why are we back here again

He was thankful she didn't try to seek solitude, the last thing they needed was for her to disappear, again. Instead she had sat herself beneath the window of the room her sister currently occupied in their makeshift infirmary.

It made his heart ache with understanding.

He approached, kneeling down in front of her, and though she flinched at the touch of his hand, she didn't pull away. But she didn't look up at him or acknowledge his presence, either.

"I know what you are feeling, truly I do. The helplessness, the guilt, the pain of hurting someone you love and swore to protect. But Robyn, it wasn't you. We all know it wasn't you, that you would never hurt any of us."

She didn't react, but he knew she was listening.

"And now that we know what to look for, he won't be able to trick us again. Y'shtola knows the color of your spirit, and I dare say the rest of us know you well enough to see through the mask as well."

"I wasn't fast enough," her voice was low and rough, but he was still glad to hear it.

"It was by their design! They never intended for you to stop him, and still you did! You kept him from doing far more harm."

"No, you don't understand. I wasn't fast enough because I stopped to help." She looked up at him with pain in her eyes. "There were people in the city fighting against magitek, they begged me for help. I tried. I tried but they all died anyways, and I was caught in the explosion…"

He was stunned into silence at the implications of her words.

"Everything Zenos has done has been to get my attention. All the destruction, all the death just to draw me here. And when I didn't give him what he wanted he attacked you. Using your trust in me as a weapon, using my love against me. No matter what I do, no matter how much I try to help and try to protect, I only make it worse."

She looked away, slumping like it took what little strength she had left.

"Zenos was tearing things apart long before he ever met you, and this place was designed to be a powder keg back before you were even born. The only thing that has changed with your presence is that we actually have a chance to stop him!"

He knew he didn't have the answers she needed nor the words to rouse her spirit, but if he could just get her moving…just get her back in the fight, the distraction might be enough, for now. In this they were both the same.

"Fandaniel made it clear that time was of the essence, and so we are planning an assault on the tower. All in, whatever it takes to stop them. We will be lost without you leading the charge."

"You would still fight beside me, even now?" She looked up, watching his reaction. His conviction.

"Surely by now you know, I will always stand by your side to face whatever comes our way. We have been through far too much for some maniac's stunt to break my trust in you. And there is no doubt in my mind that every one of the Scions feels the same way."

Tears started filling her eyes again, but this time she reached out and took his hand, squeezing it like a lifeline.

"And if I may be so bold, I don't think anything could break Osk's trust in you either. Though, perhaps a bit of explanation about what happened may be in order."

She snorted at that, and wiped the tears from her face. "Let us make sure she is safe first, then I will tell her everything."

Trying to get some of my posing mojo back by playing around a bit with some ethereal xianxia-style portraits. (Love this outfit by KiwiForma!)

Actually sat down to do some writing after work yesterday. Trying so hard to break through this brain fog and exhaustion I've been dealing with for months. Went to the Dr (for the first time in eight years) to see if there was something that could be done to help it a bit. Verified that, yes, a lot of it is the good ole perimenopause bug (yay for no more periods, but boo for the absence of that spat of hormone-induced manic creativity I'd get once a month), and a lot is just stress and burnout from my job.

As far as lore/writing, I'm currently focusing mostly on the development of their romance during their time in Garlemald during EW. I've put a hold on talking about a lot of Sanji's lore because I have this urge to make him from the Fourth, but I want to learn more about the Evercold Au Ra lore before deciding if that's something I'm going to do and how. Had a bit of a revelation about the draconic bits of his lore that I'm going to let percolate in my brain for a bit to see if they're also something that'll work (and again, to see if they'll integrate with his potential origin in the 4th).