Work Text:
‘The wind blowed somewhere in the vacuo night
Bringing promises of swift skyes and pearly blue eyes
Your soul is growing close to me and yet still I harbor a bit of amnesty
Can we truly trust one another
What are you to me’
“Hey emerald what are you doing!?” Nora pronounced popping out of nowhere
“GYU-Uh!?!?” Papers went flying everywhere at emeralds overreaction “n-nothing” she started gathering them up holding them close to her chest “just writing poetry”
Nora plopped down onto the soft sands beside her “oooooooooo, i didn’t know you wrote poetry, lemme see” she tried to peek over the taller girls shoulder but she wasn’t budging which made Nora automatically pout against her
“I-I usually don’t but I’m having some unusually strong feelings and Oscar says this is the best way to get it out. I dunno - I kinda like it” she finished. Nora pouted once more against her shoulder
Emerald rolled her eyes handing the orange haired girl a sheet of one of her papers. Not the one she had her truest feelings on though. At least. Not yet.
Nora’s eyes scanned the sheet in awe as she began reading aloud:
“Mountains howl against the cold night sky,
I can feel the tickling breath of thunder against me
More sandstorms appear to be on their way
But none like the ones I have in my heart
They begin to cloud my eyes and the inner workings of my mind
Whenever we’re apart”
Nora put the paper down clearly processing every single word as her eyes were staring into the very molecular structure of the grains around them
Finally she spoke blue eyes beaming as she turned to emerald, paper in hands “WOOOOOooooOOOOwwww, you wrote this!? You didn’t tell me you were a wordsmith!”
Emerald rubbed the back of her neck nervously trying to avoid all contact with those pretty damn eyes as best she can “y-yeah”
Nora smirked nudging emeralds shoulder “that’s kinda hot”
Emeralds mind went piping hot ‘ohgodohvodohgod! She called me hot what do I do!?’ Yet the other side of her mind went ‘no she called your writing hot dodo play it cool’
But all that came out was a parched “ye-yeah I guess so”
“Who is this all about anyway” nora said sorting through two other papers scattered on the ground, luckily emerald kept her deepest words still close to her heart
Nora continued:
“Footsteps like mighty lilacs on the ground, they fall and make a ceremonious sound
Like travesty to my ears - will I fall near
Is this what you want from me?”
Nora looked up at the green haired girl “man your down bad huh?”
Emerald gulped, deep breath in deep breath in “nora I uh-“
“No-no need to tell me. I know true love when I see it. Your in love with that camo girl huh? She is pretty cute if you ask me” she was still bright and cheerful, yet a slight light dimmed down in her eyes
Had she imagined it
“Who? Ilia? No, no she’s cute but - “ emerald grabbed Nora’s hands who startled at the surprise “listen, I haven’t been completely honest with you-“
“What do you mean? Your always honest” warm eyes interjected
Emerald shook her head “no, no, I mean” she shoved the page she held closest to her heart towards Nora’s chest “here take it, I mean, trust starts somewhere and I uh….”
Emerald blushed “I trust you with my heart Nora”
If Nora could go any paler she did before a pair of rosy hues set in, pupils shrinking in size and getting rather watery before she even began reading the damn page “oh-alright, I’ll do my best to-“ Nora finally broke down into her regular elaborate shenanigans “GAHHHH YOUR JUST SO cu-u-utteeee!!!!” She practically threw herself at a surprised emerald who reeled backward from the hug.
Waterworks were still shooting out of Nora’s eyes, till she began to wipe them away. It was very cute. Emerald began to help.
“Here, lemme help you out with that” she reached into her pocket to pull out an orange handkerchief Oscar had given her.
‘To help with the crying’ he said ‘your eyes are to youthful to be full of tears, have fun - be full of life for me dear sister’
That had only made her cry more, to be called someone’s sister - to have a family. A real adoptive family.
She wiped Nora’s eyes down “you mean so much to me” Nora’s breath hitched hands jutting to emeralds on her cheek “you all mean so much to me and you don’t even know”
And suddenly it’s as if something clicked in Nora’s brain “is that what the poem is about?”
Emerald looked away putting the handkerchief down in a spot away from the sand “I just, I wish you guys could trust me, I mean I know I still have my own apprehensions about all of you quite like the aforementioned word but-“
“Emerald we do trust you” she turned emeralds face back to meet her “we fought side by side in the trenches for months together - how could we not, you’re like family to us” like more to me’ Nora thought
“I know,” emerald said, stroking the sides of Nora’s hands “it’s just, back when I was with Salem, cinder and good ole Mercury it was like no matter how much I did it was never enough to get them to turn to me for the hard stuff. Like I was always a pawn more than family or a confidante”
“Fuck that” Nora said turning emeralds face back to meet hers again “your like family to me, and I have as much faith in you as I do renny”
Emeralds hands faltered ‘renny’ does he still mean that much to you? Of course he does. Cinder still means that much to me. But we bury them, like memories in sand until we can’t feel them anymore and when a big gust of wind comes to blow all those great sands of repression away it’s like opening up a big can of lava works.
Cold, yearning and much desired
Will our feelings ever change
Could you feel as much for me?
Emerald shoved the paper at her again, “here - read it, I- I don’t want these emotions anyway”
“Huh?” Nora said confused
You are like the sun in the sand always guiding my way but the night is growing dim and my constitution is slowly faltering, like a stomach falling away.
Nora lifted the paper up to her eyes and slowly began reading:
“The wind blowed somewhere in the vacuo night
Bringing promises of swift skyes and pearly blue eyes”
A hand slowly goes up to her mouth
She looks at me
“E-emerald- are you talking about me”
I turn away, I don’t answer
My heart hurts to much to bear
I can’t, I can’t do this again. Not like with cinder
“Emerald speak to me!”
I shook my head “I can’t, not like, not like with cinder. I just can’t do these feelings again”
She grabbed my shoulders pulling herself up to my level in a pleading manouever “it’s not bad to feel, I just need to know-“
“I just need to know what you are to me!” Both at the same time, they were now facing each other only noses away
Emerald broke the silence “that’s the, that’s the last line of the poem”
Nora could feel ems breath against hers, her own heart quickening like thunder in her chest “I-is that so”
“Yes” emerald grabbed the page and held it up to awestruck hues “take a look”
Blue eyes searched:
“Your soul is growing close to me and yet still I harbor a bit of amnesty
Can we truly trust one another
What are you to me”
Nora’s heart felt like it was quickening more with the coming storm in the background “e-em,”
“I know Rens always going to be a huge part of your life and cinder is for me but I just need you to know that if I could have you by my side for the rest of my days I would be the happiest woman on earth” she cupped Nora’s face pulling her close “those eyes are to pretty to ever feel sad again”
Nora just wanted to fucking go for it right then
“Do you trust me?”
“Do you trust me?” They both said quickly
And they both dived straight in. Tongues thrashing against the others open teeth, Nora literallly sprawling em out upon the ground, dust and dirt and sand and wind dancing all over twisting figures
She tasted of honey and ferny sweets
And she tasted of electricity and everything unique
It was a long time before they parted
When the darkness fully dawned and rain pelted on their backs
They both giggled and held each other as they would do again and again in the days to come
And I have the question of what you finally are to me answered
My lover….my family….and a friend <3