RP:Always Something There To Remind Me

Part of the The Day I Tried To Live Arc

Summary: Brand and Onyx (it was really just Onyx tbh) teach Khitti how to wield a bow once more. The watery bubble that was once Dominic's makes a reappearance and it shakes loose an unfortunate memory of Khitti's.

Abandoned Archery Range, Sage Forest

The morning was chilly and doused in a thick fog when Brand took ‘Red’ on their second date. The Tikifhlee took them through the Cenril streets well before the early shoppers and errand-runners could crowd the path, and all the while Brand was tight-lipped about where it was they were going. The trip would take them across the battered bridge (during which Brand stared troubled and pensive at the spot where Khitti had fallen to her death only weeks before) and well into the forest Sage south of Kelay, where the terrain necessitated the Tikifhlee slow to a more cautious clip. “So, I hope this won’t disappoint too much,” Brand said, twisting to speak to the woman riding behind, “but I’ve arranged for Onyx to meet us where we’re goin’. I swear it’ll make sense when we get there.”

Khitti clung to Brand as the Tikifhlee carried on towards their unknown destination, skinny arms about his waist. It was likely a good thing she opted for pants and a shirt today, what with the cold and all, and especially because they were going into the forest, though she hadn’t been privy to that last part until they finally got to where they were headed. That lingering stare of his towards the side of the bridge hadn’t gone unnoticed, and while Khitti wanted to ask, she didn’t. There were still plenty she didn’t know about Brand and this was likely another on the list. She wasn’t going to pry, though; he deserved his space just as much as anyone else--that didn’t mean that her thoughts didn’t loiter around on the subject though. “Uh. Alright.” was given in response, but she made no sign of protest and gave no indication of disgust at his decision for their date. It was merely vague confusion and nothing more.

Sure enough, they eventually emerged from the woods into a clearing, and Onyx stood dead in the center of it, bow in hand. The couple received no warning before an arrow threaded the gap between their heads, striking the heart of a tree behind them. Brand had already strung together several colorful curses and doubled over, clinging to the neck of the great feline, before the source of the attack could dawn on him. It was of course only Onyx, performing their version of a prank. The child looked on with the barest hint of smugness as Brand dismounted and marched forward, still cursing. “If you had been here at the hour we agreed upon,” they called, speaking out over Brand’s grumbling, “I would have had no time for such dalliances.” But Brand would have none of it. He snatched the bow out of the undead’s hands -- not that Onyx put up any resistance. “Just exactly how many gorram years are you tryin’ to scare off’a me?!”

“That depends. How many years’ worth of tardiness will you have allowed to accumulate by the time you retire?” At this, Brand scowled, wheeling back to Khitti with his free hand thrusting in the child’s direction. “Are you seein’ this?” He turned back to his first mate. “Should’ve made you stay on the frakkin’ ship.” But Onyx’s self-satisfied stare only deepened, reaching down to a skyward twitching corner of their lips. “Oh? And who would have supplied her lessons? You’ve no particular skill with the bow, as I recall.”

There was a widening of green eyes and bit of a shriek as the arrow whizzed past their heads. Okay, there was a bit of swearing from Khitti too. As the two argued somewhat, those same green eyes shifted back and forth between the two of them. Yes, this was a good start to a date (honestly, it’s probably starting better than the last one). Khitti grabbed Brand’s free hand after his gesture towards Onyx, giving it a slight tug as if to say ‘it’s fine, we’re fine, don’t be angry’ as she simultaneously cleared her throat and spoke up, “So… you’re to teach me archery then?” Her hand would give Brand’s another squeeze before releasing it and gingerly taking the bow from him. The instant she touched it, the runes that had been inscribed onto it glowed that familiar dark purple that had once come with Khitti’s magic, shifting from the orange that had been there temporarily when it was in Brand’s hold. The purple faded, the bow magically configuring itself to her, allowing for her to be able to draw back the strings that were originally made for a vampire’s strength.

