“Me too.”

Lightning spit the sky overhead, followed by a mighty rumble of thunder. They watched it, but there was no joy in it this time around.

It wasn’t the same without Lloyd.

She wasn’t sure how much time had passed when Jay wrapped an arm around her, murmuring, “Nya, you’re freezing. Let’s get you inside.”

She went without any protest. After all, the storm had nothing to offer her, anymore.

---

The storm that night was gentle, which Lloyd was grateful for.

Nya and Jay had assured that they’d be perfectly fine not going out- in fact, they didn’t want to- a lie, they just didn’t want Lloyd to feel left out.

They thought he didn’t want to go out. They thought he was forcing himself to go just because he wanted them to go and he wanted to go with them. But that wasn’t the case. Lloyd really did want to go outside. Morro had stolen so much from him- his family, his mind, his control, his own body- he wasn’t about to allow him to take his love for the storms, too.

So what if storms were filled with the same howling winds that reminded Lloyd of him, the sensation of the breeze reminding him of the chill across his spine as the ghost slipped into his body?

Lloyd wanted to do this. He really did.

He was just… scared.

“You sure you wanna do this, green machine?” Nya’s voice, a hand on his shoulder.

Lloyd nodded stiffly. “If I don’t step out of these doors now, I never will.” Without giving himself any time to change his mind, he leaned forward and pulled open the doors.

Immediately, he was sprinkled with rain, and stepped further out, letting the droplets wash over him.

Then a breeze hit him, and he clenched his teeth, curling his fists into balls.

It’s okay. You’re in the rain. The rain will protect you from ghosts. Jay and Nya are here, too. They will protect you from ghosts.

As if to solidify his point, Nya slipped her hand into his, and he squeezed it back, forcing himself to take long, slow breaths- in and out, in and out, in and out.

“Bud?” Jay put a hand on his back. “You good? You don’t have to do this. We can go inside. Try another time.”

Lloyd shook his head. Breathing out slowly, he took a shaky step forward- then another, and another. Winds tickled past him as he walked, but he ignored them, every step his confidence building until he stopped in front of the railing of the Bounty.

He watched the dark sky, holding his breath, waiting.

Nothing came.

He bit his lip. He needed this. He needed to know that the spark was still there, that Morro hadn’t taken it away-

Suddenly, a blazing warmth glowed in his chest, and Lloyd smiled- just as a mighty burst of lightning shattered the night sky.

He still had it.

A warm weight pressed in on either side of him as Jay and Nya joined him at the railing, the lightning illuminating their faces so that they almost seemed to glow.

They were here now. They would keep him safe.

Things weren’t okay, not yet. Far from it. But he had taken a step today. And he would continue to take steps until things were okay again, and his family was going to be beside him every step of the way.

Morro was gone now. It was about time Lloyd stopped letting him win.

---

Lightning flashed.

Nya, in his arms, limp and weak, the light fading in her eyes. The green venom splashed across her dress.

Thunder boomed.

Nadakhan, standing over him, laughing as he waved the Djinn Blade at him- the one that had trapped all his friends, the one that had left him all alone. He was the last one left.

No, he reminded himself firmly, squeezing Nya’s hand tighter. I’m not alone. Nya’s not dead. She’s right here next to me. All the others are safely sleeping inside the Bounty. I stopped him. He’s gone now.

Nya glanced at him. “You okay?”

He sniffed, wiping at his nose with the hand that wasn’t firmly gripping Nya’s. “Honestly? Not really.”

Nya looked up at the sky. “Me neither.”

“I’d thought I’d lost you.”

She turned back, letting her fingers skirt his jawline. “I know. I’m sorry. But you didn’t. I’m here now. It’s all over.”

Jay breathed out, leaning his head on her shoulder. For a long time, they just stood there, staring out at the storm, saying nothing.

“Beautiful night for a stargaze, isn’t it?”

He turned to see Lloyd walking towards them, grinning as he gestured at the stormy skies above them.

Nya rolled her eyes at him, and Lloyd tossed his head in her direction, his sopping wet hair spattering her with water. Not that it made a difference in all the rain.

“Normally I’m the one who has insomnia-inducing nightmares and doesn’t sleep,” he teased, pushing his way between them to lean on the railing.

Jay caught Nya muttering something about “joking about childhood trauma” and “we should all go see a therapist,” and the alarmingly cheerful grin Lloyd shot her made Jay think she might have a point.

“Who told you we had nightmares?” Jay asked.

“Jay, most people don’t come outside in the pouring rain, in the middle of a thunderstorm no less, at three am in the morning just for the fun of it.”

Jay grinned. “Yeah, well we’re not ‘most people.’”

Lloyd shook his head, smiling. “It’s okay, you don’t have to talk about it. I just thought I would join you.”

“What about you,” Nya probed. “Why are you up this late?”

“Couldn’t sleep,” he said simply, his lips popping on the p. When they stared at him, he blinked. “What? It’s because of the storm!”

Nya rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah.”

“Hey, If you don’t have to talk about it, I don’t either. Besides, that wasn’t a complete lie. Look.” Lloyd held out his arm for them both to see. It looked like a perfectly normal arm to Jay, but Lloyd was looking at them expectantly. “Feel it.”

Nya raised an eyebrow at him.

“Just do it,” he insisted.

Jay reached forward, pressing his fingers against Lloyd’s forearm-

And promptly jerked back as it vibrated beneath his touch.

“Woah.”

Seeing the look on his face, Nya quickly reached forward, her eyes widening as she pulled back. “What is that? Why are you buzzing?”

“I think it’s the storm,” Lloyd said. “My powers must be reacting to it. Sensing the lightning.”

“Does it hurt?” Jay asked.

He shook his head. “No, just tingles a little bit.”

“I didn’t even know you could do that,” Nya whispered, running her fingers along his arm again.

“I couldn’t. Not up until recently. This only just started happening.”

“Woah. Like a built-in storm sensor. Now you’re like us! I can feel a bit of a tingle when there’s a lightning storm on the way, and I know Nya can feel the rain coming. Ours aren’t quite as obvious as yours, though.” He gestured to Lloyd’s arm.

Lloyd examined his arm. “That’s awesome.”

Nya snorts. “Not so awesome when it wakes you up every time there’s a thunderstorm.”

Lloyd gave her a gentle shove. “Stop trying to blame it on that. I know you were already awake anyway.”

Nya snorted, looking away.

Lloyd frowned. “You guys sure you’re okay?”

Jay nudged him. “We’ll be fine, green bean. We always are.”

Jay watched him, wondering if he would probe further. But he simply nodded. “Okay. I trust you.”

Jay smiled. That was one of the things he liked best about Lloyd.

Sometimes, silence said more than words.

---

Rain pattered against the glass doors. Lloyd glanced up from where he was sitting on the too-large bed.

The royal family’s hospitality was greatly appreciated, but the room was so big. Lloyd wasn’t used to having so much space, or such fancy things- he wasn’t even used to having his own room. The six of them crowded into the little cabin on the Destiny’s Bounty was the only thing he had known for a long time.

He wanted to get out.

Walking over to the balcony doors, Lloyd pushed them open, quickly pulling them closed again behind him, so as not to let the rain in.

Walking over to the railing, he hopped up, sitting on it and letting his feet dangle over the edge. The bedroom might not have been his taste, but the view of the city from here was absolutely breathtaking. Lights were scattered throughout the dark landscape like reflections of the stars above, and the rain created a light, pooling mist that shrouded the city in an air of mystery and wonder.

He couldn’t have been sitting there for more than half an hour when Jay and Nya suddenly dropped in next to him from seemingly out of nowhere. Lloyd jumped, gripping the railing below him tightly as he narrowly avoided falling the very long drop to the city streets below.

“Geez, guys, don’t sneak up on me like that. How did you even get here?”

Nya winked at him. “It’s a ninja’s secret.”

Lloyd felt his nose wrinkle. That doesn’t make any sense. “I’m a ninja, too. Doesn’t that mean I should get to know the secret, too?”

Nya shook her head. “Sorry, green machine, that’s not how it works.”

Lloyd sputtered at her. “What do you mean that’s not how it works? How else would it work?”

“That part’s a secret.”

He threw up his hands. “You’re impossible.” “Nya Smith,” she grinned, shouldering him playfully. “Tormenting brothers since the day I was born.”

“I’ll say.”

“Hey, you weren’t even there for most of it! Kai had it way worse than you.”

“Trust me, you’ve more than made up for it.”

“Oh, come on, I know I’m actually your favorite sister.”

“You’re my only sister.”

“Ouch. Hit it where it hurts, why don’t ya?”

“You walked right into that one, and you know it.”

The three of them burst into laughter, and even as the sounds faded, they still sat with massive grins on their faces, swinging their legs back and forth gently, occasionally kicking at someone else if their feet accidentally knocked against each other. Jay got a little too aggressive in one of his attempts and nearly knocked Lloyd off the balcony for the second time that night. Lloyd shot him a glare, and Jay at least had the sense to look sheepish.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve done this,” Jay murmured after a while. “Just the three of us, standing out in the rain, watching the storm.”

Lloyd sighed. “Yeah, well, it’s been a long couple of years.”

“You can say that again,” Nya agreed.

They fell silent again, and Lloyd felt bad for pitching the air into a grim mood. He was struggling to think of something more lighthearted to say, when Jay suddenly spoke up.

“So… about the princess…”

Lloyd immediately changed his mind. The grim mood was fine.

“What about her,” he mumbled, even as he felt his face turn cherry red.

“Oh, he totally likes her,” Jay gushed, reaching a hand behind his back to give Nya a gentle shove in the shoulder. “I told you!”

Nya snorted. “Have you even talked to her yet?”

“A bit,” he insisted, indignantly. Then, realizing he had answered too defensively, he quickly amended, “But it’s not like that.”

“Suuure,” Jay laughed. “That’s what they all say at the beginning.”

“She’s the princess! Even if I did have feelings for her, it’s not like something could ever work between us.”

“Yeah,” Nya agreed. “The stuffy, rich type? Not a fan. She’s probably not good enough for you. You can do better.”

“What?” Lloyd sputtered. “No, that’s not what I meant- not like that! I mean, she’s not like that!”

Jay snickered at how flustered he was getting, and Lloyd elbowed him in the ribs.

“How do you know? You’ve known her for like, what, a day?”

“Ooh, she got you there, green machine.”

Jay’s remark earned him another jab in the ribs, and he yelped. “Would you stop doing that?”

Lloyd ignored him. “It’s not like you’ve known her any longer than I have. You have no more idea what she’s like than I do.”

Nya shrugged. “All I’m saying is that she’d have to be one hell of a girl to even come close to being worthy of you.”

“Nya!” Lloyd cried, ducking his head as both of his friends went for a hair ruffle. “Stop it, you guys! I’m not a little kid anymore!”

“You’re right, you’re not,” Nya sighed. “I could hardly believe my eyes when I got back from searching for Master Wu. You were a good two inches taller than the last time I saw you, at least, and your hair was longer, done differently-” “Don’t forget his deep, manly voice,” Jay chimed in. “I’m so upset I missed the voice cracking phase!”

“I’m not,” Lloyd muttered.

“Jay, look at this boy,” Nya gushed, grabbing Lloyd’s face between her hands. “Can you believe this is the nine-year-old we snatched up off the street all those years ago?” “Never in a million years,” Jay laughed. “Look how handsome he’s gotten.”

“Guys!” Lloyd cried, pulling away from them. “Stop being embarrassing!”

“Lloyd, you’re our baby brother,” Jay teased. “It’s our job to embarrass you.”

Both of his friends leaned against him, laughing- only to jerk back a moment later with a yelp.

“Lloyd!” Jay shrieked. “What was that?”

Lloyd blinked at him. “What was what?”

“Didn’t you feel that?” Nya stared at him with wide eyes. “It was like we were shocked or something!”

“Oh.” Lloyd lifted his hands up from where they were resting on the railing, holding them up for Jay and Nya to see- revealing the small zaps of green energy sparking from them, occasionally arcing between his fingers. “I guess that was me. Sorry.”

Jay blinked owlishly at his hands. “What the… you’re not doing that on purpose, are you?”

Lloyd shook his head. “It’s happened before, while you guys were gone. I think it has to do with the storm.”

“Your powers really are getting stronger,” Jay murmured, taking one of Lloyd’s hands- prepared for the small shock this time- and examining it.

“And your eyes,” Nya breathed.

They both looked at her. “What about them?” Lloyd asked.

“They’re flickering.”

“What?”

“Lemme see.” Lloyd turned his head to look at Jay, and the blue ninja sucked in his breath. “They are.”

Lloyd frowned. “That is new.”

“It’s cool,” Jay gushed. “I wish I could do that.”

Lloyd shrugged. “I’m not sure it’s really that great. Now I can accidentally shock all my friends, hooray.”

“But think of using it on enemies! You’d be like, a human taser!”

“Jay, you’re our human taser.”

He grinned. “Oh. Right.”

“It does look pretty cool,” Nya admitted. “Kind of like those glow-in-the-dark star things you would stick on your ceiling as a kid.”

“I had some of those!” Jay yelped. “They were awesome.”

“Of course you did.” Nya rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. “I wanted some, but we never really had a budget for it, so I checked out some star atlases from the library instead.”

“When did your eyes turn green, by the way,” Jay asked. “I had gotten so used to them being red.”

Lloyd shrugged. “I dunno, sometime while you were gone, I guess. I wasn’t really keeping track of the days.”

“How convenient for you.” Jay poked a finger near his eye. “Are you sure these aren’t just colored contacts? Is someone trying to bluff about his powers?”

“Jay!” Lloyd suddenly tried to lurch towards him, but he felt something grab him from behind.

