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Everything felt a blur. His ears rang still with an echo of steel clashing. Enough so that he was certain this would breed the most nauseating headache he has ever had to endure. But by the kami, he yet lived. His body, aching as it was, still drew breath.
Hien sucked in a lung full of smokey air, coughing through an abrupt pain that blossomed in his ribs. Pale eyes blinked away the haze as he willed himself awake. Out of the whirling darkness that was unconsciousness. While he had hoped he would awaken in his own bed, to the familiar sounds of Doma in the early mornings, Hien frowned at the sight around him.
Soldiers scurried about, calling for aid and hefting supplies around the camp. Ghimlyt.
The prince forced himself upright on his cot, gingerly pressing his fingertips to his sides, checking himself for injury. But it was a wasted effort. His chest piece had already been discarded and replaced with fresh bandages.
“Lord Hien,” Yugiri called softly, having been tending to other matters not even steps away until now. “Pray, rest a moment. Your injuries will only worsen.”
But by the looks of it, Yugiri was also among the injured here. Her own arm wrapped and cheek bruising just beneath her left eye. Hien gave her a dismissive grunt and a shake of his head. “There will be time to rest after this is over.”
Yugiri set her eyes upon the ground at her feet. She was was hardly surprised hearing him say as much. “Aye. Truly, ‘tis fortunate that she came to our aid when she did.”
At this the young prince looked up suddenly, his foggy green eyes beginning to brighten. “She?” He repeated the word before the realization of it set in. “Kirishimi?”
The hazed edges of his memory began to pull away. In such a weakened state, he had nearly forgotten the events that ultimately lead him to this very cot, nursing broken ribs and an encroaching migraine. Like light pouring in behind a drawn curtain it rushed back to him, nearly stealing the breath from his very lungs as he recalled it.
A painful vibration that rocked his body as his blade met with Zenos’ own. The shower of sparks with each clash that sizzled and died at his feet in the bloodied mud and dirt. But yet in one twist of the Garlean’s wrist and Hien was thrown back several yalms. He recalled the pain that erupted in his chest as he collapsed there on the spot. They all had succumbed to the Garlean’s might. He had struggled to reclaim his footing, to rise up once more like all of Doma had. But his knees buckled beneath him. All had seemed so hopelessly lost.
“She came for us.” Hien announced with eyes closed, reliving the moment as if it were still happening.
He had heard the desperate pounding of a soldier running into battle. Half expecting a stray military officer, Hien willed himself to look up to his defender. Zenos’ new challenger. But his breath hitched at the sight. Hair like moonlight swayed in the dismal heat of the fighting. He had no need to see her face to know in that moment who it was that stood between him and an uncertain fate.
With a burst of drumming filling his aching chest Hien rose to his feet from his cot. His sheer determination diminishing the pain that plagued him. “Where is she?”
Yugiri was quiet. No protest for the young prince to rest. Not even an upward glance to meet his eyes.
His throat tightened. That rabbit heart of his, having beat so fast only moments ago, now felt dead. Ice in his veins. All at once he felt numb, not only to his aches and pain but to the wind and world around him.
Was this the will of the kami? Had Zenos truly bested her so easily? Was she alone on that battlefield, dying?
The thought alone tore at Hien. He had promised her. He had told her that everything would work itself out in the end. That they would see a future worth living together, with all of Eorzea and Doma at their side. Had he truly lied to her?
He still recalled the tremble in her hand as he held it only hours before the fighting had begun. A frightened quiver that only seemed to settle in his grip. He had looked her in the eye and lied.
“Lord Hien!” Yugiri’s voice was a distant sound to the crushing weight of Hien’s thoughts. He so desperately tried to recall her face beneath closed eyes. To hear the slightest catch in her voice, a hint of a laugh. He loved those moments and now hated it all the same. But a rise in Yugiri’s voice caused him to withdraw from those now painful memories. “My lord, look! Ser Aymeric returned!”
Hien did as instructed, following Yugiri’s alarmed gaze. His jaw slacked and heart thundered back to life.
Aymeric, flanked by Ishgardian soldiers, sprinted into the encampment and began shouting for his men. It was not Aymeric’s arrival alone that had caught the Domans interest. But rather what the Elezen cradled in his arms. The prince couldn’t waste a single precious moment and immediately ran to Aymeric’s side.
“Lord Hien,” Aymeric regarded the Doman prince, relieved to see him awake. “You’re awake already-”
But Hien cut Aymeric short, not interested in anything but the woman limp in his arms. “Is she alright?!”
Kirishimi’s expression could have fooled him. Made him believe she was simply asleep in the Lord Commanders arms. She always did go on about how much she enjoyed naps. But Hien was no fool. Death could easily wear the same mask.
Sensing the dread in Hien, Aymeric nodded. “Aye. For now. But I fear there may be little that can be done for her here.” The ebony haired elezen squeezed shut his own eyes, clutching tighter to the fallen warrior in his care. Such a mighty thing, so frail and doll-like now.
“The other scions…” Hien knew to which Aymeric meant immediately. Everyone else around her had already fallen victim to this sleeping curse to which they did not yet wake. Aymeric feared the worse, as he should.
A trembling hand reached for the woman in the others arms, dusting her icy cheek with a feather touch of his palm. He hated this. This bitter taste of helplessness. It was no different than leaving her to face the newly birthed primal, Tsukuyomi. Never had he run from a fight before until that day. Only Kirishimi and her friends stood to fight.
“She will be taken to Ishgard,” Aymeric announced, his tone level. “I will escort her personally.”
Ishgard? How far away was that? Hien cursed under his breath. Why couldn’t they be in Doma? Where he himself could look after her and greet her with a clumsy but heartfelt ‘good morning’ when she woke. What he wouldn’t give to be at her side, now more than ever.
Aymeric adjusted the motionless Kirishimi in his grasp, stirring Hien and prompting him to withdraw his hand.
“I love her,” His throat tightened as the words flew from his lips. It was akin to dying a thousand painful deaths not being able to hold her himself. To let her head rest in the crook of his shoulder and against his neck where she could hear for herself just how his heart sang for her. “So please…”
Although this outburst of a proclamation had taken Aymeric by surprise, he lowered his head in acknowledgement and offered his best mask of a smile. “I understand.”