Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Kai counted one, two, three seconds before he spun around to face Cinder. 

"I can't believe you kidnapped me!" he yelled, knowing he should feel guilty about her startled expression but too angry to care. "We're on a spaceship, Cinder. In space!" He pointed at the wall, even though he could not see whether it had a window or not. "I can't be on a spaceship. I have a country to run. I have people who need me. We are on the verge of a war. Do you understand that? War. Where people die. I cannot be up here, messing around with you and your band of misfits! Do you even know that you are housing one of her mutants up there?"

Cinder blinked. "Oh, yeah. That's Wolf. He's harmless. Well, not harmless..." She rolled her eyes.

A hysterical laugh burst out of him before he could rein it in. "I can't—how could—what were you thinking?"

Cinder crossed her arms over her chest in a defiant gesture Kai would have found adorable any other day. "You're welcome," she muttered.

He glowered. "Take me back to Earth."

She had one hell of a nerve; he had to admit that.

"I can't do that."

"Cinder—" He let out a huff of a breath. Maybe he was going the wrong way with this. Maybe he needed to be a little gentler.

Already his change of tone was taking effect on Cinder. Caught off guard, she pinched her elbows, and Kai could see she was trying to gather her composure.

"As someone who understands why you did this, and admires your ability to actually accomplish it, I am—pleading with you. Cinder. Please. Take me back."

She filled up her lungs with air, and Kai waited. 

"No."

And just like that, Plan B evaporated. Kai dug both hands through his hair.

"When did you become so frustrating?"

She scuffed the toe of her boot against the floor, not meeting his eyes.

"Fine! As your emperor, I command you to return me to Earth. Immediately."

Cinder rocked on her heels. "Kai ... Your Majesty. He was surprised how much the formality from her irritated him. 

"You may recall that I'm Lunar. And Lunars are forbidden from being granted citizenship in the Eastern Commonwealth. Therefore ... you're no longer my emperor."

"This isn't a joke."

Her expression morphed, giving away that she'd been stung. "You have no idea how seriously I'm taking this."

"Are you? Do you even know what the consequences are going to be for what you've done?"

"Yes, actually. I know this is a war. I am aware that more people are going to die before this is over. But we didn't have a choice." 

Choice. Kai hated that word.

"Your choice was to stay out of the way! Your choice was to do nothing! This is my job, my responsibility. I'm the emperor. Let me handle it." He should've known it wouldn't be that simple.

"By letting you marry her? That's handling it?" That probably hadn't been his smartest choice, but...

"It's my decision."

"It's a stupid one!"

Kai spun away from her. He caught a glimpse of Cinder's expression--wide eyed for a second, then gone, replaced by sheer annoyance--at him or herself, he couldn't tell.

But the slight change made him think...

"Please," he said, his voice strained as he faced her again. Please let me be wrong. "Please tell me this isn't some ... some petty act of jealousy. Please tell me this isn't all because I asked you to the ball, or that time in the elevator, or—"

Cinder's annoyance became more pronounced. "Oh, you can't be serious. I hope you don't really think so little of me."

Ignoring the little sting behind his ribs, Kai looked at her. "You shot me, Cinder, and then you kidnapped me. I honestly don't know what to think."

"Well, believe it or not, we didn't just do this for you."

I know that. Kai wasn't that self-centered.

 "We're trying to save the whole world from your power-crazy fiancée. I refuse to let Levana become empress. I refuse to give her free rein over the Commonwealth. But we need more time."

"More time for what? All you've done is make her angrier, so that when she retaliates, her wrath is going to be that much worse. Was that a part of your master plan, or are you just making this up as you go along?" Kai knew he wasn't being fair to her, but the hurt and confusion had tangled together, morphing into an emotion he could barely recognize.

The anger was clear on Cinder's face, and she opened her mouth to tell him something. But then she closed it again.

Swallowed.

"I have a plan, to end this for good. But I need your help."

His help. He liked that more than he would admit. But now so wasn't the time.

He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Cinder. I hate Levana as much as you do. But she's the one pulling the strings here. She has this army ... it's like nothing I've ever seen before. Those little skirmishes that killed sixteen thousand people a couple weeks ago? Laughable compared to what she's really capable of." He really wished he were lying, that it was all a joke, that he could go back to being a boy--not a man, but a boy--where it was going to be all right. Where he could talk to Cinder like a boy and a girl, where war and marriage alliances and plague didn't exist. 

