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danddymaro · 4 years

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Abbacchio Finding Out About A Secret Child With The Reader.

Reader insert // Your name // (Y/n)

Daughter’s name // (D/n)

Thoughts are italics in quotations = ‘Example’

Flashbacks are in italics = Example

Word Count : 3031

Abbacchio Finding Out About A Secret Child With The Reader.

Abbacchio stared down at the picture in his grip, and as he did, his hand trembled the entire time he tried to properly hold it, wanting to avoid having it fall out of his shaken grasp.

“She just turned three,” he read, trailing his eyes over the words.

He instantly recognized the familiar writing scribbled on the white back of the image as he’d turned it over during his inspection of it, and it only made him feel more uneasy as he read the message out loud,

"Three…" Leone breathed softly.

He felt his heart tighten, and lifelessly, he let the photograph fall onto the desk, joining more which lay scattered across the surface.

“Three years,” he said to himself, his hands both slowly rising, pressing over his face as he sought to think rationally, attempting to pull himself together before he said something stupid, or much worse, picked a fight that quite possibly wasn’t even there to take part of,

“It just...No...There has to be...be a reason...an explanation,” He maundered incoherently.

He tried hard to keep himself together, but it was hard to when every bit of him shook with recollection of the memories that came forth, from the lovely ones that he kept locked in his chest, to the miserable ones that followed after his joy slipped through his fingers.

‘I miss those days,’ He thought to himself, remembering her and the little things that had made his life feel worthwhile.

Her (h/c) hair felt soft as it slipped through his fingers, the little knotted bits eased loose by his gentle tugs,

“I wish my hair was like yours,” (f/n) mused, a small smile over her as she did the same with his own much longer strands of periwinkle, “It’s beautiful,” she breathed, her eyes on it as she watched it slip between her fingers, every strand that flowed over her hand being soft and feathery,

‘If we ever have a child,’ she silently mused, her (e/c) colored eyes rising to gaze up at him, ‘I’d want them to look just like you,’ She thought with certainty, having always perceived the man to be beautiful, far surpassing her in every sense.

‘Especially your eyes.' She added as she found herself locked with them, ‘ Of all things, I’d love for them to have your eyes rather than mine,’ She thought with certainty, having thought about it so many times before, because all in all, there wasn't anyone else she'd love to settle down with.

But it wasn't like she could openly tell him she had been ready to settle down and have a family, not when he didn't seem so ambient about being in an actual relationship to begin with.

Granted, they'd had their sweet moments, but she was well aware that truly, they meant nothing but one thing ;

He didn't want to be lonely,

not truly alone at least.

Meanwhile, during her inner musing, he let a placid smile overtake him, hidden, yet present as he played with her hair, not having had a mind to do anything else but lay with her and enjoy the end of the day together.

‘I guess we could have gone out somewhere,’ He thought with a little blue sigh, somewhat regretting not doing anything else but stay in, ‘But sometimes, I just don’t want to do anything but lay here with her,’ He mused, stopping his caresses altogether to enjoy her touch instead.

It was hard not to see part of himself in the image of the little girl, not when she looked like the spitting image of him,

"There is no mistaking it," he said lowly, knowing deep within his chest the truth.

There was another image set before him, placed on the same desk the first one had been and had just fallen back down on.

Swallowing down hard, he picked it up, seeing that within that specific photograph, the child was much younger, practically an infant, being incredibly small and wrapped by a soft, pink blanket,

' - She has his eyes, his hair, his smile, his everything.’ the back of it read, all written with the same hand from the first picture he saw.

“Abbacchio what was it you nee-” Bruno started, stopping as he entered his office, seeing his friend stilled as he read the written words on the printed image with hardened, darkened orbs.

“- Bucciarati,” Abbacchio started, his voice dropped down by a pitch as he turned to look back at his boss,

“What are these?” He asked, the hand holding both photographs shaken as he tightly gripped them, waving them before the dark-haired male, “Why do you have these?” Leone added, his eyes glazed, yet stern, “I want the truth!” he demanded, stepping forward,

"And don't give me any bullshit lies." He added with venom laced within his words as little pinpricks stabbed and stung his eyes, the man somehow holding it all in, letting not a single tear slip out of his eyes.

It was then that Bruno sighed softly, “Yes...of course,” he said with a silent nod, turning to close his door for privacy, being careful in doing so,

“ I’m sure you want to know,” He added, staying turned away to hide the pained expression fixed upon his own features, because he knew he’d inadvertently hurt his friend by obscuring the truth.

“....Just know that it hadn’t been my intention to harm you, nor for you to find out this way,” Bucciarati spoke earnestly, finally finding it in himself to gaze back at his friend and face the betrayal set over his features,

“Then why didn’t you tell me?” Leone asked angrily, his tone rough as he addressed the other male, “ Why the hell did you never tell me I had a damn kid, huh?” The long-haired male urged on, “Why hadn’t it crossed your mind to tell me you knew where she was too,” he added as he referred to the woman who appeared in every photograph as well.

"Well?" He said anxiously, wanting to know, waiting for an answer.

“...By then we had already betrayed the organization and made it to Sardina,” Bruno started, his royal blue’s eyes looking forlorn as he mentioned the past,

“ A kid?” Abbacchio asked frustrated, holding his abdomen in pain because while he had been healed, he still had to endure the aftermath of the wretched assault,

“You’re asking me about a damn brat right now?” He asked (f/n) while sounding thoroughly annoyed, glaring at her hazardously, most of it being a front to try and mask the pain he felt.

He'd just barely survived getting cut through and she was asking about kids…

‘Of all things,’ He thought bitterly.

“I don't mean now,” she started, sounding rather small, “ but perhaps in the future...Maybe... later…” She drifted off, biting her lip anxiously as she finally forced out the last word.

“Have you ever just sat there and thought about it?” She asked him, swallowing hard, “ Has it ever come to mind?” she added.

‘Have you ever thought about it...with me,’ She wondered, wanting to ask him specifically, but afraid of the answer and what pain it would bring, because she was certain it would hurt.

“Yeah,” Leone huffed, “ Yeah, I've thought about it...About how much I don't want one.” He muttered before hanging his head, “And it should be the last thing on your mind right now too,” He added, abruptly standing, wincing as he did so,

“Right now, we’ve got to find the Boss,” he reminded her, walking away from her and the conversation altogether, brushing right past Bruno without even a word of address.

With a frown, Bucciarati approached the woman, sitting beside her on the couch, joining the notably downhearted woman with the expression slowly melting down into soft, open kindness,

“Are you alright?” he asked her, concerned over the little tears that had escaped her, and that were then slowly falling down her face.

“Not really,” she admitted to him, offering him a small, broken smile.

“He’s frustrated right now,” Bruno stated, “...He just narrowly escaped death not a few moments ago,” he reminded her, desperately trying to justify Abbacchio’s behavior while simultaneously attempting to comfort the young woman altogether.

“I’m sure that during another time he’d be much more amenable and open to the conversation,” he said with a growing smile, assuring her as he reached out for her hand, warmly holding it.

“I know,” she responded, “I know he’s still hurt,” she added.

“ And you know... I was actually worried sick,” she admitted, “ I thought… I thought that he wasn’t going to make it,” She added with a harsh shutter, having felt her world begin to crumble as she caught sight of his bloodied body back at the beach,

‘And I thought I wouldn’t get a chance to tell him,’ She thought to herself, absentmindedly placing a hand at her stomach, something that wasn’t overlooked by the blue-eyed male,

“(f/n)...” Bruno started, deflating at the small movement, slowly coming to a realization.

For just a moment he looked around, making certain no one else heard before he spoke, “ Are you pregnant?” he asked her, scooting closer.

- It had only been a small hunch, one that could have simply been squashed had it not been for the grim expression that overtook her at the mention.

Nodding somberly, she confirmed it, “ Yes, but I don’t know how far along.” She admitted, “I only just found out today." She added, not having known till after she boarded the boat and already made the decision to accompany them.

“ And now... I don’t know what to do,” she said while looking to him for guidance, “ I've wanted to tell him, but whenever I try, he shuts me down.” She informed Bucciarati.

“ Whenever I try to talk to him about a future together, he simply brushes me away,” she went on, having gone through the same dilemma even before then.

“He doesn't want children,” she said sadly, “ He expresses it with distrain each and every time it's brought up,” she informed him.

“And what's worse is that, perhaps, I’ve read us all wrong.

I’ve been together with the man for months now and not once has he mentioned the possibility of a life together.

During all this time...he’s also never told me he loves me.

He’s also never been one to publicly hold my hand.

...He’s never introduced me as anything but his partner; someone who works alongside him,” She explained, "Almost as though we aren't really anything." she added with a small, bitter chuckle.

“Maybe, all this time that’s all we’ve been, and he just doesn’t have the heart to tell me where we really stand...” She added with a small, wavering voice, continuing on before he could try and convince her otherwise,

"Bucciarati, I promised to help. I did so with not only the intention of following Abbacchio, but also to aid you and save Trish,

But in the state I am now…

Right now…

I’m only a burden.” she said with dejection, uncertain on how long the conflict will last.

