She’d been outside his door pacing back and forth like a mad woman, wondering if he would even want to see her, let alone forgive her for just noping the ******** out of Destiny City without any warning and for months and months on end. She’d hardly had time to text him between art camp and her college tour, which had only served to make her father realize she was not going to be getting into college without a severe intervention. He’d found it, calling on Aunt Hilda, a twice removed something or other relative that was rich as Roosevelt and enjoyed feeling like a family matriarch from time to time. She barely remembered her from family reunions but, hell, at least she was going to DCU in the fall as part of their arts program. For the time being, unless she failed out, she was stuck in Destiny City.
“Arias?”
Her tone was questioning rather than forceful or full of joy as normal. She hardly knocked at all, a tap on the door that she blamed on having to juggle a large pizza box instead of her own fears. What if he wasn’t willing to forgive her for abandoning him? They were partners and she hadn’t powered up for months. She’d sent him quick two word texts when she could, generic things like “what’s up” or “I’m ok” but it wasn’t the same and she knew it. She just wasn’t sure what to say. Everything had changed for her so much in those few months leading up to her escape she just had to get out of there.
“Arias, it’s me. It’s Caydence. Open the door.” That was louder, but still, quietly, she added: “Please, open the door.”
And then she said a short prayer that he was both home and at least willing to still look at her so she could give him the pizza.
-
For a moment, there was no response. There was a thump from inside, so someone was clearly home. They just weren't coming to the door.
Seconds ticked by, long and uncomfortable, and then Arias yanked open the door.
His hair was wet and messy and his shirt had dampness leaking through.
"KD," he said, breathing a sigh of relief as her name slipped from his lips. He was careful to avoid the pizza but leaned in for a hug. It was tight and protective, bt he kept it quick--mostly because he was afraid of getting her wet or making her uncomfortable.
Judging by the smell of bodywash and shampoo, it was fairly obvious that he'd just come out of the shower. Truthfully, he'd rushed as soon as he'd even thought he'd heard her voice.
When he pulled away, he kept one arm on her shoulder.
"Come in, come in. How are you--is everything okay?" he asked; he was worried, as per usual, but it came from a place of love.
KD almost sobbed in relief when he opened the door. Just seeing his face made her world all the brighter. For a while, at camp, she had managed to make herself believe that she didn’t need anything or anyone else to make her happy, that the entire world could exist within the confines of her two hands. Seeing him there with damp hair and his beautiful, familiar face, she knew all those months spent running and hiding were just that. She hadn’t been the same since Painite had almost killed her, though she’d been very good at pretending and somewhere in the middle school and being a Squire seemed like much too much to handle so she dropped out and ran away to something that made more sense to her.
For a while it had worked. She wasn’t afraid in the camp, making friends with fellow young artists. It wasn’t until she’d made that painting of the flowers on Neckar’s fuku, combined with the celtic vinework of her own uniform that she realized it was all still important to her. School? Not so much. But Arias, Westley, Neckar, Newgrange. Those identities mattered. Sherwood mattered as much as Caydence and she couldn’t run from it anymore.
She clung to him even when he moved to pull away, not caring a whit about getting wet. She loved the smell of his shampoo, and the way it felt to have him hugging her after what now felt like an eternity.
“Arias.” The one word was full of emotion that she couldn’t control and didn’t try to. “I missed you so much. I’ll understand if you are super pissed at me for running away like that I just...I needed to get away from here for a while.”
If six months or so could be considered “a while.” She turned her soulful green eyes up toward his face and gave him a shy half smile.
“I’m ok. And the pizza comes in peace, if you’ll have us.”
_
Arias looked down at her and wore nothing but a small smile. He gave her a quick squeeze and kissed the top of her forehead. "KD, I could never feel that way towards you. I don't blame you--I hope you getting away gave you some time to relax?"
He stepped aside and gestured for her to let herself in.
"I haven't had dinner yet, so you're a Godsend. As usual. Come on, make yourself comfortable. I've got sodas in the fridge, and some new recipes--" he paused. "Lots of new recipes for you to try. I hope you aren't on any sort of diet."
He was teasing, but offered her an extra smile just in case. "But--truthfully, how have you been? Have I missed anything exciting?"
_
“It helped me forget, but also reminded me what was important.”
She moved into his apartment and made her way to the kitchen, setting the pizza down on the counter. She got a glass out of the cupboard and got some water for lack of something else to do and watched him across the room. It seemed almost unreal to be seeing him after so long without him. How had she managed? She couldn’t imagine it now. His steady nature always managed to put her at ease, the yin to her rambunctious yang.
