[private] i'm saving my coins up, isilya

[savior]

Savior

It soothes him perhaps more than he might have expected it would.
To hear her say that his fear means that he understands the gravity of the situation.
To hear her say that she had been afraid once, too.

(And in doing so, she reminds him that this was always in his blood. His mother had stood at the helm once, too.)

While he finds tremendous comfort in knowing these things, they hardly slow the rattle of his pulse. An unsteady pulse that speaks of the marble of fear sunk deep in his gut. His breathing is thin, shallow, as he turns his gaze to the horizon again. 

There is a slight tremor in his knees, a quiver in his lips. But he smiles, even if just barely. He smiles because he understands that they will bring Tephra back into the light. He understands that Gale will be a footnote in their history, a dark spot that tried to stain their home but failed to leave any real lasting mark. 

And, again, he draws his focus back to Isilya. 

“Tephra is fortunate to have you,” he says and he means it with every ounce of conviction he has, “we all are. We always have been.” 

YOU REMIND ME WHO I WAS AND WHO I WANT TO BE
YOU REMIND ME THOUGH NOT WHOLE, I’M NOT EMPTY

@Isilya