“And as much as it hurts me to say this, we have to part ways,” She told him, apologetically gazing at him, “Because even if Leone has no intention to love this child, I do.

I have to keep them from harm's way.” She determinedly spoke, rising to stand, staring down at the dark-haired man with sorrow, “ I have to go. So, before the morning comes I’ll be gone,” She added, knowing it was best.

“And absolutely nothing will stop me,” She said with tightened fists.

“- As both my trusted friend, and my capo, I feel that at the very least I owe it to you to tell you upfront.” She informed him.

“I see,” Bruno said nodding, also standing up, “ Then take everything you need,” he told her, “ whatever you need to hide and stay away, take it. I will not spare a single resource of mine to assure your safety,” He vowed, offering her a lax, comforting smile.

“...Thank you,” she said softly, bowing her head to him to hide her tears.

She then leaned forward, her arms tightly wrapped around him, “Thank you for taking me in...As well as allowing me a way out.” she told him, truly grateful because, without him, she never would have stood a chance.

“- We will find a way back to each other,” He assured her. “ Once this is all over, I will make sure to let you know,” He said while beginning to part from her.

Nodding, she too pulled back, “Thank you, again. For everything,” She said once more, it being the last words she exchanged with him before she disappeared into the night, leaving the rest of their group baffled at her sudden departure, save for one member, because all but Bruno remained unknowing.

And rather than answer questions, he chose to play the fool. Instead, urging them to continue their hunt, forcing them to move forward without another member.

“And after that, as you know, our organization was left in shambles,” Bruno explained, “With A new boss there came new rules, as well as A new reform that many others didn’t agree with.

Only until recently have we been able to stabilize, but even then…

Even then it’s been a long, heavy struggle,” Bruno said with knitted brows, frustration showing.

“It wasn’t my intention to keep this from you for so long, but I couldn’t afford you searching for her, ultimately risking her location, and much worse, their lives,” Bruno explained, still feeling guilty nonetheless, regardless of his intentions being good or not.

“Right now, she’s doing well.

They both are actually, so there is no need to worry yourself. We’ve already agreed that in a month or two, they will make their way here, and then you can decide what you want to do." He said with a reassuring nod as he rounded his desk, walking over to his seat,

" If you want to be a part of their lives, or if you’d choose to sever your ties with them completely; It’s all up to you.” He went on, sitting down, his elbows placed on the surface of the desk as he lay his chin on his overlapped fingers,

“I just hope you understand that regardless of your decision, she is still a member of our familia. Whether or not you decide to take responsibility or be a part of their futures is your own choice.

All in all, it doesn't change my own final say:

Her home is here.

And I am her family, just as I am yours. ” Bruno said firmly, his voice low yet sharp.

“...Of course,” Abbacchio said back, his throat suddenly dry as he had a sudden question in mind, wanting to ask with unsettling desperation,

“Bucciarati…Did she really say that?" Leone said softly, regret settled over his features, " Did she really think I... That we weren't together?" He asked Bruno.

"From what I understood, that was her take on your relationship." He answered back, shaking his head, "Why? Was it otherwise?" He added as he tilted his head slightly, intrigued, because Abbacchio never shared anything that had to do with his relationship with her, making it all a mystery even to his closest confidante.

"Of course," Abbacchio said sadly, " And of course it hurt when she left... When she simply walked away.

But then again, how could she not?" He asked looking up at the ceiling, understanding how she could assume such a thing, having had too much time to maul over the mistakes he made with her,

" I was a complete bastard to her; An insensitive jerk.

Whenever she needed assurance I turned my back, all because I felt I didn't deserve her. I felt like she was asking for too much from someone that had too little to offer." Leone explained, shaking his head,

"And when she did leave... When she did what I assumed was best, I broke down," He went on, remembering just how he'd pretty much gone back to square one, falling back into his miserable pit of depression he’d barely scraped past the first time.

"But now…

Two months…

Two months in comparison to never is nothing," He said with a little itching grin, his eyes tired and sad, yet having a soft glow of joy to match the little twitching smile.

For just a moment he gazed down at his daughter, realizing that she didn't look just like him. There was plenty she took from her mother, being the perfect harmony between the two, something he’d only then realized he wanted,

‘A kid of my own... with (f/n) nonetheless...

With the woman I still love,’

Absentmindedly, his fingers went down to fall upon the image, caressing the sight of them softly, lovingly, as well as longingly,

' Until then, I have to make sure that I'm everything you two need.' He silently swore, promising to not repeat any mistakes, hoping that somehow (f/n) still loved him just as much as he did her.

“From her letters, she still thinks about you plenty.” Bruno nonchalantly informed him, growing surprised to see the level of enthusiasm that lifted the other man’s features to life,

“She does?” Leone said with hopefulness,

“ Certainly,” Bruno replied back, neatly gathering the pictures together, as well as pulling a small stack of letters within carefully opened envelopes to stack them all together,

“You should see so yourself,” He advised, handing him the collection, “Any fool could see that through it all, she still harbors the same feelings for you, holding no true resentment.

And speaking on a personal note;

If I were you, I wouldn’t ever throw away the opportunity to have something so precious within my grasp.” The don spoke with a little, longing look to his eye that made Abbacchio nod back knowingly.

“Don’t worry,” the long-haired male said back, “I won’t let it slip past me, not again,” he added with the utmost confidence, willing to do everything it took to give his girls the world.

Following parts :

The Reader Reunites With Leone

Leone Plays Teaparty with his little girl

(D/n) Meets Giorno

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synthsoup · 5 years

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reunited (gendry x reader)

Request : - heyyy could you write a gendry x reader where they used to be together but got split up. she thought he left her so she was upset. and they both ended up at winterfell. she sees him but he doesnt see her until a few moments before the battle

Words : 1.2K

***

You stand in the crowd, cold air fluttering gently across your face, contorted in an expression you only know as a mixture of relief, confusion, and a bit of anger. The air is almost completely silent, the only thing to be heard is the movement of metal and horse hooves on sturdy stone ground. You had stifled a gasp when you caught sight of his stern looking features, and in a quick moment they were gone from you again.

You hadn't made eye contact with Gendry, but you wanted to. You could remember the last time you saw his piercing eyes, disguised by the dark of a silent night in the forest. You remembered clearly the months you had spent together after escaping from Kings Landing, you ended up traversing through the woods far longer than intended, and became very close in that time. The whispers around burning embers of an extinguished fire, holding each other both unable to sleep and knowing the other was awake but not acknowledging it.

You’d almost kissed once. You’d very very narrowly escaped death from a wolf, bigger than one you had ever seen in your life. It was just about to take your head off after tearing up your left hand, and your ankle was sprained from the wolf tackling you to the ground. When Gendry managed to shove it off you, by the grace of the gods you’d both managed to outrun it. When you couldn’t run anymore he carried you, and when it appeared safe he gently set you down beside a tree.

In his eyes mixed in between the panic and fear was something else, and as he desperately brushed the hair out of your face you had grabbed his hand with your still working one and reassured him. That is, before you had passed out due to blood loss.

The memory of your noses touching lingered, but your hand had long since healed. You snapped out of your thoughts, quickly shaken out of your state as the crowd began to disperse. Over already? You shake your head to yourself, you could feel the tension in the air as the newcomers begin to spread throughout Winterfell.

You head to your small cottage of a house, and light a small fire as you sit on a rug. You had to see him didn’t you? It hurt, sure it did. The presence of what he did was always in your thoughts, it never truly faded. Maybe he thought he was doing something good when he left. All you knew was three days after the wolf attack, you’d woken and he was gone. Absolutely no sign of Gendry, and you’d thought the worst. You’d begun to suspect he was dead before dawn, until you came across the tiniest slip of parchment. it contained the words, “Y/N, i’m sorry.”

You were just as frustrated now as you were then. What the hell was that supposed to mean? Sorry for what? Sorry for leaving? Well damn right, but he surely took no care to elaborate. You had walked the rest of the distance to Winterfell alone, and you’d never been one to let out a tear for no reason, but you did on the way there. Despite the curl of your lip that made itself known every time you think of what he did to you, abandoned you, you wanted to see him. You wanted the same feeling you got when he would grasp on to your hand like he needed you, the way he would listen to you like no one else ever had, the way he would brush his hand through your hair, slowly regrowing to your collarbone.

It was long past twilight, and you closed the front door to your residence. You made your way to where the weapons were being made and distributed, you were going to make yourself useful at least, and maybe, maybe you would see him. On the chance you would, your heart ached.

You were making your way around the blacksmiths, walking quickly, and unsurprisingly you almost rammed head on into Gendry’s chest. Of course just as you remembered, he was still significantly taller than you.

“Hey, caref-” he begins but cuts himself off as he meets your eyes. His eyes widen quickly as yours narrow, and his grip on your shoulders tighten but he doesn’t step back. in fact you’re the one pushing him away.