“Run, Jay! I can’t hold him back forever!” “No one’s holding me back!” he muttered at her, but Jay was already vanishing over the roof’s peak, nothing but a blur of blue on the dark night sky.

“This isn’t over, Jay! No one calls me a fraud and gets away with it!”

“Settle down, Killer,” Nya giggled. “You know when you’ve been bested.”

“But I’m the green ninja,” Lloyd pouted.

“Yes, and you’re also the baby.”

“Am not!”

“Are so! Now, get to bed. It’s late, and you don’t want to be too tired to guard the princess tomorrow.”

Lloyd narrowed his eyes at her. “I’m too old for bedtimes. You can’t tell me what to do.”

“Maybe not, but you’re going to listen to me anyway.” Darting forward, she snuck in a quick hair ruffle before darting up onto the roof.

“That’s only because I care about the princess’s safety!” he called after her.

“Sure, keep telling yourself that.”

Before Lloyd could reply, the thunder boomed loudly, drowning him out, and by the time it passed, she was gone.

“Traitor storm,” Lloyd muttered, and the sky rumbled cheerily back at him.

---

The rain was heavy that night, so much so that Nya was soaked within seconds, her long, black strands of hair sopping wet, the dampness causing the ends to curl. Her dirty, worn, battle-stained gi was plastered to her skin, but she couldn’t bring herself to care.

After all, how could such a small discomfort even hold a candle to the scalding pain in her chest?

How could any of this had happened? How could she just have gotten Lloyd back from the icy grips of death, only to lose everyone else to those same, prying hands?

She hadn’t wanted to believe it. When Lloyd had come back, soaking wet and shivering from the rain, the most defeated look on his face Nya had ever seen in her life-

She had been angry with him, at first. How could he tell her something like that? How could he send her whole world crashing down with a single sentence? How could he have watched as everything had gone so wrong? She had known that it wasn’t his fault, not at all. But she hadn’t known what she was feeling or how she had been supposed to handle it.

And as quickly as it had come, the anger had vanished, giving in to horrible, nauseating despair. They were gone. They were really gone.

She had hugged Lloyd tight, crying into him until Misako and Pixal had dragged them away, bringing them to a small, abandoned warehouse where they had spent the night. And the next night. And the next.

Not that time really felt to be passing anymore. It was so quiet, with only her, Lloyd, Pixal, Misako, and Dareth- and Pixal and Lloyd had hardly spoken a word, to her or anyone, since that night.

She knew they were grieving too- but maybe the thing they all needed most right now was someone to talk to.

She tilted her face up slightly, letting the raindrops slip down her face and mingle with her tears, washing them away.

“You shouldn’t be up here.”

Nya glanced over her shoulder, letting out her breath. “Lloyd.”

“We’re trying to stay hidden, remember? We can’t risk standing up here and being spotted by the Colossus or the Sons of Garmadon. You should come inside.”

“I will in a minute.”

They stood there in silence for a moment, nothing but the sound of rain splashing against the concrete and the distant rumble of thunder between them.

“Come here,” Nya waved at the empty space beside her. “Watch the storm with me.”

Lloyd hugged his arms over his chest. “Nya, we really shouldn’t be up here.”

“Just do it for a minute. Then we’ll go inside, I promise.”

Lloyd sighed, before reluctantly walking over to join her, resting his elbows on the railing of the rooftop terrace. The view of the storm wasn’t anything special from here- in fact, it was rather poor, with several tall buildings blotting out the view of the sky- but they weren’t really in a situation to be picky.

She liked this better, anyway- looking directly at the storm would be too painful.

“How can you do it?”

Lloyd’s voice startled her- based on the way the last couple days had been going, she hadn’t expected him to speak to her unless absolutely necessary.

“What?”

Lloyd grimaced, as if he was anxious to elaborate. “Why do you still want to be out here? Why do you still want to watch the storm?” He dropped his gaze, carefully avoiding her as his voice faded to a soft whisper. “Everything just reminds me of them.”

Nya turned her gaze back towards the city. “Exactly, it reminds me of him.” Softer, she added, “It’s all I have left.”

Lloyd was quiet for a long time after that, and when she finally turned her gaze back to him, his eyes were hard. Pushing back from the railing and blinking back tears, he snapped, “Jay’s gone. Forever. They all are.”

Before she could respond, he was darting back inside, and Nya put her head down, sighing.

Jay, I wish you were here. You would know how to make him feel better.

But he wasn’t. Lloyd was right, they were gone. All he had right now was Nya, and, standing there, drenched and shivering and pathetic, she wasn’t sure how much help she could really be to anyone.

Thunder rumbled overhead, and Nya glanced up. She hoped, if he wouldn’t listen to anyone else, he would at least listen to the storm.

---

Three pairs of footsteps drummed against the deck of the Destiny’s Bounty. Jay leaned his head over, letting the wind blow his wet curls, as he whooped happily, his cry echoing in the night air.

“Aww, girl, it’s so good to have you back,” he sighed dreamily, brushing the side of the ship with his hand.

Lloyd grinned at him, rolling his eyes. “Alright, Jay, we’re as happy as you are to have the Bounty back, but don’t make this weird.”

“He’s just anxious for the next repair,” Nya laughed. “He’s been driving me crazy trying to fix random things around the Monastery. The training bots, the mechs, even the toaster. And nothing’s even broken! He’s just making it worse.”

“Hey! It’s not my fault there’s nothing for me to do! I’m not just going to sit around and do nothing.”

“Well, hopefully, she won’t need any fixing for a long, long time,” Lloyd said. “The Bounty’s been damaged enough to last a lifetime. After the Colossus, I thought she was gone for good.”

“I know,” Nya agreed. “I’m so impressed that the city was able to rebuild it exactly the same!”

“Well, I’m sure it’s not exactly the same,” Jay argued. “There’s gotta be some issue somewhere, right? Something I can fix?” Nya waved a hand at him, laughing. “Don’t worry, Jay. We’ll find something for you to do.”

“Well, it will have to wait until later,” Lloyd announced, pointing towards the clouds in the distance that were sparking with lightning. “We’ve almost arrived at the storm!”

As they got closer, Nya locked in the steering, and the three of them headed towards the front of the ship as the Bounty sailed deeper into the storm.

Quickly, the rain began falling harder, and thunder echoed in their ears.

“Now this is how you stormgaze right!” Jay cried, laughing as rain fell on his face and lightning illuminated his bright blue eyes, his powers sparking between his fingers.

Glancing back at Lloyd and Nya, he saw both were sporting large grins. Lloyd was also sparking, his green eyes glowing, and as Nya reached her arms out, raindrops swirled around her.

After a bit of the adrenaline had worn off, Lloyd leaned against the railing of the Bounty, throwing his head back to toss the strands of wet hair out of his face.

“The others are not going to be happy about us taking the Bounty for a joyride right through a storm when they’re trying to sleep,” he laughed.

“It’ll be the last time they sleep in the Bounty for a while,” Nya agreed. “I bet they’re wishing they decided to stay back at the much more peaceful Monastery right about now.”

Jay put a hand over his mouth, sniggering. “I bet we only have like five minutes before Kai comes storming out here, demanding that we turn the ship around this instant.”

Lloyd shot him a sharp grin. “No, he’d never want to come out here and get all wet.”

Nya giggled. “Yeah, he’ll just stare at us through the windows, giving us death glares.”

Lloyd choked so violently that he doubled over, grabbing onto Nya’s shoulder for support. The water ninja tried to help him, but she was laughing hard herself. Jay grinned at them, struggling to breathe in between laughs.

“Can… you… imagine… the look on his face?” he wheezed, wiping tears from his eyes.

The hair standing up on the back of his neck was the only warning Jay had before a lightning bolt whizzed down less than ten feet away from him.

Shrieks sounded from the others as they leapt back, just as the edge of the Bounty burst into flames. Nya quickly directed two jets of water at the fire as Lloyd and Jay scrambled out of her way. When the last spark was gone, she stopped, breathing heavy, staring at the burnt area in shock.

Suddenly, she whipped around, glaring at him. “What the heck, Jay? You were supposed to be warding off the lightning!”

“It’s not my fault!” he shrieked. “You’re the one who distracted me!”

While the two of them shot each other smoldering glares, Lloyd walked over to one of the storage crates being kept on the deck, and pushed it over to the burned area, trying to cover up the charred floor the lightning had left.

“If one of us gets struck by lightning,” Nya warned, “Zane will never let us outside again.”

Jay waved her off. “It’s fine. I’m probably like, immune to lightning or something, and I’m willing to bet Lloyd is too, since he’s shown connections to my powers and the storms in the past. So long as you don’t get struck, we’re probably fine.”

Nya rolled her eyes. “Well, that’s reassuring.”

“Yeah, Jay,” Lloyd agreed, scratching the back of his neck. “There’s a few too many ‘probablys’ in that statement for my liking.”

“Oh, come on,” he grinned. “I’ve already got Zane and Cole on my back about everything 24/7. You guys are supposed to be the fun ones!”

“Hey,” Nya said, “I’m not making you do anything. You’re a young man. You can do what you want. Just don’t blame me if you end up comatose in the medbay because your brain got fried by lightning.”

“That would be ironic,” Lloyd snorted, and Jay elbowed him.

“You’d at least visit me, right?”

Nya shrugged. “Maybe. If you were stupid enough to get struck by lightning, I don’t know if you’d deserve that.”

Lloyd laughed. “Better luck next time, buddy.”

“You shut up. You could jump off the side of the ship right now, and she’d spend a week crying over you.”

Nya bit back a smile. “Maybe. But don’t,” she added quickly, pointing a finger at Lloyd.

He stared at her incredulously. “How dumb do you think I am?”

“Mmm… depends on the day.”

Jay burst into laughter, and Lloyd shot him a glare. “Thanks, Nya. That was a rhetorical question, by the way.”

“If you didn’t want an answer, you shouldn’t have asked the question.”

Lloyd stuck his tongue out at her, and Nya stuck hers back. Jay laughed, elbowing her. “Real mature. I’d expect that kind of thing from Lloyd-”

“Hey!”

“But you?”

“Like you’re any better yourself, sparky. Don’t you still sleep with that weird zebra thing-”

“His name is Mister Cuddlywomp, and he’s a bear-”

“Guys!”

“What, Lloyd?” Jay snapped, turning towards him. “Can’t you see- woah.”

Lloyd was pointing towards the horizon. Dark clouds formed in swirling shapes, gently disturbed by the winds of the storm. Arcs of lightning flashed between them in an almost rhythmic fashion, casting a gentle light on the clouds that made them appear to glow. It was like something out of a fantasy.

“Holy crap,” Nya breathed. “It’s beautiful. How lucky is it that we get to see this?”

“It’s because we’re willing to come out so late,” Lloyd smiled, bumping against her shoulder lightly. “The others may be warm, dry, and cozy in their beds, but they’re missing out on this natural beauty.”

“Their loss,” Jay said. “It’s the most breathtaking thing I’ve ever seen. And we’ve been all around Ninjago- even in different realms- so that’s saying a lot.”

“That’s okay,” Lloyd murmured. “I like doing this, just the three of us.” He glanced at them. “It’s our thing, y’know?”

“Aww, Lloyd,” Nya smiled, leaning her head on his shoulder. “Yeah. It’s our thing.”

“It’s special, in a way the others wouldn’t understand.” Jay beamed at him, throwing an arm around his shoulder. “I wouldn’t trade these moments for the world.”

#ninjago #ninbingo #my fic #rosie writes #ninjago lloyd #ninjago nya #ninjago jay #im really vibing with the tone/mood of this one #also jay and lloyd are such a mood #and so fun to write #love their dynamic #hope you guys enjoyed it too #reblogs greatly appreciated!#as are comments!#thanks for reading!

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xenia-cenia · 4 years

Text

Bennett x Fem!Reader - Aster

A/N: The last post kinda blew up so of COURSE I’m doing more in this style. Also he’s totally the son of the pyro archon I don’t take criticism

Fun fact: at the end I legit started to blush a little bit.

Trigger/Content Warnings: Regicide/murder, violence, PTSD/nightmares, kidnapping, light swearing

Word Count: 3,560

Request: No

Summary: Everything that has been Lost will eventually be found; be it Princesses or swords.

----------------------------------------------------------

Very few places in Teyvat still bowed to royalty and Mondstadt was no different.

The people of Mondstadt bowed to alcohol and freedom; the people of Liyue bowed to commerce and wealth.

But you did not hail from Mondstadt or Liyue - you were born into a country far away from Archons and Visions. A country that was set under siege 10 years ago, a country that lost its rulers with a swift slash of a sword.

Rumors spiraled of the young princess escaping with a woman who burned with embers in her eyes and infernos in her hands. Some say the women took the princess only to end the royal line herself, others say she raised the child as her own. As more and more time passed on, people agreed that the woman never existed and the princess died during the attacks.

“Bennett!” You shouted from the balcony overlooking the entryway of Mondstadt. The white-haired boy's head snapped up, a smile growing on his face. You jumped over the balcony and ran to him, “How was your adventure?”

“I found so much treasure!” He began sorting through his pockets and eventually brought out a small bag, he opened it and brought out a golden ring with a raven insignia pressed onto the blue jewel attached to it. He extended his hand and smiled shyly, you slowly set your right hand down on his extended hand. The ring slipped onto your finger perfectly.

“Woah,” you gaped at the ring, admiring the way the jewel seemed to absorb every bit of light, “Where did you find this?”

Bennett chuckled nervously, not wanting to tell you the truth of how many traps he fell into while receiving the ring, “J-just found it... y’know... lying around.”

You looked up at him and narrowed your eyes, “Benny...”

He scratched the back of his head and mumbled under his breath, “I only almost died like... twice.”

