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elronds-meleth-nin · 2 months ago

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Never Too Late - Part Three: The Lady of Reflections

This story keeps drawing me back, tugging at my soul more than I expected it to. I have no idea how many chapters this will end up being, but I currently have parts 4-7 outlined and partially written, so 🤷‍♀️ we'll see. Also this chapter is way longer than I thought it'd be. I thought it might be like 3-4000, but it's closer to 8700.

Cross-posted to AO3 here.

Part 1 here. Part 2 here.

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Adar (RoP) x Maia!Reader

[A/N: This chapter has smut, so 18+ ONLY, MINORS DNI!!!]

Warnings: Adar's trauma is showing, kissing, tension (both sexy and stabby), magical fighting, I'm probably bastardizing canon but I'm not sorry, Uruk/Maia smut, established-ish relationship, they've been flirting and making heart eyes at each other for literal thousands of years so I think that counts as an established relationship even if it's not clearly defined or labeled, canon-typical violence, if you haven't seen Rings of Power S2, this may not make sense/may contain spoilers for show events, implied oral (female receiving).

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The War of Wrath had ended. Morgoth, the rebel Vala, was banished. The influence of his shadows still extended across much of Middle Earth, but the dark lord himself was gone, sent into the Timeless Void never to return. His whispers still remained in the hearts of the beings of Middle-earth, fully capable of turning those who listened toward evil, but he himself was no longer there. At first, Adar could scarcely believe it. The evil that had trapped him, mutilated him, manipulated him, convinced him that darkness was the right path, and tore him from the life he'd led...was gone.

Yes, Sauron had escaped the Valar's judgment for the time being and was more than ready to take Morgoth's place, but until the power was in his hands, nothing was certain.

For the first time in a seemingly endless string of years, Adar felt hope blossoming within the remains of his heart. Perhaps he would have an opportunity to better care for his children.

That was before Sauron made his intentions clear...his ambition to wield powers of the unseen world.

That was before so many of his children were sacrificed in pursuit of that goal. Adar protected them to the best of his ability, but with each death, he felt increasingly as though his efforts would never be enough. So many of the Uruks were in danger thanks to Sauron's cruelty.

The first night he and his children spent in the fortress of Dúrnost in Forodwaith without Morgoth's influence, she came to him upon a near-invisible mist. Across the countryside, it spread far and wide over a much larger swath of land than she usually affected. Perhaps Morgoth's absence allowed her to more freely use her powers?

In the eventide as he strode amongst his children, he heard the echo of a familiar giggle beside his ear. The sensation of loving lips caressed his cheek as he stepped through the mist-filled stone halls.

"Meet me in the east wing of the fortress. I have ensured that he will be occupied for quite some time." The whisper seemed to come from all around him, yet none of the other Uruks gave any indication that they'd noticed. Anticipation bubbled up within him as he made his way in an easterly direction as casually as he could. Despite his despair over his lost children, he longed to see her. Perhaps, he thought, she can help those who yet live.

He rounded a corner, following the beckoning mist, and there she stood in the doorway of an unused set of chambers. A flowing, snowy-white cape barely concealed a dress that appeared much too thin for anything less than the hottest of summer days, but when she winked at him and slipped inside the room, her choice of clothing was the last thing on his mind.

Adar shut the door behind him, and as his lips parted to greet her, she swept over him like a slow, gentle tide. She stole his breath as her arms wrapped around his neck, drawing him into a tight, comforting embrace. He held her close, burying his face in the crook of her neck and breathing in her sweet, spring flower scent.

She was intoxicating. Her very presence made him wish to bare himself before her and do those things which he ought not voice.

"I have missed you," she breathed as her lips brushed against his jaw just beneath his earlobe. The contact was so gentle that he almost thought he'd imagined it.

"Any place without you is a dark one, indeed, and we have been many moons without a glimpse of your light," he admitted as he pulled back only far enough to look at her. Her fingers skimmed up his neck until her palms rested against his scarred cheeks.

"I am sorry. There were many tasks which required my attention after the war, but I am returned to you now." His lady looked into his eyes, and Adar found the right words firmly stuck in his throat. She was so warm and happy...so caring toward a being who did not deserve such consideration.

All at once, fear gripped his heart. One day she would realize that for herself, and he would find himself shattered beyond repair. Even now, the agony of even considering such a future tore at his heart.

"What is it?" Concern laced her voice, then, and he very carefully stepped out of her reach, walking to the small window that was the only source of light beyond her own - the reason these chambers were unused.

His children could be injured by the sunlight. He had no proof, but he suspected that Morgoth had fashioned this fortress with windows in all the best chambers simply to further demean Adar's children. Taunting them with something beautiful...something they could never experience safely for themselves in order to make them feel inferior. To remind them of their place - far beneath him. That glimpse of the countryside was yet another pleasure just out of reach.

Something of which Sauron had not hesitated to remind them.

Adar braced a hand against the ancient stone windowsill and swallowed. He had no idea what this feeling was that so consumed his mind, but it spoke for him.

"You should not be here, my lady," he murmured, though the words were fouler than bile upon his tongue. The Uruk wanted nothing more than to drop to his knees before her and swear that, as deficient as he was, he would do whatever he could to be worthy of her. He wanted to beg her never to leave, to swear he would give her Middle Earth, the stars, the moon, and anything else she might desire, but he could not. He did not deserve to be the one to make her smile.

"What are you talking about?" The question made his heart clench as a crack began to split it. "I would never allow you to stay here with him - not alone where he could torment you with no constraint. I did not allow it while Morgoth remained, nor shall I do so while Sauron stands in his stead. He may only be a shadow of the evil you faced before, but that does not mean I would ever abandon you to him."

His despair had begun to smother the fledgling hope that had sprung up in the wake of the banishment of the dark lord. Adar's voice dropped lower than before...rough and filled with grief and frustration.

"You have no idea of the monster you are protecting." There was a long, strange pause that stretched between them before the sound of careful footsteps approached behind him. "You are goodness and light...love and tenderness. I am violence and darkness and death...gruesomeness festering in the shadows."

"Adar-" her gentle hand made contact with his shoulder, and for the first time it felt wrong, like a blessing which he did not deserve. Without thought, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her in front of him, pressing her against the wall beside the window with a hand around her throat.

"All those years ago, the darkness whispered to me, summoned me in the night, and I answered it." Adar muttered meeting her gaze. His pain stretched like a chasm between them, and he wondered if she would understand any of his actions. "I betrayed everything I loved - every blessing the Valar had bestowed upon me, including you - for a mere whisper of glory and power. I took the pain Morgoth gave me, relishing it at times, because it meant that I could feel something other than guilt and sorrow and despair."

Tears built in his eyes as her own looked up at him with utter calmness, as if she'd expected this wrathful, remorseful, self-loathing outburst of a confession.

"I drank the wine Sauron gave me on the mountaintop after you left and wished for more. When Morgoth whipped me, I knew I was near death, and I welcomed it so that I might receive the punishment I deserved for listening to the darkness's whispers." He could not stop once he'd begun, despite the damp tracks lining his face. "You saved my life, even took the resulting scars from me, and what did I do to honor your gift?"

His breath shuddered and shook as he looked upon the woman he loved and revealed to her the fullest extent of his crimes.

"I have killed and enjoyed the sensation. I am the father of an army of tortured beings meant to mock the Elves. I have lied. I have been cruel to those who were undeserving of such treatment." As each transgression fell from his lips, he felt both lighter and heavier of heart, but when he opened his mouth one last time, he knew he would lose her forever. "Worst of all, I lusted after you as I have since the day we met. You saved me from death and further injury out of the kindness of your heart, yet I allowed my desire to consume me. Because, all I have - all I am - are my darkest impulses. I thought of your face, of what you looked like when your clothing no longer obstructed my view, and I rutted into my hand like a mindless beast."

He expected her to cower or look at him in horror at the idea of a monster craving her touch, but all she did was reach up - carefully, so carefully - and brush away his tears with the pads of her thumbs. Adar was so surprised that his grip on her throat slackened, not that it had been tight enough to bother her in the first place, and his tirade died upon his tongue.

"What am I called?" She asked quietly, and he blinked uncomprehendingly before uttering her name. With a smile too gentle and patient for him, she shook her head. "That is my name, yes, but what am I called?"

"The Lady of Reflections." This time, she nodded her head.

"I would not be fit to do my duty in that position if could not see clearly those closest to me," she murmured, and the implication struck him like a punch. "I know you, Adar. I've known you since the Awakening. Your soul is as familiar to me as my own. Did you think that I was unaware of any of that?"

Adar's lips parted.

"You knew? All of it?"

"Yes."

The tightness in his chest was akin to how a child felt when they found out that a parent had known of a transgression all along. No wonder his own had always looked so chastened when he spoke with them about mistakes they'd made. Only, this felt so much worse. She was something between a Maia and a Vala, and he'd betrayed her, disappointed her. He'd made all the wrong choices.

How could she bear to look at him?

"Has he already twisted your mind so far in knots that you have forgotten everything we have shared?" Mutely, he shook his head. He could never forget. Every moment with her was seared into his mind. He clung to them like a drowning man to a floating piece of driftwood in an angry, roiling sea.

Unclasping his armor and helping him slip it off, she looked at him as she unfastened the closures down the top half of his tunic. She laid her hand upon his scarred breast, whispering in that same language which he still couldn't interpret. Just as all those years before, both her hand and the skin beneath it glowed.

"Your light still lives within you, strong and bright, even if Sauron has made it difficult for you to recognize," she began. "You have touched the darkness, been harmed by it, even been shaped by it, but it will not consume you. It has not taken you. It never will."

"I wonder at times, whether that is true," he whispered. "I have lost so many of them...so many of my children. I fear that I will become numb to the grief. If I lose the ability to feel that, what will be left of me but a husk?"