“Gendry.” You breathe with equal amounts anger and relief, eyebrows furrowed.

“Y/N. I thought- I didn’t know if i’d ever see you-’

“Stop.”

“What? I-”

“Stop.” you say firmly.

“Gendry, I don’t even- I mean I can’t simply ignore what you did. You left me-”

“Y/N I know how you must feel about this, but you must know I thought the Brotherhood -’

“I know Gendry, you think people don’t talk? That’s not what bothers me.” you were beginning to lose composure at this point and took a small gasp of air.

“I just felt alone. Like you didn’t care at all and I know that-”

“Let me talk Y/N.” He says as he grabs your hands in his, breathing fast trying to regain control over his features.

“I did what I thought was right, and let me tell you that not a day has gone by when i don’t think about how I- I left you. I regret it, truly.”

Your throat had begun to close up and you look up at his eyes, still blue as the sky. You see his bottom lip tremble slightly and you throw your arms around him as he lifts you into the air.

“I just missed you.” you whisper into the crook of his neck.

And before you can say another word he places you down and as you feel his muscles rippling as you move your hands down his back, and he kisses you. You move one hand back up to the nape of his neck, and both of his hold your waist and pull you closer. His lips are softer than they should be you think, and as the pair of you attempt to close the nonexistent space between yourselves, your back arches into him perfectly and you think you can be nothing less than contempt.

Eventually you break apart for air, but he doesn’t weaken his grip on you for a second and you bring your hands to his cheeks.

“I regretted everyday not telling you that I love y- I love you Y/N. Every year that went by was torture.” He says, and though you sense he wants to grasp on to some more intricate words for you, those are more than enough.

You gently brush your finger over the space in between his still furrowed eyebrows, something you had gotten into the habit of dong so many years ago, and he relaxes quickly under your touch. “I love you too, Gendry.”

The words didn’t feel like any big revelation, you knew they’d been there the whole time, waiting to show themselves.

The battle of Winterfell was to start any moment now. The moments leading up to it were so far being spent in his arms, and if you could both make it out of this alive, that would be enough.

***

Requests Open!

#game of thrones #game of thrones one shot #game of thrones imagine #game of thrones x reader #got one shot #got x reader #got imagine #got #gendry imagine #gendry x reader #Gendry #gendry baratheon #gendry waters

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mirannalegacy-blog · 5 years

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Avant Le Deluge: Chapter 1

Part one of Children of Divided Universe

Deep in the outer rim, five young women have narrowly escaped death on the fringes of unknown space. They’ve decided to trust each other, but unable to flee to the Republic Core Worlds and with the suspicion that the Empire would very much like them dead, the stakes are higher than they know.

This is my very self indulgent project to write my main character’s origin stories and their adventures through out the Star Wars the Old Republic story lines. Also on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17191718/chapters/40422764

3.20.4 ATC

Anndara

The universe swayed and tumbled. Anndara’s mind was hazy and the pain that coursed through her body sent spiraling tendrils through her mind, creating a siren song of unconsciousness. But the cold pressure of the surface she was laying on and the coppery taste of blood coating the back of her mouth pulled her into the waking world. Everything hurt. Someone took her hand and she registered the distant pressure. It was an unsteady hand, shaking and clammy, and she could hear hitched and trembling breathing nearby. She tried to move her head or open her eyes, but her body did not respond to the sluggish commands. The surface she was laying on lurched and the person squeezed her hand a little tighter. Voices flitted about her as the shaking became more intense.

“This is Regan Hyra on board The Horranth, we need emergency medical attention! I repeat, emergency medical attention!”

The voice was loud and steady, but there was a note of desperation in it.

“What if she doesn’t make it?” The imperial accent marked this voice as different, it was much closer and unlike the first was cracked and ragged.

“She’ll make it.” This voice was quiet, but the conviction it held would have made a corpse decide that death wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. The pain swelled once more and Anndara felt herself beginning to fall. As darkness closed back in around her mind, she hoped very much that the owner of that voice was right.

_________

Regan

On any other day, the sight of the Lyn-Taro Mining Facility would have been background noise to a regular day on the job with her parents. On any other day, she would have thought that it was cool how stark the contrast was between the gleaming dove greys and whites of the station stood out against the jet black surface of the asteroid. On any other day she would have passed out from the excitement of flying a freighter on her own. But not today. This was not any other day. This was in the top twenty of the worst days of her life. This was complicated by the fact that all nineteen of these other days were the past nineteen consecutive days and the closing ten days of the month held the promise of knocking this bad day out of the park.

Regan keyed the mic again as she brought the ship in for what was probably going to be an illegal landing anyways, she cleared her throat, “This is Regan Hyra on The Horranth. Overseer Jerome, I know you’re gonna be pissed but we’re coming in anyways!”

She stretched across the console, taping at the landing display to bring back full manual control. She hated automated landings. They were always too slow. She was in no mood for slow. The ship lurched as she forced it to doge yet another clump of debris.

“Regan, what’s the status.”

The twi’lek didn’t look around as her companion approached the pilot’s chair. After three months on the lamb with the Togruta, Regan knew she wasn’t asking about the landing permission. Can we trust these people. Can we get through this.

“We’re up shit creek. I’ll talk us out of it,” She said, as she pulled the ship into the docking bay, “Get her out as soon as possible, she needs to be stabilized. We owe her that much. Keep her sister out of trouble.”

Regan heard Melyra jog away, hopefully to load their associate onto a stretcher for transfer. As she set the ship down and heard the reassuring hiss of the landing gear taking the weight of the ship, she glanced out the window. A group of people were running towards the ship. A medical team and she recognized the heavy figure of Overseer Jerome. She set her jaw, swung her self around in the chair and grabbed her jacket. Show time.

Melyra and the red twi’lek Osanna were already down the ramp and passing the stretcher off to the med team by the time that Regan emerged from the ship. The girl’s sister was hovering by one of the landing struts, watching them take her away. Regan recognized some of the people, but she locked eyes with the now livid Overseer Jerome.

The realization of how beat to shit they all were, never mind the mystery girl, began to sink in. Melyra was covered in blood. The Togruta’s montral and lekku were burned and cut deeply in some places. Her arms were covered in bandages from burns and blaster bolts. Swaths of Osanna’s face were turning from what Regan assumed was her typical crimson color to a purply-blochy mottling that didn’t do wonders for her complexion. Osanna had avoided most burns, but the robe that she wore had large chunks of the skirt missing and the belled sleeves had been signed away. The sister’s face bore the unmistakable slice of a vibroblade wound that was only being held together by butterfly bandages. She also sported blaster bolt grazes cutting across her calves, fringed in by smoldering fabric and open to the air. She had refused any and all medical attention beyond the bare minimum. Regan was also now quite aware that the pain on the side of her face had subsided since applying kolto cream to her own burns but that the cream still covered most of the right side of her face and neck. They didn’t look good. They were all desperate and deep fried in an almost literal sense. She had to keep Overseer Jerome in a charitable mood despite the goo on her face and the blood on everyone else. This was going to take some doing. The burly man stalked up to her and brought his reddened face inches from her own.

“Overseer Jerome,” she said brightly, pulling her face into what she hoped was a genial expression, “Thanks for the save! We’d be dead meat if you hadn’t left the bay doors open--”

Before she could finish her sentence, Jerome cut in, his voice rising with each word, “We were in the middle of comms maintenance! I have quotas to fill! Imps and Pubs breathing down my neck and now you! Compared to you decompression would be a joy!”

Regan’s bravado began to falter and her stomach dropped out as he then hissed in a deadly voice, “Where are your parents? What the hell happened? Why are there a bunch of teenagers in my docking bay?”

She tried to rally herself, but the flash of images from the past months rose in her mind and her breath quickened uncomfortably in her chest. She turned her eyes away, “That depends on who you ask.”

“I’m asking you runt.”

The tone caused her to snap her eyes back to him. The intensity and severity of her gaze made Jerome take a step back.

“Then you best start nursing your best whiskey now,” she said dangerously quiet, “because you ain’t gonna like it.”

_________

Anndara

Her mind was still foggy when the med droid began tucking a blanket around her and the on call doctor began speaking to her. The bright white of the room and the lights made everything seem to meld together. She felt very warm and...safe. It was a feeling that she let herself fall into. It had been a while since she hadn't objected to sharp objects being near her. She could feel the strange stretch of the tacky adhesive holding a sensor over her heart and one to her temple. The doctor’s form swam before her.

“How are you feeling? Squeeze my hand if you can hear me,” The wavering face of the older zabrak man said.

She squeezed his hand.

“Good. We’re going to be moving you out of the operating theater shortly. Honestly it was probably best that you came here. We have a lot of experience treating patients who have been injured by falling debris. Okay, and lift.”

Anndara felt the jostling of being transferred from the stationary table to the floating gurney.

“Okay, can you try telling me how your feeling?”

The lights and ceiling began moving. If she moved her head just slightly, she could see the droid pushing the floating bed. The quiet beeping of the monitor display that was connected to the droids arm sped up and slowed down occasionally. She registered that it was her heart beat.