“I love you, Arias.”
A reminder, in case he’d forgotten.
She offered him a strangely shy smile before picking up a slice out of the box. It was his favorite.
“Westley told me he loved me.” She offered, in response to new things. The two most important people in her life forgave her; it was incredible. KD hoped that he wouldn’t be upset she went to see his boyfriend before seeing him. “I don’t deserve you two, you know that? I really don’t.”
And then, of course, there was the other news that had caused her to freak out and run away in the first place. She quickly powered up to her Squire form, letting him get a good look at her before powering down again. She didn’t want his apartment to be a beacon to the Negaverse.
“When it happened I was in shock, I think. It didn’t immediately sink in but when it did I just...lost it. I remembered Painite and just freaked. Nothing seemed important. Not school, not this town, and definitely not Sherwood. I ran. I can’t help it. I ran. I should have told you what was happening but I just couldn’t handle it. I knew you’d wanna fix it and this time you couldn’t.”
She had to fix herself and come to terms with things in her own time. Which she did, after a while.
The mention of sweets caused a huge grin to split her face. He certainly knew how to make her smile and for that she loved him so much. All KD wanted for him was happiness, peace, protection, love. Someone every bit as wonderful to him as he was to her. And maybe good sex. That seemed important, not that she’d know by personal experience.
“What about you? What’s new?”
_
Arias shot her a quick smile when she said she loved him, and he nodded approvingly when she shared the news about Westley. Admittedly, he seemed a bit alarmed when she powered up in his kitchen, but she had powered down so quickly he doubted anyone else would have noticed.
Of course. Then she mentioned that name, and his whole expression soured. He nodded understandingly. She was right, though; he'd have wanted to fix what he could. He couldn't blame her for running and was honestly just happy that she was okay--and back.
Her smile whisked away some of his worries at least, but with her question he found himself shrugging.
"Ah, I don't know. Same old, I guess. Bakery's doing good! I won an award for one of my cupcakes." He moved over to the table and picked up a framed award, flashing it to her quickly before putting it down. "Is it egotistical to put it up in the bakery? I just got it today."
He ran his fingers over the smooth glass surface, smile faltering only briefly. It was quick to return and he continued, "I'm still seeing Nick. I'm a Knight now, though. Not sure what to do with it. I went to my Wonder again, I think my ancestor is maybe warming up to me. We had a good talk the last time I went up. I'm supposed to visit him once a week so he can train me a little."
--
KD was a little jealous that he’d grown so far without her but knew she’d catch up in due time. She couldn’t be angry, considering she’d basically run away from her responsibilities and couldn’t expect to continue to grow if she wasn’t there to do anything to earn it. Just like in a video game she figured you had to earn a certain amount of experience and then you could move up and she hadn’t done that yet. She hadn’t been around to.
“Oh, Arias, that’s great!”
She looked at the aware and was properly impressed knowing that he had it in him. She was, without a doubt, his biggest fan when it came to his bakery and was wistful but happy that he’d had some of the success he deserved. She touched the frame and offered him a dazzling, reassuring smile.
“It’s not egotistical at all, Arias. You worked hard for that and people should know how bad a** you are. Everyone should, like I do.”
At this point she figured she knew him better than anyone and she loved him, truly, and wanted the world to know how amazing he was.
When he mentioned Nick she frowned. She didn’t know Nick and was suspicious of anyone in his life she didn’t know, such was her need to protect him. Still, she tried to act casual as she drank some of her water, taking a few seconds to figure out what to say.
“How’s that going? It’s been awhile, are you two getting serious?” She blinked. If he was in love and missed it, she was going to be heartbroken she wasn’t here for that.
“Oh, you’ve been to your wonder? Will you take me someday? I’ve been to Papa Camelot’s and it’s wonderful! There’s a castle and a dragon and all these trees!”
--
When KD asked if they were getting serious, Arias laughed. "Ah, I think so!"
He seemed a little embarrassed to talk about his love life, but it was something he hadn't quite been able to embrace just yet. He wasn't ashamed of Nick or the fact that he was in a relationship, he just had a habit of getting flustered still. He hadn't quite grown out of those 'first relationship' butterflies, yet.
"I took him with me to my parent's for the holidays, so. There's something there. You'll have to meet him some time, he's great."
A fond smile lingered on his face for a second but he shook his head. "--My wonder, though? Absolutely, I'd love to take you. I mean, if my ancestor would allow. Honestly, my wonder's a mess right now. I haven't done anything to clean it up. It's high on my list of things to do! I've just been busy trying to please my Ancestor. He's..."