The hand not on his chest slid to the back of his neck and into the soft, dark hair at his nape.

"Your losses have been terrible, indeed, but you will never be that far gone. Not as long as you know your children. Fathers do not shrug off the deaths of their little ones," she said. "What do you do in remembrance? Plant alfirin?"

Adar nodded his head solemnly.

"I will have to plant more tonight. Much more. Sauron's ambitions are...costly," he breathed, and she placed a gentle kiss upon his cheek.

"If you would like, I can join you. Assuming that you'd prefer not to be alone, of course."

The Uruk half expected there to be some falsehood in her offer, but, really, that was ridiculous. She was sincere as she always had been. A deep rush of affection washed over him at the concern she showed for both him and his children.

"I would like that. I believe that I...need that." That admission relieved him even more than the ones before, and finally, carefully, he rested his forehead against hers. A much more serene pause than before stretched between them before he spoke again. "I am so sorry, my lady, for my disgraceful behavior. Did I hurt you?"

"No. You couldn't if you tried," she murmured, and relief washed over him. He'd done many horrible things in the course of his time in Middle Earth, but Adar would sooner welcome a slow, painful death than hurt his lady. She lifted his hand, then, placing it gently against her throat where it had been only moments before. "See? No harm done."

Adar's cheeks burned, and he swallowed as he struggled to find his voice. He could feel the delicate vibrations of her voice in her throat along with the steady thrum of her pulse. Standing that close to her was nothing new, but with everything he'd admitted to, this pause felt somewhat heavier.

She knew what he was. All of his darkness and all the remnants of his prior light were laid bare beneath her gaze. For long centuries, he'd expected that she knew more than she let on. He'd felt seen, cared for, and acknowledged by her all along, but this...this was so much more intimate. She'd always understood more about him than any other, yet as the stars began to peek out from behind the clouds, shining into the little window beside them, Adar knew that this was different.

Everything had changed.

Perhaps she was always meant to see the entirety of his soul - more even than Morgoth who'd torn his body and mind asunder and rebuilt him in darkness. Instead of weaponizing what she found when she peered inside his cracks, however, Adar's lady kissed him with more tenderness than a being as corrupted and hideous as he deserved.

He reacted much faster than he had all those years ago in his tent, slipping his hand from the front of her throat to the back and holding her close. For such a long time he'd ached to be with her like this once more. Such a gentle love he had never experienced.

Her lips were soft against his own, even as she clutched at his partially-open tunic. A moan poured from Adar's throat when her fingertips brushed over a scar on his sternum. He'd wanted her to touch him like this for nearly an Age and had all but lost hope. She'd kissed him before, of course, but this...

She whimpered against his lips, and Adar's restraint snapped. He sat upon the empty bedframe and drew her onto his lap, holding her close as he hardened beneath her.

His mind whispered that she knew. She knew he wanted her, she knew he loved her, yet she never once pushed him away. She never once rejected him. She saw all of him and she was there kissing him as if he was still an Ellon. But, she didn't just see the Ellon he'd been, she saw the Uruk he'd become. He was astonished that she loved him as both, and he had the sneaking suspicion that she would love him even if he was neither.

As if she could feel the emotions threatening to choke him, she ran her fingers softly through his hair and hugged him tightly, laying soft kisses across his jaw to his ear.

"Peace. You won't lose me. I am yours." Adar drew her as tightly against him as he could, burying his face in the crook of her neck to inhale her scent. If she was his, he most assuredly was hers. Laying desperate kisses from her shoulder to the corner of her jaw, Adar lavished affection upon her, tasting her pulse with his tongue and wishing the whole world would fade away to allow this moment to be endless. Then, she moaned his name - a breathless plea which he had caused - and his teeth scraped across her skin as he barely managed to resist his urge to mark her.

She already bore enough scars because of him. He would not mar her when she'd already done so by saving him.

Moonlight finally spilled into the room, illuminating his lady in a cool, ethereal glow as Adar looked up at her with lust-blown pupils. From an outsider's perspective, they must appear as an exercise in contrasts - a twisted shadow worshiping a beautiful embodiment of light, and that light embracing the shadow instead of driving it away.

How strange they were! By the very essence of what they were, the Lord Father of the Uruks and the Lady of Reflections should have become enemies the very moment he was changed, yet neither would give up the other.

Even as their lips met once more, Adar felt as though he could be drowned by her, or drown of his own choice in her pleasure, and be perfectly content with the outcome, no matter which came to pass. In his struggle for air, he would cling to her, desperate for a bright lifeline at the end of everything, yet perfectly content in the knowledge that he deserved any judgment she brought down upon him. His only struggle would be for one last touch, one last kiss, one last smile bestowed from she whom he loved.

"I am yours, my lady," he breathed when they pulled far enough apart to look into each other's eyes. "I have been since the moment I was allowed to glimpse you in the yearling sunlight."

Like the arrival of spring, she laid a light rain of kisses across his forehead, never flinching at the texture of his scars beneath her lips.

Adar and his lady remained in each other's embrace until the stars twinkled in the sky above, and when they stirred to make their way outside, a stillness lay over them that was nearly tangible.

The pair walked through the darkness with small bags in their cloak pockets. Starlight lit their path to the field near the lake where hundreds of alfirin plants were already blooming, reaching up to the heavens with white petals and delicate stems. The same somber mood that usually accompanied Adar's visits to this field permeated the air tonight, but this time rage rose to stand side-by-side with his sorrow.

What right did Sauron have to murder so many of his children? Morgoth, for all his darkness and evil, knew how protective the Uruk was of them. The fallen Vala was very aware of how long Adar had desired to have children...had seen the joy in his eyes despite the methods by which he'd procured them.

His lieutenant had been there, of course, but he cared not for anyone beyond himself. Selfish ambition and reckless arrogance had always defined Sauron, even if he was a master manipulator of peoples' hearts and minds. Oh, yes. The deceiver had earned his name, but in truth, he was a mere faded echo of Morgoth's power - a child at play in his father's too-big shoes. Adar would not underestimate him, but he certainly understood his weaknesses after all this time.

As he knelt beside the last patch of alfirin he'd planted, the Lady of Reflections dropped to her knees beside him. She knew the steps, so they both moved in tandem, pulling small bags of seeds from their cloak pockets. They dug small divots in the earth in long lines, sprinkling the seeds carefully before covering them.

Adar's breath caught in his throat. He hated that he needed to do this nearly every night. Before he could stand again, however, his lady laid her hands lightly over the dirt. A glow began in her arms and flooded down into the soil; barely a moment later, the flowers which were already tall enough to have blooms and buds began to shimmer. Those with only leaves luminesced from their stems. He watched in fascination as the light grew brighter and brighter before floating upward into the night sky.

There they remained, taking their places betwixt a constellation named for a bow and another of a bear. The tight concentration of sparkling gems all in one place reminded Adar of a crack in the sky, through which light was allowed to peek. Or, perhaps a celestial brushstroke on a canvas of night.

"New stars," she murmured sounding almost sheepish. "One for each Uruk you have lost. I know they can never replace your children, but I hope looking up at them on cloudless nights will bring you comfort as you remember them."

He grasped her hands and all his rage at Sauron melted away. His lady had hung stars in the sky for him in the simple hope that he would not feel his pain as keenly.

"It will, meldanya," Adar rasped, unable to tear his eyes from the glimmering addition to the heavens. "I cannot begin to thank you in any sufficient way for this gesture."

"I only wish that I could do more." Her whispered admission hung between them, but neither spoke for a long stretch in the gentle blanket of night.

Eventually, they rose and began to walk slowly back toward the fortress, still wordless, but much lighter in mood than before.

She froze quite suddenly mere yards from the doors, and Adar looked at her as she released her grip on his arm.

"He knows that I am here." His lady's voice sounded only in his mind - a silent whisper just like the one that greeted him upon her arrival. Cold dread settled in his chest, but he trusted his lady's judgment. "Forgive me. I do not wish him to blame you. I must go in alone. Do not follow for a short time."

He nodded his head silently and as she took a step toward the door, protectiveness flared within him, roaring and cursing at him to follow her and keep her safe from Sauron's rage. But, he dared not disobey her. She was wiser than he by an unfathomable margin. She would know the correct action to take.

His Uruk instincts, however, did not like the thought of her being alone with such a perilous being.

Adar watched shadows begin to seep from the walls when she walked inside, and he waited as long as he dared before following her path.

The very ground shook as he approached the castle's great hall, and the Uruk lord had to brace himself on a wall as he walked.

"You dare trespass in my territory, wench?" Sauron's cold, smooth voice called, and Adar slipped into the hall among a small number of his children. He whispered quickly for them to return to their chambers, but they were entranced by the sight before them.

Power crackled and popped between the two beings in the center of the room, making the atmosphere as heavy as lead. The groups of Uruks standing on either side wisely backed away from both, watching as the fallen Maia and the Lady of Reflections faced each other.

"This is not your territory, shadow of Morgoth, and you know not to whom you speak," she stated, holding her ground with almost ethereal calm and dignity. "I am the daughter of Ulmo, the Lord of the Tides, and Arien, the Guardian of the Sun. My light flows with the tides, and just as footprints in the sand, I will wash away the lies and filth which you have left in your wake."

Adar blinked. He'd kissed the daughter of a Vala? Why had Ulmo not obliterated him where he stood the first time he dared approach her?

"What does a being like you care about a species of mere animals like these?" A murmur of discontent rolled through the Uruks at Sauron's words. "They were made to mock the Elves as ruin and horror made flesh–"

"They are just as worthy of life as any others in Arda," she finished, and another wave of whispers shivered through the Uruk ranks, but these were curious rather than filled with anger and offense. Pride flashed through Adar's chest. She had no need to defend his children, but she had done so, nevertheless. Though she had spoken fondly of his children before, he held her under no obligation to protect them. That was a parent's responsibility.