“Kinda fuzzy.” She mumbled. Her throat felt very dry.

“Any pain?”

“No.”

“Excellent. We gave you a fairly low dose of painkillers. We can always give you more if needed.”

“Where am I?”

“The Lyn-Taro Mining station, Rayter Sector. The med wing specifically. Do you remember the name of the ship you came in on?”

“Horranth, I think.”

“Good. Can you tell us your name? Do you remember who you came in with?”

She listened to the beeping as the doctor asked her questions. She occasionally heard it slow down and a wave of sleepiness would pass over her. The rational part of her mind that was only a little awake knew this was just the anesthesia but the primal part that was running full throttle sent a sharp knife of panic into her each time the beeping slowed. She focused on her breath and keeping the beat steady.

“Can you squeeze my hand? How are you feeling?”

The knife of panic ebbed.

“Yeah. Anndara Kora. My sister and...some other people. Are they okay?”

“Good. They are doing fine. Anndara we’re going into your room now. The medical droid will start you on some more kolto and some fluids. Your IV is already in, you’ll just feel a little pressure when the fluids start, alright?”

“Kay.”

“Once you’re a little more back in the land of the conscious, I’ll have to talk with you some more and we’ll start having you drink some water. I’m going to step out for about five minutes while I go get your sister. You are out of the woods and you’re in no danger. With the standard procedure, you'll have all of your bandages off in three days, may be less. You seem to be healing up very quickly. If you need anything, the droid will call me or one of the nurses, all right?”

“Sure.”

The doctor squeezed her hand. At some point the gurney had come to a stand still. Rather than white, the room was now light blue with dim lights. She worked her tongue around her mouth trying to bring some relief to the dryness. She supposed this is what cottonmouth must feel like. She had never been drunk, but if this was any indication of what a hangover was like with the strange numbness and sticky throat, she never wanted to experience it again. A few minutes passed. The world began to come back into sharper focus, and with it reality came sinking back in. She remembered the falling durasteel, reaching out with the force, pushing the others out of the way, and pain. She squeezed her eye shut, trying to block out the image of the burning and crumbling ship. She began to deepen her breaths, trying to meditate to keep herself calm. It was a method she had used many times by now to reconnect with her body. She curled her fingers one by one, curling them in and pressing the pads to her palms, tensed her arms and untensed, pressing her shoulder blades back and into the padded gurney under her. Then she flexed her feet...nothing...she felt nothing… Panic swelled through her as she attempted to bend her knees and only one responded. Her left leg pulled up from the bed while her right leg remained still, only the muscle straining to bend a joint that...wasn’t there. The panic bloomed in her chest and threatened to overwhelm her. Distantly she heard the droid telling her that she needed to remain in bed, that she must calm down, as she pushed herself up with her hands. Her head spun as she sat up, pulling off the sheet to stare at her hospital gown clad body. Her eyes widened when they lighted upon the places where her left leg and her right foot should have been. Her left leg ended just above the knee. Her right leg ended at her ankle. Both limbs were wrapped in bandages and kolto patches, but where the bandages ended, her legs were covered in burn salve and patched cuts. She let out a strangled cry.

___________

Melyra

Regan and Jerome had been in the Overseer’s office for a while now and Melyra was beginning to wonder if they were ever coming out. Osanna sat on the sole chair, her robes neatly tucked around her, while the sister, who had introduced herself as Aurelia, paced the small office. Melyra was leaning on the door frame. She kept her eyes trained on the door to the infirmary wing and an ear out for the distant sound of Regan and Overseer Jerome’s raised voices. She wasn’t confident they would be getting much charity outside of what they had already received.

“Do you think they’ll have to take her leg?”

Melyra looked up in surprise as Osanna spoke. She had her hands clenched in her lap and her eyes down turned. Melyra didn’t know what had passed between Osanna and the mystery girl, Anndara. No one did. What little they knew was that something happened that made Osanna very nervous. Osanna wouldn’t even tell Aurelia. Melyra had a distinct feeling that Osanna was afraid that she would be punished for what had happened. From what little she had gathered about Osanna, Melyra figured that Osanna had never been outside the Empire, maybe never even off of Dromund Kaas. She also had the feeling that she had been raised as a kind of pet by a Sith lord. At least that’s what she assumed. And part of her didn’t want to dig too deeply into that topic.

“Probably. I’ve seen enough field amputations to know,” she told the twi’lek.

This was obviously the wrong thing to say as Osanna curled in on herself and her tiny frame began to shake. Aurelia stopped her pacing and shot Melyra a stern look. She moved to kneel beside Osanna and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“She’s strong. She’s survived this long. She'd put herself in harm’s way to help any of us, that includes you. This isn’t your fault. I know that if she were here she would want to say that. It wasn’t your fault,” Aurelia said, soothingly. Osanna nodded meekly.

As she watched Aurelia comfort Osanna, it struck Melyra as odd that their positions were not reversed. It was strange that Aurelia, the one whose sister was undergoing surgery on a backwater mining colony after being busted out of an Imperial transport, was the one doing the consoling. The human seemed to know what she was doing, Melyra mused, and had had that confidence throughout this entire fiasco. She was good at keeping herself under control, even though she looked to be about the same age as Melyra herself. Thirteen, fourteen, somewhere in there. She was, perhaps, the exact opposite of Regan who seemed to fly through every situation with only the vaguest comprehension and always seemed to get through anything by the skin of her teeth and her outstanding ability to bull-shit.

Then she heard the click of a door opening and a conspicuous lack of yelling. She turned and saw Regan fuming down the hall. The sleeves of her oversized and disticntly second hand aviator jacket scrunched up to her elbows and her hands balled into fists. The look on her face would have caused a Manka cat to turn and run. Melyra and Aurelia both stood up straight as Regan stormed into the room.

“It went that good, huh?” Melyra asked as the green twi’lek pulled a box from her pocket and began to shake out a thin white stick.

“Must you smoke?” Aurelia asked, distaste dripping from every word, “And where did you even get those?”

Regan ignored her the first part of the girl’s question as she balanced a cig between her lips, but her hands were shaking so badly she was struggling with the lighter, “I pulled them off that bastard.”

There was a particular venom in her voice that Melyra had not heard before. She crossed her arms and tilted her head.

“What happened?” She asked.

“He didn’t buy half my story. Which is fine, half of it was made up,” Regan said as her lighter finally clicked to life, “But I wasn’t about to tell him the truth about, you know,” she gestured to Aurelia and Osanna and the movement put out the meager flame,“Dammit. But he got the gist. He knows we’re on the run from the Empire but also that the ship we were on probably had no other survivors. But I wouldn’t put it past the Sith to have some kind of black box,” she finally succeeded in lighting the cig and she blew a stream of smoke into the room, Aurelia looked at the twi’lek in disgust, “So the bastard said to go to the Republic and I didn’t tell him why but I said that wasn’t an option for some of us,” she shot a glance at Melyra and Aurelia, “So HE got upset that he might have a bunch of felons on his station and wants us gone once Anndara is stable. But before one rotation is done.”

Regan took another pull on the cig and let out another plume of smoke, shifting her gaze up to the ceiling. Melyra could almost feel Regan’s heart pounding and she saw the shaking in her hand that held the cig, the thousand yard stare, the labored and shallow breaths. From the sudden flash of concern on Aurelia’s face, Melyra knew she saw it too.

“Reeg, what’s the coordinates for Corelia, Dantooine, Kessel, and Sullust?”

Regan inhaled sharply through her mouth and began mechanically listing. Aurelia gently pulled Osanna from her chair and Melyra carefully pulled Regan over and settled her down in it.

“What’s happening?” Osanna asked looking puzzled at the sudden coordination between the Togruta and the human.

“She’s having a panic attack,” Aurelia said gently as she carefully plucked the cig from Regna’s trembling hand and Melyra knelt down in front of the green twi’lek and gripped her shoulders firmly as she began to breathe more shallowly, “could you get her some water?”

“O-okay,” Ossana stuttered and moved beyond Melyra’s line of vision.

Melyra looked Regan in the eye and began to exaggerate her own breaths, breathing noisily through her nose and out through her mouth with a hissing sound, waiting for Regan to begin copying her. After several minuets of unresponsive trembling and desperate breathing, Regan’s eyes began to focus. She followed the pattern, breathing in and out. Melyra could tell that she wanted to cry but she also knew that Regan wouldn't do that in front of the others. Part of her wished that she would. It would bring some catharsis to the weight she knew Regan was carrying inside her chest. Regan leaned forwards and let her forehead rest against Melyra’s, eyes closed, still breathing deeply, but more quietly and evenly. She carefully placed a hand at the back of Regan’s head, returning the leaning pressure.

Melyra could feel Osanna standing behind her, but she let the silence hang in the air for a time before she quietly said, “We’re going to make it through this.”

She pulled away to take the water from Osanna as Regan muttered, “We always do.”

She noted the tremble in Regan's confirmation. It might be a while before it was gone again. Melyra offered her the cup and she took it, taking a sip and the resting her elbows on her knees, her head hanging down.

