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Cassian
When his daughter first came to Cassian practically begging him to teach her how to fly properly, he had been so excited that this day had finally come. The moment he’d realized Nesta was pregnant, Cassian had started dreaming of sharing important milestones with their children like this. He’d thought about how much kinder and more patient he’d be with Seraphina than his teachers had been with him, how wonderful it would be to share his love of the skies with his daughter the way he wished he could’ve with his mother.
But that was before reality entered the picture.
Cassian had tried to teach Sera for all of a quarter of an hour before he realized he wasn’t cut out for it, because the first time she fell out of the air his heart had fallen with her. He’d moved faster than he’d thought possible to stop her from hitting the ground, and Nesta had teased him for days about how dramatically he’d reacted.
Thankfully, Azriel had been more than willing to step in. He’d taught both Feyre and Nyx how to fly, so he was the natural choice to help Sera when Cassian couldn’t. Sera had been so excited to spend time with Azriel that she’d hardly been able to sleep the night before, and although Cassian was put out that he wouldn’t be the one to give Sera her first flying lessons, he knew there would be plenty of other ways to share his love of the skies with her.
“It’s okay, Papa,” Sera told him with all the understanding a child could muster up. They were waiting for Azriel to arrive at their home in Illyria, and she looked absolutely adorable with her hair braided out of her face. “Don’t be scared.”
“Papa will be just fine,” Nesta replied, shooting Cassian a look that clearly said don’t you dare ruin this for her. “Right, Papa?”
“Right,” Cassian responded immediately. He bent down so he could press a kiss to Sera’s dark hair, smoothing down some of the frizz that had formed when she’d yanked on her clothes. “I’ll be brave for you, zogu.”
Their conversation was effectively ended by Azriel stepping out of the shadows and into their backyard. The early spring air was still cool enough to immediately turn his cheeks a little pink, but they were all long used to the mountain air in their family.
“Good morning,” Azriel said after the last of his shadows had dissipated. He was dressed in dark leathers as usual, though his smile was bright as he turned it on Sera. “Ready to learn, Sera?”
“Yes!” Sera said back, practically bouncing on her feet now that Azriel was here. “Let’s go, let’s go!”
“Alright, alright,” Azriel replied with a little chuckle. He held out his arms and Nesta, Cassian, and Sera all latched onto whatever part of him they could reach. “We’re going.”
The familiar feeling of Azriel’s shadows enveloped them all as they traveled to a nearby clearing perfect for teaching little Illyrians how to use their wings properly. Cassian and Nesta watched as Azriel and Sera walked to the top of the gently sloped hill, just high enough for Sera to get a running start and take off without hurting herself if she fell, and settled in to keep an eye on their daughter.
“She’s growing up so fast,” Nesta said with a little sigh. She threaded her arm through Cassian’s and leaned into his side, contentment thrumming through their bond as his wing automatically moved to block her from the cold breeze. “I can’t believe she’s already learning to fly.”
“I feel like I blinked and she wasn’t a babe,” Cassian said back, turning to press a kiss to his mate’s temple. “You sure you can’t stop time anymore?”
“Very sure,” she replied dryly. It had been decades since she’d saved Feyre and Nyx’s lives, so the subject wasn’t nearly as sore as it had been all those years ago. “You don’t think I would’ve done it already if I still could?”
“Just testing you, sweetheart,” he responded, turning to her to drop a wink. When he turned back to watch Azriel and Sera again, he realized Azriel had finished giving her some pointers and was stepping back so she could try for herself. “Looks like they’re starting.”
Cassian watched with bated breath as Sera attempted her first flight of the day, her little wings flapping out and keeping her steady for a few glorious seconds before she overbalanced and dropped like a stone. He couldn’t keep a little noise from escaping as Sera ran out of time to course-correct and crashed to the ground, but he pushed down every instinct telling him to go and comfort his daughter.
It helped to have Nesta’s fingers suddenly digging into his arm through several layers of fleece. He knew that it was part of the process, but they both knew how much he hated watching Sera get hurt. Still, just because he had to let her go through this didn’t mean he couldn’t at least verbally confirm she wasn’t too badly hurt. “You alright, Sera?”
“Yes, Papa!” Sera called out, bouncing up from the ground like nothing had happened. She turned and gave everyone a delighted grin, like losing her balance mid-air was the best thing to ever happen to her. “Promise!”
“You’re doing wonderfully, Sera,” Nesta called back with a little wave before turning to Cassian with a slightly exasperated expression on her face. While they waited for her to trudge back up the hill so she could try again, she said, “Cassian. Are you sure you want to be here?”
“Of course I want to be here,” Cassian immediately replied. No matter how anxious he was watching his daughter learn to fly, he knew how important it was for him to be here. “I just— I know how many things can go wrong, sweetheart.”
“She’s six,” she responded with a roll of her eyes. “She can’t even go that far before she gets tired, my love.”
“That won’t stop her from flying into a tree,” he muttered. “Or going too high. Or going too low. Or—”
“Or you can stop being such a mother hen,” she gently interrupted him before he could go on for too much longer. “You know none of us would let her get seriously injured.”
“I know,” he grumbled. He knew very well that between Azriel’s shadows, Nesta’s silver flames, and his own siphons, Sera would be more than safe. “I just can’t help but worry.”
“I know,” she repeated. She reached up and pressed a gentle kiss to his cheek, her eyes soft as she looked at him. “But we can’t protect her from everything.”
“Won’t stop me from trying,” he replied.
She just smiled. “I wouldn’t expect anything less.”
By the time Sera had finished talking to Azriel about what she’d done wrong and how to fix it for next time, Cassian had mostly managed to pull himself together enough to watch her try again. She soared through the air for a few seconds longer this time before she fell, and although the nerves were still there, pride was slowly but surely starting to take its place.
“Did you see that?” Sera asked excitedly, pushing herself up from the ground with another huge grin. She’d gotten far enough that Nesta and Cassian were but a few feet from her, and she quickly closed the remaining distance to continue talking. “I got so far!”
“You’re living up to your name, zogu,” Cassian replied. He couldn’t help but smile back at Sera in the face of her obvious joy at learning to do this. “We’ll be able to go flying together before you know it.”
Sera’s hazel eyes grew wide. “Really, Papa?”
“Really,” Cassian confirmed. He loved the idea of being able to share the skies with his daughter, and he couldn’t wait to show her even more of his favorite things about Illyria. Granted, it would be at least several years before she had enough stamina for longer flights, but he was still more than looking forward to it.
“Maybe I’ll be able to read in peace for once,” Nesta joked, reaching out to brush some grass off of Sera’s coat. “No interruptions.”
“But Mama, I thought you liked it when Papa interrupted you,” Sera responded with confusion. “Isn’t that why you show him all your love books?”
“Don’t keep your uncle waiting,” Cassian told Sera immediately, not needing to look at Nesta to know how pink she was. “Less talking, more flying!”
At the reminder that she was in the middle of a flying lesson, Sera didn’t waste any time in turning and running her way back up the hill. “Sorry, Uncle Azriel!”
“Mother save me,” Nesta muttered once Sera was far away enough.
“Mother save us both,” Cassian amended, turning to smile at his wife’s still-pink cheeks. “I hope our other children won’t be so observant.”
As expected, Nesta just rolled her eyes and turned back to watch Sera continue the lesson. They both knew it could take years to have another, but that was alright.
Cassian had waited his whole life for Nesta, and another few decades for Sera. He didn’t mind waiting more if it meant spending days like this, surrounded by the people he loved with everything in him.