Khitti blinked a few times at the runes before studying it a little further, staring in awe at the black ice material it was made of. Crimson brows furrowed a bit as she finally shifted her attention to Brand, “You’re… sure about this?” He’d seemed so intent on keeping her from such things not long ago.

“Still better than a layman,” Brand grumbled to Onyx, while handing the bow off to Khitti. While it was true he’d never match up to a dedicated archer, the man at least knew enough to give the introductory lessons Khitti would be receiving today, assuming her muscles didn’t somehow retain all the memories her mind could not. But the purpose of Onyx’s presence was twofold: not only was it better to learn from the best teacher available, but Brand had plans in mind for later that afternoon that would require a capable illusionist on hand. Assuming nothing went terribly wrong. “Yeah,” Brand said to Khitti, finally standing at ease. Brooding in Onyx’s direction was terribly ineffectual. “The bow’s yours from before. Figured it was high time you relearned, yeah? Can’t keep havin’ you be the only one on the ship as can’t defend herself.” The words came accompanied with a screwed up face, his tongue stuck out at her in a manner similar to faces she or Lydia had made in the past. As the weeks proceeded, he’d been growing more at ease with her, slowly treating her more and more like the old Khitti -- just perhaps a bit more tenderly, between his need to do things romantically ‘right’ this time and his desire to shelter her from further harm.

Brand followed up the expression with an affectionate but fleeting squeeze around Khitti’s waist. “Go on. Take an arrow from Onyx, n’ let’s see if you remember anything of proper form.” The undead held aloft a frayed leather quiver, and soon would step to the side to observe.

Khitti blinked several more times, “Mine?” This thing was actually hers?! She smirked up at that face he made--were she the old Khitti, she’d probably grab that tongue of his with a bit of vampiric speed put behind the action, but instead, she just reached up and poked at his mouth. “Pfft. What happened to you being all hero and protecting me, hm?” Well, whatever. Khitti was certainly getting antsy from being cooped up in the Tranquility most days. Maybe if she learned how to protect herself, Brand would let her go out by herself again? And without Onyx following her? (Okay, that second one probably won’t ever happen.)

Khitti went one step further than instructed, taking the entire quiver and putting it on as an archer would (she did get a little tangled up in the strap, but not much). An arrow was retrieved and a somewhat wary glance cast towards both captain and first mate. Hrm. Remember. Remember who you are, Khitti. That… didn’t help. Khitti nocked the arrow with little trouble and pulled back the string. It… wasn’t difficult? Why wasn’t this hard? Weren’t bowstrings supposed to be a lot tougher to pull than this? Well, it likely had to do with those runes, and Khitti was thankful for them. She positioned herself as well as she thought felt right (it was close, but not close enough) and let loose the arrow.

The arrow did not hit the target--the same tree Onyx had hit not long before--but it -did- hit a tree nevertheless, albeit a hell of a lot higher than she intended and a bit off to the side. And, it exploded into ice shards on impact, as was typical with the bow. “Holy frak.” Has she said anything like that since she’s been back? Brand’s words were likely rubbing off on her again, it seemed.

Brand could be ‘all hero’ as much as he wanted, but as he’d seen with Khitti’s death and resurrection, that wasn’t always enough. “I won’t always be able to protect you. I could fall, or we could become separated...” Khitti’s arrow hit the tree and sent ice fragments splintering off every which way. “And besides, you’d not be content on the sidelines forever. Gettin’ your skills back is the only way you’ll be included in the Warrior’s Guild again, or wherever else you decide to go.”

Onyx approached Khitti’s side once again, bidding her to nock another arrow and making adjustments to her posture and form. A minor correction here, an adjust of the grip there, and the undead seemed satisfied. “You have clearly not lost all of your form. This will go more quickly than with a beginner.” That might be the closest thing to a compliment anyone had yet received from Onyx, much less Khitti.

