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A loud and deafening silence had cast itself upon the two. They were sitting calmly and quietly in the little wooden hut they had found when they first started doing this, when they first started sneaking out, this time doing it just to see one another for at least a few moments before the next day, before they possibly died, before the biggest event of their lives.
It was Tubbo’s idea at first, to sneak around during the night to meet his beloved, Ranboo had hesitated in the beginning, scared of what their parents would think or do if they found out about it, but later on gave in when the rivalry between their kingdoms just kept on going, not seeming to ever come to an end after so long, after so many years of it. Ranboo was the one who had suggested finding the hut, a place for the two to stay if the weather conditions weren’t the best to hang around in, or if any team or group of their kingdoms went to scout around the borders of their area to find them.
The two hated it; they both absolutely hated every single bit of it. What happened to the times when the two kingdoms used to partner with one another? What had happened to the times when their parents used to be good friends? What had happened to the times when their parents would allow the two to meet each other on a daily basis, growing their relationship with one another? What happened to all these happy moments and memories that had slowly turned into dust like nothing? Like they never happened at all, like they were just wiped out of existence, erased from their memories, like it all was nothing.
They were scared of what would happen next, scared of what would appear with that upcoming war th enext day, scared if it came down to them killing each other in the end, scared of loosing one another on that field, and oh boy were they afraid of what would happen after, if their parents found out about this, found out about what was between them, found out about the sneaking out they had done for basically every night now, found out about their own kids betraying their respective kingdoms like that, like nothing, like all the royal rules meant absolutely nothing to them.
"You know, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if someone hurt you during that war," Tubbo spoke, his voice filled with a sign of horror if anyone ever hurt or laid a finger on them. He would kill if that thought had ever came true. His voice broke through the loud silence of the very dimly lit hut the two were in.
The brunette couldn’t see Ranboo’s reaction to his words, but he could definitely see the silhouette of their tall figures dropping their head down to look over at their lap, where their hands rested, fiddling their fingers with each other, a soft yet sad sigh escaping their lips, forming a barley visible white cloud at the coldness of the weather they were in.
"We have already talked over this so many times before, Bo," Ranboo had begun. Their voice was shaky; they didn’t even want to think of what would happen during that war; they didn’t want to think of the consequences of it; they didn’t want to think about it in the first place; and it was that next morning, for god’s sake. They were scared, so scared of the outcome, so scared if they would lose the shorter brunette in front of them, so scared if it would end with him dying by their own hands, images of a peaceful and dead Tubbo laying in their arms flashing through their minds.
"I-I’m not letting it happen, t-the reasons are so so stupid, pointless even," they continue, not even bothering to think about their stutter, or even hide it like they usually do. They rubbed their freezing hands against one another, trying to form some sort of heat between their palms, but giving up when they had failed, as they had so many times before.
"I know, you said we’d get out of this and that we didn’t have to do it." Tubbo recalled the taller’s words and trailed off, slightly feeling bad at how the words all turned out to be wrong. Ranboo had said that the two would find a way, that the two wouldn’t have to deal with it, that the two would somehow escape all of this, but again, here they were, in a wooden hut in the middle of the woods, not so far away from where the war would take place that next day, seeing each other one last time before they were gone for good, or at least one of them.
He heard a very quiet whimper leave the other. Ranboo was trying to keep themselves silent. They always did that, not wanting to seem like a burden to others, but Tubbo saw right through them. He always did. He knew when something was wrong. He knew how mad Ranboo would get at themselves for assuring him that it’d all be fine. When it all went wrong, he could still remember their endless cries and apologies for making Tubbo trust their words so much. He remembered Ranboo asking him not to trust them like that anymore, but he’d always shake his head and say that he’d trust them no matter what, even if they were going to kill him at that very moment.
"Do you remember... how it all started?" The brunette spoke up again, after what seemed like hours but was only a few moments, slowly walking towards the other side of the little hut, sliding down the wall and onto the floor next to his beloved, Ranboo’s head quickly finding its way to rest on his shoulder, the same way they had rested it there so many times before, a little nod leaving the taller at Tubbo’s question, as they shakily exhaled. "You were just a shy little teen trying to figure yourself out." Tubbo speaks mostly to himself, the memory coming back to his mind once again, running a hand through Ranboo’s two-toned hair and brushing through it, which only causes them to lean more into his touch, making him smile.
"And for some reason, you helped me with it, even if you barely knew who I was." They finally spoke again, their voice less shaky, but it was still there, reaching out for Tubbo’s other hand that wasn’t busy toying with their hair.