She could be their Lady Mother, his traitorous mind whispered, not for the first time, as fierce as the blood of the Valar running through her veins, as bright as the sun, and as gentle as the sway of petals blowing in the breeze.

"You could be great, you know," Sauron cajoled. Manipulative power flowed almost audibly through his voice, sending a jolt of fear into Adar's heart. No, surely she could not be so easily tricked...? "You are unique, someone to be admired and revered - worshiped like your father and adored like your mother. I would make you no longer a daughter cursed with duality, but rather the one to stand above all life on Middle Earth and show them a better way...a brighter path. You could fill this world with light."

She lifted an eyebrow at his attempt, and Adar's shoulders dropped slightly as he realized she'd seen right through him.

"You pluck all the wrong strings, because my mind is closed to you, deceiver. What you seek to remove is my greatest strength and that which I love most about myself. Your master, for all his power, feared my mother, just as you will learn to fear me," she called, and as mist began to surround her, her eyes glowed with fearsome power. "Morgoth never held sway over either of us, and you are lesser still. You have no power where light reigns."

"Darkness consumes all, there is no light here!" Sauron bellowed in an amplified voice, which was, no doubt, intended to frighten her. Light began to fade from the room, making her appear to be the only glimmer remaining in this cruel world. Instead of cowering, however, a laugh tore from her throat, cutting the legs of his feigned dominance out from under him. Shadows writhed angrily around the disgraced Maia, but she seemed to take no notice of his deathly visage.

"Will you never learn, Sauron?" She called in the same tone a teacher would take with a student acting out of turn. The mist began to lift into a tall column around the pair, separating them from the Uruks and forcing back the darkness, and suddenly a flicker of trepidation shone in the eyes of Morgoth's heir, despite his arrogance. Adar watched in awe through the barrier. "Even amidst the darkest night, there is a flicker of light in each of us."

For Sauron, there was no escape. As she lifted her arms, water from the lake outside the fortress's walls burst in from windows and doors, swirling through the air seemingly illuminated from within. Adar had seen only the smallest fraction of her power before; this display was akin to witnessing one of the Valar descending before their eyes.

For several tense moments they fought, she with columns of bright, gleaming ice, water, and steam, and he with bursts of writhing, hateful shadow. Through all of it, she caught stray bolts and splashes before they could injure any of the Uruks.

She maneuvered Sauron steadily backward into the corridor, then an empty, secondary chamber, and with a wave of magic brighter and stronger than any she'd previously used, she encased the entire room in ice as solid as diamonds.

Sauron was stuck. She calmly turned and closed the thick wooden door after her, freezing the lock in a smaller block of ice. It was a temporary measure, she knew that, but it was better than nothing. At least the Uruks would have a chance to hide and avoid his wrath. Their father had already sent them to their chambers and told them not to emerge until he fetched them.

She rushed toward the fortress's entrance, where Adar was already waiting for her. He reached for her as soon as she was close enough, looking at her in askance. He had so many questions, but several were very prominent in his mind.

"I cannot end him, or he will come back stronger than before. It is not my task, but another's," she explained, and he could not help but look at her curiously as he inspected her for injuries. None of Sauron's blows had hit their mark, but he would not leave her safety to chance. "My father showed me what would happen if I did. The horrors were unspeakable. I dare not risk such a future."

When he was satisfied that she wasn't hurt, he cupped her cheeks in his palms.

"Where will you go?"

"Where I am needed," she answered simply, and Adar's heart ached already at the thought of her absence. "I will return soon, I promise."

The Lady of Reflections kissed his cheek softly, but Adar caught her hand as she turned away.

"What are you, my lady?" He asked, though he already knew what she'd told him centuries upon centuries before. She looked at him curiously, but he didn't flinch. Today's display was something he'd never expected to see from her. Her strength, immense though it was, had never made her touch cruel or unyielding. He'd been allowed to hold her, to comfort her, to receive her affection as if he was her equal.

He would not trade anything for those blessings which she had already given him.

"You know what I have told you, and you heard what I said to him," she murmured. "I am the offspring of Ulmo and Arien...a daughter of two worlds, neither Maia nor Vala, yet I share the blood of both. I am two things, just as you are."

The Uruk struggled to speak in response to that, but when a loud crack sounded from direction of the room where she'd trapped Sauron, he settled for pressing a gentle, loving kiss upon her brow.

"Be safe, dear lady," he breathed, and with a soft smile, she returned his sentiment and flitted out of the fortress upon a wave of mist. He slipped quietly down a different passage, heading for his children's rooms deeper in the fortress as a roar of rage echoed in the stone halls.

Adar smiled despite the danger.

Since Sauron had become viciously protective of his territory, they did not see each other for many weeks. Even the vaguest hint of mist or rain or dampness outside of the lake turned his mood foul after his encounter with the Lady of Reflections. She'd embarrassed him in front of his underlings yet left them unscathed and unscolded - actions which stirred his temper at the mere memory.

Finally, after a time which felt longer than it truly was, Adar was dressing in his chambers when a gentle, barely-there mist curled around his ankles, tickling him with a familiar playfulness.

He couldn't hide the smile that touched his lips or the way his heart rate accelerated.

"What a lovely view," his lady murmured, and he turned to find her sitting upon the makeshift mattress behind him. Adar had only donned his trousers at that point, but she didn't seem particularly offended by his appearance. "Forgive me for my presumptuous entrance. I didn't want to chance being seen in the corridor."

"There is nothing to forgive," Adar replied laying his shirt beside her on the bed as he stood before her. His scars were on display, but as usual instead of seeing pity when he looked down at his lady, he saw only admiration. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your company this evening, melda?"

She threaded her fingers with his, pressing their palms together as naturally as if she'd done it a thousand times before.

"I came to witness the ceremony that will be happening tonight," she murmured, and Adar's brow furrowed. She had come for Sauron? After she had fought him, she would give him her time? "Peace. I came for you, not him."

"I...do not understand." Adar expected many possible types of reaction, but not for her to lean forward and place a soft, sensual kiss on a vertical scar just above his navel. His hands clasped hers tighter, and he blushed. She never ceased to surprise him.

"You will, I promise. All will become clear tonight."

For the first time, he noticed that her gown was much more intricate than the ones she usually wore. She would never don something so elaborate for Sauron.

Something else was at play.

At that moment, however, Adar needed to hold his lady. He sat beside her on the bed, wrapping his arms around her and drawing her carefully onto his lap. Silently, they sat together, simply being near one another. After a time, though, one of the questions he'd held back forced its way onto his tongue.

"You once mentioned that destroying Sauron was not your task. May I ask what is?" Adar inquired placing a soft kiss atop her head. She did not remove herself from his arms, choosing instead to murmur against his skin. Her lips and breath caressed his neck as she spoke.

"'Tis my responsibility to provide a mirror for the leaders of all the peoples of Middle Earth - to give them an honest view into their own souls so that they may improve themselves for the good of all." She pulled back slightly and looked up at him with the sort of knowing that made Adar long for the future. She perceived something that, as yet, she could not tell him. "Until such a time as I am no longer needed, I will continue to do what I must to ensure that the people of Arda are in capable, self-aware hands."

Adar looked down at her as several pieces of the puzzle that was his lady clicked into place.

"You wonder, my wordsmith, why I am so gentle with you, but the answer lies with you," she said laying a palm over his heart. "I am able to mold myself into a being who's voice will reach the hearts of those whom I am advising. I do not manipulate them, control them, or steer them in a direction of my choosing. I simply try to communicate with them in the most effective way possible - one that matches their perceptions of the world at large. With you, meleth, there was no need to change myself or the way I interact with the world. Not a single part of me required alteration in order to speak directly with your heart. I can be who I was born to be in my entirety - undiluted and uninhibited."

Surely, his broken fëa could not be of so much value to a daughter of the Valar?

"It is difficult, even for me, to connect with hearts and minds which require drastic changes in perspective and action," she explained, "but with you, I needn't make any changes at all. I know your fëa, because I understand it the way I do my own. I have witnessed your soul's transformations and tribulations through the centuries, just as you have witnessed mine."

Tears filled his eyes, spilling down his cheeks. He had never realized how much he meant to her. Slowly, tenderly, she kissed away the damp, salty tracks, then pressed her forehead against his.

"You have always doubted your worth so needlessly, Adar," she murmured, and he could not stop the little smile that stretched his lips.

"And, you always give me cause to question my doubt," he breathed. The laugh that spilled from her throat sent a surge of pride through him.

"Good! I admire your modesty, my love, but you deserve to think more highly of yourself." She nuzzled back into the crook of his neck. "And, tonight, you will see how capable you are of being the father you wish to be."

Adar looked down at her but asked no further questions about the future. All would reveal itself in time, and he was a patient Uruk.

As sunset approached, all the Uruks gathered in the main hall of the fortress. Each had donned their best garments, even if they were rags. Their Lord Father had even clasped his least threadbare cloak around him with his final piece of finery: a rounded insignia to be worn at the joining point near the shoulder. His dark, inky hair had been washed and combed for this ceremony. After all, if the Lady of Reflections was in her finest gown, claiming it was in his honor, then the least he could do was make an equal effort. He could never match her radiant appearance, but he could certainly try to look less disheveled.

Adar could see her from his position - shielded by a pocket of nearly indiscernible mist in a small, almost invisible corner, his lady watched as Sauron stepped onto the dais. Yet, her eyes were not on Morgoth's successor, but the Lord Father of the Uruks. Something like determination and anticipation glimmered within them, as if she was awaiting something monumental.

Perhaps she was. Given her heritage, it was entirely possible that she knew more than was readily apparent.

"Always after a defeat," Sauron began, "the shadow takes another shape and grows. Morgoth is gone, leaving us alone and disgraced, but today a new age begins. Under me. Your new master. Sauron."