Khitti side-eyed Brand as she allowed Onyx to make changes to her positioning. “Not allowed. The falling and the separation, that is,” she said with narrowed eyes and a pouty look on her face. She actually offered a faint smile to Onyx then finally, as they dished out their form of compliment (amnesia-free Khitti’s head probably would’ve spun around a few times if she’d heard this). Once the necessary corrections were made, she’d let loose another arrow, then another, and then one more still, all of them finding home to that tree Onyx had originally hit. It seemed, at least, in the best of environments (the calm sort that lacked in action and gave her all the time in the world to shoot) she really wasn’t that bad. Much like her former self, she was a quick learner with archery, and might not be a total disappointment… at least with this one thing.

Brand , despite himself, looked a little proud. “You’re pickin’ this back up quicker’n I thought you would.” Onyx stepped away from making corrections to Khitti’s posture and, with the flick of a wrist, threw illusionary targets up on trees more distant than the one she’d been hitting. “Try further now. Remember to take into account resistance and any wind. There is more to contend with the further you shoot.”

Khitti tried not to grin at Brand and his praise, choosing to focus on what Onyx was saying, though there was still a faint smirk there. Well, that plan went out the window when she saw the targets, the woman blinking a few times. “Wait, did you do that?” Processing… Processing… “That’s amazing!” Now she was even more fired up, and did her best to fire at the targets, though she did miss several times--turns out that the wind was not entirely in her favor. Khitti paused after those misses, studying the direction of the wind for a few moments, then adjusted her position just a bit. Taking aim again, Khitti directed the projectile a little more into the wind, letting the air itself do the job of guiding the arrow towards its intended target. Still she missed, but she was a hell of a lot closer, and kept trying, taking as long as it took until she managed to hit Onyx’s illusions.

As the day progressed, Brand busied himself with gathering the arrows loosed and making any necessary repairs before settling them back into the quiver. Eventually Khitti not only hit the targets, but could hit them consistently. “Time for something more complex,” said Onyx, and the targets vanished. At the far end of the clearing appeared a murder of ghostly crows, which soon scattered to the winds. Back and forth they flew through the wood, cawing and swooping and crossing every which way. Onyx’s brow furrowed in concentration.

Khitti just kind of stared at those birds like Onyx had presented her with the impossible. Before she took any shots though, she studied them, just as she had the targets in the trees, watching for any patterns they might make. Red didn’t take too much time, thankfully for Onyx, before she finally did start attempting this new objective. First she tried it from a stationary standpoint, and while she got one bird, she missed others, and soon she started to move with them, focusing on one at a time. After a bit more time, she managed to hit several, but stopped, leaving a few there for Onyx to either keep them going or stop if they needed to. “Your turn,” she turned to Brand finally, plucking one of those arrows he’d been retrieving all day from the quiver she was given and handing it and the bow to the Catalian. “You said you could shoot, right? I wanna see.”

“Oi. Look, I dunno about anything so fancy as hittin’ a frakkin’ bird. This isn’t something I get much practice in.” Brand was smirking, though, as he took the bow from Khitti, set up an arrow, and aimed. The birds swooped and dove and called to each other, erratic enough that Brand suspected Onyx had made the game harder just for him. Six arrows loosed and Brand took out three targets for the trouble, each bursting in a cloud of vapor and ice just as the arrow connected. “Well, half ain’t bad.” Onyx conjured more birds and Brand tried a round again. Five arrows, four missed targets. “Bloody hell. Onyx, you doin’ this on purpose?” But the child just shook their head. They were, in fact, making it more difficult, but they weren’t about to admit that to the man. He loosed three more arrows and missed all his targets once again, and in a moment of anger he shoved the bow back into Khitti’s arms and conjured twin fireballs in its place. He threw one shortly after the next, and as they flew through the air each split into five smaller orbs of flame, simultaneously knocking out all ten of Onyx’s illusionary birds. “There,” Brand said, smug. “That’s much easier.”

