We are the warriors, Shahrizai

[Librette]

As a child you would wait, and watch from far away. But you always knew you'd be the one to work while they all play. God, save her from children. Never mind that even as he speaks, even as he teases her, she can feel a child stirring inside of her. She hides pregnancy rather magnificently, but she knows that the time is coming. And she suspects that it's going to be a bad one – something that irritates her more than causing her fear. She's well past the point of being afraid of childbirth; what really is it so someone who's made their life from battle? And besides, there's been evidence here and there that she may or may not be in some capacity immortal. She rolls her eyes at him, nipping him sharply (but not sharply enough to actually hurt him) when he calls her gnarly. She isn't about to stop hating children because of him, but although sh'd never admit it she values their friendship as well. He's been one of her closest friends since her latest return. Which is a kind of weird thing for her to think. She can't help it, she chuckles, just a little bit. When he speaks about homes, answering her question, she is even more resolved. When he'd first come here, she had thought, fleetingly, that he should stay. But now that she's seen him here, seen him trying to reconcile his thoughts of good and evil, she's even more convinced that he needs to spend time in the Valley, to get himself together here, to learn what it is to have a home that means something to him. Granted, she's incredibly biased. She thinks most anyone could stand to stay in the Valley, and could learn much from the experience. She loves her home with an almost overwhelming exuberance, with a zealot's devotion, with a lover's caring that has pushed out any would-be equine lovers and even pushed away her own children (what will it do to this most recent one, which she is beginning to suspect is actually two? God knows, if it is one, it kicks like two and it's, well, really fat). Will she love it/them? Or will the Valley come first, again? Well, the Valley will always come first. But will it leave some room for children this time? We're going to find out pretty soon, because it's about time for her to go sequester herself and have a baby. Or some babies. "Stay here." she says to Shah, and it's partially a command in the immediate sense ("stay here while I go have some babies") but it's also a suggestion in the longer term ("stay here and find yourself"). "There's a lot more to the Valley than some rocks and trees and horses." she says with a smile, referencing the scant few things he'd noticed when he was on his way in. "I think you'll like it here." she says with a small smile. "You stay here and think about it. I have to go for a bit." She's always been intensely private about giving birth. She really, really doesn't want him to know what's going on, although there's a very good chance he's figured it out anyway. "I'll come find you in a few days and see what you think." And with that, she takes to the sky with all the grace of an enormously fat goose. She still manages it, just barely, but she wants to make sure that she can get herself truly lost in the Valley, or at least, far enough away that Shah won't be able to follow her immediately. She knows he might well track her down, but she hopes to have the babies out by then. Don't weep for me LIBRETTE Because this will be the labor of my love. Image copyright FFFiiiAA

Apparently this is how she wants to play it XD I'll be posting the birthing in a bit here, feel super free to post there <3