Adar kept his expression neutral, forcing his true feelings on the matter down, even as his children muttered amongst each other.

"And with a new age, I bring a new vision. A path to unconditional conquest," Sauron continued. "For I seek a new kind of power, not of the flesh, but over flesh. A power of the unseen world. One that we shall use to enslave the peoples of Middle Earth to our very will."

That caught Adar's attention. He'd been under the impression that the experiments were a whim, not a plan. The unseen world was not to be trifled with, not even for such a massive gain in power. Was that why so many of his children had been sacrificed?

"Many Orcs will die," he stated as casually as if he was merely discussing the weather. That started his children murmuring and growling in discontent. So many had perished already. Must they sacrifice more? "But, out of the chaos, we will forge a new and perfect order. No longer will we be haunted as the demons who broke Middle Earth, but rather worshiped as the saviors who finally healed it by bringing its peoples together to rule them all as one."

One of his children shouted in Black Speech from amongst the crowd.

"Sauron lies!"

He was not wrong, but Adar could not tell them that.

"Doubt me at your peril!" Sauron warned with frustration lacing his voice and embroidering his countenance. "You have nowhere else to turn. The Valar will never forgive you. Elves will never accept you. Men...Men will never look upon you with anything but horror and disgust."

Adar's children growled.

"A corrupted and ignoble race, worthy only to be hunted and slaughtered." To Adar's horror, at Sauron's declaration, one of his children drew a blade and attacked the fallen Maia.

He was forced to watch yet another of his Uruks killed before his very eyes. Desperately, Adar looked to the corner of the room and saw tears glittering as they slid down the apples of his lady's cheeks.

What could they do? The pair had never officially discussed it, but they were as much her children as they were his, even if they had not been born of a union between them.

"I am your only future," Sauron raged, trying to frighten the Uruks back into submission, "and my path your only path!"

But they would not be cowed. Their snarls rent the air while sharp, snarling teeth were bared.

"Who among you dares say otherwise?" The dark lord questioned, and when he was not challenged, Morgoth's crown - already refired and resized to fit Sauron's head - was brought forward.

Adar lifted it into the air in presentation, and spoke in Black Speech.

"All hail Sauron, the new dark lord!" His children echoed his words, and he turned with the crown in his grasp.

The cruel, dark metal felt ice cold in his hands, and in a moment of pure clarity, Adar realized what he must do. Sauron was not a fit leader for anyone, let alone those like the Uruks whose lives he valued no more than the dirt underfoot. As he raised Morgoth's crown above Sauron's head, his purpose solidified in his mind.

He had to protect his children, no matter the cost. Mustering all of the emotion swirling in his chest, Adar thought of the light glowing beneath his skin - light that she had shown him. She'd held it for him in her warm palm, as gently as she'd held him, and he could feel it racing silently through him, transforming his fear into courage.

Would she be proud of him after he acted? He hoped that she would at the very least understand. She seemed to know more about him than he did about himself.

Without further hesitation, Adar flipped Morgoth's crown upside down and drove it as hard as he could into Sauron's back. After a short, confused struggle, Sauron fell to the ground as dozens of Uruks surged forward, driving their knives into him.

Amidst the chaos, Adar glanced back to where his lady stood in the shadows, his blood running hot in his veins, incensed by the bloodlust instilled in every Uruk upon their creation. Adar fully expected her to be horrified by the display, but a small, proud smile caressed her lips even as the tears she'd shed earlier dried on her skin.

Need tugged hard at him from within, and he could no longer mask his hunger beneath another expression. Before he could act upon it, however, he needed to make sure Sauron was dead.

He lifted his fist, calling for his children to stop in Black Speech, and they did, withdrawing a step as Adar moved to inspect the body. It was still and seemingly lifeless, but it could very well be a trick. He nudged the unmoving corpse and a blast of frozen magic exploded from it in a burst of terrible blue light. The Uruks were all knocked to the ground and covered in a layer of frost as the shockwave passed through the entirety of Forodwaith, turning it into a tundra.

In the silence that followed, Adar forced himself to his feet, frost clinging to his hair, and he watched as the rest of the Uruks righted themselves.

"My children," he began, and they all looked up at their father, "you are free."

It began with a single shout, but soon all of them were chanting 'hail Adar' with more enthusiasm and joy than they ever had for either of their former masters. He did not intend to rule them, but to protect them as a father was meant to.

Slowly, the chanting died off, and a murmur passed through the room as the Uruks parted. His lady, shining and beautiful in her ceremonial garb, stepped toward the dais where he stood.

"Adar, Lord Father of the Uruks, I offer you my congratulations. I come before you to offer the same service which I have laid before the leaders of all the races in Middle-Earth," she began, and her voice was as sweet to his ears as water in a desert, "a glimpse into the recesses of your soul so that you might be better equipped to serve your people...your children and their best possible future."

Stepping down from the dais upon which Sauron had been killed, Adar approached his lady with a mix of wonder and appetite. He could not wipe it away any more than he could block out her light, nor did he want to do so.

"I humbly accept your offer, my lady," he called, and as his children watched, he lifted her hands to his lips. "Your continued friendship honors us. We hope to do the same in return."

One of the Uruks pushed forward with his eyes set on Adar's lady.

"What right do you have to come here, She-Elf?" He snarled, but a glare from his Lord Father curtailed most of his aggression.

"This lady has been a dear friend to me since this world began. Some of your brothers and sisters have met her or seen her walking amongst us. Ask them about her if you require a character reference, but if you ever speak to her with such disrespect again, my son, we will have words."

Another Uruk pushed forward and gripped the shoulder of the one who'd been scolded.

"Krel, she's the one who fought Sauron," he said quietly. "That's Lady Mother, ya fool!"

The Uruk called Krel went pale and dropped his head in shame. Adar stood straighter. He'd slipped and called her their Lady Mother many times over the years, but he hadn't expected them to agree, much less to repeat it before her. At least, not before he could ask her opinion on the subject.

"Forgive us," the second Uruk said, but she laid her hands on both their shoulders and smiled.

"There is nothing to forgive. It is only natural to defend your family," she replied. "Please, rest assured that I intend your brothers, sisters, and Lord Father no harm. In truth, I am grateful that you are so protective of them all. Thank you both for your attentiveness. I hope to know you better in time."

Both Uruks' eyes widened as they looked at her, clearly surprised that she wasn't being cruel to them. Softness and desire and potent affection swirled through the pit of Adar's stomach. He adored her. Oh, he was utterly in ruins for her!

"Lord Adar," her voice drew him from his musings, and he met her gaze with his own. "Might we speak in private this evening after you have all celebrated your triumph?"

He had waited this long. He could be patient a few hours longer.

"Only if you will stay and celebrate with us," he bargained with a mischievous glint in his eyes, and wearing a joyful smile, she agreed.

The Uruks had only been allowed miserly rations when Sauron was in charge - just enough for them to be strong enough to fight. During the celebration directly following his demise, they were all allowed to fill their bellies as they pleased. They'd certainly stored enough food over the years to support such an occasional indulgence in addition to more reasonable rations in future.

Thus, the ale flowed in the hall that night, as did the laughter for the very first time. Even the sporadic bawdy song lyric floated through the air, carried by out-of-tune voices all the way to where Adar and his lady sat side-by-side at a small table at the head of the dining hall. They'd never been allowed in this particular space, so many extra makeshift tables and chairs had to be brought in before the celebration began.

Adar thought his lady might balk at such a display, but when he turned to offer her an amused yet sincere apology - to explain, perhaps, that his children had not had cause or opportunity to celebrate in a terrible count of years - he found her watching the slightly inebriated Uruks with a warm smile.

That stunned him. None but he had taken true joy in his childrens' behavior. None but her, it seemed. With little care for how he may appear for doing so, Adar lifted her free hand and brought it to his lips, laying a reverent kiss upon her knuckles. She looked at him, then, her gaze softening further as she watched his eyes slip down to her mouth.

"Forgive me, dear lady," he found himself saying, and she looked at him curiously. "I should not have allowed my own weakness to spill from my lips. Before I even allowed myself to think of you as...there should have been a discussion...a chance for you to object to my selfish desire to think of you as–"

"Their Lady Mother?" She suggested, and Adar felt shame rend its way through him. She could reject him and his children and he would not blame her. He should not have been so presumptuous. "Truthfully, after all this time, I'd begun to wonder if I would ever be worthy of being called such, even accidentally."

Adar froze.

"You...wanted...?" She nodded her head patiently as he wrapped his mind around the idea. When it finally gripped him, his hunger which had been simmering since the ceremony bubbled up once more.

"Does that please you, Lord Father?" Her seemingly innocent question was coated in flirtatious mischief, serving to worsen his desire for her. For the first time, he surged forward and kissed her. He tried to calm himself, to temper his need, but this had been building for far too long. Cheers sounded from across the hall, dragging Adar back to himself and reminding him of where they were.

It would not do to take her here.

His lady did not look ashamed or embarrassed about their familiarity - quite the opposite. Her pride made her glow even brighter. He stood and offered her his hands, and through the heavy, charged air between them, she accepted his invitation. Allowing him to guide her through the halls, they ignored the wolf whistles that became quieter the farther they walked.

Once through the door of his chambers, they practically fell into one another, each being careful despite their desires.

"I still...need to give you...insight," she pointed out between kisses and gasps, though, her fingers belied her words, grasping desperately at his bare skin.

"In the morning," he begged in a breathless whisper as his lips laid a trail of fire down her sternum. "I need you. I have for so long. Please, merciful goddess..."

Adar's hands slid down her hips, and she moaned beneath his touch.

"I have dreamed of you - of this - for so long," she admitted, and her Uruk lover lifted her into his arms as his restraint finally snapped.