 "Plus she has an antidote to letumosis," he continued, "and we desperately need it—you know how much we need it. So while the idea of marrying Levana and crowning her empress makes me want to gouge out my own eyes--" he cringed "I don't have a choice." There was that word again.

"Gouge out your own eyes?" she said softly. The anger had gone. "She could make you do that, you know."

His gut plummeted. "So could you, I'm told." In her own way, she was terrifying.

She looked away. "Kai—Your Majesty—"

He waved his arms through the air. "Kai is fine. I don't care." Not when it comes to you.

But she pressed her lips together, obviously not getting the implication. "You have to trust me. We can defeat her. I know we can."

"How? Even if ... let's say you did. Let's say you even managed to kill her. There's still a whole posse of thaumaturges ready to take her place, and from what I've seen, they're not much better." Not unless she meant...

Kai refused to even acknowledge his theory in his mind, having been tempted by false hope far too often.

"We'll choose the person to replace her. We ... already have her replacement, actually."

He snickered. "Ah. I see. Because you think the Lunar people will bow to just any ... one..." He trailed off, eyes widening. Too many coincidences. "Unless ... wait. You don't mean...?"

Cinder stared towards the floor.

Ignoring the boundaries that had been erected between them during the separation, Kai stepped closer to her. "Did you find her? Princess Selene? Is that what this is all about?"

Cinder fidgeted with a pair of pliers; the nervous tick was oddly charming. She hadn't covered her metal hand and this seemed to be bothering her--why, he didn't know.

Did you think I would care?

"Cinder?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I found her," she breathed, coming back to Earth--well, space.

Remembering the short girl from earlier, Kai pointed to the cargo bay. "Is it that blonde girl?"

Cinder shook her head. As though they were playing a guessing game, Kai frowned. "The girl from France? What was her name--Scarlet something?"

She squeezed her pliers, as if trying to forget a painful memory. "No. Not Scarlet."

"Then where is she? Is she on this ship? Can I meet her? Or is she still on Earth somewhere? Is she in hiding?"

Cinder said nothing. Kai felt a frown etch onto his face. "What's wrong? Is she all right?"

"I have to ask you something, and I want you to be honest." Why was she avoiding the question?

Suspicion clawed at him, the emotion feeling oddly out of place associated with someone who, not so long ago, he'd thought he could trust. It hurt him and he could tell it hurt Cinder too.

Her death grip on the pliers loosened. "Do you really think I brainwashed you before? When we met? And all those times, before the ball..."

His shoulders drooped, disappointment as well as a hint of embarrassment taking over. "Really? You're changing the subject to talk about this?"

"It's important to me." She turned away and started gathering her tools. Kai watched, slightly fascinated. "I understand if you do. I know how it must have looked."

Kai fidgeted with his ceremonial sash, then, after a moment, pulled it over his head and bunched it up in his fists, needing something to hold onto. "I don't know. I never wanted to believe it, but I've had to wonder." 

I don't believe it.

Because it was you.

 "And when you fell, and I saw your glamour ... Cinder, do you have any idea how beautiful your glamour is?" 

She cringed. Both of them knew that this wasn't a compliment.

You're even more painful to look at than she is.

Was that what he'd said? He could hardly believe it now.

"No," she said, returning her tools to the wall. "I can't see it."

"Well, it's ... it was a lot to take in that night. But then, Levana has manipulated me plenty of times, so I know what it feels like. And it never felt like that with you." I've never felt that way before.

She released the last tool, seemingly relieved.

"Of course, the media wants to think that's what happened. It would be convenient." Bitterness seeped through his words. 

"Right." She glanced at him over her shoulder, a slight frown on her face. "A convenient excuse for inviting a cyborg to the ball."

He blinked. "For inviting a Lunar to the ball." The cyborg thing was getting ridiculous.

Cinder's expression softened, lightening his heart a little. "Not that it makes a difference what I say--" It does, to me. More than you know. "--but ... I never did. Manipulate you, I mean. And I never will." She hesitated, visibly. But even then, Kai couldn't help feeling that this promise was special.

A small thing, just between the two of them.

"And I did try to tell you about being cyborg. I mean, kind of. I'm sure I considered it at least twice."

