Everything around Arthur is quiet.
Silent.
Sothing he has not truly experienced in a very long ti. He smiles. He can finally feel it. Content. Peaceful. At rest.
He opens his eyes and finds Arthur II looking back at him, eyes full of tears.
Arthur smiles gently. "Why are you crying? I thought you wanted to be peaceful. Now that I finally am, you’re the one crying."
Arthur II sniffles. "How do you know these aren’t happy tears?"
They both laugh. Easy and unhurried, without a care in the world.
"Are you really happy?" Arthur II asks.
Arthur nods slowly. "Yes. I am."
"Really?"
"Yes, really." Arthur laughs again.
He sighs, the sound of soone finally putting sothing heavy down.
"I thought I was supposed to be the one who protects everyone. The one who carries the weight of the world. I took everyone’s burdens and treated them as my own. Wore them like they belonged to ."
"I know now that was wrong. But I don’t regret it."
"I was so busy doing my job that I forgot who I was. A son. A brother. A friend."
He smiles. "I overshadowed everyone. Not because I was too capable, but because I was afraid they wouldn’t love if I wasn’t."
"With gone, they’ll have the chance to grow into who they really are." He pauses. "So no. I don’t regret it."
"Well." Arthur II looks at him with sothing like satisfaction. "Looks like you really are at peace."
Arthur extends his hand. "It’s ti."
Arthur II takes it. "It’s ti."
They dissolve into one, slowly and quietly, and then dissipate altogether.
------------------------------
Tears roll down Theo’s face.
He opens his eyes slowly, but the tears do not stop.
He just saw Arthur in his dream. Arthur was waving at him, saying thank you and goodbye.
Theo could not say anything. Could not do anything. He was crying like a child.
He stares up at the white ceiling. He can feel the tears streaming down from the corners of his eyes onto the pillow beneath him. At first he cries silently. Then the sobs co, pitiful and uncontrolled. He cannot help it. He just sobs and sobs.
Until he runs out of breath. Until his body shakes.
------------------------------
"Are you okay?" Miranda asks quietly. Her hand moves gently through Liam’s hair. Her eyes are wet but she is fighting hard to keep the tears from falling.
It hurts so much to watch her son hurting like this.
Liam is looking out at the world through the window of his hospital room and says nothing. In his reflection on the glass, Miranda can see that he is crying silently.
Miranda closes her eyes. She wipes her own tears and keeps stroking his hair.
------------------------------
"Hey! They finally discharged you?" Ethan asks, approaching.
Hawk is standing in the lobby of Solarys General Hospital. His right arm is in a sling. Several bandaged scratches mark his face.
He shrugs. "Yeah, I guess they did."
"How are you, Hawk?" J.C. asks, concerned.
"Better. Ribs are nding, but I can’t do much of anything for the next few days. Bed rest is in my imdiate future, it seems."
Taylor hits his upper arm. "We got a call from a different hospital saying they had just admitted you. We were surprised."
"Yeah, we were like, wasn’t he supposed to be discharged from Sunspire? How did he end up admitted sowhere else? What happened?" Carter chuckles.
The rest of them laugh.
Hawk only smiles.
"Co on, let’s get you back to your room." Ethan drapes an arm around his neck.
Hawk says nothing. He just goes along with him.
But his eyes drift back as he walks, his expression distant and solemn.
Sothing has changed in him.
------------------------------
Alicia sits motionless in her chair, eyes blank, face empty. She is not acknowledging anything around her.
Not even the knock on her door.
"Chief?" Lt. Kerr calls.
When she does not respond, he looks at Lt. Cole beside him. They exchange a glance, neither of them quite sure what to say.
Lt. Cole clears her throat and tries again.
"Chief?" Louder this ti.
Alicia jerks back to the present and looks up. "What?"
"You were holding your pen and not moving." Lt. Cole explains carefully. Chief Lutherford has not been herself since she returned to the office three days ago. Her mind is clearly sowhere else entirely.
Alicia only stares at her soon to be ex subordinates. She shakes her head. "What do you need?"
The two lieutenants exchange another glance.
"We need those." Lt. Kerr points at the stack of papers on her desk.
"Signed." Lt. Cole adds, very carefully.
Alicia looks down at the stack. She had been signing them. Then she stopped. Her mind drifted.