He was thankful that he could not become intoxicated easily. It would not do to dull the sensations of this night with drink. The softness of her hands removing his clothing, the wetness coating his lips as he feasted anew between her thighs - every detail of this joining, this merging of souls, was worthy of remembrance down to the smallest whimper.

He would treasure the way she called his name until his last day, but for the night, he would sate both their pleasures over and over as if the morning would never come.

~*~*~

Taglist:

@asksizworld @bigblissandlove1 @zoya-olenko

#elronds-meleth-nin fic #adar x maia!reader

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purplehanfu · 9 months ago

Text

Snowy Night Timeless Love: Ep 1-5

notes: Spoilers! If even one person enjoys the joke, my efforts will not have been in vain. Master list of all recaps

(Knocks on the door to Apothecary Valley, the preeminent medical facility of the jianghu)

"Hello, yes, you must be Xue Ziye, the Valley Master."

"Me? I'm a site surveyor from the Joint Commission - JCAHO. Yes I do have a Fate Reversal Token but that is something we definitely need to discuss because jade tokens cannot be considered a prerequisite to medical treatment."

"Don't close that giant door- let me in!"

"Thank you for eventually letting me in since you are legally required to do so. I've made my preliminary assessment and I do have some questions. Who is this pharmaceutical rep that I see running around everywhere? He says his name is Huo Zhanbai."

"He also says that he's the 7th disciple of the Celestial Alp Sword Sect but I just see someone who's not a PharmD procuring unregulated medicine."

"I know there are shortages, but you can't just pluck fungus out of a tomb and call it a day.

I see, he's collecting five precious medicinal ingredients to save the child of his sworn brother and junior sister?"

"Some of the nurses told me Huo Zhanbai actually had a thing for his junior sister Qui Shuiyin and that Huo Zhanbai was the one who killed his sworn brother because he was trying to defect to an evil sect- that's some good gossip. So good I might let it slide that I also noticed that there were open beverage containers at the nurses' station. Just kidding, I'll have to report that."

"Who is the guy frozen in ice out on the lake?"

"Oh that's your first love who sacrificed himself to save you Titanic style and now you're obsessed with reviving him?"

"I know he's technically neither dead nor alive, Valley Master Xue, but I don't see him listed on the census as a patient."

"The only positive thing I can say so far is that your staff to patient ratios are excellent, well within ANA standards. Your use of restraints is questionable though."

"But everything else, well, I'll be honest- there are a lot of violations that will require regulatory action. Wait- why are you coming over here with that knife?"

"Valley Master Xue, stop right there! I still have to give my report on your National Patient Safety Goal compliance… Put that dagger down!! Why are you stabbing me in the shoulder? Who even does that? Oh no- poison!!! ARGGHHH! "

(dies)

Bonus: Good Looking Bad Guys

Eye

Miao Feng

Miao Shui

They all belong to Yuan Li Palace, and their leader Chang Wujue is also looking for the special ingredients to aid his cultivation. Chang Wujue is over-the-top, his motivations make no sense and I love his very extra lifestyle.

It's just so nice to see a bad guy living in a greenhouse full of flowers instead of the usual dank and dark aesthetic.

Time to Get Catty

Do we think Zeng Shunxi had buccal fat removal?

master list of all recaps

#snowy night timeless love #zeng shunxi #joseph zeng #just the first episode

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shima-draws · 5 years ago

Note

Shima Shima Shima please tell us all about your Wonderland AU for Tododeku!!!

Oohhh! Ooohh I would love to okay let’s see

Honestly it would probably just be easier for me to explain the original movie’s plot rather than just. Trying to make sense of what you don’t know with Izuku and everybody else’s involvement so.

Note that all of this is purely from memory having seen the movie once like, a couple weeks ago in theaters LMAO so there’s definitely gonna be some things I’m hazy on. But! The movie’s online now so after I watch it again I’ll update this post with a better summary!

Under the cut for MAJOR spoilers and also bc it got really long!

So! The Wonderland! It’s about a girl named Akane who isn’t terribly self-assured. She has friends and has a good life but she’s sort of…timid, so she doesn’t put herself out there when she should. This causes issues within her group of friends and even with her own mother, who Akane is sort of distanced from.

The day before her birthday, Akane’s mother sends her to meet up with her older friend Chii to receive a birthday gift. Akane does NOT want to go because Chii’s very…overbearing, and excited, and very very outgoing, completely opposite to her. Chii travels all around the world gathering antiques for her shop (mostly light fixtures tho) and is a pro at haggling trades and prices. Akane calls her a witch bc she rips people off sometimes lmao

Akane arrives at the shop and finds a strange slab with an indented handprint. Akane fits her hand into the indent and finds that it fits perfectly!! This causes a reaction which calls upon a resident from Wonderland, an alchemist named Hippocrates, to arrive from Chii’s basement (which is basically just a little storage hole). Chii immediately gets a broom and starts hitting him with it, calling him a creep and an intruder LMAO

Hippocrates explains that Akane is the Goddess of the Green Wind, and that Wonderland needs her help. Next to Akane, on the table, a little doll springs to life, who’s revealed to be a tiny little chibi character named Pipo who works as Hippocrates’ apprentice. (He’d been hiding there all morning, I guess to scope out the person whose hand would fit into the indentation.) Akane’s hand is still stuck in the little slab by the way and she keeps freaking out. She says she absolutely does not want to go to Wonderland to help them, so Hippocrates gifts her with an item called the momentum anchor. Essentially it’s an item that forces a person to keep moving forward and looking ahead when they try to go back. (Basically it’s an item that forces character development which is pretty wild lol) After Akane gets her hand free, the momentum anchor forces her to accompany Hippocrates and Pipo to Wonderland. Chii decides fuck it she’s going on a magical adventure too, and tags along with them!

When they arrive in Wonderland, they end up at the top of a large sort of watchtower/nest for a huge ass bird. Chii befriends the bird, who is protecting her eggs. As they make their way to the nearest town, they run into a man and his mother, whose ride/carriage cart thing was destroyed by an enormous machine that Hippocrates calls the “armored mouse” (because it kinda looks like a mouse). The armored mouse attacks the cart and essentially swallows it, including the sweater that the old lady had made. Inside the armored mouse, the Main Antagonist ™ of Wonderland greets the newcomers. His name is Zan Gu, and he’s intimidating as all hell. He’s not openly cruel, just quiet, and isn’t afraid to assert his villainly dominance. Most of his face is hidden, but he seems to have a skeletal, sort of robotic body. His cohort, a little cat person named Doropo, teases them. Doropo’s basically a mischievous troublemaker who enjoys making fun of others and getting in people’s way.

Zan Gu and Doropo continue on in the machine, and they head straight for the watchtower. The armored mouse starts to tear up the iron staircase, disrupting the tower. Chii rushes over and manages to save one of the bird’s eggs. Hippocrates calls upon the sheep from the nearby town to come help (and they’re HUGE and FLUFFY and adorable). The sheep crowd in on the armored mouse, and Zan Gu is forced to retreat.

The man who they had saved introduces himself as the mayor of the nearest town. The group walks over to the town, surrounded by hundreds of sheep. Hippocrates explains on the way that the land is dying because there’s a lack of water, which is one of the reasons why he brought Akane there. Akane’s like “How the hell am I supposed to help you get your water back”. They pass a gorgeous flower field which slowly gets worse and more dried out.

The villagers are relieved to see Hippocrates there, who is pretty famous in this world bc of his status as an alchemist. They also jump on Akane, super excited that the Green Goddess of the Wind is here to help them! Night falls and Akane freaks out, because she’d obviously wanted to go home like hours ago, and her mother is probably worried. Chii, on the other hand, is super nonchalant about everything that just happened, and is like “Well we’re already here and it’s late so we should stay, it’ll be fine!”

The group has dinner with the mayor while his mother starts to knit a new sweater to replace the one she lost to Zan Gu. Here we get a bit more into Wonderland’s history–the mayor explains that the flowers and sheep are what they use to make these sweaters and other clothing, but they aren’t selling as well as they used to anymore bc of the water crisis. He’d originally been on his way to a place called Sakasatongara Market with his mother to enter her sweater into a contest. Hippocrates takes over and discusses the water crisis in more detail. The original Green Goddess of the Wind had come over 600 years ago, and had saved Wonderland when they were in a similar crisis. Apparently, there’s a ceremony that is performed every year called the drop mist ceremony, which properly distributes water to the whole land. This ceremony is supposed to be performed by the prince, who supposedly has a lot of magical power, coming from a generation of royalty who can control water. According to Hippocrates the prince has been gravely ill over the past year, and this is because his parents had died, leaving him to grieve and become very sick as a result. Hippocrates believes that Akane, being the new Goddess, has the power to heal the prince and allow him to perform the ceremony. Akane again denies that she has any sort of power like that. During all this Chii keeps pointing out contradicitons in Hippocrates’ story and it’s hilarious because it makes him very angry and flustered LMAO and Akane’s like “Chii-chan, you’re being super rude right now”. I can’t remember if it’s here or not, but Akane sees a picture on the wall of the previous Green Goddess, and she looks really familiar…kind of like her mother…?

The next day, the group of four (Hippocrates, Pipo, Akane and Chii) decide they’re going to travel to Sakasatongara Market in order to deliver the mayor’s mother’s sweater to be entered into the contest. The market is on the way to Timeless Rain Castle, where the prince resides. The sweater is placed into Akane’s care, who promises she will deliver it. They’re given a car, which will help greatly with the journey, and then they set off!

Akane and Chii admire the scenery of Wonderland as they travel, but are saddened when they begin to see areas that have a clear lack of water and have died out from neglect. Meanwhile, in a grungy, dark city, Zan Gu approaches a man and brings him more metal. Apparently the armored mouse had been going around collecting metal, which we find out later that it’s so the armored mouse can be upgraded and reinforced even more to wreak more havoc (along with one other essential upgrade, which I’ll get to later). The man says he needs more metal if he wants to make something out of what they have. Zan Gu does his whole “threaten the victim” schtick, and guarantees he’ll bring more, as long as the job gets done. (I might be remembering these sections out of order but it all happens within the same timeframe, more or less.)