“Sorry ,” she said her voice cracking. The other three immediately began to protest.

“There’s nothing to apologize for,” Aurelia replied, “I’ve had them too. You cut it off very quickly. You’re doing well!”

“Yeah, you’re talking,” Melyra added.

Osanna nodded. Melyra assumed she still hadn’t fully understood what was happening. She didn’t blame her.

Regan looked up at Melyra, her body still shaking, and raised her cup to her, before taking another swig. As Melyra nodded her head in acknowledgement, she heard the sound of running feet. She started towards the door-way when the zabrak man skidded to a halt and panted, “Please come quickly!”

He was gesturing at Aurelia who immediately moved to follow.

“What’s going on,” Melyra asked.

“Miss Anndara is quite agitated, one of the nurses is with her now,” He said, turning and trotting away at a brisk pace. Melyra half turned to Regan who was already standing up and waving her and Osanna to follow the Aurelia.

“I had hoped that she would not have tried moving so soon,” he continued as they moved down the hallway, “I had hoped that you would be there when I told her about her legs, but it seems I misjudge how quickly she would come out of the anesthesia. For one as small as she is...that is to say, she has a very fast metabolism.”

“Yes," Aurelia agreed, rather distantly, “quite fast. Is she alright?”

“Well, she is fine, physically,” The doctor replied as they passed through the medical wing doors, “But I believe she has attempted to remove her IVs and has thrown off every attempt to calm or restrain her.”

Aurelia broke into a run.

“Its room Five-Twenty--” the doctor began, but she had already rounded a corner, “never mind, she seems to know where she’s going.”

Melyra cast a cursory glance at him before picking up into a run and following Aurelia.

________

Osanna

By the time Anndara had calmed down, the lights of the mining complex had already finished their cycle from their daylight simulation to their night simulation settings. Regan and Melyra had stolen pillows from another room and had curled up on the floor. Osanna hovered in the doorway to the room, watching the sleeping forms of the sisters on the medbed. Aurelia held her sister even in sleep. It was touching really, that they had each other. The peace of Anndara’s face a contrast to the anguish Osanna had seen only a little while ago. She tried to push the images away, but they filled her mind anyways, spilling over with washed out colors and deadened sounds.

They had found her sobbing on the floor, a nurse and two droid standing over her. One droid lay in pieces on the ground. Many of her wounds had reopened and the blood from the cuts on her face mingled with her tears in puddles beneath her cheek. Heedless of this, Aurelia had laid down on floor facing her sister, she placed a hand on Anndara’s arm, and spoke to her softly. Osanna didn’t hear what she said, but something about what was said or how it was said had made Anndara’s sobbing redouble, and Aurelia just laid there and let her cry. It had been then that Osanna looked at her legs. The bandages on her legs were pink in areas and…

Even now Osanna’s eyes lingered on the stumps where Anndara’s leg and foot used to be. There was a type of horrid fascination that she didn’t like but it was bubbling in her gut all the same. She had never seen a person who had lost limbs and it was disconcerting. And all of this roiled up the guilt. She watched them for a moment more and then slipped away down the hall.

She walked the corridors of the facility aimlessly. She wasn’t sure what to do with this whole no-one-telling-her-what-to-do thing. Once she had figured out what the Sith really we, she didn’t want to stay. She should feel good about what she did. Now she just felt...empty. She could do...whatever she wanted. But what was that, exactly? How did this work? She tried to dig through all of her thoughts and feelings as she walked. There was a lot to sift through. As far back as she could remember she had never left Dromund Kaas. Her flight on that transport with the Sith who had taken her out of her training had been the first time she had left the ground. It had all gone so horribly wrong. It was her fault.

She must have left the medical wing and wandered into the living quarters because she found herself looking into a small kitchen and dining area. The table was very clearly a hand-me-down or a relic from the dawn of time. It was dented and stretched and none of the legs were the same length. There were a handful of datapads, some mugs, a pitcher, and several boxes on the table. At one end of the table, carefully pushing a block under one of the said table legs, was the zabrak doctor from earlier.

He glanced up and smiled a little sadly at her, then righting himself and testing the table for stability he said, “If you can’t sleep, perhaps you would humor an old doctor and share a cup of caf?”

Osanna glanced around. No one else was there, she couldn’t sleep, and she decided that it couldn’t hurt. It was a small decision, but a decision nonetheless. She padded over to the table and settled herself in a chair close to the doctor.

“I don’t believe you were in the room when I introduced myself to the others,” he said.

Osanna shook her head. That must have been after she had seen them reconnect the IVs and she had run out to find the closest bin to be sick in.

“Doctor Lo, at your service,” he held out his hand. She stared at it and then glanced back up at him, confused.

“You shake it,” he said encouragingly. Osanna tentatively held out her own hand but was still very confused. She had seen people bow to each other in greeting, but never this. Sith and Imperials tended to keep their distance. It kept your lifespan a little longer. She had apparently let her hand hover in the air a little too long because Doctor Lo grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her hand towards his other one. The sudden contact set off alarm bells in her head and she violently pulled her hand way, smacking the back of her arm against the chair next to her as she jerked back. Doctor Lo began to back pedal, his brain working overtime.

“Sorry, sorry,” he said, holding up his hands in what he was hoping a nonthreatening manner, “I was just…”

Osanna’s mind was chanting warnings. She had pulled her hand away, that was bad. Bad, bad, bad. The part of her brain that was rational reminded her that not a few hours ago she’d left the Sith and that this was fine. The part of her brain that worked best when one is overtired, stressed, and very out of one’s element was also holding court with the very persuasive argument that trial and error up until this point had yielded fairly poor results. It was a stand off, so she compromised, by staring at him wide eyed and remained rooted rigidly to her seat.

“Are you...okay?” He asked, his voice carrying deep concern, “I was just trying to show you how to shake hands.”

“I-I don’t want to be touched,” she said, “I’m just…”

He was still looking at her like that. It wasn’t helping.

“I’m new to this whole thing and I don’t like being touched.”

The words came out a lot higher than she would have liked. But it felt liberating. Saying it out loud. She wondered if this is what Regan felt like all the time, just saying things. What a way to live.

“That’s fine,” he said, still rather confused, “So I’m guessing you haven’t been out much?”

It wasn’t an insult, Osanna decided, just a weird question.

“I got to go outside when I was on Dromund Kaas,” she said defensively, I mean she had seen trees and animals and monsters and stuff.

Dr. Lo looked at her blankly and quietly said, “Oh. Okay. Um, what’s your name?”

Osanna looked at him curiously before deciding that this was probably fine.

“Osanna,” She said curtly.

“That’s a...ah….That’s a nice name.”

“Thank you.”

There was a long beat of silence.

“Would you like some Caf?” He asked, gesturing to the carafe.

“What is...Caf?” She asked, trying out the new word.

“It's a hot caffeinated drink made from beans on tropical worlds. It's supposed to give you more energy,” he explained, “something of an acquired taste, though.”

She could do whatever she wanted.

“Okay.”

The doctor poured the dark liquid into a mug and pushed towards her.

“There you go,” he said encouragingly, “give it a try. It is kind of bitter.”

She glanced at the mug and then back up at the doctor. He smiled and nodded in what could only be described as a baffled but supportive way. She scooped up the mug and sniffed the contents tentatively. It smelled...well she didn’t have the words for how it smelled. She didn’t know how to describe food other than ration dry and soupy. But she liked it, whatever the smell was. She took a sip. She pursed her lips and her eyes watered.

“I also tend to make it rather strong,” Dr. Lo said absentmindedly took a sip from his own mug. She managed to choke down the bitter liquid and set her cup down.

“I don’t think I like it,” she said, attempting to get rid of the taste by smacking her lips.

“A perfectly reasonable response,” he said, chuckling into his mug, “perhaps tea would be more your speed.”

They fell into silence for a while yet again while Dr. Lo sipped his Caf. Osanna glanced at the datapads and boxes on the table.

“Curious?” He asked, gesturing to the accumulated piles. She nodded, turning her gaze back to him.

“It’s stuff I’ve collected for you and your friends,” He said and Osanna’s eyes went wide, “Overseer Jerome made it clear to me that you all can’t stay here, however, Regan has also made it clear that you are “hurting bad and we have fuck all places to go.” She’s always had such a way with words. I’m guessing you're one of the ones from a rough situation. She may not be the best person in the galaxy, but I know Regan. She practically grew up here. She wouldn’t ask me for help if she had no other options. So, I’ve been asking people for donations. And I’ve pulled together some of our surplus. Not much, but…”

He waved his hand as if to say it was nothing. Osanna’s eye prickled and she would very much like him to know that it wasn’t nothing.

“Thank you,” she said, quietly.

“Your friend, Anndara, she’s going to need some adaptive tech like--,” he began, but stopped mid sentence as Osanna began to cry. Dr. Lo raised a hand to pat her shoulder but thought better of it and settled for rubbing the back of his neck.

