Chapter Text
There hadn’t been a clearing in that part of the woods before, but there definitely was now. Most of the trees were toppled over or ripped down the middle. A few had been singed down to a stump and even the one survivor she and Jade were leaning against now was scorched near the top.
Kit was pretty sure she had bruises from head to toe. If she didn’t know any better, she’d have thought magical armour would protect her from that sort of thing but apparently as long as nothing life-threatening or evil happened the Cuirass was OK with her becoming an overripe banana.
A soft hiss beside her made her turn her head and she saw Jade holding her scorched elbow, examining it with gritted teeth.
She’d been hit pretty hard a few times, each blow a jolt to Kit’s gut that she’d had to struggle to ignore to avoid getting clobbered herself. If the Crone’s henchmen had been frightening, the Wyrm’s were straight out of Hell.
The big guy was the worst, bulkier than the thing with the cage over his head that they’d fought back in the Immemorial City but faster because his club was more compact and hit like a sledgehammer. Kit had taken a blow to her thigh, knocking her over and he probably would have smashed her head open if Jade hadn’t jumped on his back to slit his throat.
Then there was that damn dragon. Two heads full of teeth and fire that Kit was immune to on most of her body but Jade was definitely not which was why her elbow was burned. It could have been much worse if Kit hadn’t curled herself around her, using the Cuirass to shield both of them. The problem was, Jade was bigger than her, so it was impossible for Kit to shield all of her.
Both heads had survived to fly away and were still out there somewhere. If Kit ever caught up to it, she was going to cut out its heart for hurting her Jade.
Having cleaned the wound now, Kit saw Jade struggling with one hand to wrap it in the clean cloth Elora had given her and motioned that she could take over. Jade yielded readily, leaning against the tree to watch her in silence.
With nothing but regular armour to protect her, she was probably even worse off than Kit though she was being her usual stoic self about it. Kit was certain she could map out most of where she’d been hit the hardest, guessing where the bruises were underneath her clothes and couldn’t help worrying a little that there might be something worse she wasn’t seeing.
“You, OK?” she asked, watching Jade closely.
“My answer’s the same as the last five times you've asked,” Jade groaned. “Still alive.”
“First time you just said yes,” Kit reminded her.
She finished up with the bandage, wrapping it loosely so it wouldn’t press too hard against the raw skin and then with a sigh, she leaned back herself to rest her aching limbs.
“Hmm.” Jade took her time speaking, unwilling to exert herself. “Think we should go join the others?” she wondered, nodding her head to where Graydon and Elora were already starting to pack up a short distance away.
With a moan, Kit lay her head back against the tree, feeling the adrenaline start to wear off. They probably should move before they got too stiff, but she really didn’t want to.
“Can we have just, like, five more minutes?” she suggested. “No offence to Graydon and Elora but they didn’t get knocked around as much as we did.”
“Sounds fair,” Jade agreed appreciatively.
She pressed her shoulder against Kit’s, infinitely gentle despite the Cuirass, and closed her eyes. Grumbling aside, Kit knew Jade was just as relieved that they were safe as she was. They were both still a little on edge though and Kit suspected that the physical contact was Jade’s way of ensuring she knew where she was while she rested.
Though she probably should have followed Jade’s example, Kit kept her eyes open. They were both soaked with sweat, grime and whatever the Wyrm’s henchmen had that passed for blood, but Kit couldn’t stop marvelling at her, unable to tear her gaze away.
Jade was right, they were alive… and that was a small miracle after the battle they’d just had. And they’d won today which was a pretty big deal in the grand scheme of things. Not the end, but a fairly large step toward it. For the first time in a while, Kit thought they might actually live through all this.
“Jade…” she began hesitantly.
“Kit, I love you, but if you ask me one more time, magical armour or not, I’m gonna take offence,” Jade complained under her breath.
“It’s not that,” she said quickly.
Eyes still shut, Jade nodded for her to continue and Kit took a deep breath, hoping to pass it off as a sigh of exhaustion rather than nerves.
Then she went for it, as she did with everything else. Impulse over reason. Jumping off the end of a dock into freezing cold water. Except for that this time she was absolutely certain she wanted the chill to reach right down to her bones.
“Do you want to get married?”
Jade turned her head, eyes blinking open in surprise and gaped at her as if she’d just jumped from a lot higher than the end of a dock.
“What?” she questioned dazedly.