Back to Akane and co., they’re driving in the desert and they head right into the biggest fucking dust storm in the world. They take shelter under a large rock, hiding out there until the storm blows over. They were given huge fluffy suits (bascially fursuits) that were made from the sheep. They’re pink and comfy but horribly embarrassing for Hippocrates in particular to wear LMAO but they’re a great shelter for the storm. After the storm subsides, Hippocrates attempts to fix the car, but finds it’s getting late and that they’ll have to wait until the morning to do so. In the middle of the night, Akane wakes up to see Chii standing outside, looking at the stars. It’s absolutely gorgeous and beautiful.

The next morning, Hippocrates fixes the car! Hooray! With that they drive further north and arrive in a very snowy little village. Akane hears more stories about how things were when water was plentiful, and they’re exposed firsthand to how the shortage has caused people to become greedy. Zan Gu shows up while Hippocrates is out refueling and Doropo threatens the inn owner into giving up food and water. Zan Gu has an intense staredown with Akane but doesn’t do anything more before leaving.

Hippocrates sees the armored mouse on the move and follows them. At this point the mouse has been upgraded and looks more terrifying than ever, and can bulldoze and tear things apart much easier. Zan Gu goes to receive new materials, which are revealed to be missiles for a cannon. Hippocrates intervenes, but Doropo uses his magic to turn the alchemist into a fly.

Akane and Chii worry about Hippocrates’ whereabouts, but with some prodding, decide to head to Sakasatongara Market without him since they’re on a bit of a time crunch, seeing as the drop mist ceremony has to be performed the next day. They pass by Hippocrates’ house (but Pipo informs them nobody is there) and Pipo’s childhood home in the trees, where tons of other little chibi sprites hang about. The girls travel through a steep mountain range as Hippocrates tries to guide them–but being a fly, he keeps getting ignored and brushed off, even by Pipo, who can’t tell it’s him. Eventually they have to drive over a rickety wooden bridge, and Chii teases Akane about her nonexistent love life at school in an attempt to keep things lighthearted and distract them from the terrifying ride over the bridge. Akane pokes back and makes fun of Chii for her failed conquests of men. One of the planks breaks and Chii steps on it, and they’re both screaming as they cross the rest of the bridge LOL

At some point during all this we cut to Timeless Rain Castle, where everyone is preparing for the drop mist ceremony. The prince’s closest advisers decide to go up and visit, and it’s revealed that the prince isn’t ill at all–he’s trapped within a little metal doll’s body, a curse placed upon him by Hippocrates’ “rival”. (He’s a good guy tho too, apparently.) This rival has been asleep for a long time, and is nearly impossible to wake because of how hectic his magic is. (We later see a scene in which several guards attempt to rouse him. His house is literally sitting on the edge of a cliff on one corner, the rest of it floating in the air, and he’s sleeping. No wonder they’re cautious about waking him up LMAO) Because this other magical user has been asleep, the prince has been trapped in this form for nearly a year. They scramble to find out a way to revert him to normal before the ceremony the next day.

After that it seems to be easy going for the girls. Pipo warns them nanoseconds before they drive off another bridge–and land in a giant lily pad! They’re on a huge pond now, with koi fish the size of whales. Pipo douses himself with magic dew that lets him breathe underwater and makes sure his clothes don’t get wet. Chii happily jumps in after, and Akane, after hesitating, also joins them. They ride the giant fish, who push the lily pad with their car across the pond. Akane picks up some sea shells at the bottom of the pond and puts them in her pocket to save for later.

Akane, Chii, and Pipo (and Hippocrates, still a fly) finally arrive at Sakasatongara Market!! First they have to go through customs, in which they’re judged by a group of talking cats (which Chii finds HILARIOUS). Akane is declared as a guilty party bc a few days before, she’d pulled her cat’s tail for sitting on her face. Her cat is revealed to be the leader of the group. She’s briefly given a cat tail herself, which is pulled on, so she understands how much it hurts LOL while Chii teases the rest with catnip and treats. They’re allowed entrance into the city. From the distance, they can see the prince arriving as well, presumably in the royal carriage. They have no idea he’s still in doll form.

In the prince’s tent, Hippocrates’ rival finally arrives. (Guess they managed to wake him up lol) The others beg for him to turn the prince back to normal. The wizard points out that the doll they’ve been guarding so carefully all this time is, in fact, not the prince at all. He uses his magic to transform it–revealing that it had just been a stuffed toy, acting as a decoy. Everyone panics, wondering where the actual prince has gone.

Akane and Chii gaze on as Pipo points out the well where the drop mist ceremony takes place. Sitting in the center of the city (which is p much set up like a giant stadium, with steps leading down to the middle), the well is a huge symbol of peace for the land! And it’s a central part of the ceremony, as well. Chii rushes off to bargain and barter while Akane and Pipo go to enter the old lady’s sweater into the contest.

As they’re walking around, they catch sight of Doropo, who just stole goods from a nearby shop. Pipo orders Akane to chase after him, which she does. As they follow him to the outskirts of the city, Pipo realizes that Doropo might be one of his friends from school, another chibi sprite named Ron. Ron had gone on to apprentice with the wizard, and Pipo with Hippocrates, so Ron had always viewed them as rivals.

On the outskirts of the city, Akane and Pipo see that the armored mouse is there. Moved by her own determination, Akane sneaks into the machine to see what Doropo and Zan Gu’s plans are. Hippocrates follows them in.

They catch a conversation between Doropo and Zan Gu. Zan Gu seems to be getting increasingly frustrated and hasty, and Doropo keeps blowing him off. Zan Gu eventually snaps at him, and the truth comes out. Apparently they plan to destroy the well before the ceremony can take place. If this happens, no water will come to Wonderland ever again, essentially dooming everybody. Zan Gu had gathered the missiles and upgraded the machine with a cannon to achieve this. Zan Gu blames Doropo for everything that happened to him, saying that while Doropo is obviously hesitating, he had been the one to transform him into a monster in the first place. Doropo sadly admits that he just didn’t want the prince to hate him…and this is the part that hit me HARD because we realize that Zan Gu has been the prince this whole time!! We get a flashback to when the prince was actually trapped inside the doll. He angrily says to Ron that if he could allow him to speak, he could turn him back, right? Ron makes an attempt, but he’s not that experienced with magic, so it ends up in a total disaster, transforming the prince into a basic corpse.

It’s at this point where things are set into motion. Akane eventually reveals herself. Pipo calls out Doropo on his disguise, and he transforms back into Ron. Zan Gu prepares to bust through the city walls and destroy the well. The wizard releases all of the magic Doropo had caused, making Hippocrates transform back into his regular self. Zan Gu busts into the city, and Hippocrates tries to stop him. Right as he’s lining up to take the shot at the well, Akane grabs onto him and starts her Grand Heroine Speech. She points out that Zan Gu–the prince–was scared, and that’s why he was doing this, because he was trying to run away from his responsibility. The prince explains his story in detail.

The drop mist ceremony, being a very important one among their family for generations, had been successfully performed by his father and grandfather. However, pressure from his parents, peers and all of Wonderland was too much for the prince to handle, so he started to reject any practices of the ceremony. After his parents passed, that pressure became even worse, because he was the only one left able to perform the ceremony properly. He got angry and scared and started to push everyone away and lash out at those who tried to help. Eventually it got so bad that the wizard had to come in and use his magic to transform the prince into the metal doll, essentially trapping him there as punishment and as a way to reflect on his mistakes. This obviously angered the prince, being trapped in a body that couldn’t move or speak, which eventually led to Ron’s involvement and his transformation. The prince wants to destroy it all, either out of revenge or maybe because he just has little to no empathy in this form and is only full of negative emotions, who can say…

Akane goes on to encourage him again despite all this, and tells him he’s not alone, that she promises she’ll be there to help him. She tells him how inspired she’s become traveling through Wonderland, getting to meet all of the wonderful people, and seeing how beautiful it is. She says she wants to save it, and that she wants to help the prince. Her words, and her change, break the curse on the prince, transforming him back into his adorable princely self. The prince agrees to perform the ceremony. Chii meets up with the group and apologizes to Akane for leaving her alone to deal with everything. Akane asks Hippocrates if they can make another momentum anchor for the prince, because the one she has helped her a lot along her journey and pushed her in the right direction, and she feels like that’s what the prince needs, too. Akane promises to return the next morning before the ceremony to be there for the prince.

Hippocrates, Akane, Chii and Pipo travel back to the alchemist’s house. Together they spend the night making a new momentum anchor, which requires a lot of magic. Akane gives it her all to help! They successfully make a new one, and hurry back to Sakasatongara Market. It’s morning now. Akane rushes to greet the prince, and gifts him with the anchor. She says that they match now, both having anchors. (The prince gets all soft and blushy and it’s very cute.) The prince talks with his adviser, who warns him what will happen if the ceremony fails. The prince knows it’s a huge price to pay, but says he’s ready to do it.

Akane is dressed up in Green Goddess robes, similar to the ones her mother wore. She and the prince cross the bridge which hangs over the well, which is so deep that you can’t even see the bottom. With Akane’s encouragement, the prince performs the ceremony. Nothing happens. The prince knows what has to be done–he strides up to the edge and prepares to throw himself in. Akane understandably freaks out and tries to stop him. The prince explains that if the ceremony fails the performer has to offer their body as a sacrifice to make water flow again. Akane’s like I’m NOT letting you do that, and the two of them start to struggle. The prince manages to make it to the edge–and Akane topples over with him. Both of them fall into the well.