Arias' voice trailed off and he shrugged. "Tough to pin. I'm still trying to get to know him, but he's made it so hard to get to know. I think, after all this time, he's only just warmed up to me. I don't even know how I'm supposed to handle bringing guests with me. He's extremely protective of my Wonder, still. I don't think he's ready to give up his post as its protector."
--
“Well that’s great!”
KD wasn’t immediately comforted by his answer, if only because she knew Arias and had yet to meet this Nick person. It was her own fault for being gone so long but all the same she couldn’t help but feel protective of literally one of her two favorite people in this entire world. Aside from Westley Arias meant everything to her and she would willingly, happily, go to hell and back to protect him from anything. This included potentially harmful boyfriends. Bring it the ******** on, if they plan on hurting her Arias. She’d fight them.
“I’d like to meet him. Maybe we can double date?”
That way if things took a turn she’d have Westley there to help calm her down. She wasn’t sure why she was envisioning the worst scenario, possibly because they’d been through so much together and she just sort of got used to that mindset.
The words about his ancestor made her smile. She wondered what Papa Camelot’s ancestor was like, or Mama Shalott’s. Or really anyone including her own.
“If you like me he probably will, too. Maybe we were friends in the past, or our ancestors were, or he knew me. If it was me. I’m still kind of learning how this all goes.”
But she was also very curious about it. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to know, just that she hadn’t learned it all yet.
“Maybe I can take you to Sherwood someday.”
---
“Double date?” He laughed somewhat nervously but nodded. “Yeah, we can plan for that some time. I’ll have to see when he’s free.”
Truthfully, it sounded like fun, but Arias was always worried about something going wrong. Still, Nick always seemed to flourish in company. Both KD and Nick were great—and they’d probably get along just fine. There wasn’t anything to worry about, he just did.
The subject change was easier for him and he nodded enthusiastically. “Oh yeah, absolutely. I’d love to see your wonder, sometime. Let me know when you want to head up! I’ve gotta work on buttering up my ancestor some more, but,” he smiled. “Progress. I think he’s been away from people for so long that he’s forgotten how to socialize. But I hope to be able to bring people up to meet him, one day. Sort of makes me wonder, though—what happens to us when our time is up. I wonder if, one day, you and I will be ghosts up at our wonders, waiting for the next generation to show up.”
He seemed thoughtful for a moment and then smiled. “Let’s make a promise, though. Even if our ancestors didn’t know each other, let’s make sure that our successors do.”
--
“Well, I mean…” KD blushed a little bit. “I haven’t actually been to Sherwood yet. It makes me nervous. What if I’m not good enough?”
She had plenty of fears about being a knight and how she could fail her ancestor and her calling. Certainly, she did not have a track record of success when it came to saving anyone or stopping the Negaverse. Youma were ok, when she could find them, but even they came with trouble attached. Still, the two most important people in the world to her were part of this war and she felt like it was her duty to step up and try, even if she wasn’t doing it right.
“I promise, Arias.” She was touched by the vow, choked up a little in her throat. “I more than promise.”
She leaned up and kissed his cheek, putting her arms around him to hold him close. It was hard to imagine being dead, being a ghost, and waiting around at her wonder for someone else just as clueless as she was now to come looking for her advice. It was hard to imagine a time without Arias there with her, or Westley. Truthfully, the thought made a cold ball of ice form in her stomach.
“But let’s promise to make that day a long, long time from now.”
---
Arias was sympathetic towards her concerns about not being good enough for her Wonder; he had been there and felt the nagging thoughts still. But, he had faith in her. She was trying her hardest, and any ancestor she might have couldn’t be upset with her.
…He hoped.
He simply smiled when she gifted him with another hug, and he gave her a quick squeeze when she kissed his cheek. “Oh, a long day away, certainly. I’ve got too many things to take care of in this lifetime to be too worried about those things. But I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure that whoever comes after me comes into a good world. If I can make any changes, I’m going to try. Of course,” he paused for a moment and laughed softly, resting his chin atop her head.
“…I have to figure out how I’m going to have ancestors. Mom’s been nagging me. Even when I introduce her to a guy, she’s asking when her grandbabies are going to get here.”
He squeezed KD again before drawing away just slightly. He made sure she was looking at him so he could give her a warm smile. “Now, you have pizza we need to eat. Come sit with me on the couch. I think we have a lot more to catch up on.”
Kyuseisha no Hikari
