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"Lu?" comes a murmur from the bushes. Lunet turns away from the stars and looks towards the voice to see Harke poking her small cream and pale yellow face from the leaves and red-ish and light pink flowers.
"Oh, Twilight," sighed Lunet to Harke, starting towards her, "your Core can't heal if you don't rest. It'll just get worse- go back to bed."
"When's En gonna be back?" she said, completely brushing off her statement, hobbling forwards despite her broken leg. The faint glow of her Core wavered more and Lunet hissed through their teeth.
And they realized the question she asked. A pang of something somber strikes them. Lunet can't answer honestly, not now.
"She'll be back soon, okay?"
"Mm. Like, an hour?"
Fuck. Shit, even.
"I'm not sure, Twilight. Why don't you go get some rest- maybe she'll be back tomorrow," they move their wing to softly usher Harke back to the nest through the bushes. They thought they were quite clever, finding a bush that happened to be hollow for whichever reason. So they set up a nest there for Hark, themselves and Enora. Enora wouldn't be back for very long now but they still had room for her. (Not like her or any of them couldn't shape shift if needed, though.)
"Wuh- Wait, Tomorrow? Tomorrow isn't very soon, Lu!" she complains and grumbles under her breath, though she doesn't exactly fight back much besides that. She knows she needs the rest but she misses Enora.
"It kind of is when it's the end of the day," says Lunet.
...
At some point, Lunet has to actually stay with Harke in order for her to really sleep at all. So, they end up curled up in the nest, with Harke buried between the feathers of Lunet's body and their wing.
Of course, with a functional Core, Lunet didn't exactly need to sleep. With their eyes closed they just thought about how they all might live once this war is over... Harke and Enora and all the other aureoles won't be forced to fight when she's older. The stars won't be in control over everything and everyone and their lives. The Earthseers won't have to spend their eternal existence fruitlessly looking after dead planets.
...And Lunet... The other jayus. They'll...
...
Lunet tries not to think about that.
It can't happen.
They won't let it.
Everything will be okay, and they'll punch Sol in the face personally if that's what it takes to give Enora and Harke the freedom they were owed from the moment they were formed.