“Do you want to talk about it?”
The words pass through his ears and he opens his mouth to respond, but nothing comes out. He just tightens his grip around her.
She takes note of his need for her warmth and puts the pieces together herself. The dream was about her; it had to be. She sighs, gently caressing his back with her hand.
It’s the first night of the trip home.
He had found her cut, bruised, and broken in a dark forest. “Claudia’s doing,” she had told him, having escaped her grasp just a few hours ago, but only barely.
It wasn’t much longer after that when the tension bottled inside the pair snapped like a twig. For what seemed like hours, they dueled with their words in a measly attempt to justify their actions. Firey phrases leaped from their lips and icy tears trickled from their eyes, but, ultimately, he was the victor. She knew in her heart her wrongdoings, but could she just… admit that to herself and give up her mission? After she had seen what terrible things Aaravos was capable of firsthand?
Once he had found her, she didn’t have much choice. The way he looked at her - that verdant desperation in his eyes... she tried her best to shield herself from it, to convince him that she was fine, that she still had a job to do.
But his gaze easily pierced through her front; at last, she emptied her palm’s grip on pride and instead filled it with his own hand - Sources, how warm it had felt - and joined him on his journey to Katolis. She refused to break his heart again.
“We’ll come back; we’ll face them together, when we’re more prepared,” he promised her.
Now, they are in each other’s arms next to a dying campfire in the middle of nowhere, trying to make sense of it all.
“I can’t…” he finally mutters, his whole body quivering. “I can’t sleep, Rayla.”
“Shhhh… it’s all right, Callum,” she tries to soothe him.
“No,” he denies. “It’s not. Every time I close my eyes, I just… I see it. I see you… or… w-what’s left of you…”
Rayla exhales as a tear escapes her eyelids.
“I’m sorry,” she whispers. “I’m so, so sorry.”
She waits for him to tell her that he forgives her, that he’s just glad she’s okay, that they will be okay. That he loves her.
The crackling of the fire continues to dwindle.
“I’m here, okay?” she speaks to fill the void. “I’m right here. And I’m not leaving again. Ever.”
“How do I know that…?” he whimpers.
And her heart shatters because she knows he has a point.
“I… I’ll do anything,” she begs. “Anything to prove it to you.”
“Can… can you just stay with me tonight? Please?”
She pulls away from him slightly and presses her lips to his forehead.
“Of course,” she tells him with a soft smile. She knows it won’t be enough; it couldn’t possibly be enough.
They slowly lie down together, the blanket underneath them providing at least some cushion compared to the hard ground.
“Um…” Callum mumbles. “… is… is it okay if I…” he trails off and instead points at his head, then to her chest. Rayla gets the idea and can’t help but slightly chuckle, thanking the moon above that he’s still just as adorable as she remembers. She nods for an answer.
They both get comfortable and the forest grows silent once more.
A minute passes before Rayla sighs deeply. “I… I really missed this.”
The last few tears on Callum’s face dry before he tightly wraps his arm around her waist.
The once bright fire next to the two weakens more and more as they sleep; but somehow, perhaps through magic, the tiniest of flames refuses to be put out.
Valiantly, it continues to breathe.