"You were the one to call me off for being all clingy and shit… and now look at you" Tubbo lightheartedly teased with a short laugh at the end, getting a pinch in the palm of his left hand in return, which only causing him to laugh a little before resting his head against the wall behind him. "You know," he continues, "we could just leave before this whole thing tomorrow." Ranboo, who had been fiddling with his hand, suddenly stopped.
"What do you mean?" They asked, slightly looking up at Tubbo, who still had his head facing the ceiling in front of him, a light smile on his face and his eyes closed, although his hands never stopped running through Ranboo’s soft monochrome hair.
"You know, like how they do in those story books and novels your dorky arse likes to read all the time," he explained a bit more, finally looking over to Ranboo, who rested their head back down on his shoulder from where they were looking up at him, Tubbo’s hand finally letting go of their hair and resting on their side instead. "Run away from the royalty, and live in a little cabin in a village far, far away from here," Tubbo continues, earning a quiet hum from the other as they intertwined both of their hands together, Ranboo’s left hand in Tubbo’s right. "Your hands are cold," he comments, getting a slap on the back of his hand for that.
"Stop ruining the moment with your stupid comments." Ranboo lightheartedly scolds, a smile already formed on their face, before they slightly hide it in Tubbo’s shoulder. "Although that would be nice, you know," they continue, thinking about what Tubbo had said earlier. Just the two of them, in a small village, living in a little cabin like normal people, no royal responsibilities, no king and queen telling them what to do, normal jobs, a normal family, even if it was only the two of them.
"What? Your hands being cold all the time? I have to hold them for god’s sake," the brunette teases, getting another slap on the back of his hand, which only causes him to laugh a bit more at their reaction, "fine fine... yeah, it’d be nice." Tubbo finally takes in Ranboo’s words. It didn’t only seem nice to him, no, it seemed amazing, wonderful, like a paradise to him even.
"What will we even do there?" The taller asked, finally lifting their head off Tubbo’s shoulder to look him in the eye. He only gave them a small smile in return, brushing away some of his brown locks out of his eyes. He knew Ranboo would ask that; they always did.
"I’ll marry you," the brunette answered almost right away, so simply, not a single moment for him to rethink his words. It reminded him of what he had said to them a few months back, when the two were just hanging around in a little flower field they had found, sneaking out to see each other once again. Before the whole war thing began, before their duties increased,
It was late and on a full moon night, which was illuminating the area around them with a soft light. Tubbo had his back to a large oak tree, while Ranboo’s head had laid on his lap, a flower had occupied their hands, while he was brushing his fingers through their hair monochrome hair. ‘Hey Ranboo’, Tubbo had spoken, and quickly gained the attention of beautiful hetrochromic eyes. ‘I think I wanna marry you,’ he had continued, looking down at his beloved with adoration in his eyes, and had gotten a light laugh from the other. ‘God, take me out to dinner first,’ Ranboo had then jokingly replied, a laugh had escaped through their words, the light pink tint along with a smile not leaving their face.
"And I’ll say yes," Ranboo spoke, the same smile from that night plastered onto their face, slightly visible to Tubbo in the dark hut they were in. They would say yes, they knew they would say yes if Tubbo ever asked to marry them.
At sunrise, the two would make their leave for good. They would take nothing but some of the usual survival resources and weapons with them. Not those fancy weapons the royal families owned, oh no, just the smaller ones the villagers owned. They were unaware of where they would go, but it was definitely somewhere away from the two kingdoms, away from the war that would happen that day, away from all the royal families and issues. They wouldn’t look back; they wouldn’t need to ever look back. They would find a little village as far away from the kingdoms as they could travel for. They would make themselves a home, just for the two of them to live in and grow together. They would live there for years, just enjoying each other’s company and simply living there. They would also get married, just like Tubbo had said that night before they left, with golden rings on each of their left ring fingers, the words "boo" and "bo" carved into them by Tubbo himself. They would even adopt a little child who goes by Michael, making the three of them a very happy family. Ranboo would work at a small bookshop while Tubbo would work as a salesman in the nearby town. Their child would go to school once he was old enough. Their families would wonder where the two youngest royal members had gone, although they were both at the age of twenty when they left, and their parents would then send teams and scouts in search for them around the area and some other places outside. One of those teams would come back eventually, showing both kings and queens their respective children’s crowns, and they would inform them that the items were left in a small wooden hut on the sidelines of the kingdoms. They would wonder where their kids had left, sending even more groups out across other villages and kingdoms to look out for them, but they would never actually find the two, both gone like dust, disappearing out of nowhere.