“It’s going to be alright,” he said soothingly, “I can’t help much because I need my job here and Jerome's an ass, but we’re doing the best we can. I promise.”

“You didn’t need to do any of this,” she said wiping her eyes, “Thank you. You care. Thank you. And it's my fault she got hurt and I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry that we’re here and that we’re problems and that I don’t know how anything works and--”

“Hey, hey,” he cut in, “I don’t know where you come from--other than Dromund Kaas, which is a little weird--but you’re doing good. You’ve been through a lot and I’m sure it's not your fault that she’s hurt these things just--”

“She got hurt pulling me out of a collapsing room. If I hadn’t been stupid--”

“You can’t control a collapsing room. She helped you.”

Osanna continued to cry and Dr. Lo was at a loss. His usual methods for comforting people were at a disadvantage in this situation, but there was also the fact that once Osanna had started crying, she couldn’t stop. It was like a release valve had finally been opened on all her emotions and the only thing that made sense was to let it out. Her eyes were so obscured by tears that she didn’t see Dr. Lo get up, but she did see the tissue box that was pushed in front of her.

“Its okay to cry, too. It's good, in fact,” he said as she took a tissue and dabbed at her streaming eyes, “Just let it all out.”

“Thank you,” she said as she buried her face in her tissue.

#star wars the old republic #swtor fanfiction #swtor oc #the miranna legacy

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queen-scribbles · 5 years

Text

Stars Rewritten AU

Here we go, headcanons for the Adi-verse where Heodan survives. Everything’s behind the cut, since it won’t let me do one in the middle of bullet points(BOO) and this baby is long.

They’re originally just planning to stick together until they reach Gilded Vale and go their own ways, but with how messed up everything is there, that plan gets scrapped very quickly. It’s sketchy and they don’t know who to trust, so they wind up sticking together “just a little longer”.

Only thing that changes about joining up with Aloth is the fight with the drunks is over faster, and there being three of them means there is bed sharing bc they can’t afford a room with a bed for each of them. Adi and Heodan share bc this is a wish fulfillment au they know each other better.

When the Watcher dream starts, she kicks him in the chest twice and narrowly misses clocking him in the jaw. He, of course, tries to wake her up and can’t. She snaps awake just as he’s really starting to worry and feels v guilty for hurting him(especially since he still has a healing injury from the Cilant Lîs ruins), which he brushes off, promising it’s not that bad.

After Adi “talks” to Caldera and has her advice to head for Caed Nua, she asks Heodan if he wants to come with her(promising not to punch him any more in her sleep, which makes him laugh). He agrees, since he doesn’t have any reason to stick around Gilded Vale--no business prospects, unfriendly neighbors, she’s much better company, take your pick--and Caed Nua sounds like a place where they might find the fresh start they’re looking for.

Of course things don’t turn out all sunshine and roses, bc why should life be easy? After Maerwald’s dead and the Steward declares Adi the Lady of Caed Nua, she offers to let Heodan set up shop at the keep, so he doesn’t have to wander so much. Things need to be fixed up first, obviously, but he’d be safer here and knows the lady in charge.

He accepts. This is promising location, she has a good point about knowing the person in charge(knows she’ll be fair).... It’s actually going to be a pretty advantageous arrangement, once the keep’s fixed up some.

While they’re waiting to get things fixed up, however, he also accepts when she asks if he wants to come to Defiance Bay with her. He doesn’t have anything better to do, and getting an idea of how things stand in the city is a good idea.

That’s how it starts; him going pretty much everywhere with her. It’s not really a conscious choice on either of their parts so much as Adi goes “Hey, Heodan, wanna come do ____ with me?” and he says “Sure”. They enjoy each other’s company and one more person to watch your back never hurts, and he’d be underfoot for the work crews if he stayed at the keep..... Why would there be any deeper meaning than that?

Before a month is out, it’s just assumed he’s going with her. The threat of bandits and other dangers means security-enhancing repairs come first, so the craft hall’s construction keeps getting bumped. “Heodan, wanna come with me?” has turned into “We’re leaving in the morning” with the unspoken expectation he’s coming. He never corrects her. He likes going along.

It’s around Teir Nowneth/Brackenbury (my usual order is Teir Nowneth -> Brackenbury ->Dyrford, it’s like how I always do the treaties in the same order for DAO) that the two of them start paying above average care to each other in combat, and roughly the first jaunt to Stalwart(2-2.5 months in) that they start prioritizing threats to each other over other opponents. They don’t notice what they’re doing until Edér makes a joke about it.

Dyrford + associated quests came between the halves of tWM, so there are some latent--if unacknowledged--feelings beyond Adi’s (ever-growing) crush when she slips jumping the gap for the back way into Clîaban Rilag and Heodan wrenches his shoulder really bad catching her so she doesn’t plummet to her death.

He just reacted, and that 18(to 21, depending on resting bonus) dex meant he was fast enough to catch her and he’s glad and he doesn’t care that his shoulder hurts because she’s okay and no, Edér, stop grinning like that, it doesn’t Mean Anything, that’s ridiculous. When Adi tries to apologize, he waves it off as paying her back for helping him that first escape into the ruins after the Glanfathan attack.

Sagani’s the one who does the adventure that rewards with the Lovers’ Light rings, and she kinda tosses them to Adi with a smirk and a “Here Watcher, you can find a use for these, right?” *wink wink nudge nudge* It takes a bit of studying to figure out how they work, but once she does, Adi wears the copper one and gives the silver one to Heodan. She does explain to him that they’re enchanted so the wearers can tell if the other is hurt and give some of their essence by squeezing the jewel to help if they want. She’s mostly thinking so she can help him if--gods forbid--he gets hurt in a fight. He’s more front line than she is, after all. Even if he is usually backstabbing people as opposed to Edér’s facing people head-on. (So I’m basically headcanoning that they work like Vox Machina’s “medic alert” necklaces or whatever they called them that they got after Tary joined, with the option to sacrifice your health to stabilize the other person)

Heodan’s not as adventurous as Adi but keeps tagging along on these trips of hers. “I’d be bored and underfoot back at the keep with nothing to do” is his explanation. “Once there’s a building for my shop and I have that to stock and take care of, then you’ll lose me.” (it’s almost a running joke between them by this point--how one or the other keeps finding excuses to prolong his adventuring. Neither really dwells on why they keep doing that.)

She actually ‘loses’ him sooner than that. On the way back from Dyrford Adi decides to (finally) investigate Fyrga’s vision, figuring she can then report back to Fyrga and Lady Webb in one trip. Whatever she was thinking this vision implied, a temperamental, possessive dragon is so not what she was expecting to find.

Despite Adi’s best efforts to defuse the situation and just walk away, the dragon’s not having it and attacks them. They’re actually doing pretty well handling the dragon and its xaurip underlings(first time I’ve ever been over-leveled for that fight lol), but the last remaining xaurip gets in a really good hit on Adi before she kills it via grimoire slam. Thanks to both her cry of pain and how much damage she’s doing, the dragon zeroes in on her.

She has pretty good reflexes, but you can’t dodge and cast at the same time, and ofc she has blood from the xaurip’s parting blow running down her arm, so it’s only a matter of time before it catches her. (She’s largely worried that catching her will also catch Aloth, since they’re both hanging back in roughly the same area, and she really doesn’t want one of her friends getting hurt bc of proximity to her)

Between seeing her predicament and feeling through the ring how badly she’s hurt, Heodan takes a pair of very big risks right together: squeezes the jewel in his ring to heal Adi(he’s standing closer to the paladin, besides, with an enemy that can fly, best to keep those who do ranged damage in good shape, right?) and rakes his stiletto along as much of the dragon’s tail and leg as he can reach, hoping to distract it.

Both of these work a little too well; leaving him hurt and dazed when the dragon wheels around and takes a swipe at him. He doesn’t move fast enough to dodge completely, and the dragon’s claws catch his shoulder and the side of his neck and rake in almost to the center of his chest (how the claws didn’t catch an artery and just kill him outright is a miracle straight from the gods and me *cough*).

Now truly freaked out as she watches him just crumple, bc she knows what he did, Adi pops off a Call to Slumber spell(since Unconscious is not one of Cail’s resistances, suck it, loser). This gives them a serious edge bc now the dragon is unconscious and on the ground where everyone can reach. They finish it off rather quickly(Pallegina gets the killing blow), and then can worry about the unconscious and badly bleeding rogue.

Adi tries to help by squeezing the jewel in her ring right back, but apparently the enchantment needs time to “recharge” between activations and it doesn’t do anything. So they have to patch Heodan up through conventional methods as best they can and Adi decides they should take him to Caed Nua since she has a couple very skilled healers on staff in case any of the workmen get hurt while making repairs. Pallegina cautions that between the extent of his injuries and the... mediocre at best healing skills among their group, he might not even make it that far.