Before they hit the bottom and inevitably die, they’re saved by the wizard. He explains that it was basically a sort of test–the prince had to show he was willing enough to make a sacrifice that big. He says that Akane is special, and that the prince should thank her properly for all her help. They’re sent back up to the bridge! The ceremony begins, and the prince rushes to get into position. The well erupts with water, straight up into the sky, an enormous geyser for all the world to see. The prince takes out his sword and starts to slice the water with it, which turns them into water birds. The water birds fly all over Wonderland and rain down on the land, restoring its vitality. He turns to face Akane to see that she is crying in joy, as is Chii.

After the ceremony ends, Akane and Chii go with Hippocrates and Pipo to return to their world. Akane frets over how much time has passed since they left. Hippocrates explains that, while three days have passed in Wonderland, only three hours have passed in their world. Akane and Chii realize that if they were ever to return, everyone they met probably wouldn’t be there anymore. Apparently the original slab with the hand print Akane’s mother had made was repaired–and Akane stumbles right into the wet plaster, printing her hand there for the next generation. She attempts to give the momentum anchor back to Hippocrates, but he tells her that it had vanished a long time ago, and that Akane had been moving forward by her own momentum and decisions. Akane and Chii kiss Pipo goodbye, and they say their farewells. Hippocrates gifts Akane with a little textile with a sword on it. They head back…and emerge from the basement of Chii’s shop. When they look back at it again, it’s just the storage compartment, and nothing else. Their adventure is over.

Chii goes to take a long nap. Akane rushes home to see her mother. By now she’s made the connection that her mother was the original Green Goddess of the Wind, who saved Wonderland over 25 years ago. Her mother notices the textile and compares it to the same one Akane has in her room. Akane thinks that she feels a lot closer to her mother now. And that’s where the movie ends!

Ofc there’s tons of extra stuff that I missed LMAO but that is the basic plot of the whole thing. Now, as for the AU…Izuku is Akane, obviously, but instead of having her reluctance to go on an adventure, he’s willing, but doesn’t think he’s worthy of being a hero to anyone, and is constantly stopped because of his own fear.

Ochako is Chii–she fits perfectly with her personality lol. Iida is Hippocrates, both being super punctual and easy to fluster. Kirishima is Pipo, and Bakugou is Ron/Doropo–good fits with their characters, and also. Kiribaku moments? *eyes emoji* Todoroki is obviously the prince/Zan Gu! In the AU I’m probably going to extend things a bit further, so Izuku and Ochako stay in Wonderland a bit longer, and Todoroki falls in love with Izuku >:’D As for the smaller roles, I haven’t really decided those yet. Toshi is probably going to be the mayor, and Nana as the old lady. I’ve gotta rewatch the movie again to help me decide on the rest :’D

Buuut yeah! I’m gonna take a lot of liberties with the AU and expand on the movie waaay more, and try to fill in all the plot holes. A lot of the narration felt really abrupt so I’m gonna have fun weaving it all together so it flows! And tons of Tododeku moments because uh YEAH

That’s all for now!! If you’ve got more questions hmu, I’m super down to chat about this more!

#Shima answers questions #The Wonderland #Birthday Wonderland #The Wonderland spoilers #Tododeku #BNHA #Boku no Hero Academia #My Hero Academia #MHA #The Wonderland AU #Shima's AUs #Izuku Midoriya #Shouto Todoroki #Katsuki Bakugou #Eijirou Kirishima #Tenya Iida #Ochako Uraraka #Long post #I'M SORRY IT'S LIKE SUUUPER LONG AMDKASMDALDS

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sauzwriting · 5 years ago

Text

dark before the dawn

Dimitri won't get a break from his nightmares. Fear and guilt haunt him during the night. He hasn't slept in days.

But Dedue is back now. He understands him better than anyone, so he won't let the prince wither in the dark of his mind.

Pairing: Dimitri/Dedue

Tags: emotional hurt/comfort, self-hatred, healing, light angst

Warnings: blue lions spoilers

ao3

In dark halls, cold stone walls had been painted red.

Already used to the darkness, Dimitri's eyes were locked on the person standing next to him. Not too far behind, the metallic echoes of armor reached their ears, screams tearing at angry, desperate throats. He could hear the footsteps approaching them, somehow following the rhythm of his own nervous and rapid heart beating.

Dedue walked towards the sound, firmly holding an axe in his battered hands. Barely holding up— panting heavily, Dimitri slowly turned around, so he could look at his companion, tell him to run away with him. He now was, after all, the only glimmer of hope in his so-called life. Maybe if they escaped together, maybe the voices echoing in his mind would go quiet.

The metallic clashing of weapons hit Dimitri's ears harshly and very closely, sparks flying through the air. Weakly, his thoughts vanished as he slowly blinked, fighting his weary state. He saw Dedue in front of him, repelling swift attacks of many soldiers. Swords flying at him, shining in the dusk, sinking into dark skin. Dedue's blood, running through the blinding silver of imperial blades. It was now his friend's blood the one painting the cold stone walls.

All of his strenght seemed to come back in a sudden rush. The blond prince held his lance, raised it up and ran towards his enemies. He opened his mouth and let out an almost inhuman shriek, filled with anger and pain. Time seemed to slow down around Dimitri as he slashed through the imperials, his lance completely stained red and his thundering voice clawing at the hearts of his enemies, resonating throughout the dungeon halls.

His vision had gone blurry and dizzy, tinted red.

Once he came back to reality, he was breathless, standing over a pile of lifeless bodies, bloodied and indistinguishable. Looking at the floor, he heard footsteps slowly approaching him and sighed. Dimitri opened his mouth to speak, throat hurting. Yet, it was not his own voice the one he heard.

“Your Highness!”

It all happened in barely a second. Dimitri, shaken, looked up to see a trembling soldier swinging his blade at him. The rush was over, however, and his body was back to being weary and tired, heavy on his lance, supporting him where he stood. The prince couldn't find the strenght to move, nor was his body responding.

Blood splashing beneath feet, it was just in an instant that Dedue ran to his aid, fiercely stopping the blow with his own body. In just an instant, blade and axe crossed their paths, finding a way into vulnerable skin, plunging into its warmth, sinking deeply; blood flowing.

The imperial soldier, already badly injured, fell to the floor. But so did Dedue.

Dimitri desperately let go of his lance and ran to Dedue. Staining his cold, trembling hands with warm blood, he held his body in his arms. The sword had cut through his chest.

He had hoped to hear some last words, a whisper: anything, to prove he still breathed. But the hallway fell silent as the warmth of Dedue's body gradually faded.

“It is their fate” A ghost whispered into his ear, cunningly.

Icy cold caressed his cheeks, covered with washed up blood.

“To die for you.”

“For you to avenge us.”

“It is the price you must pay to live.”

Words echoed in his mind and crawled into his heart, nesting into the deepest part of his being.

It had been their home all along, after all.

* * *

Dimitri woke up in a cold sweat, almost breathless.

He blinked, realizing where he was. His body was cold, lying on soft sheets, a familiar bed bathed under the gentle moonlight. Trembling hands reached for his wet cheeks, wiping away tears he didn't know he'd cried.

Despite all these years, despite everything that had happened, this room had remained almost identical. It knew nothing of the passage of time, knew nothing of how twisted the heart of the one who used to live there had finally become.

Breathing in and out, Dimitri closed his eye, trying to calm his heart and himself. Trying to forget the images that invaded his mind, ready to come back unnanounced. He tried to bask in the silence, for once.

He knew, however, it wouldn't work. He disliked being alone. Mostly, because during all these years, he never truly felt like he was alone. Haunted by ghosts, haunted by his guilt. Haunted by death itself. Dimitri could barely remember how standing still, in silence, enjoying solitude, actually felt.

He didn't want to be alone.

But after everything he had done, even all those things he couldn't recall; memories corrupted by blood and empty words of revenge, the prince didn't believe he was worthy of sympathy or affection.

So, unable to escape his own quivering thoughts and unable to lull himself back to sleep, afraid of what his own mind would put him through, Dimitri decided to go alone for a walk at night.

Bare feet gently slipped through the silent floor of the monastery, drifting down ancient stairs. Dimitri went out to the courtyard, fresh air running through his messy hair, rustling through dark leaves, disrupting the placid silence of the night. It was cold outside, but the prince didn't seem to care.

Looking up at the sky, he met the stars once again. Just like his old room, they remained unchanged. The sky remained ethereal and timeless, always looking down on them, witness to so much madness and tragedy. The same sky, the same white clouds he used to watch, calmly dancing on a blue canvas, projecting kind shadows over his face.

They were still here, kinder as ever.

Back in those days, they all looked up to the same sight, completely oblivious of what their future would bring. He wondered, for a moment, if his old classmates still looked up at the old stars and clouds, their eyes glimmering with a different light now. The prince smiled bitterly at the thought.

“Your Highness?”

A deep but gentle voice spoke, startling Dimitri. Turning back to the familiar sound, he met Dedue's worried face. He thought his heart had stopped for a moment, vision blurrying and fading to black, images from his wretched mind creeping into reality. Dedue's voice was soft, caring, genuine. Breathing into the cold of the night, travelling through the chilly air. He was right there, in front of him. Teal eyes and snowy hair, dimly glowing under the moonlight.

And yet, Dimitri could barely believe the man standing before him was not a ghost, joining the others, fated to live inside his shadow.

“It is late and cold,” Dedue looked at the sky while he spoke, words lingering on his mouth as he slowly turned to Dimitri “is everything alright?”

“I—“ The prince stuttered over his own words. “I apologize. Do not worry about me, Dedue. I was—I was just taking a walk, since I couldn't fall asleep.”

Dimitri tried, he tried so hard to keep his voice steady, but words came out weakly and shaky, his lips twitching. “How are you faring, Dedue? It has...” his voice cracked. “War has not been kind to any of us.”

