#soltxt

She turned to look at him once more, but he hadn’t moved. His shoulders slumped further as he resolved to say what was needed.

“I am… so very grateful to you,” he spoke slowly, pinching his brows as he did his best to withhold his emotions. “You saved my life, that cannot be ignored. That’s the result of what you did, but… I… I can’t help but think of what else could have happened because of your actions. It was completely, utterly dangerous, Miss Belle,” he finally looked up at her, his azure eyes sparkling with tears. “You could have been killed.” His head dropped once more, both hands coming up to cover his face.

“Haurchefant.” She expressed his name with that voice, that voice sweet enough to earn her her namesake. Her name which he did not feel worthy enough to speak. She stepped around his desk and approached his side; he could feel her presence as she got closer, hearing the slight limp in her gait, and he sank further.

His guts felt like they spiraled within him, unable to fight back the tears that fell to his lap. He didn’t want to move, lest she see his weakness pouring out of him, and as he failed to answer her, he then saw her face out of the corner of his eye.

She’d gotten on her knees, looking up at him as she sat beside him. “Haurchefant,” she began, oh so gently as she placed a hand on his cheek, encouraging him to look at her, “this world we live in would be much, much darker without you in it. I would rather die beside a knight as brave and loyal as you than deprive anyone of the honor of meeting and knowing you.”

He watched her with wide, tear-filled eyes, frozen as he became lost in her sweet, soft ruby gaze. His hand unconsciously came up to hers, leaning his face into her tender caress as his cry slowed. She wiped his cheek with her thumb and smiled up at him. She took her hand from him, placing it on his knee and using it as a buffer for her head as she relaxed it against him.

“I know it’s a difficult thing to ask,” she looked to the floor, considering her words carefully, “but please, do not die for me. Please… stay with me.”

His hands hovered above her, unsure if he should even be allowed to consider touching her.

“Miss Belle, I… I saw it fit to protect you. You are… you are a hero, and Eorzea needs you. I would not be a knight worthy of House Fortemps if anything were to happen to you.”

He heard her sniffle and his heart began pounding. “M-Miss Belle?” He ignored the reservations keeping him from disturbing her and he placed both hands on her shoulders, causing her to lift her head and show him the glisten in her eyes.

“Don’t you think you’re a hero, too? That Eorzea needs you just as much?” She asked, looking straight at him as the first tear rolled down her cheek.

His breath caught in his throat as the responsibility for her cry struck him directly in his heart. “Miss Belle, I… I…”

She used the back of her arm to try to clear away her tears, and then she put a hand on his desk to push herself to stand. As she straightened up, she staggered a bit due to her injury, causing the knight to instantly get up to catch her and hold her steady. Before he could protest or nervously step back as he always did, she wrapped her arms around him and leaned near fully against him. His body tensed completely as the warmth and softness of her figure enveloped him.

“Please, stay with me, Haurchefant,” she asked once more, her voice almost a whisper against his chainmail. She pulled back, slipping her hands into his as she looked up at him. “If you… find me worthy of being by your side.”

“Of course you are!” Every thought that’d been clouding his mind immediately disappeared the moment she said something so ridiculous. “I’m the one who isn’t…! Who shouldn’t…”

Her expression kindly told him his thought was just as ridiculous as hers, and for a moment, just a moment, he believed he might agree. She guided his hands to her back, using this opportunity of his distracted, calculating mind to get him to hold her without any self doubt getting in the way. She returned her arms back around him and relaxed her head against his chest.

“I want you here, okay?” She gently squeezed him.

He searched through his panic of being held so sweetly by the person he admired most in the world for the ability to speak. He realized his arms were already around her, too. If it’s what she wants, then it doesn’t matter whether he’s worthy, right? Still only partly satisfied with that conclusion, he finally genuinely returned the embrace, squeezing her back and burying his face in her neck.