Chapter Text
Rhian absentmindedly ran her fingers through Shadowheart’s hair, her lover half draped across her, her head laying on Rhian’s chest. They were quiet for a long while, just enjoying the other’s company in the quiet night.
“When did you know?” Shadowheart’s voice was low, like she was hesitant to shatter the silence.
“Hm?” Rhian hummed sleepily, trailing her hand up and down her back.
“That you were in love,” she clarified.
Rhian thought for a long moment. They’d been through a lot after the nautiloid crash. She wouldn’t say it had been love at first sight or anything, but she had fallen rather quickly, if she was to admit it. Trying to pinpoint the moment, well, there had been a few that she’d thought ‘oh, I think I love her.’ But what had been the first?
Rhian smiled, the memory resurfacing. “In the swamp.”
Shadowheart laughed, “Oh, that’s very romantic.”
“No, really,” she insisted.
“Care to elaborate?”
“Remember Ethel’s illusion? The sunlit meadow and the clear pond that disappeared when you really looked?”
“Ye-e-s,” she drawled, turning now to look at her, nearly nose-to-nose, “I knew it’d been too good to be true.”
“Well, of course,” Rhian agreed, given how their luck had been in the early days, “And there were also the redcaps, disguised as sheep. And the one we encountered, well, before Ethel set them trying to kill us anyway, had wandered up and just baa’d at us.”
“Ah, yes, I remember. And I’d known you for all of what? A handful of days at this point? And I didn’t always know what to expect. But you stood there and screamed ‘BAAAAAA!’ back at him,” that set Shadowheart to laughing again, “I thought I’d joined up with a lunatic.”
“Exactly,” Rhian grinned at the memory, “and also not entirely wrong.”
“And what? That was it?”
“No,” Rhian shook her head, “You laughed, just the smallest giggle, I think more out of surprise than anything. That was the first time I heard you laugh. And I realized it was a sound I wanted to hear. Again and again.”
“Well, you have certainly made that a reality,” Shadowheart snuggled closer, holding her tighter.
Rhian sighed, content; in the months since their foray into the House of Grief and then the Absolute’s defeat, Shadowheart had indeed been quicker to laugh, more at ease. Rhian could tell she still carried the weight of everything they’d discovered, everything they’d had to do, and some days were easier than others. But she finally had the space to work through it, and was slowly healing and allowing herself to be happy.
Pulling from her introspection, Rhian said, “Your turn.”
“I think you already know the answer to that.”
“Mmm, I know when you finally admitted it was in Shadowfell, but the actual falling part I don’t.”
Shadowheart stayed silent, and after several long minutes, Rhian thought she must’ve dozed off. Until, “You're right.”
“I know,” she said, “But it’s nice to hear.”
Shadowheart huffed at her, partially sitting up so she could look at her, lips pulled into a slight frown. “You’re impossible, you know.”
“And you’re cute when you’re annoyed,” she shot back, sitting forward to quickly kiss her on the nose, receiving an eye roll and a smile before Shadowheart settled back down, “So?”
Shadowheart tapped her fingers along Rhian’s side, thinking. “There wasn't any one particular moment, I suppose. It was more that I found myself relying on you, telling you things I’d never shared with anyone. I guess the full weight of that realization finally hit me in Shadowfell. All the little moments just added up.”
If I had to pick just one, though, I think it was probably when you gave me the night orchid.”
Now it was Rhian’s turn to laugh. “Ah, yes. The super poisonous flower I risked life and limb to get, I remember.”
“Yes, that would be the one,” Shadowheart continued, “I’d never had anyone gift me anything before you. At least, not that I can recall anyway. It was rather sweet of you, especially given that we were in the middle of the shadow curse, and I was, at the time, very much intent on fulfilling my dream of becoming a Dark Justiciar.”
Rhian knew, then, that that must have also been the tipping point- one of the final pieces to fall in to place for her to forsake Shar, to spare the Nightsong. She knew love, no matter how strong, was not enough to save everyone. They’d seen that plenty over the course of their adventures. But Rhian could take solace in the fact that it had been enough to save Shadowheart.
“And here I thought it would have been my undeniable charm or quick wit that made you finally fall. Alas, I suppose that’s as good a time as any.”
She could sense Shadowheart rolling her eyes, but she could hear the amusement behind her feigned annoyance, “If you must know, yes, your idiotic comments and ridiculous shenanigans were indeed appreciated, especially when we were facing almost certain death. Something to be said for someone trying to make light of what was possibly the worst situation to ever be in.”
Rhian chuckled, “You’re welcome.”
They lapsed back in to a comfortable silence, Rhian’s gaze trained on the night sky, mentally mapping out the stars.
“I love you,” Shadowheart mumbled, half asleep now.
Rhian held her tighter, planting a kiss on the top of her head, “And I you.”