“Bennett!” You yelled and lightly smacked his arm, “Don’t risk your life for this stuff! We’ve talked about this.”

“But you looked so happy when you saw the ring...”

“And I’m happier each time you come home to me! Promise you won’t do this anymore!”

“But...”

“Promise!”

“Fine! Fine. I promise I won’t risk my life for gifts anymore.” He sighed but couldn’t contain the soft blush on his cheeks.

“Thank you.” You grabbed his hand and squeezed them, “Really, thank you. I... just please don’t get hurt for me.”

He smiled brightly and kneeled slightly to match your height, “You’re the luckiest thing that’s ever happened to me, (Y/N).”

You laughed and began to jog away, “Where did THAT come from? Barbatos save me, you’re so cute.”

“Cute?!” Bennett half-laughed half-yelled in shock, “(Y/N)!” He started running after you, “(Y/N)! You can’t just say that and run away!”

“Come and catch me then!” You giggled as he chased after you. It didn’t take long for him to catch up to you, grab you by the waist, pick you up and spin you around. You laughed and looked at him, “How come I’m nearly as tall as you, yet you can still effortlessly pick me up?”

He smiled and nuzzled his chin into your hair, “I spend all day fighting hilichulrs and climbing mountains, did you think I couldn’t pick you up?”

“I guess I knew you could, I just didn’t think you would.” You spun out of his grasp and grabbed his hands, “Ooh, that reminds me! You have to hear about this story I just found!”

“Yeah?”

“It’s so cool! It’s about Vanessa...” as the two of you walked back to your small house, you regaled him with stories you had read that day, gushing over the vast history that Mondstadt had.

When you had finished talking, the moon had taken its rightful spot in the sky and called you and Bennett to sleep. You lied on the bed and waited to feel Bennett's warm body press against your chest, his heavy arms draped over your sides. Within moments of him getting into bed, he fell fast asleep. You smiled and buried your head under his chin, letting sleep overtake you.

Screams echoing in your ears, you bit your lip as tears fell down your cheeks. The dress you had treasured was torn and burnt, you could hear pounding footsteps outside your door, looking for your head to hang on a wall.

You didn’t know when this started, all you knew is that you needed to hide. You tried your best to block out the noise, but you could still hear their death thralls and see your parents extend their bloodied hands towards you.

“Run.” They had whispered. And run you did.

You ran down the twisting corridors, you hid under your Father's desk and prayed to something - anything - that you would survive this and see your family again. But even as a 6-year-old, you knew that your chances of survival were slim to none.

Soft footsteps slowly made their way across the room, you felt heat begin to boil your skin. A woman kneeled down and set her blade on the ground.

“P... please don’t hurt me.” You shook.

She smiled; a warm and comforting smile, “Are you (Y/N) (L/N)?”

You stared at her with wide eyes, your heart sinking into your stomach. This was the end. You were going to die here. Your family's legacy would crash and tumble, the last thing you’d see was this woman's bright green eyes and smile.

She outstretched her hand, “Come, Princess, I can save you.”

You woke up with a deep gasp, sweat and tears mixing on your face. You looked at Bennett who was still sound asleep, you slowly slid out of the bed and took deep breaths.

How long was it since you’ve last this nightmare? What was it about sleeping next to Bennett that caused you to see the woman clearer? You shook the thoughts out of your head and decided to take a walk to clear your head.

Flower picking always seemed to calm you down. You crept outside your house and into the Mondstadt fields to reminisce in the familiar scents of flowers. You sat on the ground and quietly hummed to yourself, completely lost in thought, not noticing the figure watching you from a distance.

Slowly, he crept up to you until he grabbed your wrist. You jumped in shock and smiled nervously. “Hello?”

“What are you doing... out so late at night?”

“I... um, just picking flowers.” You used your left hand to gesture around, “It’s so pretty out, I just couldn’t sleep until I brought a few home for my boyfriend...”

“Oh?” The man kneeled down, “Boyfriend, eh? What’s he like?”

“He’s... well, he’s really unlucky.” You looked around to see if he had any allies with him - but even if he did you knew you couldn’t take him in a fight. You were more of a kind soul than a violent one. “He’s probably expecting me home any minute now, so I should really go...” you began to pull out of the man's grasp when he tightened his grip on your wrist.

“What a pretty ring.” He held your hand up to his eyes, “Not as pretty as you, of course.”

“T-Thank you?”

“Would you mind if we took a walk? I get a bit lonely walking through these fields all by myself.” He cheerily laughed.

“I... my b-boyfriend...”

He smiled brightly but his grip began to become painful, “I’m sure he won’t mind, will he? Oh, speaking of! I never got your name, how rude of me.”

“I really need to go.” You tried to pull out of his grasp again.

“Now, now. I know those eyes. Right, Princess?”

“Pri-” you began, but before you could finish your sentence he swung at your chin and you crumpled onto the ground.

“What a great find!” He chuckled to himself as he lifted your unconscious body over his shoulder, “The amount of money we’ll get for her...”

Bennett woke up the same way he does every day: with a sore neck and on the floor. He sighed and sat up, happy that he remembered to put pillows on the floor last night. He looked at the empty bed and smiled to himself, you were probably out picking flowers or meeting with some of your friends. It always made him happy that you had things to do while he was out adventuring, but it always made him happier when you stayed near the city.

It’s not that he didn’t trust you. You weren’t naive or sheltered just... not someone cut out for battle. He had tried countless times to teach you how to fight, even got his Dads involved, but you always seemed hopeless.

Your stance was wrong, you’d drop the sword or you’d nearly poke someone's eye out. Eventually, you decided to just stay near. Stay safe. Fighting simply wasn’t your thing - and that’s fine! He’d be okay with it either way.

He changed into his clothes, headed out of his house, and walked around Mondstadt. Katheryne smiled and waved hello, he walked over to her and asked about new commissions. She gave him 4 more and bid him good luck, before he set out he asked if she’d seen you today.

“(Y/N)?” She rocked back and forth on her heels, “No... I don’t think so.”

Bennett felt concern but quickly shook it away, “Tell me if you see her!”

As he set out on his commissions, he found himself being distracted. Not seeing you when he woke up was normal enough, but Katheryne not seeing you? That was weird. He only even asked as a formality - Katheryne always saw you. She always chatted with you before you met up for midday tea.

He palmed the hilt of his sword as he began walking to his second commission of the day, completely lost in thought and not noticing the small hole in the ground. One misstep was all it took for Bennett to trip and roll his ankle.

Bennett winced in pain and slowly brought himself out of the hole, “Just my luck, huh...” He reached into his backpack, pulled out medical supplies, and set to work on mending his wounds. On the ground, he spotted a few picked windwheel asters scattered around. He pulled himself over to them and smiled to himself, imagining the smile on your face when he brought your favorite Mondstadt specialty home to you.

As he twirled the windwheel aster between his fingers, he recalled his earlier unease. With a quick shake of his head, he replaced it with happier thoughts. He pulled himself up, tucked the windwheel aster into his belt, and headed home.

The unlucky boy more stumbled than walked home, beating the pain with fantasies of your smile.

As he arrived back in Mondstadt, he walked over to Katheryne who perked up when she saw him.

“Bennett!” She called, “You’ve been gone a while. Did you complete your commissions?”

“Not really,” he laughed quietly, “ended up rolling my ankle.”

“Oooh,” her eyebrows knit together, “I think Barbara is still working tonight.”

“No, no, I’ll be fine. I can just sleep it off.” He began to step away when he remembered something, he knocked onto the counter with his gloved hand and shot a big smile, “Oh, that reminds me. Have you seen (Y/N) at all?”

Katherynes concern fell into nervousness, “I... I was going to ask you that.”

“I gotta go.” He broke out into a sprint towards your house, the pain from his ankle seemed insignificant compared to his pounding heart. As if some lucky break, he didn’t trip or run into anyone on his way home.

He threw the door open and yelled, “(Y/N)?!” No response. He searched each room in the house, tearing apart every spot that you could even possibly be hiding in before ran to the Knights of Favonius headquarters. He practically barreled through the door to the library and with heavy breaths looked a startled Lisa in the eyes.

“Bennett?” She took a second to regain her composure, “Oh, actually, have you seen (Y/N) lately? We just got a new book I think she’d-”

Before she could finish, Bennett left the library and ran into the Acting Grand Masters office.

“Master Jean!” He panted, his arms shaking as he held the edges of the doorframe.

Jean looked up at him, piles of paperwork covering her desk, “Can I help you?”

“Yes! Yes, you can!” He walked into the room, tripped over his feet, got up, and sat down in the chair, “You’ve heard of (Y/N), right?”

“(Y/N)...” she repeated, “Oh, yes. I have. She helps me out every now and then.”

“Have you seen her at all today?”

Jean leaned back in her chair, tapping her pen against her lips, “No, I can’t say I have. Why?”

Bennett groaned and leaned forward, “I don’t know where she is! I woke up today and she was gone, which, yeah, is pretty normal for her but still! Not you, Katheryne, or Lisa have seen her! I’m really scared - she can’t fight and she keeps going out to pick flowers really far away! Please, please help me find her.”

She folded her hands, “What’s your name?”

“B-Bennett!”

“Bennett. Take Lisa with you and look around Mondstadt. If you still can’t find her, come back to me and we’ll discuss this again. Understood?”

“I’ve looked around Mondstadt!”

“Okay,” she exhaled, “I’ll organize a search party.” Jean stood, grabbed her vision, and walked with purpose.

Bennett sat in the chair, shaking. “(Y/N)... where are you...”

You woke up with a pounding headache and with something wet pressed against the side of your face. There was a tight rope binding your hands behind your back and chains connecting your feet to a small metal cage you were trapped in. You sat up and took deep breaths, trying to recall what happened.

“1 million mora? For a princess? We can do better than that.” A voice sneered.

“How do we know she’s really the princess?”

“Wait until you see her eyes! The Lost (L/N) Princess and she fell right into our hands! Hah! How lucky!”

You looked around your surroundings, other than the cage you were in, it seemed like a normal campsite. You didn’t quite recognize the area you were in and that worried you.

“H... hey!” You called out. The two voices fell quiet and eventually, two men came into your view.

“You’re awake.” A young man with orange eyes and dusty brown hair spoke, a purple face mask concealing his mouth and nose.

You narrowed your eyes at him, recognizing him as the man who took you hostage, “Where am I?”

The second man who had a hat covering his face kneeled in front of you, happiness beaming in his light blue eyes, “Well, I’ll be damned. It really is her.”

He grabbed the chains on your feet and pulled you towards him, “I’ve been looking for you for so long.”

“Let me go.” You growled, “I swear to god when Benny finds you-”

“Benny?” The man wearing the hat turned towards the masked man, “Whose Benny?”

“Her boyfriend, probably.”

“Hmm...” he leaned back and thought for a moment, “Well, you know what they say about loose ends...”

“W...wait.” Panic began to tear through your body, “Wait, please don’t. Oh, god, no. Please don’t hurt him. I’ll do whatever you ask just... please.”

“Anything?”

“Anything.”

“Well, stay put.” He opened the door on the cage and motioned for you to open your mouth, you complied. He ripped a piece of cloth off your clothes and tied it around your mouth, “Can’t have you screaming for help now, can we?” He chuckled and shut the cage again.

“What do we do now?” The masked man stood, anxiously bouncing on his heels.

“Find the boy.”

“And?”

“Well,” the man sat in front of your cage, pulling down his mask and showing you a bright grin, “See how much he wants his beloved back.”

You glared at him with tears in your eyes, trying to push the gag out of your mouth but to no avail.

Bennett sat on your bed, trying to keep himself from crying. 3 days. 3 days you’ve been missing. He wrapped himself in your clothes, taking deep breaths and trying to smell you on whatever remnant he had left.

The smell was fading.

He choked back tears and focused on you. Your smile, your voice, your favorite story, anything. Anything at all.

A loud knock at his door made him jump. Excitement and nervousness built into his feet as he ran to the door, maybe the Knights found you, maybe it was you. He threw the door open and saw a small slip of paper on the ground. With shaking hands, he picked it up, and when he finished reading its contents he couldn’t stop himself from crying or collapsing onto the ground.

Benny -

You probably want to know where (Y/N) is. She’s safe. For now, at least.

You have 24 hours to either get 30 million mora or something of equal value to

get her back safely. If you miss the deadline, we will sell her to the highest bidder. Deliver the money to the great tree in Windrise.

Come alone.

Proof that we have her is attached.

On the other side was a lock of your hair. He clutched it to his chest before carefully tucking it into his satchel, and just like that he took off searching for each mora or item in your house that could even possibly have value.

He would have sold the clothes off his back if it meant he’d see you again. But in the end, he fell short.

Not even 1 million mora.

He walked to the great tree, hoping he could strike some sort of deal. With his sword at his hip, he knew what he had to do.

The unlucky boy shook as he set the sword against the tree, his eyes filled with tears as a single man came from the shadows.

“You didn’t bring anything?” He scoffed, “She really loves you more than you love her.”

“She... she’s alive? Thank... thank the Archons.” His head drooped in relief, “M-my sword. It’s worth at least 30 million mora. Take it.”

The man stepped forward and inspected the sword, “Hm.” He practiced a few slashes with it, “Yes, this seems like it’ll catch a fair price.”

“Where is she?” He pulled himself to his feet, “I gave you what you wanted... where is she?”

He laughed under his mask, “Long gone. As we speak, she’s being pawned off.”

“Wh... what?” Bennett stepped forward, “I did what you asked.”

“Yes, you did. A 30 million mora sword and whatever she sells for... now my buddies and I will have the life we’ve always wanted.”

“That’s not fair.” He began to feel his blood boil under his skin, “You... you can’t do that.”

Bennett saw red, and the next thing he knew his sword was back in his hands and he was marching directly to you.

