Iāve been thinking about this for a bit. And donāt glare at me like that, fam. I know itās going to be terribly sad but hear me out.
Itās raining. Itās raining really hard and Aelin growls at the sky. Rowan is standing behind her, ready to catch her when his mate eventually falls. By this point Aelin has already lost Chaol so its just her and Dorian now. Aelin is carrying some momentum Chaol gave her when she was Celaena, Letās say a ring. Rowan is watching his mate slid the ring onto her thumb and kissing it gently.Ā
Theyāre in a room. And Dorian is on his deathbed. Itās a shared secret because no one knows but Aelin and Dorian this was the room Celaena Sardothien was given so long ago. Aelin sits by Dorian and she smiles softly and fixes his crown.Ā
Dorian would smile and those little wrinkles by his eyes would pull together. Dorian, at this point, as begun to lose a bit of his memory. So sometimes he calls Aelin Aelin and other times itās Celaena. And being in this room, is bringing back some really good memories. So the two start to share inside jokes.
Now remind you we have Rowan, Gavriel, Fenrys and Connall, Vaughan, and even brooding Lorcan just standing at different points in the room. Theyāre warriors and theyāre with their mourning queen. We even had bloody Aedion sitting in a chair just watching his cousin and theĀ āfine lady eatingā king of Adarlan.Ā
So here we have the Queen of Terrasen and the King of Adarlan. And theyāre sharing jokes. Dorian starts if off, because itās Dorian.Ā āRememberā He says. Itās so hard for him to talk but he doesnt careĀ āWhen you were forced to bow to meā
Aelin laughing and nodding. She remembered. She remembered glaring at him. She remembered it all. Aelin holding Dorianās hand and Dorian smiling at Chaolās (probably engagement ring) he gave to Celaena. Heās glad sheās wearing it. The gang is back together again. One last time.Ā āRemember when you brought me books. And stupid notes?ā Aelin likes that memory so much.
Dorian choking out a laugh and tears dripping from the corners of his eyes. He felt Death brushing his hair the way Aelin was. He was ready to join Manon and Chaol. But he wasnāt ready to leave Aelin. He is very confused at this moment.Ā
Something passes over Dorianās eyes and Aelin knows heās having memory troubles again. She smiled and kissed Dorianās wrinkled old man hands and she waits.Ā āCelaena?ā Dorian croaks. Aelin smiles and she nods quickly.
She shifts. She shifts into a human and she closes her eyes. And when she opens them, sheās Celaena Sardothien.Ā Adarlanās Assassin and Champion. Survivor of Endovier. And a huge flirt. Celaena winks at Dorian and he chuckles.Ā
āYou are braveā Heās obviously almost gone. Celaena can see it in his eyes.Ā āYou are beautifulā Dorianās hands go limp in Celaenaās but she squeezes harder. Just one more minute. She just needs one more with Dorian.
āYou are my salvation. Myā¦loveā Celaena is smiling and she whispersĀ āI love you too, Dorianā and watches his eyes close. Rowan knows now is not the time to growl and do some territorial Fae nonsense. His mate needs this.Ā
Celaena looks at Dorian confused. She didnāt hear his heart stop like everyone else. And no one has the heart to tell her. So she shifts. And sheās Aelin again. And then she freezes. Now she doesnt hear his heart. She shakes him gently, whisperingĀ āDorianā¦Dorian?ā Itās a question. Sheās asking him to wake up.Ā
Then sheās screaming. and Aedion jumps up and all the other males go taunt. Sheās shaking Dorian harder and screaming at the bloody flirty bastard to wake up. But he wont.
Sheās screaming louder now and tears are blinding her sight. Fenrys rushes forward because that little wolf has developed the best friendship with Aelin. He grabs her and slowly pulls her away. Again Rowan knows now is not the time to be territorial. Aelin is kicking and screaming and Connall helps his brother because those two twins are Aelinās pride and joy and she has raised them like a mother and the cadre have been their four fathers.Ā
The twins are repaying her and holding their mother figure. Theyāre not tiny Fae. Theyāre lean and well muscled and Aelin is 5ā²7. So eventually sheās overpowered but not silenced. Then her mate is blocking her sight. He bends down in front of her and holds her face. And theyāre back when they first met. Rowan being able to calm her down.Ā
Meanwhile Aedion is slowly lifting a sheet over Dorianās body. Vaughan and Lorcan pick him up and they carry our King out like he should be. Dorian has now joined Manon and Chaol. And it is then Aelin realizes she wont see her friends again.Ā
Dorian. Who allowed her to look at a man with want and need and lust again. Who allowed her to laugh and smile and share snarky comments.Ā
Chaol. Who allowed her to love a man again. Who allowed her to open her heart up and dance at bad moments and wear things just to tease him.
They were a Trio. And now her boys were gone. And for not the first time, Aelin hates her immortality.Ā
Sheās shaking her head and trying to pull away from the three males and trying to get to Dorian. Because she knows. She bloody knows sheās going to forget how blue Dorianās eyes are. What his laugh sounded like. What his favorite books were. Chaol (who died when he was around 50-60) eyes are already starting to look more brown than golden in Aelinās mind. Sheās forgetting the little things about him. Sheās forgetting what he looked like when he smiled.Ā
And she doesnt want to forget those things about Dorian. But she knows sheās going to.Ā
Aedion pushes his way through all the Fae males to his cousin. He hugs her and he whispers to her about little eight year old Dorian and thirteen year old him and seven year old her. Aelin chokes out a laugh and Aedion has clipped a necklace around Aelinās neck.
It looks like the Eye of Elena, but it obviously isnāt. Just by looking at it Aelin is reminded of all the bonding she and Dorian went through in ToG. Then she remembers all the pain and suffering that happened in Eos and ToG6.Ā
But the gem is blood red. A bright burning red and the metal swirling around it, encasing it- Its gold. Adarlan colors. Dorian had made it for Celaena all those years ago when he wanted to marry her and make her his queen.Ā
From that moment on, Aelin never takes off Chaolās ring. And she never takes off Dorianās necklace. But she eventually forgets what her two best friends look like, sound like, and smell like.
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