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In his arms, Anna felt safe for the first time since the ordeal. She rested her face against him, and began to steady her breathing. A few stray tears came now and then, but she was beginning to calm herself. There would be time for more quiet grief later.

"I couldn't keep it," she said, after they had been sitting by the blaze she created. With the pearls and bits still lingering by the fireplace, he was sure to have noticed what she had done. Still, though, Anna felt no guilt for the destroyed dress. "I came here to be rid of it, and to see if there was something... something that I had missed."

A quick gesture was made to the books strewn about and flung open to chapters on healing. Some tomes spoke of demons, others demonic sicknesses. Nothing, though, gave her a clear answer on my Verdi had slipped away after all she had done to save her.
"I'm sorry if I worried you, dearest."

His words of losing her hit a soft spot. Though who was she to fool, her whole heart was a soft spot then.
"But what if... what if something like that happened to you and I couldn't save you?"
Yet another fear exposed. Anna felt selfish thinking it, but a large part of this hurt was the chance that should something like that happen again, and more specifically to the one she loved most, she would not be able to heal.

Anna adjusted herself so she could wrap her arms about his neck, and bury her reddened face.
"I cannot imagine losing you, either. You are my dragon, my A'mael," Anna said through sniffles. "And I am yours. But now I can't imagine what I am to the students, or to Kaien..."

His words eased her worry a bit, though her shame still stung. It couldn't be let go of so easily in her mind, even if everyone knew and believed that she had done all she could. Even Anna knew deep within her heart that what had happened was something none of them could have stopped.

Anna let her own sigh escape before resting in his arms as she had been before, watching the fire. There really was nothing else to be done that night concerning the ball. Everything would have to wait for now, and so she would sit with her love, and feel his warmth as the night stretched on. They would be each other's strength. and how she loved him...

"I had a dream," she said softly, as her eyes began to droop shut with sleep. "We were home." Home... how lovely that sounded then, to be far away from all of this. "We sat in a field, you as a dragon. And we were curled up together. I was by your nose, and your neck and tail stretched all around... And we were talking. Just talking, and laughing. It was nice."

There were times when Pyralis made Anna want to cry simply because he made her so happy. Listening to his soft voice lull her to sleep was such a time. But, she was tired, and more tears, even if they were for pure joy, would not do either of them much good.

Anna could, however, sit up a bit to kiss him sweetly. "I love you," she said. "You make me so proud..." Indeed, seeing him fight that beast made her understand how skilled he was with a blade, and how fierce he could truly be, even if what she saw was only the beginning of his real might.

The elf snuggled close to him, still in his arms as she thought about all that had happened. "But don't lose sleep over me, Pyralis. You've been through just as much as I have."

And so Anna slept in the arms of a dragon whom she loved so dearly. It was even clear upon her face as she slumbered, the peace she gained from him and the knowledge that he would be true to his word all there to bring her comfort.

Dreams, too, made her lips turn up in a small, almost undetectable smile. Flying... they were flying together, over all the lands and seas of the worlds. Laughing, spinning, smiling for pure joy of just being together in a land all their own. There was no great catastrophe at the Grove Academy, no demon that could stop them. The only thought that came to Anna's mind during her dream was how beautiful the world was from a dragon's point of view.

The dreams carried her sore heart through the night until morning came.

Anna woke slowly. Her head hurt from her crying, but the dreams she had were worth that feeling of unrest. The best part, though, was waking up right in the arms of Pyralis. He hadn't taken her to her own bed and left her there, or placed her upon the small couch in the library. No, he had kept her nearby and warm throughout the entire night.

And judging by his sleepy eyes, he had spent that night awake.
"Good morning..." she said in a sleepy voice as she gazed back at him with equally sleepy eyes. They examined him for a few moments before she let out a soft chuckle. "I knew you weren't about to listen to me."

There was the ghost of a smile on her lips as Anna looked up at him and willed herself to wake.

Although she still bore a sadness to her, Anna was not about to let Pyralis worry. If he was this concerned about her with the passing of the last night's ordeal, she couldn't imagine how he would react if he saw her show the true sadness within herself. It was Anna smiled for him, but she knew once she was working, she would slip into that sadness once more.

If she had a choice in the matter, Anna would sit with him all day to read, sleep, and think. His kiss pulled her even further into that wish to escape the day ahead... That wasn't a possibility, though. There were still students who needed to be accepted and corresponding paperwork to be done.

"Today..." she began as she played with the buttons and stitching on his shirt. "I have to accept students who applied late. And fill out paperwork..." A laugh came out rather weakly. "Try to pretend that it's just another day. What are your tasks?"

She hoped and prayed that he would not be sent into the other realms to search in dangerous places again. Last time he had returned with gashes upon his side. What next, she wondered? Missing an arm?