❛ ——— alix elisabeth.

it took a moment, or perhaps a few moments, for him to realize that this was not the place. such fond exchanges were best saved for the bedroom. “i’m here, i’m alright,” he reassured her softly. of course she knew his place on the battlefield, and he could see she’d wondered whether he was even alive. of course, he was and she’d felt him for herself. makoa let her go, gently peeling himself away from her, and he realized at once that he ached for her as he ached for the sea. he wasn’t sure how to react to her, whether to be glad to see her or upset. some small part of him held onto hope that she’d want him back, but he knew better. fools do not survive war, after all. “fine then,” he huffed, “we won’t speak of your sailing. you look well. are you here with family?” he thought of her sister, of beautiful sabine so elegant and poised, and assumed that alix was with the french royalty. how could he have known that she’d married the swiss king? 

they were both more scarred than the last time they’d seen one another, she even had stretch marks from her pregnancy. though, she was sure that she could’ve forgone those battle scars. though their relationship had ended, alix still had the occasional dream about their time together, about running on the hawaiian beach with him and he’d pick her up in his arms and spin her around. it was the kind of dreams that she’d wake up from crying, unsure if they were tears of joy or sadness from not having him in her arms. it was around the time these dreams were reoccurring almost every night that she had to force herself to think he was dead. she hadn’t heard from him, or any one else on the island ( not like she would have expected one anyway ). it made her upset to do, but to devote herself to her king, she had to. 

the gardens seemed to be alix’s escape in the walled city, keeping her from feeling as though she was free. she’d been a prisoner of war and for a moment she toyed with the idea of prisoner in peace. it’s what the world summit felt like -- a location where all of the royals could be watched over and “guarded”; from one another or the outside world, alix was unsure, though she was sure they’d hear reports of instability start soon enough. it wouldn’t surprise her, given every country’s royalty was showing up at steadily increasing rates. it was the gardens where she found her peace and the moment she bumped into someone, she was pulled away by a guard and her ladies. she hushed them quietly, not even seeing the man she’d run in to ( she’d felt enough of his chest to get a feel for that information, though she’d certainly pass it off as an accident ). 

“i’m fine, go, go. i’ll be fine.” she sent them all off, some more reluctant than others, before turning to face the person she’d bumped in to. 

he missed the sea. 

rather than waste away in the castle, in meetings that he couldn’t pretend to care about, makoa ventured to the edge of the city and found a bit of water. it wasn’t the right color, the rippling river was far too tame, but it was as good as he’d find in rome. he strode along the shore, studying the strange boats that drifted along the river and the people that walked beside it. he noted that they studied him too. ah, yes, he must have appeared impossibly odd. there was one set of eyes that truly caught his attention though. he caught her gaze only briefly before realizing. it was as if he’d gone back in time, as if he were standing in some other european port, only this time he wasn’t saying goodbye. “alix!” her name had slipped from his lips before he could stop it and he closed the gap between them with a few steps. he’d scarcely said anything, but he couldn’t hide the way that his face lit up when he saw her. it hadn’t changed, even all of these years later. “are you sailing again? you’ve washed up on the wrong shore.” 

what’s he doing here? why is he here? it was almost a nightmare come true for the queen and she almost didn’t want to recognize it was happening. makoa was here and she had to deal with that. well, not deal. this would likely lead to many answers that stemmed from her most unanswerable questions and scenarios that she’d elaborately created in her head from the moment she’d left him four and a half years ago. he still occupied a large part of her thoughts, more than she would have cared to admit and she felt like she was going to have a panic attack as she stood there and stared at him, open mouthed and unashamed.