Wrath and fear forced his body on and it only increased tenfold as he saw a group of people standing around a cage, one of the men counting mora as he loudly spoke about your name to the onlookers.

Fire roared inside of him, their arrows and swords burned the moment he got near. Everything was burned to ash, except for you. He turned to the cage and felt his chest constrict as he saw tears pooling down your face and a gag keeping you silent.

He dropped his sword and ran over to the cage, it didn’t take him long to open the lock and remove the gag.

“Benny!” You gasped when you could speak, “Oh, god, Benny, I was so scared. T-They... they said they were going to kill you.”

“I’m here, it’s okay.” He broke the chains off your feet and untied the rope around your hands, “Can you walk?”

“I... I think?” He helped you out of the cage, but you immediately stumbled when you touched the ground. He wrapped his arms around your waist and caught you.

“I’ll carry you. Are you tired?” He sat you on the ground for a moment as he sheathed his sword, before picking you up bridal style and making sure to tighten his hands around so he wouldn’t drop you.

“A... a little.”

“I bet,” he beamed, “Bennys Adventure Team is here to help you!”

Your laughter dissolved into coughing.

Bennett frowned and held you close, “When we get home, I’ll read you a story.”

“About Vanessa?”

“About anything you want.”

You leaned into his chest and wrapped your arms around his neck, “As long as it’s you... I don’t care what it is.”

He was going to respond, but he noticed your eyes fall shut. He leaned down to make sure you were still breathing, smiled to himself, and began the long trek home.

Whenever you wanted to pick flowers or do anything outside of the city, he’d always offer to come with you. He doesn’t want you to go missing again. At night, he draws you close against his chest as he sleeps.

#benny x reader #bennett x reader #genshin impact x reader #genshin impact bennett #genshin impact benny #one shot #oneshot #x reader #x reader fanfiction #fanfiction #bennett x you #benny x you #happy endings #saved by bennett #saved by benny

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imagines-by-a-typical-fangirl · 4 years

Text

Stay With Me (Pt. 05 of 09)

Pairing: Daryl Dixon X Reader

Word count: 3 K

Summary: Daryl found you surrounded by the dead, stuck in the backseat of a car. You were wishing for death to take you away for quite a while now, but, as you slid back and forth into consciousness, there was only one thing keeping you alive. Him, the man with blue, worried eyes and kind voice. Your beaten up body was ready to give up, too wounded and broken to keep going. But this man, who went out of his way to save your life is the only thing in the world holding you up. And, because of him, you feel something you haven't felt in a very long time: hope. Wherever he's taking you, you want to get there, and not only to be buried. For what it feels like the very first time, you want to live. He takes you back to Alexandria, but even there, the nightmares and the terror from all the torture and pain you've been through keeps creeping closer, and Daryl, your hero, is the only one who can keep that all away.

Warnings: Mentions and description (not graphic) of past abuse; post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); some violence at the end of the story (a little bit graphic, but not so much); blood.

<- Previous part (04)

Next part (06) ->

{The Walking Dead Masterlist}

I want to thank my awesome friend @jodiereedus22 , who helped me (and still does) a lot to get this story done. She's also a writer and she's amazing so please go check her work!!

Touch

You're right back into the dark spot you were. If it wasn't for Carol, you'd be in bed all day, completely lost. She keeps you moving. She helps you shower, chattering even though you don't answer. She helps you get downstairs, allowing you to do something for lunch or dinner. Carol's patience is unbelievable. You wonder when she'll get tired of you too. When she'll leave, with rude words and no further explanation.

Being here without Daryl is weird. Unusual. You didn't know the exact place he occupied in your heart, but now it's pretty clear. But you don't know how it happened. You thought this constant necessity of being with him came from the situation. From the safety he provided. When he's next to you in bed, your head on his chest, you know he won't let anything hurt you. Not even the nightmares had that power anymore, the bad memories are just that. Memories. But now... Daryl is more than a hero to you. He's something else entirely. He's the only one you'll ever want to have this close. The only man you'll ever want to hug, to lean on, to hold next to you during the night.

But what's the use of such acknowledgment now? Daryl left. He literally ran from your touch, from you. And of course he did. You came into his life, a broken, vulnerable thing, needing him so desperately. Of course he'd only endure you for a while. Now, he's done with that and whatever you feel doesn't matter. It's over.

“(Y/N), honey?” Carol calls, coming to sit beside you on the couch. Judith left half an hour ago, but still, you didn't move. You just stood there, drowning in the new, stupid feelings you just found out. “Don't cry, sweetie.”

“It's been six days.” You whisper, a hand on your heart. “He left because of me. I-I pushed him into going who knows where.”

“Daryl didn't go because of you. He went because of himself.” Carol takes a deep breath, talking low. She's always scared you'll slide back into the walls you built around you, so she's always careful. “He's complicated. He's been raised to believe nobody wants or cares for him, or...” When her voice fades, you look up, meeting her eyes. “Or love him.”

This makes you giggle, humorlessly. “What? He's... He's amazing. He's kind and smart, and strong, and handsome, Daryl is... Daryl is honest. And noble. How can he think people won't care for him?” The words flow out, too fast, because it's absurd to hear Carol saying that. It sounds like a joke. “You can't expect me to believe Daryl doesn't see all that.”

Carol's lips break into a smile, you don't get why. “He doesn't.”

“Then I'll make him see.” The same moment the words come out, you remember that he left. That he rejected you. “Well, I...”

“You have feelings for him, don't you? This isn't just about him saving you. There's something else.”

Fixing the blanket around your shoulders, you don't even try to dry off the tears. There will be others to take their place. “It doesn't matter, he...” You've been rejected before. You've had a crush on guys who didn't like you back. But this... This actually hurts. Hurts more than the wounds that still mark your body. “Y-you didn't see it. It's like... He doesn't even want to touch me and when he comes back I'll make sure he won't have to keep helping me.” You're sobbing by the end of the sentence, your body shaking as you cry.

You know you'll be lost without him, never able to feel like that again. The sensation he brought you is unexplainable. Irreplaceable. No man will ever make you feel that way, but that's not his fault. Maybe it's yours. Maybe it's nobody's fault. Everything you know is that you won't let anyone get this close ever again.

“Alright, honey. It's alright.” Carol hugs you, holding you tight as you cry on her shoulder. “Trust me when I say Daryl has very strong feelings for you too. He's just not very good at showing it.”

“Don't.” You mutter. “You can't say these things just to make me feel better, I know he doesn't.”

“Listen, honey. Listen.” She pulls away, drying off some of your tears with her thumbs. “Daryl is scared of how he feels towards you. Believe me, I know him.” Refusing to believe her, to have any kind of hope, you shake your head no. “The reason why he's running from it is that he thinks you can do better. You're young, beautiful, and sweet. He doesn't think he deserves you.”

“Why would he think that? Is he stupid or something?” You manage to say in between sobs, hugging Carol again.

“He can be stupid sometimes, yes.” She rubbs your back. “He will be back and I'm sure you'll get this right. Both of you.”

You don't answer, you just stay there, crying.

More days go by, and you only know he's alright because Rick has a radio, and he talks to Michonne daily, so everyone knows they're both alright.

The only thing that keeps you moving is little Judith. You also got to meet some of the other kids, since Carol decided to bring them here to play with Judith. You love having them around, it makes you forget about things for a while. Carol even introduced you to Melanie, a pregnant woman, and she also starts hanging out at your house, making you her official babysitter. She got here a few months ago, already pregnant. She used to go scavenging before, and that's what she wants to do for this community when her child is born, and she trusts you to be with them while she's away. Knowing you might have something useful to do makes you feel better. Makes you feel like you have something to offer and being with the kids is amazing.

But, eventually, everything comes crashing down, mostly at night, when you lie down all alone, surrounded by darkness. You often dream of Daryl. He's back, with you, not pushing you away. But when the morning comes, his usual place in the bed is still empty.

As the sun sets, you have Judith on your lap, her head on your chest. She's calming down after crying for her father. It took a long time to make her settle down, and now you're trying to make her sleep a little. Rubbing her back, you keep singing the only lullaby you can come up with. “Lavender's green, dilly, dilly, lavender's blue. If you love me, dilly, dilly, I will love you. I love to dance, dilly, dilly, I love to–” You're cut short by the door being open. Terror creeps over as you look up, and the fear is replaced by a mix of so many feelings you can't even name.

Daryl stands there, his eyes locked on yours and despite the distance, you can see the amazing, breathtaking shade of blue that makes your heart beat faster. You hold onto Judith when she moves a little, but she soon settles down again. But your eyes are focused on Daryl, and as much as you want to look away, you can't. It's stronger than you.

“Y-you're alive.” You stutter, holding back the tears. It's been two weeks. Too long, it felt like endless months. “Are you hurt?”

“No.” He simply says. “I'll... Shower. ‘M covered with walker's blood.”

“Ok.” He finally moves, going upstairs and you can finally breathe.

Daryl is back. He's right here and everything you want is to jump in his arms. But you can't. He doesn't want to have anything to do with you. He's done with taking care of you. You have to keep a distance.

You're trying to calm down, focusing on humming the lullaby to keep Judith in her peaceful sleep, trying not to think about Daryl, up there, under the same roof. You try not to think about his arms, always so warm and gentle around you.

“(Y/N).” Carol gets your attention, and you see her coming downstairs, being followed by Daryl. “Let me take Judith to see her dad.”

“Sure.” You burst out, watching as she picks Judith up, careful not to wake her up. “And you two need to talk so I'll stay at Rick's for a while.” She says in a low voice, giving Daryl a look.

You're frozen as she moves to the door, not wanting to risk look at Daryl and burst into tears.

You wanted him back, of course you did, but now, you don't know what to do. You're too scared of your feelings, of what you might do.

“I-I'll head upstairs.” Grabbing the clutch Denise got you, you stumble to your feet.

“We need ta’ talk,” Daryl says, but you ignore him, struggling with the clutch in a way you never did before.

“No, we're-we're fine. I'm fine.” You succeed to climb the first step, but on the second one, you move the wounded leg before you move the clutch, and this added to the whole situation makes you lose your balance and crash down. Luckily, your weight falls on the good leg, but that doesn't mean your body won't complain. A groan leaves your lips, and you feel Daryl's arms pulling you.

“(Y/N), be–”

“Don't touch me!” It's useless now. You're crying, your heart is broken and you can't take it. You can't control it. “Y-you don't like it when I touch you so don't touch me!”

“What the hell makes ya think I don't like when ya touch me?!” Daryl suddenly yells, his voice matching yours. He seems to regret it though, his eyes softening. “What... Who told ya that?”

“I don't need anyone to tell me anything. I'm not stupid.” It comes out in between the sobs as you sit down on the steps, throwing the clutch away. “You don't need to take care of me anymore! I... I'll get better and you won't have to think about me anymore. I can deal with the pain, the fear the nightmares! I can! If you don't want me anymore it's fine!” You yell at the top of your lungs, not proud of the way you're breaking down. But what can you do? Your heart is broken.

“I ain't–”

“You don't have to go in a hell of a long run to be away from me! I can just find another house to live in and get the hell out of your way if that's what you want and I'm so damn sorry I need you so much, Daryl. I'm so damn sorry I like you, or-or–” You lose your train of thought, sobbing uncontrollably, looking at the floor because you can't bring yourself to face Daryl now.

“Ya got it all wrong.” He mutters, coming to sit on the stairs, but you move back, pushing yourself against the wall. If you get any closer to him, you'll fail. You'll hug and hold and kiss him.

“Stop it, Daryl! I know you're tired of me so j-just stay away if that's what you want.” The tears soak your face, and you have your eyes closed as if it could hide you from him.

“Ya got it all wrong. Ya shouldn't want ta’ touch me or be around me. Yer so... pretty n’ young n’ good, ya shouldn't want ta’ touch me or be around me. I don't deserve to be with someone like ya n’ yer stupid ta’ want to be around me.” He yells back, raising his voice above yours, but despite the hint of anger, you don't feel scared. But you do need time to take in what he's saying. What he means. “Yer too young. M’ jus’ an old, dirty redneck and I don't... I went out so ya could have some time ta’ get over this. Ta’ not want me close anymore.”

“What are you saying, you idiot.” You stutter, playing back everything he said. “You can't decide what I should or shouldn't want! You have to decide what you want and I'll decide what I want and if these two things come together, then we work from there.” You move a little, the sting on your leg making you uncomfortable. Taking a deep breath, you finally regain some control of yourself, but the tears just keep coming. “I just need to know i-if you don't want... If you don't want me. Me touching you, or hugging you because if that's what you want, it's ok, I'll... I'll stay away.” It hurts to tell him this, and you're terrified of what he'll say next. If that's what he wants... What are you going to do?

“I shouldn't–”

“This is not about what you should, it's about what you want!” You burst out, tired of the argument. You just need to know what is and what isn't, so you can decide what to do next. “You were gone for two goddamn weeks, killing walkers and being in constant danger so just tell me what you want.”

“I want ya.” It comes out like a grunt, too fast and low, and it makes you wonder if you got it right. Daryl looks down, his shaggy hair hiding his eyes. You don't understand why he's so... Scared. Why he thinks so low of himself when you can only see the good, the great man he is. The very best.

“T-then don't push me away. Just... Just stay.” Lowering you're voice until it's barely a whisper, you dry some tears away. “I-I mean, I know that going out there it's your thing, I didn't mean it as you gotta stay here, I just mean it like... With me, you know? Go on runs, but stay with me. D-don't leave me. Well, do leave if that's what you want but not because you think I shouldn't be around you.” It sounds confusing, and you hope he gets it because you don't think you can explain it better.

