taken from here
“Father.”
His voice had always steadied her. Not because it was commanding, or particularly loud, but because it was his—quiet, consistent, like the pull of tide against stone. She turned to him fully then, taking in the sight of him, how the flower at his lapel softened the years at his shoulders. How, in all the ways that mattered, he had never changed.
“...Oh,” she breathed, small and sure, as if her heart had remembered the shape of his before her lips could catch up. “You look handsome tonight. That flower must be mother's. Haha!”
Her hands folded neatly at her front. The way she held herself was still—calm not from lack of emotion, but from learning how to carry it. That had always been her way. And even now, under the glitter of lights and the hush of waves, she could feel her shoulders want to lower, just a little, in his presence.
“I would like that very much,” she said, nodding once before stepping gently to his side. “To rest with you for a bit.”
They weren’t words for ceremony or grandeur. They were words to mean: I missed you. I’m glad you’re here. I remember when all I needed was this—just this. A place beside him.
“I used to think the ocean was too large for memories to follow,” she said quietly, as they walked. “But now it's the opposite. No matter where we go, the memories keep rushing back to me. It's... nice."
Her smile was a private one, something tucked away just for him. She didn’t need to ask anything of him. It was enough that he had stayed. Enough that he still came back. She quietly unclasped one of her seashell charms, linking it to his bracelet silently before resting her head on his shoulder. And she hummed to herself a small melody of Fiana, however far away it was.
Her voice is a clearing within the confusion and the darkness. Suddenly, it isn't so bad to be here. Finn calms and waits for her.
They've always had this consistency. She would wait for him, and no matter how far Nanna had walked ahead, he knew he could catch up. He knew he could find her and that she'd be waiting, asking nothing of him. He would pull away but return back time after time.
"Thank you." Was it that strange to be complimented? But from her, it didn't feel so odd. "Yes, it is," he answers, a little shy. He'd only dressed to match Lachesis - what use was it hiding it now?
But Finn waits for her, as he always would. He waits for her answer - a breath even - to let him know what she needs, or that she's alright. He was never one to spoil and Nanna never asked for much but if she so did, he'd pluck a star from the sky.
"Let us go together," he adds. The appetite of the ball must be catching up with her. If she so much as needs it....
Finn's heart lightens at the mention of the sea. Many warm memories rest with it. "Yes, I agree. The sea will follow you anywhere. You are never alone with it."
With her, just like this, he could remember the small peace that they knew called Fiana.
"Do you miss it?" he asks her. "Fiana, I mean."