“Well, maybe you should get practice in it. Maybe I could give you -private- lessons, once I’ve gotten far better at this, ” Khitti said as the blonde did well enough for being someone barely trained in archery. Wink wink, nudge nudge--she’s hitting on you again, Brand. Sorry, Onyx. You won’t want to be there for -those- lessons. And then Brand summoned up those fireballs, and Khitti’s jaw dropped a bit. “Or… you could just do that and outdo me altogether. What the hell, Brand. You never told me you had magic.” The redhead smirked, pointing at both of them accusingly, “What the hell to both of you -and- your fancy magic.” She was joking, of course, but was also certainly a bit jealous. Poor Khitti just didn’t realize she had magic of her own! Not only had she the necromancy, but now the bardic magic as well! Khitti stuck out her tongue to both the captain and his first mate, “Can you two do anything else I’m not aware of?” She means magic, Brand. Get your head out of the gutter.

“We’re the multi-talented sort,” Brand agreed with a nod and a wink. Onyx let their illusions fade and did not bring them back for a new round. “I think you’ll find that’s true of most of the crew. Everyone has their everyday duties, and with luck willing there may be weeks or months of monotony in between real fights. But the nature of Lithrydel’s somethin’ far too gorram dangerous not to know -something- of combat. Even if you never have to use it, best you’re prepared.” As he spoke, he conjured another sphere of flame, but this one he held and shaped until it sprang out in seven spokes like a star. With that held aloft in one hand, he conjured ice in the other, and shaped it around the spokes until its form was clear: a glasslike flower, with a stem and leaf of ice and ice-tipped petals that showed the still-moving flames within them. In the heart of the flower stood a flame burning yellow-green, the only part of it that gave off any particular heat or cold. He handed it off to Khitti with an awkward bow. “Don’t even ask how long I’ve been workin’ to get that right. It’s harder than it looks.”

Khitti grinned at that wink, nodding in return to both mages, “You’re both very good at it--and I’m sure the rest of the crew is too.” Now she felt like she was going to have to investigate. But, then again, some of the crew were still a little wary around her, so maybe it would have to wait awhile until things were better. Brand drew her attention away from those thoughts as he conjured the star-shaped flame and then threw in his ice magic as well. “Oh, Brand. It’s so pretty.” Green eyes were wide with disbelief as she took what she assumed to be a fragile object and cradled it in her hands as if she were holding the key to life itself. “Thank you.” She gazed at it a bit longer, then gifted Brand that warm smile of hers in return, and a brief kiss. “It’s not going to go away is it? I still don’t know how all this works.”

“It shouldn’t, s’long as you don’t break it.” Brand seemed fairly confident of that fact for someone who’d just performed a new trick, but Onyx of course was as good at destroying illusions as they were at making them: “The captain has been perfecting that for weeks now. I believe he established object permanence as of day eleven. It will hold.” Brand pivoted toward his first mate, irritation flaring. “Y’just can’t leave well enough alone, can you? Always have to frakkin’ meddle.” But Onyx only gave a mild shrug. “Fine then. Start the birds up again, would you? Or maybe somethin’ that’ll fight back.” Onyx obliged, trading the flock for a pair of large, rabid-looking bats. “I suggest you off them before they can bite you,” advised Onyx. “They may be illusions, but they -will- hurt.”

Khitti nodded at Brand’s instructions not to break it, but was soon rolling her eyes as the two started in on their bickering again, though Onyx’s side of it was mainly silent. “You’d think you two were siblings or something.” Well, maybe not siblings, as Brand was far too old to be Onyx’s brother, but whatever. You get the point. She’d quickly stuff that flower away, carefully, into the Tikifhlee’s saddlebag as Onyx summoned up the bats. “I better not get bit or else I won’t make any truffles for you, Onyx.” She meant it. Maybe. Okay it’d probably only hold for a couple days before she felt sorry. She’d end up making even more truffles than usual then. Khitti withdrew an arrow from the quiver and did as one must to prepare the weapon for firing, then let the arrow fly, focusing on only one bat out of two. It didn’t seem like a good idea to split the damage. Arrow after arrow was shot, though it was not quite so fast as things had been when she was a vampire. It’s a wonder she hadn’t run out of steam so far, but trying to pick up speed, to hit them faster than she had the birds, wasn’t doing the arm reserved for the bow’s string any favors. Khitti definitely had limitations now, whereas before she’d not had many, and it was starting to show: the arrows flew fast as intended, but quite a few of them missed.