“M’ sorry.” He mumbles, and this time, when he sits beside you on the step, you allow yourself to hug him, too desperately, feeling more tears coming. “ ‘S alright, babygirl. M’ sorry.”

Without saying anything, you surrender into his embrace, thankful for having him back after so long. Not even the noise coming from the front door makes you pull away.

“I see you two got along,” Carol says, sounding relieved. “You should just be straight forward with each other. It'll save both of you a lot of trouble.” When you hear her coming closer, you raise your head just a little bit to look at her. “(Y/N), why don't you let me help you with showering. There's still sand on your hair. Then you and Daryl can lie down to rest.”

You don't want to let go of him yet, but Carol is right. “Sand?”

“I was with the kids on that playground and little Mike threw a handful of sand at Judith but he hit me instead.” You explain it, using the wall to help you up. But Daryl is quick to assist you.

“So yer takin’ care of the kids? And outside?”

“Well, Carol was with me the whole time and it was only half an hour or so.” You let him carry you upstairs, not saying anything about it. Walking is a lot easier now, but you appreciate the gesture. “But I'm like the babysitter now. I really like it.”

“Bet ya do. I heard ya singing for Lil’ Ass Kicker.”

Your cheeks start burning. You had no idea he was listening. “Yeah...” Daryl leaves you in the bathroom and Carol comes soon after.

Showering is less painful now since you can manage to stand up long enough to clean yourself. But washing your hair is still a challenge, and that's why Carol is here. As she washes the sand away, she tells you of her daughter Sofia. About how she got lost and how Daryl restlessly searched for her. And the sad ending of that story. Everyone at the end of the world has a sad story to tell.

Once you're free of the sand and dry, you put your clothes on. You can't find any of your lycra shorts, so you stick with the tank top and panties before going to bed. It's very cold tonight, so you grab another blanket before lying down. You're just about to wonder if Daryl will come when he opens the door, and a smile immediately spreads through your lips.

“Hi.” Trying not to sound too excited, you mutter. It's hard to keep your eyes open, sleep threatening to overcome you.

Daryl grunts something you don't understand, taking off his jacket and leaving it on the dresser. You already moved to the side, giving him space. He pulls the blankets away before lying down, and you giggle to see how he tries not to move the mattress too much. Once he's settled down, you turn on your side, facing away from him, getting comfortable. You wait for him to do the same, but he doesn't move. By the time you had him sleeping here, you know he sleeps on his side. Not like this, staring at the ceiling.

“Are you comfortable?” You ask, eyes already closed.

“Yeah.”

“Uhm...” Turning around just a little bit, you grab Daryl's arm, pulling it until he's on his side, letting his hand fall on your waist.

“The hell ya doin’?” He mutters.

“Just letting you I want you to hug me. So if you want it too... You can.”

Daryl stays motionless for a while until you feel as he fixes his position. You're glad he won't see your smile, the happiness spreading through your face. Getting the hint, you carefully push yourself back a little, closer to him. His hand brushes on your thigh, and he abruptly moves it away, startling you. Your heart sinks a little, wondering if he'll fall back into whatever he was before.

“What?” Your voice is weak, making it clear you're scared.

“What are ya wearing?”

Oh. You didn't think it would be an issue. “Underwear.” You whisper, shrugging your shoulders. “All my shorts are dirty so I didn't have anything else.”

“Ya shouldn't be dressed like that when ya have a man on yer bed.” The words come out too fast and a little confusing.

“Daryl, I feel completely fine being here with you. Even though I'm in panties.” Being honest, you decide to let your heart out. This will be easier if you just say things straight forward, as Carol said you should. “And...” Searching for his hand under the blankets, you slowly bring it to the top of your thigh. The sensation of his fingers on your skin is warm, despite his fingertips still being cold. “I want you to know that you can touch me. I don't mind.” You whisper, eyes closing to take in the feeling of his touch a little better. “Actually, you're... You're the only man I'll ever want to touch me.” Maybe it's the sleep, pushing these words out. Maybe it's the long time you had Daryl away, thinking he was done with you. You don't know. The words came out and there's no way to take them back. And you don't want to. It's the truth.

He doesn't say anything, he doesn't move. Not for a while. You're about to ask him to say something, anything, when you feel his hand moving. Slowly, very slowly, his thumb starts caressing your skin. It burns in a good way. His hand then slides down, gently, from the top of your thigh to your knee. You feel like he's testing it, not sure why. Maybe he thinks you'll just give up the idea, be suddenly disgusted by his touch. But that's so far from the truth.

“That's nice.” You decide to say, giving voice to what you're feeling, so he'll know.

“Huh.” He sounds like he doesn't believe you.

“It is.” To reassure him, you move even closer, until your back is pressed against his chest. “Believe me.”

“Alright then.” He removes his hand, but it comes to embrace your waist, his grip firm around you, holding you close to his body. “Go to sleep now, babygirl.”

“Good night, D.”

@funeral-7 @heyyy-hey-babyyy @twdeadfanfic @soraitmnt @winchester-angel @bvbwestfall @shawtygonemad @cameronsails @pulplorrd @browneyes528

#daryl dixon x reader #daryl dixon fanfiction #daryl dixon imagine #imagine daryl dixon #daryl dixon #imagine the walking dead #the walking dead imagine #the walking dead fanfiction

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aggieharkness · 3 years

Text

From the ashes I rise

Summary: Sometimes, in the night, the memories return, surrounding you, eating you alive until you can't breathe. Everything is so real again and yet there's always a hand that pulls you, saves you. Blue eyes meet blue eyes and everything is fine once more.

a/n: I read an interview with Katy Wix and this idea popped into my head, I hope you like it and if you would like me to write anything at all my PM are always open and so are my comments :) Thanks for reading and if you have any suggestions about the story at all don't hesitate, tell me.

warnings: backstory, witchcraft, PTSD

From the ashes i rise

Mistletoe was poisonous, that’s what Alison had said as she hung it over every threshold she could find, in every room all over the house, that if eaten anyone could die, or if touched in a weird way, not really sure herself what she meant by that, but the point was still there. Mike didn’t think it was necessary to have thirty all over, one or two was more than enough, but her argument was unbeatable “It’s a ghost thing”. It wasn’t, Fanny didn’t want that thing in every door and Mary thought it was work of the devil, hanging a poisonous plant everywhere, but Alison meant well, she actually was hoping a kiss or two might happen during the night.

All the presents were given, and carols were sang, Mike had to force his family to join in after a few solos with Alison, not knowing the ghosts were performing as a choir ready for the X-factor, the bottle of wine and the eggnog gone by then. Soon the ghosts started to retire, too many emotions and plans for tomorrow, Mike’s sisters and parents biding them goodnight after the last carol and slice of spotted dick, completely drained. Close to midnight the only people left were Alison and Mike who sat close to the window just watching the snow falling, in the background and close to the fire Mary, Fanny and Kitty sat on the sofa chatting lightly about nonsense as to pass the time. Interrupting their conversation Alison wished them a happy Christmas and a goodnight and left with Mike trotting tiredly behind speaking lazy words looking up at the ceiling, he really thought ghosts levitated, Kitty jumping of the couch and following like a merry pet that only hoped to be able to sit close to their loved ones, excited words vanishing in the distance after a few minutes, the sound of a door closing meeting a comfortable silence.

All alone at last Mary rested her head on Fanny’s shoulder, her fingers travelling to get a hold of her hand, just tapping and twirling in between her sleeve and fingers. It was a lovely night, quiet, cosy, homely inside the house, layers of fresh snow accumulating all over the county. This would be their first Christmas together, officially together, and although everything was new, they weren’t nervous about the holidays, they had been getting to know each other for months, telling each other about their lives, who they met, what they used to do, dreams, hopes, nightmares and painful remainders. After Fanny’s outburst a few months ago, they had slowly gone through every bit of her past, tears and fights happened sometimes, but didn’t last long. Mary had talked about herself and family too, and was giving small details about her trial but hadn’t still talked about it, and Fanny was not about to push her, so they just sat there, looking at the fire quite content to just be with each other.

-Why’s so important to has a tree in the house?

-Oh… It’s just tradition. We’ve always had a good tree in Button house, and I didn’t want it to be forgotten. You saw what Alison brought, it was but a bush, a disgrace.

-It was small, but… cute.

-Maybe for a bedroom or an office, not for the entire house. No, a fine mansion such as this requires a spectacular tree, and for this one I’m very grateful to Michael’s father.

-We didn’ts have this. We would has a small dinner, pray and say thank you and go to bed to wake up and work on the fields. We trys to give the little ones something, like dolls made of rags or-

-Little ones? – Fanny stopped staring at the fireplace to look at Mary, who seemed rather calm and composed, quite relaxed in her arms.

-Yeah. Little Willy and Joan. They was very young when the illnesses got them. My sweet little babes didn’t makes it through winter before me husband passed. They would coughs and coughs until one night they stopped, and the Lord tooks ‘hem. My husband slipped on ice and died not long after. They thoughts I had done it.

-Who?

-The villagers.

-Mary, did they… if you don’t want to tell me it’s alright… Did they judge you because of…? The trial was because of this?

-Well… They thoughts I had given ‘hem to the Devil and I trieds to tell them, but no one listened. It was the illness, not me. They didn’ts care at all.

-I’m so sorry. It must have been so hard for you to have to go through all that on your own.

-It was. It really was. I tooks care of all of them until their last breath, buried them and tried to keeps going so the land wouldn’t go to waste, but they thought it be strange and so they came. In the night.

-Okay, that’s enough for today, it’s Christmas and-

-They came in the night, like an army of shadows with torches and pitchforks, screaming witch, witch. – Fanny’s words hadn’t been heard, Mary was too far away from the land of the dead, as if she was reliving everything all over again, her eyes glazed, staring at nothing. -They broke the door and tooks me from my bed, throwing me over a donkey. It was cold, so very cold and windy and the voices of the people were yelling and screaming that I needed be burned were so loud, too loud, but they put me in a stone house, and I waited. I don’t knows how long I was there, but it was long. Others there were visited, but not me, until one morning I was pulled out. They had… The had dug up my family and were showings them as proof that I be a witch. They were so thin, I has forgotten how much they hasn’t eaten, their skin purple and blue. I trieds to close me eyes, but they made me look for hours as the spoke and judge me. People I thoughts were friends accused me of having stolen animals from their houses, that I had talked in something that wasn’t English, and my drawings. They said they be witchcraft and burned them in fronts of me, but they were not. I’m not a bad witch Fanny! I swear I’m not! – the agitations on Mary’s voice and limbs caused her to stim in anxious movements, a terrified look on her face as if she was seeing her, but they weren’t in Button house. Mary kneeled in front of her, crying and begging her to believe her, her body moving erratically on the floor, her hands shaking as they were stinging. – I be not a bad witch! I dids nothing, please, believe me. I has always been faithful, I does not be a servant of the Devil. Please, Fanny, please, don’t lets ‘hem burn me! Please! I be not powerful enough, please, I don’ts want to die! PLEASE!

Her cries were muffled by Fanny’s chest as she held on to Mary, speaking soothing words trying to calm her down. The smoke that was surrounding them was thick and black, and it filled Fanny’s lungs like she was breathing sand, tears filling her eyes as she coughed, but didn’t let go of her. The fire in the chimney vanished, leaving the room in a soft darkness only broken by the light coming from the outside. Mary’s body shook with each sob, her brain still bringing the memories back, the harsh words and lies, how the bodies of her family were mistreated, pushed about, poked and thrown; her remedies had been worthless to bring them back to health, but had helped to bring them to a peaceful rest. She had held her children feeling how they were leaving her, but only smiled down and sang to them, as they wished, smiling back weakly at her, soon the candle gave out, and she remained like that, singing until only cold silence had filled the room. The moment a cold wind had passed through her she knew it was over, and gently laid them down, tucked them in and continued to sing, tears spilling, her chest constricted as she tried to hold onto what little she had left. Joseph, her husband had left to visit his brother who had just had a child and wouldn’t be back for another few days if the weather allowed it, so she had had to get the priest and accompany her children to their last resting place. The house was quiet and cold, disturbing and filled with such pain that Mary had thought about leaving, but she couldn’t, the land was still to be prepared for the spring, and more children would have to be born to sustain her family, she couldn’t lay back and grief as much as she wanted or needed.

The sound of a horse made her stand and walk outside, a candle lighting up the figure of her husband. Once glance at her face and he dropped to his knees and cried, Mary holding him as he cursed and screamed, her heart breaking even more. The next morning, he didn’t dare look at her, and she knew why: he had hoped she would be able to safe them, but her supplies were low, and as much as she had tried it hadn’t been enough, and he blamed her for it, she blamed herself for it. She was far from perfect but had always considered herself rather good with plants and flowers, she had been told form a very young age that she had a gift, her mother had always called it that and refused to choose another term, but as Mary had grown older, she learned as to why. A gift is a godsend, something people could even call a skill, but in Mary it had always been more than that, it was witchcraft, and that was the Devil at work. Joseph loved her and had admired her gift ever since they had been children, she was a healer, but now he thought it to be a curse, a useless power that had done nothing for his children, he almost seemed to forget that they were Mary’s as well in his own pain. She lost faith in herself in just a few weeks, and slowly had retreated into herself, resenting everything she had ever done or been, until one freezing morning she had accompanied her husband to the barn to milk the cows. Before entering she looked at her right and saw one of the chickens outside in the snow-covered soil and had hurried to pick her up before she froze to death, leaving her husband to attend to his business in silence. A big racket reached her ears as she put the chicken back in its cage and ran all the way back to the barn pushing the door open. The water had leaked and froze on the floor overnight causing him to slip and fall on the pitchfork. Mary screamed, she could feel her throat raw even now, and had rushed to his side, but it was no use, by the amount of blood he was expelling he would only last a few minutes. She had begged him to hold on, that she would find a way to fix this, but he knew better than to make her believe her own lie and had pulled himself off it and held onto her hand, apologising for not being there, saying a last I love you as a small trickle of blood escaped his lips.