Kai started to shake his head. He couldn't deny it; he'd believed the stupid prejudice at first. "No, you were right before. If you'd told me, I probably never would have spoken to you again." He stared down at the sash twisted between his fists, wishing the thing he was going to say would be a little less embarrassing. "Although, I like to think I would act differently now."

He felt his ears redden. Smooth.

But then her gaze met his, and he allowed himself a brief smile.

He could tell she'd been waiting for it.

But he could feel it starting to fade.

"Cinder. Look. I am glad I'm not married right now, but this was still a huge mistake. I can't risk angering Levana. Whatever you're planning, you have to leave me out of it."

"I can't. I need your help."

He sighed, unable to hold his resolve together. Not when it came to her.

"You think Selene can overthrow her?"

She bit the inside of her cheek, another adorable tick. "I do."

"Then I hope she intends to do it soon."

Cinder dragged her hands down her sides, her expression nervous. "Kai, she may not be exactly what you were hoping for. I don't want you to be disappointed. I know you put a lot into trying to find her and—"

"Why? What's wrong with her?" Anxiousness knotted his stomach.

Cinder tied her fingers together. She really was nervous. "Well. She was rescued from that fire, but it destroyed a lot of her body. She lost some limbs. And a lot of her skin had to be grafted. And ... she's just not ... entirely whole."

He furrowed his brow, mind running through a hundred possibilities at once. "What do you mean? Is she in a coma?"

"Not anymore." She was adorably worried. "But she's a cyborg."

He processed.

Cyborg.

Lunar.

Female.

She couldn't mean...

His eyes glanced around the room, needing to look away from the face that had haunted his dreams for months to adjust to this.

"I see," he told her slowly, finally daring to meet those brown eyes. "But ... is she all right?"

Cinder let out a laugh that bordered on hysterical. "Oh, yeah, she's great. I mean, half the people in the world want to kill her and the other half want to chain her to a throne on the moon, which is just what she's always wanted. So she's fantastic."

He stared at her, not sure whether it was normal to be slightly in love with such a madwoman. "What?"

Cinder shut her eyes, looking like she was trying not to freak out. She opened them again and spread her hands out as if she were going to negotiate with him. I know I have a few big secrets, and I stole your heart, but maybe we can talk our way through?

He almost snorted at the thought.

 She seemed to be hesitating. Looking at the ceiling, she took in a breath.

Then she looked into his eyes again, and no amount of trusting her, of knowing her, could have prepared him for what she said next.

"It's me, Kai. I'm Princess Selene."

Chapter Text

Oh.

That was Kai's only coherent thought.

His hands loosened on the sash, and he gave up on it, letting it drift towards the floor.

Cinder let the silence drag out for a few seconds--probably to let Kai process--before clearing her throat. "And in case you weren't sure, I was being sarcastic before about all that 'great' stuff. Not that, I mean—I know you have your own things to worry about, so you don't need to ... I don't ... I'm fine, really. It's just been a rough few weeks with the whole"—she circled her hands wildly through the air in a this is a lot gesture— "Peony-ball-Levana-wedding thing. And now Dr. Erland is dead and Scarlet is gone and Thorne is blind and Wolf ... I'm not sure. He's so still these days and I'm really starting to worry about him. But I've got it under control. I can do this. I'm—"

"Stop. Please stop talking." The rambling, adorable as it was, was cutting through his ability to process her words.

It's me. I'm Princess Selene.

It had been her?

Cinder's mouth was in a tight line. The silence went on.

Cinder opened her mouth, but Kai, not sure what he would hear and what he wanted to hear, held up his hand. She chewed down on her lower lip--the same way, he noticed, as she'd done the day of the market.

"You?" he finally said, not sure what else he was to say. "You are Princess Selene?"

Grimacing, she rubbed at her wrist as if it would loosen up the conversation . "Surprise?" There was the sarcasm.

"All this time?" He couldn't quite believe it—as if he would reach out to touch her and she'd vanish, nothing more than a dream.

It was you.

She ducked her head, bashfulness climbing up her face. He knew he was staring at her but didn't want to stop. "Um, yeah, technically. Dr. Erland figured it out first, when I was taken in for the cyborg draft. He ran my DNA and ... yeah. But he decided not to tell me until I was locked up in prison, which complicated a few things."

Kai laughed—a genuine laugh only she could coax out of him. Then the pieces clicked faster. "Oh, stars. Levana knows, doesn't she? That's why she hates you so much. That's why she's so determined to find you."