Brand was absolutely not siblings with Onyx. It wasn’t even possible they were related, not with Onyx being some few thousand years of age. Right? But it didn’t stop Brand from taking on the second bat like his life depended on upstaging Onyx’s abilities. Fire and lightning and ice each took their turn hurtling at the illusionary bat, but nevertheless the creature persisted. It was dangerously near now, as was the bat Khitti was attacking, and neither one seemed even bothered by the barrage flying their way. “The frak are you doin’?” shouted Brand, in the final moment lunging to be a barrier between Khitti and the bats. Her bow arm was thrust to the side, and he was cradling Khitti as if she had swooned mid-hug, with his arms around her legs and waist and his head bent over her shoulder.

But the onslaught never came. When Brand quit his flinching and released Khitti, he turned to see the impossible: a bubble of slushy ice-water enveloped them both, and the bats could not penetrate through it. “Interesting,” said Onyx, sounding at least less bored than they usually did. With a wave of the undead’s hand, the bats were no more.

This was the end, right? Onyx was going to kill them with these bats and everything would be over. Again. Okay, that’s a little dramatic, but at least Brand thought to protect her. Her bow was cast aside and her eyes closed, waiting for an attack that would never come. As she was being released, she peeked open her eyes to look around, finally setting those olive-green sights of hers on the bubble.

Initially she’d been a bit scared, (I mean, how would you be if the combined efforts between you and your powerful mage boyfriend barely put a dent in the things you’re supposed to be fighting?) and maybe even a little irked at Onyx for making them far too strong, but that soon faded. Curiosity overtook Khitti’s thoughts as she took a step or two away from Brand, a single hand reaching out to touch the bubble. That feeling of familiarity washed over her again, as she dared try to touch the strange watery aura that surrounded the two of them, and even a bit of memory too. A person with black hair sat in the bubble with her, things felt off, and sad and tense. And it was cold, so cold. If it wasn’t for the fact that the bubble encased them entirely, she probably would’ve leapt back several feet away from it and Brand as that memory surfaced, but instead she just stared at it. “I’ve seen this before…” Orange and lavender tea. A winter that never seemed to cease. But, it was more frigid than an endless winter; there’d been cold words too, spoken thoughts harsher than any icy winds. A name danced around on the edge of her mind, just ever so out of reach. Khitti tried so desperately to grasp the name, but it merely slipped through her fingers like powdery white snow. It made her head hurt, all this trying to remember and failing.

“That’s my line.” Where Khitti failed to recall, Brand remembered: Dominic. The runestone. The mysterious coiling sensation around his spine before this new magic had emerged. The memory was clear in his head now, though he’d been blocked from involvement at the time. It was impossible, and it was true.

Brand stepped to Khitti’s side, reaching a hand through the watery wall. A moment later he withdrew, inspecting his fingers. They were… wet, wet and cold. And he’d been able to move without the bubble staying fixed to his center. And he’d been able to hear Onyx through the barrier. It was the same magic, except… the rules had changed? “Interesting,” Brand echoed. With a thought, the bubble popped, and in a circle around them the grass was dewy and the ice already beginning to melt in the warmth of what was now early afternoon. Only he and Khitti had been spared the spontaneous shower. “Curiouser and curiouser.”