Fanny knew there would be bruises where Mary was holding onto her, fingers digging onto her flesh even over her clothes, the smoke still around them, but refused to let go. She kept on talking to her even though she knew that Mary was far away, and she couldn’t bring her back or didn’t know how to but knew better than to leave her. She wouldn’t become George and wouldn’t leave her love alone when she was clearly hurting. In her own nightmare Mary was staring at the coffin of her husband, her expression blank, undisturbed, neutral as they put him down next to their babies, a thunderstorm coming fast towards them, but she didn’t care, she watched as they covered his grave and the priest prayed for his soul, a feeling of déjà vu running down her spine. In a monotonous pace she made her way back to the house, the wood creaking, the air cold and dead. Her trunk was almost empty except for a few more dried leaves and roots, dust and webs covering the empty holes and jars. Anger rose inside her chest, fury at her own self for not having learned when she had had to the opportunity how to be a proper witch, the books laid underneath the floorboards forgotten. She ripped them out, throwing them across the room, tears flowing freely as she cursed and screamed, but soon she grew tired, and just kneeled on her broken floor, holding on to her apron. Looking up she saw one of the books laid open in front of her, words about love, curses and magic written all over the thick worn-out pages, elaborated drawings decorating them.

She had never really learned to read, missed her opportunity back when she refused to learn in favour of helping her family with the lands. Looking at them she realised what a huge mistake that had been. With a snaping sound the pages caught on fire, flames devouring them in just a few seconds in front of her perplexed eyes without giving her much room for her to safe them. Even in the darkness of the house a thick shadow of anger and pain covered her face, leaving it unfeatured over the broken floor, ashes falling around the crevasses of the wood. She didn’t know for how long she had been sitting there, minutes turned to hours, silence filling every pore, but in the background she could have sworn a voice was talking to her but the words were so quiet she couldn’t really make out what they were saying, not that she really cared. The field spent several days waiting for Mary, but she never came, her strength was gone and just the thought of heading to the barn and witnessing the blood was too much for her to bear, she just spent her days inside the house, lightning up the candles with her fingers, defrosting the bedsheets with just one snap. All alone allowed her to see if she still had it in her and whether she could actually do more than what she had spent her life doing, but in the night, right after she had settled for the night once more footsteps broke the silence, Mary’s eyes snapping open, listening as they became more and stronger, they sounded almost angry, but she couldn’t bring herself to stand. Suddenly silence met her once more and she decided to close her eyes in hopes she would be able to sleep, but the door was opened with such force that the wood snapped and a group of men burst in, torches and pitchforks in some of their hands as they grabbed Mary. Their fingers dug onto her skin, her throat raw from not having spoken in days as she screamed for them to let her go, but they didn’t listened, tied her instead onto the back of a donkey, the wind blowing strongly on her face, women and men looking at her as if she were a freak in a circus, insults and hash words reaching her ears as they made their way to the village.

Fanny could not make head or tail of the random words Mary was speaking, the only thing she was sure of was that wherever she was she was fighting someone from the way she was moving in her arms, hands slapping and grabbing her silk dress, ripping the seams as she pulled to escape her grasp, but she didn’t let go. The screams woke some of the ghosts, the Captain included, and as he entered the room he witnessed Mary’s glazed eyes and the face of utter terror on her ash covered features. Fanny’s worried look made him stop right on his tracks, looking at them not sure as what to do to help except for forbidding anyone from entering the room.

-Fanny?

-Leave. Theodore, go.

-What’s going on? Why is Mary… Do you need me to call Alison?

-No. Don’t trouble her. I’m not quite sure, but we can’t do anything but wait it all out.

-NO! I DIDN’TS DO IT! YOU KNOWS ME! TELL THEM MATILDA!

-What?

-She’s been speaking like this for twenty minutes now. Theodore, listen to me, go.

-Absolutely not, what if she hurts you?

-I’m dead.

-Oh, right, still, what if she does something and you are all alone?

-I DON’TS! I BE NO SERVANT OF DEVIL’S! I’M GOOD! WAIT! WAIT! WAIT!

-Ahhh!

-Fanny!

Her hands felt like they were on fire, forcing her to let go of Mary as big thick clouds of black smoke surrounded Mary, orange lights coming from within, falling backwards over the carpet. The Captain rushed to her and helped her sit as he checked her blistered hands, tears of pain running down her cheeks. Mary stared as the priest took hold of the parchment where her sentence was written, showing it to everyone that surrounded her as she was tied to the stake, utter fear and horror filling her chest. Her friends were crying, but didn’t utter a word in her favour, she truly believed they thought she had done it; defeated the only thing she could do was beg, but all her words landed on deaf ears, the smell of fire reaching her nostrils from behind, the urge to escape becoming so primitive the ropes were digging onto her wrists and ankles, but it was too late. The fire spread quickly all around her, smoke making her eyes water, coughing over and over, oxygen becoming increasingly more difficult to breath. Her head felt foggy, lightheaded, her vision blurry as the figures became just colours. Her voice was gone at this point although she continued to scream, but soon enough the feeling of tiredness took over, her eyes closing slowly, and everything went dark and silent. When she opened her eyes, she was standing on the stake, the wood gone, turned to ashes. Not understanding what was wrong she took one step, then another, everyone was gone from the forest except for a figure that stood in between the trees. The force of a pair of hands grabbing her by her hands caused her to yell, a thick fog around her as the figure came closer and closer, a sweet female voice trying to talk with her until she was face to face with Fanny, utter terror on her face, calling her name. The pain in her hands was unbearable, but Mary was out of control, fire starting to come out of her hands onto the carpet. Slowly her surroundings became clearer, the living room filled with black smoke as she managed to grasp onto what was wrong. The memories where far too vivid still.

-Mary? – she couldn’t find her voice all of a sudden, just stared at Fanny with wide open eyes. – Mary, can you hear me?

-Mary, are you with us?

-I…

-Just nod if you can hear me. Good, that’s it. Okey, can you stand?

-We should tell Alison to open the windows.

-Don’t worry about that right now Theodore. Help me hold her.

-Fa… Fanny…

-What is it? Do you need anything? Are you okey?

-Fanny, what… what happened?

-Long story. Are you okey?

-Yes. I thinks so.

-Alright. Can you walk? You should get some air.

-Okey. Dids I do something?

-No, don’t fret.

-But Fanny, your…

-I’m perfectly alright Theodore. Mary didn’t do any harm at all, now, did she?

-Ohhh. Of course, Mary, everything is perfectly alright. You are just a bit shaken.

-I… Fanny… I didn’ts do it. You knows I didn’t.

-Of course I know. It was the illness, you said so yourself.

-I trieds to help, but I be not strong enough. I should has been taught.

-Let’s get you outside, come on.

-I be not a bad witch. You believe me, not?

-Mary, listen, you have been through something very traumatic, let’s wait until you more or less are back to your normal self.

-Aun… I mean Fanny, do you think we should wait? Remember Humphrey or Kitty, it’s not good to hold things.

-I will not have Mary talk about her past so soon after this incident. If she has reacted this way Lord knows how she could react if we forced her to speak once more. I don’t ask you about the war, do I?

-That’s different. I didn’t fight, but Mary…

-That will be enough young man. I said no, and it shall remain as such until I think she’s ready, if she ever is. You didn’t hear her scream for mercy the way I did, and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone, not even George. Have I made myself understood?

-Yes, aunty.

-Good.

-Aunty? You two are related? – from the other side of the banister Alison and the other ghosts were staring, Kitty and Pat incredibly worried. – The smell woke me up. What happened? Why is Mary so pale? What the hell?

-Don’t trouble yourself Alison, we have everything under control.

-Really? Doesn’t look like that to me? You two are related?!

-Yes, is not that important Alison. He’s my aunt’s grandson, but I always let him call me aunt.

-No wonder you two are so… similarly weird. He must have been a child when you passed.

-He was very young, yes, but it doesn’t matter at the moment.

-Fanny’s right, we have a… ghost thing going on that must be solved at once.

-This is not just a ghost thing. The entire house smelled like it was on fire.

-Hmm. – Mary’s hands grabbed onto Fanny’s dress, a grimace on her face. The blisters on her hands were slowly disappearing, but the cloud of utter confusion over their heads was thick and becoming bigger as they tried to protect her from everyone’s questions. Why couldn’t they shut up, couldn’t they see how much pain they were causing Mary?

-SILENCE! All of you! Mary, darling, where do you want to go?

-I… I don’ts know.

-Okey, let’s go outside for a bit to clear everyone’s head, is that alright?

A nod was all she received. Both women moved in slow steps towards the main entrance, no one dared to follow. As Mary moved towards the outside so did the smell, the house free of smoke in under five seconds as if nothing had happened, questions floating in the air. If they had been alive the feeling of the snow on their skin would have made them shiver uncontrollably, but the wind and fresh air were now welcome. The seams of Fanny’s dress were completely ripped leaving her freckled skin exposed, Mary seemed to be focusing on that, her eyes following every little beauty mark she could find as she tried to calm her racing thoughts. Everything had been so vivid, so real. She hadn’t thought of them in almost 400 years and at the same time she hadn’t stopped at all, they were in the back of her head always. Her hands were warm, spreading heat like a fire as her fingers traced patterns over Fanny’s exposed skin, grounding herself. Lady B wanted to speak, wanted to ask her so many questions, but didn’t know how to tackle this, she hadn’t been allowed back when she had been younger to ask anything that wasn’t what her mother had considered “lady like”. Such a waste. Thankfully she didn’t need to as Mary lifted her head to look into her baby blue eyes, the only constant she seemed to find in her mind, the love she felt for her, she wasn’t sure of what was real and what was a memory, but she was certain that Fanny was there, her soft flesh beneath her fingers, she was real and so was what she felt for her. She was madly in love with her and at the moment it felt right, the only clear thing in her mind. She had never intended to hide anything from her, but the fear was too great, had been too much and she couldn’t escape from its grasp, she had been alone with her own thoughts, drowning, until a hand had pulled her from the freezing waters. She could forget everything she had ever lived both in death and life as long as Fanny remained in her heart forever, she was enough.

-How are you feeling?

-Better. I hurt you, didn’ts I?

-Nothing that couldn’t be fixed. I’m perfectly fine now.

-I’m sorry.

-Whatever for?

-If I hads done things differently, if I hads been better…

-You wouldn’t be here, with me. It might sound selfish, but I wouldn’t change anything from our pasts.

-I’m sure you knows by now, you are smart.

-Know what?

-What I be.

-You are Mary, nothing more and nothing else unless you want to be more. Do you?

-I was so scared they would find out, and… what good dids it do? I was killed anyway.

-I’m sorry you went through that, and we can’t change the past, believe me, I’ve tried, but now things are different. People like you or me would have been hanged back in my day, and nowadays they can get married and have a life, just like everyone else, because being different doesn’t make you bad. No one is going to hurt you if you want to be your true self Mary. I love you either way, and I won’t leave you.

-I… I be a witch. – both knew what she was, but she needed to say it. It felt liberating in a way to say who she was, what she had been hiding her entire life and death and it felt right to say it to her. Her smile didn’t falter, her eyes didn’t sparkle with hate or worry and her stand didn’t shake, she was still there looking at her as if she were the only one in the entire world.

-I know, dear.

-You… really don’t minds? At all?

-No. Maybe you can light candles with your fingertips, or transform cups into frogs, but you are still the same Mary we all know and love. You are still my Mary. – God, it felt wonderful, she felt light as air, a happiness she had never felt blooming in her chest as Fanny’s hand took hold of hers, the other one cherishing her cheek wiping with her thumb the tears she hadn’t noticed were falling from her eyes.

-I’m dead, I can’t learns now how to… be me. I don’ts know if I can do it now, maybe I lost my powers.

-We can try if you really want to. You and me, and maybe the Captain or Pat, but not Julian, let’s leave him out of this.

-Okey, I likes that.

-Do you know any small little trick that you use to do when you were younger?

-I don’ts know… Well… There’s one. I don’ts know if it will work, but…

She let go of her, clasping her hands in front of Fanny, staring at them with such concentration, such perfection. Inside her it felt like a rush of excitement and energy was flowing through her veins making her feel… alive. Fanny felt the energy shift around them, it was exhilarating, something new she had never imagined possible. Mary was at peace with her own soul at last, she could see it in her features, a comfortable breeze embracing them as Mary lifted her gaze and opened her eyes, staring into Fanny’s eyes. Her breath caught in her throat, a gasp escaping from her pink lips as she saw the brightest blue she had ever seen in her life, not even in those expensive fabrics she had seen in the shops, no, nothing could compare to the life emanating from Mary’s eyes, it’s as if that shade hadn’t existed on the faze of this Earth until Mary had opened them. Her hands unclasped revealing a small red dot, it was slightly disappointing, Fanny had expected something grandiose, until the little dot started growing in size revealing a beautiful deep red velvet rose in full bloom in between her palms. The feeling of disappointment vanished altogether as soon as Mary placed the flower in her own hands. It had been so long since she had felt the petals of a flower in between her fingers, the droplets of water falling on her palms, the sweet smell of a fresh rose, and all that had come from Mary, from her own bare hands. It was perfect and eternal.

-I can stills do it.

-Don’t ever stop.