"Yeah, she knows."

"And it was you. This whole time, it was you." He wanted to step closer and reach out, just to be sure.

"You're actually taking this better than I thought you would." 

He dragged both hands down his face. "No, you know, it almost makes sense. Kind of." Dr. Erland's note. The fact that she'd run. "Although ... somehow, I always pictured the princess ... I don't know. In a dress." It was a stupid thing to say, and embarrassment clawed at him a second later.

Cinder laughed, though—and he felt a strange thump in his chest at the vibrant sound.

"And I always thought that when I found her, it would be so easy. We would just ... present her to the world and announce her as the true queen, and Levana would crawl away to some hole. I never imagined that Levana would already know. That she would be fighting it." Looking back on it, that had been ridiculously naive.

She quirked an eyebrow. "I'm beginning to think you may not know your fiancée very well." This prompted a strange mixture of embarrassment and annoyance.

He scowled at her, refusing to be bullied. "That's it, Cinder. No more secrets. I don't know if I can survive any more big reveals from you, so if you have anything else to tell me, out with it. Right now." He'd never felt more like a leader.

Cinder rocked back on her heels. He could see she was deep in thought.

Something on her face gave away unspoken words—something she would never say. She opened her mouth, lips curving with different words than the ones she finally said.

"I can't cry," she whispered, as though bracing for impact.

Kai blinked, then unwittingly reached up to scratch his ear. "I already knew that." And I'm so sorry. YOU don't deserve it. Not you.

"What? How?" She looked as though she would cry, if she could.

"Your guardian may have said something about it. And I ... I've seen your medical records." His gut twisted—in sympathy, not disgust.

"My—" Her eyes widened with panic. "You've seen ... you know...?"

Why do you think it matters to me?

"You were a fugitive and I needed to know more about you and I ... I'm sorry." Sorry that I didn't understand before. I was an idiot.

She squeezed her eyes shut, trembling. Probably wondering what he had thought. What he had seen.

Whether he would always see the same thing when he looked at her.

"No, it's all right," she said. "No more secrets." 

He felt a hint of smugness at these words.

She trusted him.

He took a step toward her, curiosity getting the better of him. "Your eyes ... are they really...?"

"Synthetic," she murmured, squeezing her arms around herself.

"And that's why you can't cry?"

She nodded, her eyes not quite meeting his. He moved to step in front of her, finally trying to check if this was real, if she was real.

And she was there.

Just close enough to touch. His fingers itched, needing to at least try.

He shook himself. Don't be a creep.

 "I don't need the tear ducts for lubrication, and they were getting in the way of ... um." She tapped a finger against her temple, gesturing. "I have a retina scanner and display in my eye. It's like a really small netscreen, so there's a lot of wiring. Oh, stars, I can't believe I'm telling you this." She buried her face in her hands, her bashfulness warming his heart.

I like that you're telling me this.

"It's kind of brilliant," he told her, meaning it. Now, it was always the truth with her.

She choked with laughter. That laugh was something worth hearing.

Unable to resist the temptation, Kai reached for her at last. "Can I see?"

She groaned in mortification. Kai couldn't help wishing she'd be a little more willing to share.

He gently pulled her hands away from her face, resisting the urge to run his thumbs over her wrists. Looking into the brown depths that had haunted his dreams, he tried to imagine a netscreen, wiring, a control panel.

It was unbelievable in the best sort of way.

But he couldn't see any of it.

Fighting a twinge of disappointment, he told her, "You'd never even know."

Cinder raised her eyes to the ceiling, looking as if she were at war with herself.

Please show me.

"Watch the bottom of my left iris," she whispered at last. He dropped his gaze there. He watched closely, observing every shade of brown, every fleck. But still, nothing.

But then he saw it. A small flash of light in those infinite depths. "There's ... is that...?"

"Newsfeed."

"It's so small. Just a dot, really." It was amazing. Just like she was.

"It looks a lot bigger to me." 

The moment seemed to change after that. Kai didn't know when or how, but suddenly he'd stopped looking at her synthetic eyes, or the newsfeed. He wasn't looking at anything but her, needing to memorize every angle of that face, every layer of brown in those eyes. The fall of her hair over her face and the embarrassed part of her lips all together were making his heart thump in a strange way.

And she seemed to realize it.

Kai licked his lips, not sure what had prompted him to do it. "I'm sorry I had you arrested. But I'm glad you're all right."