“I could not sleep either. ” Dedue's voice still felt so unreal. “It has...not been easy, Your Highness. I won't lie.”

After Rodrigue's death, Dimitri had crumbled down. Guilt washing over him and stopping him right in his tracks. He didn't take care of his own life over the last five years and now; now, he felt unworthy of holding onto it. The prince had bathed in loneliness for far too long, after so many abandoned him to join the haunting choir in his nightmares.

But Dedue was here now: he'd come back to him, back from the dead. He gazed at what Dimitri had become, and the prince felt ashamed of his own existence, ashamed that such kind eyes looked at him; scrapped, broken, savage. Dimitri could barely look back. He would see the scars he got from protecting him, the scars that stained dark skin, just like blood had stained kind, caring hands.

It was his fault.

“It has been hard watching you,” Dedue gently whispered. “Suffering from a weight that should have never been yours to bear.”

Dimitri frowned in frustration as festered hatred stabbed his heart. He looked down, a dark shadow hovering over a melancholic grin.

“I do not deserve such words, Dedue.”

“I hurt you. I made you fight for me. For a beast like me.” He spit out his words, bitterly.

Dedue's eyes were now on him. But Dimitri couldn't muster the strenght to face him. Not like this.

“I chose to fight,” Dedue's voice was firm, “and I would do it again, if it meant keeping you from harm.”

“I...I am not worth fighting for,” Dimitri could just let out a weak laugh. “I am but a fool who toyed with others' lives. I spoke of revenge but I—I'm the first one that murders the ones I love. Making—Making them fight for me, for my foolish cause, for my recklessness.” The wind shook the leaves over their heads, the prince's disheveled hair flowing in the air. “I am but a monster who takes from others.”

Silence fell between the two as Dimitri slowly started to regret the words that came out of his mouth. He bit his lip and swallowed.

“Dedue, I'm sorr—“

“Dimitri.”

A loud heart beat resonated inside Dimitri's chest and, suddenly, a warm hand softly caressed his cheek.

“Please, look at me.”

Dimitri breathed in and looked back at last, feeling his own eyes growing watery once his quivering gaze met Dedue's tranquil eyes. Swimming deep into pale green, he saw tenderness, care and worry.

How could someone look at him like that? Dimitri felt the urge to look away, knowing there was possibly no way he deserved such treatment, and yet he found himself unable to muster the strenght to look away from such sincere gaze.

“You are nothing of the sort.” Dedue moved his hand away from Dimitri's face, realizing the meaning of his own action and took a deep breath. “I only wish I could have found you sooner. I...” He swallowed. “I wish I could have been there for you. So many moons...spent alone, wondering if you were even alive.” His voice trembled a bit and so did his lips. “You are a kind man, Dimitri. I am sure of that. Your heart has always proven it to me.”

Dedue's voice echoed through Dimitri's head. Right in front of him, facing him, with a gentle face and a warm soul, was the man who had always been by his side. Speaking compassionate words, as he'd always done. Speaking his name, in soft and caring whispers, giving him his humanity back with just mere words. Something he had always wished, something he now dared not to desire.

Dedue's heart had not changed in the past five years. And yet Dimitri was afraid that nothing of this could be real. His eyes, invaded by visions dirty with blood and death, his own pitiful screams, clawing at his mind. Vivid memories of crimson fingers holding cold, dead hands.

Guilt.

“I—“ Dimitri tried to speak but he choked on his own voice, holding back a sob as silent tears rolled down his face, tasting salty on his dry lips. He tried to hide his face behind his hands, cold and calloused. “I abandoned you, Dedue. I—I lived, all these years...thinking you'd died. Knowing it had been my fault.” The prince hid his mouth, biting his lips so he would stop shedding more tears.

He felt pathetic.

“Every single night, I—I saw you die in my dreams. It had turned into a memory. So now...those words, your voice, your eyes, how you speak of me; it looks closer to a dream than what I had grown used to. It...feels so feeble,” his voice was now turning into a weak whisper, his vision going blurry, his head dizzy, “I want these nightmares to end. I want you to be here. Please, tell me you are real. Please, tell me I didn't kill you. Please...I—I can't lose anyone again. I can't lose you.”

Shame bubbled up on the prince's heart as his mind started to give in to the effects of many sleepless nights and a wounded body. His voice died down on his lips and his legs went weak, the world seemed to go black as it started spinning around him. Dimitri blinked repeteadly, trying to keep his balance, seeing his warm breath floating through the air.

The headache that had been pursuing him for weeks grew unbearable, every single noise of the apparent silent night thundering into his ears, echoing in his skull. Even his own voice, a miserable sound, echoed along the rest of them.

Suddenly, two strong hands were holding him, keeping him up, despite all the trembling.

“Your Highness...you're shivering.” Suddenly, one of those hands gently touched his cheek, caressing his face carefully, reaching his forehead. “You're burning...”

“Your Highness?”

All weight left the prince's body and, finally, the silence washed away all the turmoil rampaging in his head.

“...Dimitri?”

***

His eye hurt when he tried to open it.

Still feeling a heavy weight on his chest and head, ghostly tears covering his pale skin, Dimitri finally woke up.

As he weakly gazed to the ceiling, he realized he was back into his quarters. A sharp pain struck his head when he tried to sit up in the darkness of the room, bleak silence visting him, just like every other night.

This time, however, he wasn't alone.

“How are you feeling?” A voice broke through the suffocating air that clouded the prince's mind.

Faint light, intruding the room from the window, fell on Dedue, softening his figure and face. Resting by his bed, he was sitting in a rather uncomfortable chair, wearing a serene expression on his face, one that seemed to soothe the prince's heart, if only for a little while. The sight almost seemed ethereal and so, Dimitri wondered if maybe he was dreaming again.

But it had been ages since he'd had a pleasant night.

“You fainted. I was worried so I took you to your room. Please, you need to rest,” his tone turned kind, “I will stay here if you need it.”

Dimitri vaguely remembered being carried to his room, being held, embraced in his arms while sinking into a weary sleep. His face softened as he looked at Dedue, his heart warm at the memory.

“Thank you, Dedue. I...” He swallowed and looked down. “You have always been there for me. You always take care of me...no matter how small the problem might be.”

“Of course.”

“But...” Dimitri shifted on the bed, so he could face Dedue, his naked feet brushing the cold floor of the room, “you don't have to do it, Dedue. It is not a duty, nor an obligation,” He felt tired, his voice wasn't steady either. It was hard, putting this all into words. He feared the truth behind something he believed to be affection. Something he so desperately wanted.

“You don't owe me anything. It is I the one who is indebted to you. You saved me. You risked your life for mine. And yet, after all that, I threw it into the abyss, wasting it away. It was cruel of me.” Dimitri took a deep breath, his throat dry. He was afraid, that much was true. Still, he knew this had to be done.

“I could not bear it if anything happened to you in...this senseless war. Your life is your own, Dedue. Please do not dedicate it entirely to me. I do not deserve it and...and you are as important as I am. Protect yourself first. Choose a life that will fullfil your heart. You are a person, not my vassal.” Despite the pain he was trying to hide, Dimitri fondly smiled and, after doubting for a moment, he reached for Dedue's hand, warm at the touch, calloused from work and battle. He held it as he spoke. “You are my friend, Dedue. It doesn't matter who I am in this kingdom. You...are very important to me. So...”

“I will not leave.” Dedue had been listening quietly, never letting go of Dimitri's hand. He softly squeezed it, voice hushed into a kind, intimate whisper. Dedue leaned in closer, the faint light of morning bathing in his eyes, clear and wise. Tender words brushing against Dimitri's skin. “I am here with you. Not out of duty. Not out of debt,” a nostalgic smile crossed his face, “at least, not anymore.”

The room fell silent, only their steady breathing flying through the air, heartbeats beating, together, to a similar ryththm.

“I spent a lot of time with my people during these past years. It made me happy. I...learned a lot. But,” Dimitri shivered as Dedue placed a hand on his hair, slowly tucking it behind his ear. There was doubt in the touch, but Dimitri didn't move an inch. “I somehow knew my place was not with them. I wanted to search for you, to find you. I wanted to be by your side and protect you.” He breathed in. “ Not just as a vassal.”

Dimitri closed his eye, heart beating loudly in his chest, wondering if it was okay for him to want this.

“Is it okay?”, he asked. “I want you to be happy. And I...I can't make you happy. I am too broken for that.” Dimitri furrowed his brow, trying to hold back a sob. Dedue sat there for a short while, looking at Dimitri, feeling the hurt, the hatred in his words.

Not daring to open his eye, Dimitri waited. He waited, to wake up, getting back to the reality he deserved, back into a cycle of sleepless nights that would slowly eat up his head. But he remained there, in silence, still feeling the warmth of Dedue's hand over his own.

He heard Dedue move, and then he felt a gentle hand caressing his face. Fingers carefully running through the scar of his right eye, as if the touch could heal the past.

“I am happy.” Dedue suddenly whispered. “To know that you are alive.” The prince opened his eye, locking his gaze with Dedue's. Warmth ran through his body as his heartbeat grew faster, as he started to feel like, maybe, he was alive. “I will fight, so none of us die. So we can live in a world you promised to build, a world where Duscur and Faerghus will be at peace.” He slowly placed his hand on his matted hair, moving some strands away from his face and eye. “I wish to see that new dawn by your side, Dimitri.”

Dedue was now holding both of his hands, with utmost care, just like he'd always tended to the flowers from the greenhouse. Dimitri smiled, his lips trembling and his eyes watery.

There were small, precious things like this that still reminded the prince about a past where, despite the shadows, the skies were clear. Seeing the man he had always cared about, in front of him, he thought that, perhaps, the past hadn't been lost under the debris of the war yet.

#dimidue #fanfic #fe3h #fire emblem three houses #my writing #dimitri blaiddyd #dedue molinaro #oneshot

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