Cue Adi being worried sick and checking on him every half hour max the entire day-ish it takes to reach Caed Nua. She doesn’t sleep the night they have to make camp, instead sitting up and watching Heodan breathe to make sure he keeps doing it. Every so often she squeezes the jewel in her ring, but it never does anything(she starts wondering how long the damn thing needs to recharge[answer: a day, because if I’m giving her a hella powerful magical artifact, there has to be some kind of catch to it]).

Despite Pallegina’s concerns, Heodan does hang on long enough to get him to the more skillful healers at Caed Nua. (In a twist of something like irony, the work crews were just getting ready to start building the craft hall) Adi hangs around anxiously in the corner while the healers get him properly patched up. They’re honest with her--he’s not in good shape (aside from the shredding damage and blood loss from the dragon’s claws, the initial blow broke his collarbone and a couple ribs), it could go either way, they can’t make any promises.

Between worrying so much she can barely breathe and feeling guilty he got hurt protecting her, Adi wants to stay at Caed Nua until she knows Heodan is out of the woods. But it’s not to be.The second night at Caed Nua, sleeping on the floor of his room(basically passed out from exhaustion; she hasn’t slept since the dragon fight), she dreams about the Eyeless.

This is clearly a major and pressing threat. So, reluctant as she is to leave with Heodan in such bad shape, she gives her friends another couple days to rest and get together supplies they’ll need before they head out.

She’s personally hoping that Heodan will at least wake up--even if just for a few seconds--in the interim, but it’s not to be. So she makes the healers swear to send word if there are any major changes, good or bad, before setting off back to Stalwart.

Adi and Co spend the next two weeks running all over the White March dealing with first some smaller scale problems--like the Battery cannons--then the Iron Flail, and then the Eyeless. No news comes Caed Nua the entire time. Not sure if this is good or bad, she books it back home after finishing in Stalwart.

Heodan’s actually awake when they get there, has been for about a week. The healers wrote her but something must have happened to the letter bc she never got it.

Adi gives him the most enthusiastic hug she dares considering, y’know, broken collarbone and all. She’s relieved beyond words that he pulled through. She decides to hang around the keep for a couple weeks, surprising absolutely no one, spend some time with him until she’s 100% sure he’s out of the woods. Once the craft hall is finished, she helps with getting that all stocked and ready for when Heodan’s recovered enough to start running it.

Finally, though, she has to go back to work. Starts with Kana’s quest and probably the Battle of Yenwood, maybe Raedric round 2, then it’s just hunting down bounties,short trips that give her an excuse to come back and make sure he’s still alright. (By this point, Edér and Sagani have money on which will come first; Adi confessing her feelings or Heodan figuring them out bc the girl is not as subtle as she thinks she is) But Adi definitely knows the Leaden Key are up to something sketchy by now, and she can’t leave things alone forever. So she heads for Defiance Bay to tell Lady Webb what she found in Clîaban Rilag. While she’s there, she hears a rumor about a group of bandits planning to attack Caed Nua, so puts the animancy hearing on hold to go back and deal with that. The fight is actually rather grueling--this group was better prepared than she expected--so they take a couple days to rest before heading back to the city. (This is where Let It Snow would fit)

Between nerve damage and the way his collarbone heals, Heodan’s arm doesn’t “heal” all the way; stays kind of stiff, which puts an end to his adventuring. He’s no good in a fight anymore, and with the craft hall done, it’s better he focus on that anyway. Being a merchant is what he came to the Dyrwood for in the first place, after all. He’s happy for Adi(and her friends) to be his primary customer(s), but this is for the best.

Adi drops in to say hi every time she’s back at Caed Nua, without fail. This starts during the end of the bounty hunting spree that he’s recovered enough she’s visiting him in His Shop rather than the infirmary, and after that it’s always the first place she goes when they come back. Still doesn’t say anything about her feelings. Life is too crazy right now, she doesn’t feel like it would be fair to him. (also, there’s a small part of her that’s afraid of losing their friendship, him being the oasis of normal in the craziness of her life.And, look, either way things are going to change, whether he likes her or not. It would just be different kinds of awkward and she doesn’t need that in her life right now)

She finally caves, though, after the animancy hearings and the riots. She stops by the keep “To tell the Steward what happened before rumor get there” (Sure, Adi. The Steward’s the one whose emotions you’re worried about). She’s never quite sure why, later; maybe it’s just finally hit the breaking point of being too much to keep secret, maybe she was inspired by Aloth’s confession to be more honest, who knows? Whatever the reason, she feels compelled to tell Heodan before she follows Thaos to Twin Elms. Just completely spills her guts.

Turns out he knew, or at least suspected, months ago. Adi is a very heart on her sleeve, unsubtle person, it didn’t take a genius to figure out. Especially not with all that time Heodan had while he was recovering where all he could do was lay in bed and think. He didn’t say anything because he figured she had her reasons for keeping quiet and would tell him when she was ready. Also, the longer it took, the more he started to wonder if he’d read things wrong, which was another reason to keep his mouth shut; he didn’t want to make things awkward because he also valued her friendship.

But, you know, he does like her back. She’s kind and passionate and curious and a whole laundry list of other admirable qualities. This prompts Adi to reel off part of the list of reasons she likes him, and they agree to talk more after she gets back from stopping Thaos. There’s a goodbye kiss and then she’s off to save the world.

She’s uncharacteristically impatient to get through Twin Elms, a place she would normally want to spend hours exploring and talking to people and learning all they’re willing to share. Between her rush and her even better than usual mood, Kana actually asks her what’s going on when they settle in for the night at the Celestial Sapling. She’s only too happy to spill the beans. The Watcher dreams are really bad that night, she hardly gets any sleep, but she’s still in a relatively good mood come morning

Is actually really shaken by the revelation her Awakening is permanent. She puts on a brave face talking to Aloth about it, but she was really, really hoping there was a way to reverse this, whether convincing Thaos to undo it or some Engwithan ritual or whatever. Part of her wonders if it’s smart to stat a romantic relationship with someone knowing this is permanent. She saw what happened to Maerwald; she’s uncomfortable with the chance of making someone who loves her watch that happen to her. (When she admits that to Kana, he points out Maerwald had multiple personalities Awakened, some in direct conflict with each other, she only has one)

They win, they go home(Adi kept her promise to Galawain), Heodan is very relieved to see her. They’d been hearing rumors she’d as good as died and other things to that effect. There’s a very long hug involved, which only ends bc he’s kneeling on stone floor and that’s not very comfortable. :P Rather than join the rest of her friends and Caed Nua’s staff in celebrating her success, the two of them find somewhere quiet they can talk about Them.

There are, of course, concerns; her Watcher-ness and Awakened soul are the first ones Adi brings up, but there’s also difference in social standing, lifespan disparity between folk and orlans, the prejudice they’ll deal with given that it’s not just a mixed relationship but she’s an orlan. In the Dyrwood. Edér might be terribly bad, but, y’know, she’s been called ‘cat-fucker’ enough times she wants Heodan prepared if he really want this, wants her.

(he does)

In the end, they acknowledge there will be challenges, but decide they can handle anything together. They’ve always made a good team, if it took a dragon to change their dynamic before, what chance does petty gossip and name calling have?

They share a kiss--a good kiss--with the sunset, enjoy their moment of peace and quiet by cuddling and looking at the stars etc etc happy ending there ya go. ;)

The Deadfire headcanons will be a separate post bc boy HOWDY did this wind up longer than I expected.

#queens fic #adela 2.0 #heodan #stars rewritten au #(and yes i'm calling it fic it's like 3k words)#heodi #otp: here in my heart

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kobaltwolffiction · 7 years

Text

The Beat of Your Heart

A/N: I’ve been super lazy and Overwatch has not helped me write any faster, so if I miss any prompts I’ll try to make them up later. Hope everyone is having a good start to Zelink week! Here is prompt #1

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A midnight wind tousled the hair of a numbed princess, sole ruler and solemn guardian of a blackened land. The War of Darkness has come and gone, leaving only whispers of Twilight behind, but a new, unpredicted war has come. Neighboring kingdoms outside of Hyrule have severed all trade agreements due to the previous war, frighted of the black shroud that consumed Zelda’s land, and tensions of sorting out fairer trading system to aid Hyrule’s recovery rose. On top of that, a merciless drought brought upon famine, driving back support from the Zora, Goron, and Ordonian villages as they struggled to keep their own alive. Lack of supplies from Hyrule led to more blames placed on Princess Zelda’s head until full-on war broke out.

But amidst the pain and unforgiving misfortune, there was one bond that Zelda clung to for dear life, never to be broken.

A tight, angry feeling scratched at the pit of Zelda’s stomach, but she refused to feed herself anything extra. No need for comfort any longer. Her slender legs dangled between the rails of her balcony, welcoming the chilling breeze that tried to bite her through her nightgown. Silver and kind, the thin slate of the moon cast a gentle light, bouncing off of her fair skin until she glowed like a blessed star upon the earth. However, no one was around to admire the sight that only the moon could see.

Her thoughts, as always when alone, were preoccupied with one soul that walked among the bravest of men. The news had been received at dawn that the general’s main faction had been struck down.