"Really? You don't hate me for ... shooting you?"

He felt his mouth twitch.

I could never hate you.

 Remembering the gun from earlier, he reached for her cyborg hand with both of his own. Despite the metal, it felt like one of the most human things he'd ever touched. "I don't remember that medical diagram saying anything about a gun. My security team probably would have found that to be useful information."

"I like to maintain an air of mystery."

"I've noticed." It was one of the things he'd always loved about her.

His thumb had a mind of its own, absently tracing each finger. He didn't stop it. "The hand is new," she whispered, not moving an inch.

"It appears to be excellent craftsmanship." He could hardly tell what he was saying, why his voice had dropped to a low murmur.

"It's plated with one-hundred percent titanium." Her voice was still lowered to a whisper, neither of them paying attention to what they were saying, focusing on each other.

Kai didn't know what he was doing, and he didn't care any longer. He bent his head and pressed a kiss into the metal of her hand. A small twitch of pleasure ran through him.

Do it. 

A voice accompanied by a dangerous idea was growing at the back of his head.

His more logical side warned him of the consequences, screaming at him that this was a bad idea.

But then again, she was dangerous.

And likely a bad idea. 

When had that ever stopped him? It wasn't like he had anything left to lose.

And he couldn't leave that question trapped in his head forever.

"Cinder?" Resolve had settled. He needed to. Wanted to.

"Mm?"

He lifted his gaze. "Just to be clear, you're not using your mind powers on me right now, are you?" He felt ridiculous even asking, but he needed to be sure.

She blinked, looking almost hurt. "Of course not."

"Just checking." Do. It.

That was all he needed.

Then, before he could second-guess himself, he drew her closer by the waist and kissed her.

Cinder let out a gasp stifled against his mouth. He couldn't help delighting in the soft sound--like a startled bird. He pulled her a little closer, never wanting to let go again. Every unspoken word, every almost, every wish--all of it was in this moment. 

And Cinder seemed to realize it too. With breathtaking hesitancy, she slid her arms from his chest and strung them around his neck. Molding their bodies together.

Then, just as soon as it started, it ended.

Cinder opened her eyes and wrenched herself away as if he were a carrier of the plague.

Kai started. A tranquility had settled over him that he hadn't felt in months in those short moments--and it had ended far too soon. "Wha—"

"I'm sorry." She started to tremble, her eyes unfocused.

It was only then he realized what he'd done.

Idiot.

He hadn't thought of how it would affect her. How much struggle she'd been through, and now he was making her deal with all of this.

He let a moment pass, and when Cinder didn't make a move, he cleared his throat, overwhelmed with the disappointment and regret. "No. No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have—"

"No!" She grabbed his shirt, sending a thrill through him. "It's not—It's Levana."

Levana.

Of course this was about her.

"She's ... she's retaliated. She attacked...oh, shit." She tore her hands away like she'd been burnt and used them to cover her face. Kai wasn't envious of whatever she was seeing right now.

"Cinder—where? Where did she strike?"

"Africa. The town..." She gulped. "The people that helped us."

Cinder released a guttural scream, grabbing a wrench and flinging it at the wall. She reached for another tool, but Kai grabbed her wrist.

Don't lose her. Keep her calm.

"Has she put forth any demands?" he said, masking his voice with the calm he needed her to feel.

She clenched her fists, trembling with overflowing fury. "I don't know. I just know they're all dead. Because of me. Because they helped me." She crouched, covering her head.

Still shaking with fury and guilt.

"Cinder." He stretched a hand towards her.

"This is my fault." She was always blaming herself.

He hesitated, then set a hand on the curve of her back. "You didn't kill them."

"I might as well have."

"Did they know the risk they were taking when they helped you? The danger they'd be in?"

She turned her head away, refusing to see reason.

"Maybe they did it because they believed in you. Because they thought the risk was worth it."

"Is this supposed to be helping?"

Dammit.

"Cinder—"

"You want to know another secret? The biggest secret? I'm scared, Kai. I'm so scared." She sat down, her legs in front of her. At this moment, with her arms around her waist, she looked more delicate and breakable than Kai had ever seen her. "I'm scared of her, and her army, and what she can do. And everyone expects me to be strong and brave, but I don't know what I'm doing. I have no idea how to overthrow her. And even if I succeed, I have no idea how to be a queen. There are so many people relying on me, people who don't even know they're relying on me, and now they're dying, all because of some ridiculous fantasy that I can help them, that I can save them, but what if I can't?" 