She sighs. "Give ten minutes. Stay here. In case my mind goes again."
She picks up the pen and begins signing.
------------------------------
Julian opens the door quietly and slips inside. Maeve is standing at her window, looking out. An IV stand beside her, the line hooked into the back of her hand.
Julian exhales quietly and closes the door. He makes his way slowly toward her, his own IV trailing beside him.
In his other hand he is carrying a bag of oranges. Maeve’s favorite.
He sets them on the table.
"Hey." Julian says.
"Hey." Maeve answers, without turning her head.
"I brought you so oranges."
"Thanks."
Silence.
Maeve turns her head slightly. "You didn’t have to co yourself. You could have asked the nurses."
"I know." Julian nods. "I wanted to see you."
Silence.
"I don’t want to be alone with my thoughts." He adds. His voice barely audible.
Maeve turns fully and looks at him. Her eyes are glistening.
"I don’t want to be either." Her voice breaks.
------------------------------
Sonia sits quietly in her hotel room bathtub.
The water is white, almost milky. Steam rises from the surface and the mirror is completely fogged over.
She plays with the water, half-heartedly. A sigh escapes her every few minutes.
Her chest has felt uncomfortable since she returned to her hotel room four nights ago. She is positive it is not a heart attack. She just does not know what it is.
"Ugh. What is wrong with ?" She says out loud.
She drags one finger through the water, and a gentle whirlpool forms. She stares at it and does nothing further.
Then the doorbell rings. Sonia jumps.
"Ugh! Who is it?" She calls from the bathroom. No answer. She raises her voice. "I haven’t ordered any room service!"
The bell rings again.
Sonia presses her lips together, climbs out of the bathtub, pulls on her bathrobe, and goes to open the door without checking who it is first.
"Elder Loujt!" Sonia says, surprised.
"Your Highness." Elder Loujt gives a slight bow.
The three people standing behind him do the sa.
------------------------------
Sonia freezes for a few seconds, then steps aside.
"Co in."
Elder Loujt and his companions enter. Sonia closes the door behind them.
"How did you find ? Did you track here?" She asks, arms crossed.
"For soone who ran away from ho, Your Highness does not seem particularly guilty about it." Elder Loujt observes.
Sonia goes quiet and looks down. "I wasn’t exactly running away. I left a letter." She mumbles.
"I beg your pardon?" Elder Loujt asks, though he heard her perfectly well.
Sonia pouts and glares at him. "I know you heard ."
Elder Loujt only smiles, neither confirming nor denying it.
"So. How did you find ?" She asks again.
"It might be better to have this conversation once Your Highness is wearing sothing a little more appropriate." Elder Loujt says gently.
Sonia looks down at her bathrobe and bare feet.
"Oh, Dear Great El Dhaerith! I’m so sorry!" She dashes back into the bathroom and pulls the door shut behind her.
Elder Loujt gestures for the other three to take their seats while he settles on the edge of the bed.
A few minutes later, Sonia cos out of the bathroom wearing a light blue cable-knit turtleneck sweater dress falling just above the knee, paired with black leggings.
She looks absolutely stunning. The other three n stare outright.
Elder Loujt notices and clears his throat loudly. A silent warning.
They imdiately fix their posture and their eyes.
Sonia is completely oblivious and takes a seat beside Elder Loujt.
"I’m decent." She states.
"Yes, I can see that." He takes a breath.
"To answer your earlier question, Your Highness. No, we did not track you. We were not here to find you in the first place. We ca because of the storm."
"Getting a flight here was impossible. The weather simply would not allow it. But I was very concerned about the city’s condition after days of continuous battering, so we decided to drive."
He sighs, the exhaustion plain on his face. "It took days. Literally days. A great deal of waiting and very little actual driving. We only managed to enter the city a few hours ago."
"Then how did you find ?" Sonia asks.
Elder Loujt gives her a look. "Please, Your Highness. Don’t insult . I felt your mana signature the mont we entered the city and followed it here."
Sonia nods. "That makes sense. I should have known."
Silence settles over the room.
"So." Elder Loujt gets up and crosses to the large windows. "Do you know anything about this?" He pulls back the curtain.
Everywhere Sonia looks is white.
Thick snow blankets the entire city of Solarys.
The raging storm is gone without a trace.
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