“Are you telling me they are all dead?” Zelda asked, calmer than she had expected from herself.

“Potentially… A large amount of bodies have been recovered, and with the fire that swept our camp, there is no telling how many more are left to piece together when we get a chance. A lot of our best men were stationed there. We have made the decision to fall back to just outside of Castletown to protect what we have left,” a scout reported. “We suspect they are plotting to raid town sometime tomorrow and are currently evacuating the citizens who are willing to follow a party to Kakariko. If you come with me I can--”

“No. I will stay here. Go, do the rest of your duties.”

“Yes ma’am.”

Zelda hesitated, but urged before the scout left, “You have no word on the location of the general.”

He swallowed. “No Your Highness, I’m afraid his tent was on the side of camp that was ambushed first. A lot of that was completely destroyed. If anything he was asleep and didn’t feel any--”

“Leave, please. Go back to your men,” she hissed.

Biting his tongue, the scout scurried away.

A soft rain shimmered the night air, but Zelda remained numb to its effects. Her thoughts wandered from the raid on her soldiers to the potential death that awaited her in the coming day. Her kingdom was shattering, her people were starving, and the last thing she had was to either surrender once more to save what she had left, or stand tall against the blade of whoever decided to end her and take her place. The royal bloodline would diminish, and Hyrule would be no more.

“You’re going to catch a cold out here.”

Zelda’s heart stopped. Too afraid to turn around and be disappointed in her mind playing games, she waited.

“Zelda?”

Breaking the spell, she stood and spun around, teary-eyed and unsure what to believe. She met the gaze of a battered man, covered in burnt, filthy, bloody clothing and unintentionally reaching for the sword slung across his back. A wild, dazed expression in his face struggled to make out the emotions of relief and happiness he began to feel through the pain.

“Link?” she sputtered, unsure if the rain or her tears clouded her vision. She ran to him, hooking her arms around his neck and sobbing shamelessly into his ear. “I heard the news of the ambush and assumed the worst,” she said after collecting a few words through her hysteria.

“It wasn’t good, Zel. I narrowly escaped and by the time I would have made it back to my men, they had already bailed from camp and regrouped somewhere outside of Castle Town. I finally made it back to them this evening but didn’t stay. I told them I would be back at dawn and if not, assume I’m not to return. I had to see you, make sure you were still here…” he trailed off, trailing his fingers down her neck and observing every feature of her face as if she were a ghost.

“I am here, waiting for whatever is to come tomorrow. This may be the end of my rule, Link. I can feel it. Hyrule is falling apart. If I was not the sole holder of our bloodline left I would be out on the lines next to you…”

“Nonsense. I would never allow that. My princess is not allowed on the battlefield while I’m still alive” he grumbled, somehow ignoring the more important half of her statement.

She smiled and puffed a small laugh at him.

“In all seriousness, I made a promise to you and I plan to uphold that.”

“Link, situations like this are impossible to completely control. You cannot promise me a victory when it is three hundred men against three thousand… We may have to accept this defeat and surrender to save what we have left. Huh. Surrendering. It seems to be what I do best,” she scoffed.

“Oh no. We’ve been over that a thousand times. You did what was right for Hyrule years ago and you are continuing to do that even now.”

Zelda smiled again and leaned back to get a good look at his face, just to take in a beautiful sight that had left months ago, but her smirk was wiped away when she saw the weathered, tired expression he held under the crusted blood on his face.

Noticing her realization, he waved it off, saying, “Don’t worry, it’s not all mine,” and bit back the rest of his words when he understood they didn’t sound any more comforting. “I’m okay, really.”

Saying nothing to avoid more tears, she gently took his hand and brought him off of the damp balcony, through her bed chambers, and into a washroom. “I need some supplies,” she stated. “Give me just a moment.”

A quarter of an hour later, she re entered the premise with bandages, stitching, different types of creams, and a jar of potion. Link jumped awake, sheepishly smiling after realizing he had dozed off sitting up. “Zel, no one knows I’m here. Despite everything going on, we are merely in a courtship. I don’t think your council would take me being alone with you in your quarters too kindly.”

“Of all things to worry about,” she muttered to herself, “he worries for my reputation.”

“What?”

“If you have not noticed already, the castle is nearly empty. A lot of people are evacuating before the war enters town,” she announced, knowing what was coming next.

“And you didn’t go with them?” he huffed.

“You know that would be ridiculous.”

“Not if you’re the last one in your family!”

“That does not matter if I have no kingdom to rule. I am more that just the last of my line. I cannot run from my fate, Link. My people would see me as a coward and I would be no more fit to rule than any old farmer! I have already faced scrutiny for my previous surrender and I am willing to do it again to save lives. Leaving would be the fool’s choice.”

He paused, avoiding her gaze, “Or leaving would give you the chance to fight another day. But I’m just any old ranch kid…”

“I did not mean it like that,” she said, regretting her words. “I apologize.”

“I know, I know. We are both under a lot of pressure is all.”

“All I have to say is I will try my best to stay alive and keep as many people alive along the way as I can,” Zelda stated solemnly.

Link smiled. “I know you will. I’ve always been proud to call you my ruler. This land doesn’t deserve you.”

“Only you would think such a thing. Now,” she swallowed, avoiding eye contact. “Everything off but your undershorts. I need to patch you up.” She began to run hot water in the bath.

“W-what?” he said, but obeyed, removing his stained Hero's clothes until he got to the tunic. Having a hard time bending his arms the way they should go, he muttered that he needed some assistance.

Zelda gently helped him pull off the rest, while having a difficult time looking at the pain in his face. His torso and arms we're riddled with small cuts and bruises, fortunately only one of them seem to be bleeding a little the rest just needed cleaning and some paste. It pained her to see him this way but he was alive and that's what was most important.

“You sure you're not worried about somebody finding us like this?” Link asked.

Zelda chuckled. “We both know our self control is too high to do anything by ourselves and like I said, there is barely anyone left here. They all expect me to be asleep. With whatever is to come, if we do get caught in the same room, I honestly do not care what people think of me right now.” Dipping a cloth into the hot water, she cleaned away the spot of the deepest cut and began to sew it shut. Link held still but his face betrayed his discomfort. Soon enough she was done stitching his wound and lowered him into the bath, taking care to clean each cut and wipe away the blood and dirt. Her heart beat so loudly under her fluster to work with him in this way that she was afraid he would hear her nerves, however he became so relaxed, he nearly dozed off in her care. Clean, he climbed out to let her bandage him up, finally noticing her blush even in the dim candlelight. He said nothing but smirked until he realized she was only wearing her nightclothes. No jewels, no dress. Just her own beauty that he had missed.

Finally breaking the awkward silence, he asked, “Since when have you become good at tending to wounds?”

“My mother was adamant at making sure I had some skills outside of my royal duties, including some basic doctoring. She even taught me about this formula that I am applying to your cuts to help them heal faster with less scarring than usual. I also want you the drink some of this potion please.”

Link drank about half and handed it back, visibly improved in many ways.

“How is the pain?” Zelda asked, trying her hardest not to look him up and down unnecessarily.

“Honest truth or a good answer?” he grinned sleepily.

She just shook her head and grabbed his hand.

“Where to now?”

“Sleep.”

“But I don't want to leave yet.”

“You do not have to.”

He went silent and followed her, curious. After she locked the door, he said, “I can sleep on the floor, no problem.”

“No! Just come lie down. We are not going to get caught cuddling, I promise,” she urged, getting a slight kick out of his nerves. “You have a lot of respect, you know? Not many men have that. Not many women do either.” Zelda lept into bed, a strange sense of giddiness worming it’s way into her jumble of emotions.

Link crawled under the covers, but asked, “What if I get your fancy poultice all over your nice sheets?”

Zelda sighed, leaning up to kiss him, silencing him.

He immediately relaxed, understanding her answer. Carefully wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her into him and kissed her in return, firm and longing. The general pulled the covers over them and sighed, finally home.

Zelda scooted down to rest her head on his bicep, making sure not to put pressure on any injured spots. “I have missed you so.”

“And I, you.” He pressed his lips to the top of her head, taking in her warm, familiar scent. “I wish this night could last forever.”

“I wish it would end, along with this war, so we can do this every night for the rest of our lives someday.”

“Now that is an even better wish.”

Zelda felt him sink further into relaxation, causing her to ease into a pre-sleep drift. Subconsciously, she pressed her face a little further into his chest, physically feeling his heart thud against her lips, the only thing audible besides his breathing.

I was afraid I had lost this, she thought.

A dreamless sleep overtook her, a mere gift following many sleepless nights. She awoke to an empty bed, the key on her dresser slightly moved from where she had put it. Link’s clothing and weapons were gone. A wave of sadness and pride washed over her, knowing he would never abandon his duty, but scared once more of what awaited him in the coming day. The first rays of sunlight peeked through the window, and Zelda began to prepare herself in whatever way possible, for the potential dawn of a new era stood in her wake.

#zelink #zelinkweek #zelink week #zelink week 2017 #2017 #twilight princess #loz #the legend of zelda

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