Khitti looked around them as the bubble popped, brows furrowed in confusion. Brand had moved up next to her again, but she needed space as she tried to process things, still tried to remember that which continued to evade her. “A kid. He was there,” she said as she took a few steps back away from the Catalian until she was up against a tree, her back soon sliding down it slowly so that she was seated. “No. ‘-The- kid’. You called him that.” Khitti was far less interested in the bubble at the moment, and much moreso with the memory, but she’d certainly delve into it more later if she could actually remember the reason for the bubble’s existence in the first place. “And he was angry. So angry that his words felt like a knife in my heart.” The resurfacing emotion that she’d felt back then brought tears to her eyes. “Then there was tea. And silence. And sadness that made a void so wide I thought it’d swallow me whole.”

Khitti lifted her hands to her head, as if that would actually help the headache that had started to grow with her efforts to recall the recent past. “It feels like a puzzle, in my head. The pieces are there, but I can’t find the most important part.”

Brand stood rooted, staring, gathering his thoughts. Oh, what he’d give for Onyx to intervene now, to say something witty or distracting or even typical-Onyx snarky. Anything to keep from talking about the memory Khitti had halfway excavated. But a peek from the corner of his vision told him that the undead would do no such thing, that they preferred to observe and see what would unfold. Irritation rose like bile, but Brand swallowed it back. This wasn’t Onyx’s problem to fix, anyway.

“It’s odd that you would remember that day first out of all of them.” Brand sounded out his words with caution. It was better not to give too much. “That ‘kid’ was me, and he wasn’t… and he’s gone now, so I s’pose the mystery of it doesn’t matter anyhow. But no, you don’t remember wrong. You’d run off, been gone for weeks, and he was the one who’d found you. And you fought about it.” And Dominic had vanished soon after. With the aid of hindsight, Brand guessed that day had been the true beginning of his disappearance.

Khitti peered up at Brand as he spoke, those red brows still furrowed. The kid… was him? But it wasn’t him. But she somehow knew he was supposed to be there… and yet he wasn’t. “You didn’t try to find me. He said you were gone,” her line of sight fell to the grass beneath her again as the rest of the memory poured through. “I thought you were mad at me too. I think. For leaving.” She paused, drawing in a slow breath, “And… I think I remember… because it hurt so much. Because I don’t think there was any more happy memories after that. Or it feels that way. The memory--it feels… final. Somehow.” Pale hands sought the grass out, grabbed it in mild frustration and pulled it out, eyeing it carefully as she sighed. “I can almost smell the orange and lavender tea.” There was that confusion again as she looked up at the blonde, “Why did I leave?” She even looked to Onyx now, much with the same hope as Brand for interference, but for perhaps more information. Maybe they knew too?

And there it was. Brand found that he’d been holding his breath, dreading the question and expecting it all the same. Now that she’d voiced it, the breath fled from him in a single sigh. “It’s... complicated.”

“I have noted,” Onyx chimed in at last, “that the words ‘it’s complicated’ are usually a prelude to stories far less complicated than those words would imply.” Their gaze darted a path between man and woman, waiting. When Brand offered no response beyond a grimace, Onyx simply nodded, about-faced, and busied themselves with gathering loosed arrows from across the clearing.

Brand observed Onyx pass out of human eavesdropping range before he dared speak again. How had it come to pass that his First Mate was every bit as much a thorn in his side as a boon? “They’re wrong, just so you know. It -is- complicated.” Brand approached the redhead, dropping to sit beside her. Well… out with it then. She might remember anyway, if he didn’t share. And maybe he could somehow still keep her from remembering any more, if he satisfied her curiosity? “Short of it is, you’ve always wanted kids. Wanted them so badly you dreamed of them, even. Dreamed you were…” He waved, dismissing the spectre of a pregnant Khitti that was floating through his mind. “We can’t have them. It led to a disagreement. And so you left. And you were gone for weeks before we found you.”