Kai knew what she meant.

Even if she didn't believe him.

And...she didn't always have to be strong.

Maybe he could prove it now.

He hesitated for a brief second before dropping down beside her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into a hug.

She offered no resistance, pressing her face into his shirt. He had the distinct impression that she'd be crying right now, if she could. Still, it helped that she wasn't pushing him away.

"I know exactly how you feel," he told her. Another thing he meant.

She squeezed her eyes shut, still in denial. "Not exactly."

"I think pretty close."

She shook her head. "No, you don't understand." Oh, I do.

But then her next words made him understand.

 "More than anything, I'm afraid that ... the more I fight her and the stronger I become, the more I'm turning into her."

Kai sat on his heels, pulling back to face her. H may not know many things about her, but he was sure that he knew this. "You're not turning into Levana."

"Are you sure about that? Because I manipulated your adviser today, and countless guards. I manipulated Wolf. I ... I killed a police officer, in France, and I would have killed more people if I'd had to, people in your own military, and I don't even know if I would feel bad about it, because there are always ways to justify it. It's for the good of everyone, isn't it? Sacrifices have to be made. And then there are the mirrors, such a stupid, stupid thing, but they—I'm beginning to get it. Why she hates them so much. And then—" She shuddered. "Today, I tortured her thaumaturge. I didn't just manipulate her. I tortured her. And I almost enjoyed it."

"Cinder, look at me." He cupped her face. Would it be weird if I told you none of that changes how I feel about you? "I know you're scared, and you have every right to be. But you are not turning into Queen Levana."

"You can't know that."

"But I do."

"She's my aunt, you know." Oh, that's gross.

He hadn't given it much thought before, but now...

He smoothed back her hair. "Yeah, well, my great-grandfather signed the Cyborg Protection Act. And yet, here we are."

She bit her lip, probably nervous he was beginning to establish just what was going on between them.

"Now, let's never talk about you being related to her again. Because I'm technically still engaged to her, and that's really weird."

Cinder laughed, a warm sound he folded into his memory, determined to hear it again. Determined to coax it out of her. He folded her into the tightest hug possible, holding her together as much as she was holding him.

The anger and tension of the previous moments had been replaced with an intimacy that felt almost fragile in this small, stolen moment.

"You won't tell anyone, will you?" she murmured, sending vibrations into his chest.

"I won't." I wouldn’t dream of it. 

"And if it turns out I make a terrible princess?" He could understand her fear, her need to do well.   He’d often felt the same inadequacy.

He shrugged. "The people of Luna don't need a princess. They need a revolutionary."

Cinder furrowed her brow. "A revolutionary," she repeated, turning it over on her tongue. He was proud to have given that to her, a sort of gift to show her who she really was to herself.

But then the door zipped open.

Cinder and Kai practically shoved away from each other, and Kai scrambled to his feet rather ungracefully. Not a great look for the emperor.

The blond girl stood in the doorway, cheeks flushed.

"I'm sorry," she said. "But the newsfeeds—Levana—"

"I know," said Cinder, rising to her feet. "I know about Farafrah."

She shook her head, eyes wide with panic. "It isn't just Farafrah. Their ships are swarming every continent. Thousands of soldiers are invading the cities. Her other soldiers." She shuddered so hard she had to grasp the door frame. "They're like animals, like predators."

"What is Earth doing?" asked Kai, attempting to recover from his flushed state. "Are we defending ourselves?"

"They're trying. All six countries have declared a state of war. Evacuations are being ordered, military is assembling—"

"All six?"

She pushed her hair off her brow nervously. "Konn Torin has temporarily assumed the role of leader of the Commonwealth ... until your return."

Kai turned to face Cinder, trusting her in this crucial moment. Always trusting and believing her, no matter how implausible it was.

"I think it's about time you told me about this plan," he said.

Cinder curled her hands into tight fists, knuckles whitening. He could hear her brain spinning, face pinched in a sharp expression he’d come to be familiar with.

This is war.

The words had never felt this heavy, or this real.

"You said yourself that the people of Luna need a revolutionary." She lifted her chin to meet his eyes,  holding his gaze in that way that made him feel like he was daring him. "So I'm going to Luna, and I'm going to start a revolution."

There’s my girl.