Her lips were so close, just an inch away from Mary’s, it was torture until she closed the gap between them, crashing her mouth over hers earning a soft moan from Fanny, and for once she didn’t regret it. Neither of them had ever felt so alive before, so ready to meet the world and fight. They were strong, so incredibly strong and everything was because of a rose. Mary’s mind had calmed by now, all her thoughts were still, quiet, everything would be fine. Her husband had adored her gift and she would never say she hadn’t loved him with her entire being, but four hundred years was more than enough time to make peace with ones inner demons, he would always hold a special place in her heart along with her children, her two little babies, but for once she was free to be who she had always been meant to be and with who she wanted. The kiss ended too quickly for their liking, but there would be time for more. The dress had miraculously fixed itself once more and Mary’s smoke had vanished completely, but the snow was still there and so was the moon and their rose. Unconsciously Mary placed one arm around Fanny’s waist as they watched the snow build up around them, the cold didn’t bother them, her other hand resting on Fanny’s tummy, the rose blooming even more as she did that, green leaves growing underneath. At last, on Christmas everything was perfect, no more painful memories from Fanny’s bankrupt family or Mary’s loses. It was just magical.

#mary ghosts #fanny button #lady fanny button #Fanny Button x Mary #martha howe douglas #katy wix #bbc ghosts #Horrible Histories #yonderland

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dangerous-mess · 4 years

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Breakeven (Kirishima x Bakugo x reader) Part 2

Characters: Bakugo, Kirishima, gender neutral reader, Dabi, mentions of Twice, mentions of Toga

Contains: Polyam relationships, language, implied that someone is drugged, implied of torture, kidnapping, nightmares, implied ptsd, arguing, manga spoilers (chapters 290 and 293), mentions of Bakugou’s hero name, mentions lov, filled with a lot of angst for a while, eventual fluff and happy ending I swear, time skips

Word Count: 6K+

Months had passed since the encounter you had with Kirishima, and since then you had not heard from either of your ex-boyfriends. A part of you enjoyed the break, finally able to focus on yourself and your job. You slowly started to work longer shifts just to keep yourself busy, not sure what to do with the extra time on your hands. Though you would never admit it or say it out loud, you felt like you were missing a few pieces. You tried to fill the void that was left from the breakup, but nothing seemed to work. Eventually, you gave in to your mom’s constant pestering and decided to try the whole dating scene again.

During this time you felt drawn to call or even text the two pro heroes who had stolen your heart all those years ago, but you knew it wouldn’t be worth it, afraid of being hurt once more by the two heroes. So with your busy schedule and being having the advantage as you did in high school, you did the only logical thing. You downloaded a dating app and before clocking into work for the day you made sure to have a profile set up hoping to match with some people during breaks.

You felt giddy, to say the least when you went on your first break of the day. You sat down and quickly pulled out your phone and opened the app. You began looking at profiles, swiping left or right depending on whether or not you felt you two would connect. One profile stood out the most to you, a young man, who appeared to be a bit older than you, You swiped right in a heartbeat and saw that the two of you had matched. You felt your heart skip a beat, quickly checking the time. You had five minutes left before you had to return to work, so you quickly typed out a message to this handsome stranger whose name was Touya. You made sure to apologize in advance for any daily, explaining you were currently at work and about to get off your break.

The rest of your shift went by quickly and you didn’t dare check your phone until you got home. You opened up the app as soon as you closed and locked the door to your apartment, happy to see that the man had replied. He was sweet and kind, and surprisingly wasn’t trying to force anything upon you right away. You texted him late into the night before he excused himself saying that he had work. You bid goodbye as he made a promise to message you when he got the chance. For the first time in a long time, you fell asleep happy, a smile plastered on your face.

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The next few weeks were amazing, to say the least, in your eyes anyway. You finally felt like you found the piece you were missing and felt like things were finally falling into place. You and Touya had talked more often the past few weeks, even going as far and exchanging numbers and calling on the phone. You weren’t in love with him by any means, but just hearing his voice, definitely caused some butterflies to form in your stomach. His voice was just soothing and relaxing. It was calming you down after the intense days at the hospital and a part of you so desperately wanted to meet him, to go on a date with this sweet stranger. So that night when he called you, you took a chance and decided to take a chance and ask him.

“Hey Touya,” You whispered out, as you laid in bed, not wanting the moment to end. You heard him let out a small grunt as a response and you continued on with your question, “Can we, I mean, would you like to go on a date sometime?” You knew your voice quivered and you knew he heard it. There was silence for a moment and you began to shake and feel the tears well up in your eyes.

Finally, he spoke out, apologizing for the delay, he was just so caught off guard, before continuing on, answering the question. “When were you wanting to go on this date, cause if you aren’t busy we could go now? I know a café that just opened we can go to if you’d like.”

You quickly wiped your eyes, a smile growing on your face as the butterflies danced around in your stomach. “That sounds perfect, I’ll get ready if you wanna just text me the address.” You replied as you started to push yourself out of bed.

“Oh, I can give you time and just come pick you up, if you are okay with that.” He mumbled out, and before you could truly process the statement, you agreed. You gave him your address and he gave you a time he would be over, and with that, you hung up and began getting ready for the date.

Now, you weren’t an idiot, and as someone who had dated two pro heroes in the past, one would think you would be smarter than to give a random stranger whom you’ve never met in person and haven’t seen minus his dating profile your number, nevertheless your address, but you trusted this man. Though you would soon learn that was a mistake, and you should have taken better precautions, but alas it was too late.

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You had gotten ready in no time, texting Touya that you were about ready if he wanted to start to head over, to which he replied that he was almost there. You felt your stomach fill with butterflies at the thought of meeting the guy who had brought light back into your life and made you feel like you mattered once more. You were brought back to reality by the sound of your phone going off, letting you know you had a new text, of course, you weren’t surprised to see it was from Touya. He said he was outside and you said you were on your way out. You were smiling like an idiot as you made your way out of the apartment and down to the lobby and front door. As you were about to walk out he said he parked in the alley beside the apartment complex. You thought that was a little weird but shook off the feeling and went out the door and towards the alleyway.

As you approached the alleyway, you didn’t see any car nor did you see anyone either. You called out for Touya before you felt an arm wrap around you from behind.

“Hey Doll,” The voice whispered out and it didn’t take you long to piece that the voice belonged to Touya. You went to turn around, hoping that this was all some prank he was pulling on you, but instead, you were met with a face you didn’t recognize.

“Touya?” You whispered out, your voice cracking at the end, fear starting to settle, as you began to realize what was happening. You started to try and get out of his arm, but his grip on you only tightened. It was a time like this you wished you kept up the training Bakugou forced you to do back at UA.

“How now, little mouse, don’t fight. You’ll only make this harder than it needs to be.” He whispered in your ear, sending a shiver down your spine. You started to feel sick to your stomach and realized how big of an idiot you really were. Based on what you knew, you needed to get away or get help now, as your chances of survival decreased by half the moment you are taken away.

You opened your mouth to scream, but was quickly met with a cloth covering your mouth and nose. You tried to hold your breath and not fall victim to this man, but in the end, you failed. You felt the world slowly start to spin and everything starts to go black. The last thing you heard before you were met with total darkness was ‘Touya’ speaking. “Guess you wanted to do things the hard way.”

You woke up what felt like hours later with a massive headache. You tried to move only to realize you were bound to a pole. The room you were in was dark and it was hard to make out anything. You tried to make out some noise, to hopefully call for help or to grab the attention of your capture. You only were able to let out a small groan which wasn’t that loud but clearly loud enough as you heard a voice start to speak from within the darkness.

“Well, well, well. Finally, you are awake, was getting a bit worried for a moment there that the batch was too strong, and killed you.” The voice spoke and before you knew it you were blinded as light filled the room. Your eyes began to readjust and there you saw him, ‘Touya’. You tried to move away from him as he approached you, but you couldn’t, you were just stuck. He stood in front of you for a moment, looking down at you, as if you were beneath him, and honestly, at this moment, you were. He crouched down, making sure he was eye level with you, and slowly lifted his hand, placing it on your cheek. You tried to move your head away from his hand, but that did no good.

“Touya…” You whispered out, your throat dry, making it difficult to get any words out. You looked at him, only to see him pull his hand back before it collided with your cheek. You flinched and fought back the tears that you could feel forming.

“Don’t you dare ever call me that. You’re lucky I let you use it this long. It’s Dabi, do you understand?”

You quickly nodded, fear just continuing to grow. You needed to get out of here or at least find a way to call for help. You had the next few days off work so it would be a few days before anyone even noticed you were missing unless of course, your mother decided to drop in and check on you, but that was a slim chance. You tried to think through a plan, your thoughts drowning out Dabi’s voice. You kept trying to remember everything Bakugou and Kirishima taught you in case something like this happened, but your mind was just going blank.

You were drawn back into reality by a sharp pain on the other side of your face. You looked at Dabi, who appeared to be growing annoyed and pissed off. “Listen to me when I'm talking to you, got it? Trust me you don’t wanna mess with me or anyone else here. We will be your worst nightmare.” You nodded and looked down, too afraid to make eye contact with him. But at least you learned something, he wasn’t alone.

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The next few days were long and torturous. Dabi came to visit often, mostly to degrade you. You slowly began to piece together why you were here and who this group of people were, based on interactions you had with others that Dabi had mentioned on your first day. They were called the League of Villains, which you were familiar with, though you were told that heroes had handled and defeated them years prior, but clearly, that was all a lie. You questioned if the pros knew of this and secretly hoped and prayed that they did and someone would find you sooner than later. You could feel yourself growing weaker every day and as much as you tried to play the hero, it did no use. You were useless against Dabi and the league.

As days turned into weeks you could feel your mental state deteriorating, you won’t be able to hang in much longer. One particular day, one that was quite different than the rest before. You were left alone. No one came in to bring you some scraps and water, no one came to suck the life out of you. You just were met with silence, at least until you heard things crashing from up above. You assumed Twice or Toga had pissed off Dabi again and just ignored it, that was until you heard a familiar voice. A voice you hadn’t heard in so long and you were so grateful to hear it. You tried to call out and get the attention of those on the floor above, but you were weak and couldn’t muster anything louder than a whisper. You began to cry, knowing this was possibly the only chance you had to gain freedom and to be saved from the hell you were in. You kept trying to scream out, to call out for the pro heroes above, but nothing seemed to be working. Even as you heard someone fidget with the door handle at the top of the stairs, you couldn’t make enough noise to get anyone’s attention, at least so you thought.

The door eventually opened and the sound of footsteps came down the stairs. It was dark in the room and you were afraid it was Dabi and could feel your whole body begin to shake, your mind only thinking the worst. Had the heroes lost and you were forever stuck here, with the league. You were going to die here, you would never get to see Kirishima and Bakugou again. You would never be able to tell them how much you still loved them, how much you wanted to try again. You cried harder than you were before, when you felt a pair of hands touch your shoulder, you tried to move away before you heard a comforting voice.

“Y/N, is this you?” It was Kiri’s voice, you tried to let out a yes or something, but just nothing came out. “Dynamight, have you found the light switch yet, it’s hard to see who this is.” He spoke out into the dark, which you heard a voice grumble out, curses flying out. Suddenly the room filled with light and once your eyes adjusted you saw red eyes staring at you. He gave you a sad smile before telling you what he was about to do, as he moved to undo your bindings.

Everything started to happen too fast. You felt the bindings come undone and you were lifted off the ground. You could see Kirishima, or at this moment, Red Riot’s mouth moving but you couldn’t process what he was saying. You wrapped your arms around him tightly as he carried you out of the League’s base and to the ambulance that was waiting outside. He handed you off to the paramedics. You could tell he wanted to go with you, and you desperately wanted to call out to him, and to Bakugou to come with you. They were the only thing you wanted right now, but before you could, the doors slammed shut and your check-up began as you were taken to the hospital. You don’t remember much after that as you could feel your eyelids getting heavy as you passed out.

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Everything was bright, almost too bright and it hurt your eyes. You woke up in the hospital to the sunlight filling up your room. You could hear monitors beeping, letting you know that you were alive. You looked around and saw you were connected to a few machines as well as had an IV drip. And to your surprise, by the windows, you saw two men sleeping. The two men you had been yearning for, deep down, for some time. You cleared your throat, hoping to be able to get their attention, and it worked. Both of them shot up from the chairs, rushing to your side. You offered them both a small smile as they both just stared at you. It was silent for a moment before Kirishima excused himself to go get a doctor or nurse, to let them know you were awake. That just left you and Bakugou alone, and as glad as you were to see him, the last time you were alone with him, things didn’t go well. So needless to say, you were nervous. He glanced down at the bed and back at you as if he was asking permission to sit, so you moved your legs some so he had a room as he sat on the bed, his eyes never once leaving yours.

“Y/N, listen. I’m not good at this type of thing but I just want to say I’m sorry.” He shifted his eyes down, now staring at his hands. He was picking at the skin around his nails, his hands clearly shaking. “I’m sorry for how I treated you that day in the hospital, I shouldn’t have hit you. I’m sorry for making you feel so left out and like we...like I didn’t care or love you. Cause I did, and well still love you.” You tried to reach out and place your hand on him, but due to all the wiring and the IV, it was nearly impossible.

You watched him, as he kept messing with his fingers, his head down. “I worried about you when I got the word you were missing and fuck Y/N, my heart dropped when I heard the league had gotten a hold of you. My mind just kept replaying the last time I saw you, the last thing I did was hit you and I was so afraid that would be the last memory you would have of me, of us.” He turned his head, looking at you as tears ran down his face. You had never seen him this upset before, not like this. He was never one to truly express emotions the same way as others did, so seeing him in this state, made you just want to comfort him. To let him know you forgave him for the wrongdoings, and most importantly that you still loved him more than anything else. But you didn’t get the chance as the door to your room opened as a doctor and Kirishima walked into the room.