Khitti just stared at Brand as he explained, a weird sort of look of disappointment and bewilderment contorting her face somewhat. ‘We can’t have them’. He didn’t seem particularly upset about the thought, though maybe Brand didn’t share those sentiments her former self had had. That then led to the thought that maybe Brand had too many other things to focus on anyway: his ship, his crew, keeping her safe. Or maybe he just never wanted them--there -are- people like that. Children just weren’t for everyone. “Oh.” Pause. Frown. “I see.” Luckily for Brand, it -did- somewhat satisfy her curiosity, if only because it was definitely as unhappy as she thought it to be. Now she felt weird, the feeling mirroring that awkwardness she’d felt after the shared dream with Brand, even if she didn’t know it. Was she crying again? Ugh. Well, her eyes were wet, but no tears had made themselves known otherwise.

That’d been happening a lot lately, the half remembering things and crying for reasons she didn’t understand. It was only bits and pieces in dreams; nothing had been coherent enough to be worth mentioning to Brand. Or at least she thought. He was hesitant enough as it was when she brought things up, there was no reason to talk to him about it… right? It was then, as her thoughts were elsewhere, that the name finally surfaced. “Dominic.” She drew in another long breath and exhaled it in a sigh before she pushed herself up off the ground, taking a step away from Brand. “I’m sorry. I’ll, um, stop. I-I… I didn’t mean to ruin the date.” Pause. Sigh. “Again.” She was starting to sound like the old Khitti. She didn’t even make eye contact with him now.

“Hey.” Brand moved to his feet as quick as could be and closed the gap between them once again. “You didn’t ruin a gorram thing.” He’d grabbed her hands and taken them in his, eyes pleading for her to see him. “Look, I didn’t think your memory would come back, so I didn’t bring it up. But you deserved better than you got back then. Better’n I could give you.” Better than Dominic, too. Though if the kid had all along been a part of him, Brand supposed that much should have been obvious. “But we got us a fresh start, okay? Truly fresh. Things aren’t like that anymore.” He just wanted her to be happy. The words were not that frakking hard. But they caught in his throat and all Brand could do was hope to express it through his eyes, thinking it -at- her as if their psychic bloodlink still had a chance of working.

Khitti’s eyes widened a bit as Brand got up, took her hands, and looked at her like that. She didn’t immediately peer up at him, but she certainly felt the way he silently pleaded with her--the emotion lingered in his voice too--and there was obvious surprise in her own stare when olive eyes met with emerald. ‘A fresh start’. He was so adamant about that. She wondered why, but with the obvious somber mood she’d already created, she didn’t want to tumble down that rabbit hole so soon after the ‘new’ memory. The redhead didn’t dwell on that, but instead her thoughts shifted to something else as the mood between them grew a bit mushy, “Brand, I…”

There were butterflies, lots of furious butterflies swarming around in her stomach, her own words catching in her throat. “I, um.” The butterflies worsened; it was almost like they were screaming at her. Her hands squeezed his as she willed herself to remember that she wasn’t just talking to air, he was actually there with her. And then, she said it. “I love you.” Khitti looked down at the ground, wondering if she’d said it right, if she’d said it loud enough. She steeled herself against the butterflies, made eye contact with him again, and said it once more with conviction, “Brand, I love you.”

The way she said it was different than before, different than all those times she’d try to shove her feelings onto them after he rescued her from the cave--though she didn’t remember that. It just… felt right to say now. He’d stayed with her, and she’d managed to sort out her head enough when it came to him, and now that she’d said it, it was like a weight had lifted from her shoulders that she didn’t even know she’d had. “I love you,” she said it one more time for good measure, as if she couldn’t believe she’d said it the other two times, and let that warm smile of hers accompany it.

Brand seemed unsure whether to leave his gaze on her eyes or her hands. “Good,” he said, and took a step back. “Good! Right. Yeah. Er, I love you, too.” He blinked and squinted as if he were a man facing the sun after a long dark time underground. Perhaps he feared she might disappear if he looked too intensely. But then she was up in his arms and he was kissing her, holding her legs against his waist and swinging her to rest against the nearest tree. Onyx would return to find them still in a deep embrace.