Chapter Text
"Don't you dare do something this stupid and reckless ever again. Do you understand how worried we all were? How worried I was? Knowing you were there…. wherever that was, alone, dealing with gods knows what. Knowing I couldn't do anything but pray from here. Out of all the scares you've given me, this is by far the worst of them."
Taken aback by the tone in his voice, Mekah looked up, smiled and replied with, "But did you die though? Last I checked, the final days were upon us. But, my recklessness helped prevent them. So, I'll take the scolding you just gave me as a 'thank you' in which case, you're welcome"
She adjusted herself to find a more comfortable position in bed, "Plus, I'm sure the twins can hear you in Garlemald with all that yelling".
A sigh filled the room as Estinien stopped pacing and stared at this blue and green haired Miqo'te in shock. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Here she was, recovering from being on the brink of death, and she was making jokes? He couldn’t help but remember how she had collapsed to the ground upon returning from her fight with Zenos. How she went from being full of energy and fight left in her to nothing but a weak and frail version. She was almost unrecognizable to him.
Before he could get another word in, she continued, this time there was pain and anguish in her voice. “ Is this why you came back from Radz-at-Han? You traveled all the way to Old Sharlayan to yell at me?”
“What? No”, he had never heard such anger and frustration aimed at him, was she mad at him?
“Then why are you here? You’ve only repeated what Alisiae and the others have said.” Her voice started to shake, she had never raised her voice at Estinien before. She even surprised herself.
“I’m here to check on you. Why is that so hard to believe?”
Catching a glimpse of himself in the mirror, he saw why she was so shaken up. His demeanor was anything but welcoming, clenched fist, eyes as cold as ice. Not to mention the almost 2 feet size difference. His presence took up so much space in her tiny nap room, it was overwhelming.
Releasing the tension in his jaw, he took a deep breath and reached out his hand in an attempt to help her stand up.
She was reluctant but she took his hand while giving a very passive aggressive, “How long until you vanish again?”
"Aye, I see you're back to normal and to be fair, I did announce I was returning to Radz-at-Han when everything was said and done"
“Ooooh, the one time you announce it. Congrats”, she hissed.
Upon standing up, she felt a wave of dizziness overcome her. Mekah lost her footing and fell right into the Dragoons arms.
"Not completely back to normal, as you can see. I've been having dizzy spells as well as nightmares. I guess I should consider myself lucky that those are the only “side effects''. Thank the Twelve that the beds in Sharlayan are nicer than the Rising Stones. Plus, Alphinaud and Urianger said it should go away with time".
Time
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It's been a few weeks since Mekah and the Scions went to The Sea of Stars to prevent the Final Days from raging down onto Etheriys. Only a few weeks since Mekah faced the Endsinger AND Zenos. More importantly, it had only been a few weeks since she thought she had lost everyone she loved.
One by one the Scions disappeared in front of her to help pave her way to Meteion. While each one leaving hurt more than the last, the one she couldn't get over was Estinien.
Mekah had watched him grow from a vengeful, hate filled man to one who was capable of understanding and compassion and he proved it that day. That day would stay with her for the rest of her life. She watched as he faced a dragon out in the Sea of Stars and disappeared in the blink of an eye. He became the wind beneath her wings to guide her.
She was used to him coming to her aid when it was needed but never thought that he would believe in the cause enough to risk losing his life. At the time, they were unaware that Azem’s magick could bring everyone back. Blissfully unaware of the help they would receive from a certain Ancient duo.
So for him to go and potentially lay down his life so that she could see this to the end, broke her. She saw how much he had grown from when they first met and for that she was thankful yet, she feared she’d never have the chance to tell him that.
She shook her head at the thought as she turned to him, "You don't get to talk to me about recklessness. You're the one that left us first. You’re the one that disappeared. How did you think I felt? Having to stand there and be strong not only for me and literally the entirety of our Star, but Alphinaud .
You didn't have to console him and watch him pretend like he wasn’t hurting. You should really give a heads up before you decide to turn into the wind…or any element for that matter."
The silence that followed her statement was deafening.
I really hurt her didn’t I? That’s what this is about. He thought to himself.
Noticing his arms still around her from catching her fall, Estinien gently pulled her closer for a hug and with a low, quiet voice, whispered "I'm sorry".
Unable to believe what she'd just heard, she met his eyes and simply replied, "What?".
A little louder now, he repeated, "I'm sorry." He helped her stand once more and brought her back to her bed. "Here, you clearly need more rest."