“Just… you know it really looks like we’re not gonna die after all,” Kit went on, rambling because she wasn’t really sure where to go with that response. “So, we’ll probably get to live, like, decently long lives and so, I was just thinking it’d be… uh… you know really great if I got to live mine with you. Not that you have to say yes,” she added awkwardly. “I know it’s complicated with your family and mine and everything and maybe you want to think about it-”
“Yes,” Jade answered, packing more resolve into one little word than Kit thought was possible.
“Yes, you want to think about it?” Kit guessed hopefully.
“No just yes,” Jade told her. Her mouth twitched, eyes sparkling in amusement when Kit rose her eyebrows questioningly. “Yes, I want to marry you,” she clarified warmly.
“Really?” Kit couldn’t keep the squeak of delight from her voice. “It’s not just ‘cause we just had the shit beat out of us?”
“No.” Jade chuckled, then winced a little, holding her side but keeping some of her smile. “Ow. No. It’s ‘cause you’re my favourite person in the universe.”
“Oh.” Kit felt her cheeks flush, a giddy smile spreading across her face. “Well that’s… that’s why I asked.”
Jade smirked at her, biting her cheek to keep in a laugh.
“I meant you,” Kit corrected, though she was pretty sure Jade was messing with her. “You’re my favourite too, you know?”
“I do,” Jade answered softly. She leaned in closer. “Does your face hurt?”
“No,” Kit answered quickly, seeing Jade’s eyes drop to her lips.
She wasn’t disappointed. Stiffly but adamantly, Jade lifted herself to kiss her. It only lasted a few seconds before she had to sit back down again, and they both tasted like salt and dirt, but she put enough fervour in it to send a jolt through Kit that momentarily numbed the pain from her bruises.
It was way better than getting smacked on the head. And it felt like a promise.
Kit took Jade’s hand, the one attached to the arm that wasn’t burned, bringing it up to kiss her knuckles. “I’ll find you a ring,” she vowed.
“I wouldn’t say no to that,” Jade answered. “But I don’t need one. Or anyone’s permission. If it were up to me, you’d already be my wife.”
“Wait, can we do that?” Kit asked, liking that idea. “Like, just decide we’re married now and skip the rest?”
“Probably not,” Jade guessed. “But we can figure the rest out when it doesn’t hurt so much to breathe.”
“Yeah,” Kit agreed tiredly. Then she smirked. “But, I’m totally your wife now.”
Jade laughed. “Stop,” she protested weakly. “Ow. OK. I’m yours too then.”
Their eyes met, brimming with the love they shared. Even if they were teasing each other, Kit knew they also absolutely meant it. Weddings and family and longstanding feuds aside, the bond had been cast in iron a long time ago. The rest was just a, hopefully enjoyable, formality.
“Deal,” Kit agreed.
Smiling, Jade took Kit’s hand with her good one, turning it over and spreading out her fingers so they were palm to palm with Kit’s balanced on hers. Kit savoured the warmth of where their skin pressed together, captivated by her touch.
“Let’s do this properly then,” Jade murmured.
Jade’s eyes met hers and Kit was pretty sure she’d have agreed to just about anything in that moment.
“I promise to be your wife,” Jade began. “To go where you go and to build our lives together as partners. To protect you when you need it… and to marvel when you don’t. That you’ll always be free. And always to love you.”
The way Jade looked at her as she spoke, the way each word came out like an oath, took Kit’s breath away. For a while, all she could do was stare back, caught up in her light like a moth fluttering toward the moon. How did she come up with this stuff right on the spot?
Then she realized it was her turn and Kit swallowed, flipping over their hands so that hers was supporting Jade’s while she searched for what to say.
“I promise to be your wife,” she repeated, her feelings flowing into her voice like a river. “To love who you love. To believe in this… in us… whatever happens. That my heart will go wherever yours takes you. And to love you for the rest of our lives.”
She couldn’t help a tiny smirk at Jade’s expression, staring like Kit had become her new centre of gravity.
Eyes never leaving Jade’s face, Kit flipped their hands so they were sideways now and gripped onto Jade’s, feeling her grip back.
“Guys?” Elora called, breaking into their trance.
“Just give us a minute.” “Hold on a sec.” They hollered back in unison.
From across the clearing, they saw Elora raise her hands defensively. Then their attention was back on each other.
“Married?” Kit asked softening instantly.
Jade was glowing as if she really was the moon, a thousand times more beautiful.
“Married,” she agreed.
That was real enough for her.
This time it was Kit’s turn to lift herself for the kiss, the ache in her body dulled by the liquid sunlight spilling into her.