Chapter Text
“Are you not going to say anything to her?”
Her whisper was harsh, harsher than she had meant it but- she was staring down her fiancé right now, knowing her- their- daughter was but a few steps away. She was thankful for Urianger stepping in (and she’d have to talk with him later about his regrets) but her focus was on the idiot in front of her.
Ignia had spoken to Minfilia earlier but like usual, what she said had gone in one ear and out the other. She was always the one praising Minfilia and reassuring her nowadays, so much so that it didn’t mean much, not as much as if Thancred would just finally say something to her. In fact, she knew that Minfilia worried that she was the cause of the arguments the two had but it was all in how Thancred had grown to treat her in the past year.
Grabbing his wrist, Ignia dragged him off, ignoring the attention they drew from Fox Magna, and the residents of Twine. Once they were far enough from the small town, she stopped, turned, and grabbed at his collar, knowing her anger was rolling off her (but hadn’t he been less in tune with her emotions after they got back from Il Mheg…).
“That is a young woman back there, looking to you for guidance and you- you just stay silent,” She could hear herself hiss, and her tail was at attention, “Urianger and I can say as much as we want but she looks to you for guidance first and foremost.”
“She has her own life to live. I do not want to make any decisions for her, I will not make decisions for her, not like what Ran’jit and Eulmore did,” She could feel the turmoil rolling under his skin but Ignia knew that right now, they didn't have time for him to brood.
“Telling her that you love her is not making a decision for her,” She jabbed her finger against his armor before gesturing behind her in Twine’s direction, “She thinks you hate her. That between her and the antecedent Minfilia, Ascilia, you would not hesitate to pick the antecedent, when I know , that is at least half of your turmoil right now.”
Ignia knew. The Minfilia who was his sister, who gave her life for a world, and the Minfilia, who was but five minutes from them, who they had saved from that gilded cage, who had become their daughter, he hated the idea that he would have to give up one for the other.
Yet.
They had all grieved their friend when Urianger first made that deal. One world for one life. That life that had given the First hope for a century, that left behind a legacy, a legacy they now treasured more than their own lives. The Minfilia with them now stood for a future, full of life, love, and hope.
Would he stay stuck in the past, or look towards the future?
His face turned bewildered and thoughtful, “…I don’t know.” Oh, she had said that last bit aloud.
“…then you can hold onto this. Until you feel ready to answer that question,” It hurt to do this. But she had to draw her lines in the sand, as she slipped off the engagement ring and pressed it into the palm of Thancred’s hand. The bracelets wore heavy on her wrists, knowing what burned inside her. She prayed she would last long enough to hear that answer, to finally hear him say all the things he had left unsaid.
She remembered how long it had taken him to say ‘I love you’ to her, how it had been while he was trying to play off just how worried he had been after their foolish assassination attempt on Zenos. He was always so scared to express his affection because the people he cared for openly died , leaving behind regrets and pains.
And yet, three years ago, he had stood there, after a ruined date spent killing sin eaters and tending to the wounded and asked her to marry him. They had wanted to have that promise of each other but two weeks after that, Minfilia had come into their lives. The young girl who barely remembered what the sky looked like had become priority one. And Thancred fell back on old habits, teaching her how to fight, yes, but he was distant, stern, and harsh. Ignia knew he saw Ascilia in her and kept away for fear of pushing things onto her that she was not.
Still, that only hurt her. Minfilia remembered Thancred as the first to reach out to her, to free her from her Eulmoran prison. For that reason alone, he had the greatest influence on her.
Ignia looked up, as she pulled away and watched and felt as so many emotions flew through Thancred, knowing she was the cause of them. She closed his fist around the ring, pulling his hands up to her lips, pressing a kiss against his knuckles, “I love you, Thancred. But I can’t abide by your silence. Your inaction.” She dropped his hands, turning on her heel.
“Ignia!” She stopped but she didn’t turn around, she couldn’t bear to see the look on his face, there was a beat before he started speaking, “Regardless of anything else, no matter how furious you are with me, no matter how much-“
It was everything she had to not turn around when she heard his voice break and how apologetic and lost he felt, and the sand crunched beneath his boots as he stepped closer, so close she could feel his body warmth, but he didn’t touch her, “Regardless of the rest of the world, all the worlds, know that I love you, Ignia.”
Leaving her heart with him, there among the sand, she stepped away, returning to Twine to see what else needed to be done before they could set off for Nabaath Areng. If the others noticed that her ring was not on her finger, no one commented, for it wouldn’t have been the first time she moved it to a chain underneath her shirt. Still, Urianger, as always, just seemed to know. She could tell from the bewildered look he gave her. When Thancred returned to Twine a little bit after her, she noticed the hint of redness in his eyes but it was the same anyone would have after enough time in a desert. Still, Ignia stuck to Minfilia’s side, keeping an eye on her, until it was time to leave.
“They’re everything to me. All I have and all I need.”
“I’m sorry for all the things I’ve left unspoken…I’ll not have you waste that newfound resolve on me.”
“…I leave her in your hands, as always.”