You watched Bakugou quickly wipe away the tears on his face and move to the other side of the room, where Kiri soon joined him. The doctor went over everything but you couldn’t focus on what he was saying, you only kept glancing over at the two men across the room. You were going to be in the hospital a little longer, just to make sure you were truly fine, which you weren’t looking forward to. After the doctor left, both of the men stared at you, none of you saying a word. You worked up the strength and courage to speak up, quickly taking a small sip of the water nearby.

“Eijiro...Katsuki..” You spoke out, your voice shaky, just barely above a whisper, but they both still heard you as they made their way towards you. You felt tears start to well up in your eyes as you looked at them. “I...I’ve missed you both so much.” That was all you managed to get out before you started sobbing. Kiri gently wrapped you in a hug as Bakugou held one of your hands. You tried to get more words out, but the tears kept coming and you just could not form any words. The three of you stayed like that for a while, just comforting each other, putting all of your hearts at ease for the first time in a while.

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You were discharged from the hospital in no time and slowly readjusted to normal life once again. You weren’t allowed to return to work quite yet, which did throw off your routine a bit, but it just gave you a chance to settle back into a safe environment. Which was a lot harder than you thought. During the day, things were fine and you went about your day, but by the time night settled, you couldn’t fall asleep without having nightmares from your time with Dabi and the league. And though, the three of you had started to form a friendship again, you were nervous to call them up during the late hours. Worried that you would be waking them from a well-deserved rest or from a patrol. There was also a part of you that was afraid of being pushed away once more, the fear of being the third wheel or shoved aside just to keep up an image, you weren’t ready for that heartache again.

One night, in particular, it got worse. You woke up to yourself screaming and crying, your body completely drenched in sweat. Before you could even process what you were doing, you grabbed your phone and texted the group chat you were in with the two of them. You were quick to receive a message back, but before you could fully read it, your phone started to ring as Bakugou was calling you. You answered the phone, hearing both of the men on the other line, asking if you were okay. All you could do was cry out before they said they were on their way over. Kirishima talked to you on the phone the entire time, as you learned Bakugou was driving. You couldn’t process or even fully comprehend everything that was being said, it even took you several moments to understand that you needed to go let them into your apartment once they arrived.

You let them in, and it took no time for both of them to be at your side, comforting you any way they could. Kirishima tried rubbing your back and offering affection and his support that way, while Bakugou sat beside you, whispering that he was there to listen when you were ready to talk about it. It took a while, but eventually, you calmed down. You quietly thanked them both for coming over, not sure what else to say or do, as you didn’t want to talk about the nightmare, even if it would do more good to do so. It was just difficult, to form into words and then not be seen as weak or receive pity for how you were feeling. You bid them goodbye and thanked them again for coming over, as you made your way to the kitchen to make some tea, as you had decided to stay up a bit longer, afraid of what twisted things awaited you once you closed your eyes.

You weren’t in the kitchen very long before you saw two figures walk in and join you, causing you to sigh. “You two can leave, I’m fine now.” You said, carefully putting the kettle on the stove, before turning it on. It was quiet for a moment or two before one of them spoke up, breaking the silence.

“Y/N, don’t push us away, talk to us. We wanna help any way we can, even if it is just listening to what is going on in your mind.” You recognized the voice to be Kirishima’s and you swiftly turned around. Your emotions were all over the place, due to lack of sleep, and the images of the nightmare still fresh in your mind. “If anyone has the right to be pushed away, it’s you two. You both shoved me away, don’t you remember. And just because we are talking again doesn’t mean I’m going to be stupid enough to spill out everything to you both again.” The words spilled out, and though you didn’t mean for it all to come out so aggressive and filled with venom, it did. You were tired, hurting, and trying to recover from the things that had happened to you. It didn’t excuse you for what you were doing right now, but you had the right to speak your mind and speak the truth.

“Y/N..” Bakugou started to speak, but you shut him down.

“No, don’t you dare ‘Y/N’ me. I can forgive you for some of the shit you both did to me, but it doesn’t mean I am going to just let you back in and trust you with my entire being, how can I? Even if I tried to explain it all to you, you wouldn’t even understand, want to know why? Because it’s always Kirishima and Bakugou, having each other’s back. Kiri and Bakugou protecting each other from everything. Red Riot and Dynamight are always there for each other, no matter what. So just do me a favor and leave.” You let out a sigh as you finished talking, hoping they would just turn and leave, yet they stood there not saying a word. If you had more sleep and were in a better place, this situation won’t upset you, but right now it made you angry.

The two of them just standing in front of you, silently, filled you with rage. You couldn’t explain why, maybe it was from the lack of sleep or maybe it was because the three of you had yet to really address what had happened all those months ago. You quickly turned the stove off as the kettle whistled, leaving the water on the stove, no longer wanting it.

“It used to be us, Eijiro, Katsuki, and Y/N, back in UA. We were inseparable and sure we had issues but we always talked about them. Then you two were heroes and rising up the charts and I was left in the dust. And then it was more of you two, and I was the third wheel. Fuck, you two didn’t even care when I left after ‘Suki proposed. You could have stopped me or called or something, but I was met with silence. Just like I’m being met with the same silence now, you both are here but it’s almost as if you aren’t at the same time. It’s like the both of you two are completely blinded by everything going on with other people.” You made your way out of the kitchen and made your way to the couch. You sat down and all at once everything that just happened and what you said to hit you, hard. You didn’t regret what you said, for it was the truth, though you were sure you could have phrased or worded it better. A few moments later, both of the boys were on the couch, sitting on either side of you. It was silent once more before one of them spoke out.

“Listen Y/N, we should have talked about this sooner, as it’s obvious now that what happened months ago is still affecting how you see and view both of Katsuki and I.” Kirishima started speaking, you waited for Bakugou to chirp in some smart-ass response, but he was silent, allowing the red-haired man to continue speaking. “We should have reached out to you sooner after you left. Fuck Y/N, we should have reached out and spoken to you the moment we thought you were pushing us away. We were stupid for not doing so and there isn’t anything I can say that’ll make it better or not sound like some sorry excuse. You deserved better, you still do, whether that is from us or not.”

Kirishima stopped and looked at Bakugou, who was quick to join in. “We were, and still are dumbasses, as you’ve probably noticed. And I know, we should have reached out to you sooner, I should have talked to you sooner. I should have explained the whole engagement thing to you before it happened, or even told you that day in the hospital. You were our partner, and we totally excluded you.”

You lifted your head, glancing at both of the men, thoughts running through your mind. You had questions that needed answers, questions that for weeks after the initial breakup kept you awake most nights. You cleared your throat before asking the first question, the biggest one you had. “Why didn’t either of you call or text? Why did it take weeks upon weeks to hear from you Katsuki and Eijiro?” You could see them both exchange looks before Bakugou started speaking again.

“Truth be told, I didn’t notice the note until a few days after you were long gone. I figured you were working extra shifts and work was keeping you busy. When I saw the note, I was pissed and hurt and just assumed you would come back and when it became clear you weren’t I blamed you for leaving, I didn’t want to think it was my fault. I ended up coming to the hospital, hoping to sort things out and well, we know how that went.” He nervously chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. You turned your attention back to your hands, trying to keep yourself grounded as you felt a part of your heart break. You wanted answers and knew you won’t like what you hear, but god you didn’t expect it to hurt this badly.

“I was hardly home for a while after you left. I got busy with hero work and taking in students for work-study, I just slept at my office. ‘Suki texted me while I was at work, saying I needed to come home. He found the note, and I wanted to go after you, but I thought maybe time apart would do us some good, and well, I figured you would come back. After the incident at the hospital that you and Katsuki had, I needed time. And when I was ready to talk, I expected you to be with your parents, and after some explaining to your mom, she told me where to find you.” He paused for a moment, before quickly adding in, “Speaking of your mother, she is quite a fierce woman, to say the least.”

The room filled with silence once more, causing you to drift into your thoughts. So you got the answers on why it took weeks for them to come to talk to you about the note, but they never explained why they didn’t text or even call, which just hurt you more.

“Why didn’t you call or text, you didn’t answer that part, and I need to know.” You practically cried out, looking between both of them, watching as their heads fell. The room filled with silence before Kiri spoke out, he was quiet and you couldn’t make out anything he said, you asked him to repeat and instead had Bakugou practically yell out.

“We didn’t know what the fuck to say dumbass.” That was all he said before it filled with silence once again. You wanted to speak up, tell them both they could have said anything, just something to let you know they cared and mattered to them, and without hesitation, you did just that.

“You could have sent anything, I wouldn’t have cared what the hell you said. Just a sign from either of you would have been enough. I left because you pushed me away, I was the third wheel and I hoped that maybe with me leaving that you both would realize your mistakes and come running after me. Pleading through texts and calls to come home, but instead, I was met with silence.” You stopped, feeling tears run down your cheek, silently cursing at yourself. You wanted to be strong through this, but you couldn’t. “I fucking loved you both and thought you felt the same, but it became very clear that you didn’t.”

“Y/N…” They both started to speak out, tears starting to form in both of their eyes.

“No, I don’t wanna hear it, you can’t fix that now, it’s too late. And god to top it all off, you both are engaged, and I had to find out with the rest of the fucking country. My own boyfriends engaged as I was at home clueless, never hearing a word about it.” You were quickly cut off by Bakugou who had started to speak over you.

“I didn’t have time to talk about it with you, the commission made me. They wanted something big and exciting in the news, and since fucking Deku is always shining, they wanted us to bring some news. They told me to go get a ring and propose, and I can’t argue with them, they do control my job!”

You just stared at Bakugou, unable to form any sentences or coherent thought, for that matter. Sure, you understood that he had no choice, but you just wished he would still have talked to you about it, even if it was a quick text 30 seconds before the entire country saw it. You just wished and wanted things to be different or even how they were before you all were adults and they were pro heroes, but that would never happen, and you knew that. You all sat in the living room for a while, no words exchanged, just silence. You eventually caught yourself dozing off as the sun started to peek through the curtains and for once you just let your body rest.

You woke up hours later, content to have gotten some sleep, nightmare free. You glanced around and didn’t see or hear either man in the house, meaning they left while you slept. You knew they had to, they were heroes, but you still wanted them here. You wanted to apologize and just...no that would be silly. You pushed the thought away, and got up from the couch, stretching and going into the kitchen. Upon entering you were surprised to see Bakugou at the stove, scrambling some eggs. You cleared your throat and he turned around and offered you a small smile, which was a rare sight, even for how close you two once were.

“I’m not sure how good these will be, but I figured this would be a good start to make things up to you and to apologize.” He spoke softly, staring at you before turning his attention back to the stove. “Oh, Kiri, went to the store to grab a few things, he should be back soon.” He said, almost as if he knew you were curious as to where the other was.

“‘Suki, don’t you have work today? Correction, don’t you both have work?” You questioned, going to the fridge and pouring yourself some juice before sitting at the table.

“We both called off. We called off for a while actually, on-call if any huge villain attack happens but everyone will be fine for a while without Red Riot and Dynamight. Eijiro would be better at this than me, but we know we can’t fix the past and what we did and how we treated you, but we want to make up for it. We want you to know we still love and care for you, that you matter to us.” He spoke, his voice growing quieter as he went on, but you still heard every word to it. You went to go speak up, but you were cut off by the front door opening and Kirishima walking in.

He walked into the kitchen, bags in his hands, and smiled at you before apologizing for taking the key to your apartment. You smiled at him, chuckling, letting him know it was okay. The two of them finished making breakfast, a huge one at that, before joining you at the table where you all ate. Things wouldn’t be easy, but for now, you knew this was a start.

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Weeks had passed and both pro heroes had practically stayed at your apartment the entire time. You enjoyed the time with them as you had truly missed this You had missed them so much more than you realized. And you knew that soon they would have to return to their own apartment and return to the life of being a full-time hero, but at the moment you didn’t want it to end. Sleeping became easier with them near, as the nightmares slowly became fewer and farther apart. You knew they couldn’t cure what happened or your mind, and you may always experience nightmares about all that happened with Dabi, but with them? With the two of them, it was so much easier to handle, for you weren’t alone. You were by two people who you had come to love again, and a part of you could only hope they felt the same about you.

You were all cuddling in bed, just talking and laughing about who knows what, when Bakugou broke the news. He told you he had to return to work tomorrow and Kiri the day after. You couldn’t help it and just cried, both of them holding you close. You knew this was coming but it still hurt. Both of the heroes comforted you the best they could, calming you down, whispering promises of staying in contact and visiting often. It then crossed your mind and with tear-filled eyes, you looked at them both and realized it had crossed theirs as well. The big question, what were you three. Would they even allow or want to be in a relationship with you or was this all some platonic friendly thing happening between you three.

“Katsuki? Eijiro? What….what are we?” You whispered quietly, and for a moment you weren’t sure if they heard you. You had begun to get nervous as you waited for some sort of answer. You were caught off guard by Bakugou chuckling and you turned yourself so you were looking at him. “And what is so funny?” Slightly offended with why he thought now was the perfect time to laugh. You were asking a perfectly reasonable question, that had to be on all your minds.

“God Y/N, you are such a dumbass. I don’t know if I speak for Kiri over there, but I assumed we were dating again. Like I know platonic cuddles are a thing, but uhh when have I been known to do that?” He laughed even more as you pushed your up and out of the arms of the men. He had a fair point, you couldn’t argue with that.

A smile formed on your face as you looked between the two, “Well that’s good to hear, I wanna be with you both again. If you’ll have me, of course.” At this point, they were also sitting up and staring at you, a cheesy grin on both of their faces. They both nodded and you started grinning from ear to ear. “That’s good to know, means I can finally do this again,” you spoke quickly before kissing them both.

The road ahead of you three won’t be easy, and there were bound to be challenges you all would face just like before. But this time, you all were prepared and could better handle anything that was thrown at you.

Taglist: @candybabey @peachiikichu

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