Work Text:
"Sandrone?"
Her body lurched off the table, systems flashing red as her core rebooted. Her breath stuttered out, limbs jolting as life anew forced her from the oblivion of death. She expected her head to slam against the harsh ground, but instead of pain, she felt the cradle of soft feathers and cold skin. Sandrone let out a gasp, unable to do anything but allow herself to be held as she waited for her body to fully recalibrate. Her eyes were fixed on an unfamiliar ceiling and a trickle of fear coursed through her as she thought of where she was. That damned Dottore… this wasn't one of his laboratories, right?
No. She doubted that lunatic would be holding her in such a caring and gentle manner. Her next thought was of Pulonia, but… those hands weren't his. Before she could turn her head, a hand laid itself against her cheek, moving her until her gaze was fixed towards—
"Columbina?" Though her motor function had yet to be fully operable, Sandrone reached out towards her friend's face. Columbina remained motionless, simply caressing Sandrone's cheek. For a moment, she felt a giddy happiness at the thought that her plan had worked. Columbina was back. And yet… something deep in her core felt wrong. Though, Sandrone supposed that was merely a consequence of somehow being alive again.
Even now, as the joy of their reunion began to melt away, Sandrone couldn't help but feel torn as her eyes fixed themselves on Columbina. She didn't know how long she had been gone, and though Columbina hadn't changed, there were still minute differences that Sandrone knew she'd have to get used to. An immediate change was the way Columbina looked at her. Her mask was gone, and her eyes stared openly at Sandrone with a slight desperation that Sandrone wasn't sure how to process. It was the first time she had seen Columbina's eyes. She had held no expectation of what they would be like — it's not like Sandrone thought about Columbina's eyes all that much okay! — but she hadn't expected them to be that color. Still, she knew it didn't matter. It didn't take away the serenity that Columbina always carried, and it was a welcome change to a friend she hadn't ever expected to ever see again. As they continued to stare at one another, Columbina's face shifted as tears began to cascade down her cheeks. Her smile was unwavering even as she leaned down to pull Sandrone into an embrace.
"My Sandrone…" In any other circumstance, Sandrone may have pushed her away. It was a habit she'd hope to get rid of, even as the anomalies in her core demanded her to escape from Columbina's grasp. Gently, she wrapped her arms around her weeping friend, wishing that she could feel her warmth even if it felt as though ice was beginning to take root inside her gears.
"I'm here, Columbina." For however long this second chance allowed her. "I'm right here."
—
After everything, Sandrone didn't find Columbina's clinginess to be irrational.
It was just their luck that Sandrone didn't have any plans yet of returning to Snezhnaya. Project Stuzha was near at hand but she had more personal matters to deal with. After her revival, she had found a message from Alain regarding a final gift he had wanted her to have. As such, for the foreseeable future, she decided to remain in Fontaine just until she had settled all her affairs. Columbina had taken that opportunity to remain at her side… at all times.
"Don't you have important… moon goddess things to be doing? Ugh… you're distracting me." Sandrone brushed aside the hand against her bare shoulder. It was a nightmare to go through Fontaine's bureaucracy. If it weren't for that melusine, she probably would have found her and Alain's old home much sooner. Now look at what was she doing… trying to get a fishing permit for a fake aquarium business. "Columbina, I'm trying to work."
"You've been so busy all week, my Sandrone." Arms wrapped around her neck from behind. Columbina's face was so close to her own that she felt her key begin to spin faster. "I get so lonely… don't you want to spend time with me?"
"Look, if you're bored, just… go back to Nod-Krai. You have plenty of friends who are willing to spend time with you. I need to focus on this right now." She was making everything so difficult. Sandrone's hand tightened around the quill she was holding. She would have liked to spend more time with Columbina, but she needed to understand why she even had more time in the first place. There were still anomalies in her core that needed to be repaired. Who knew how long she even had before her systems failed again? She had fixed most of the damages to herself, but without deciphering Alain's final gift, all of it would be for nothing if her revival was only a mere temporary reaction from the stellar linchpin. She hadn't even told Columbina all this… "This is important to me, Columbina."
"More important than me?"
Sandrone froze, quill clattering against the table as she directed her gaze towards Columbina. Somehow, impossibly so, it felt as though Columbina had moved closer. The chill of her body seemed to pierce into Sandrone's, keeping each cog in place and rendering her unable to move. Frozen as she was, Columbina took the chance to sit on her lap, her face looming over Sandrone's.
She should be scared, but as Columbina began to weep quietly again, Sandrone felt her entire being begin to ache. Her death couldn't have affected Columbina this badly, and yet… She sighed, placing her arms around her friend in an attempt to soothe her pain.
"Columbina." She hated seeing her like this, but she didn't want Columbina to know the truth yet. She didn't want to give her false hope. She gently pushed her away. "I need to work."
—
"Since you're currently renting the Wingalet, we were hoping to ask you something…"
It was an unexpected reunion, though Sandrone expected she'd have to deal with more in the future. It was just her luck that the Traveler would be in Fontaine for the Fontinalia Film Festival and somehow stumble into finding Sandrone. At least, she knew Lumine could be trusted. She had even offered to help her with finding her and Alain's old home… even if Sandrone had protested.
"We were hoping that we could film here. Musketeer Pictures was unable to book any venue for their film. Since you're using the Wingalet for research, maybe you could spare us a bit of room for the film?" Lumine asked, a hopeful look in her gaze. She didn't know why the Traveler expected to be turned down. Sure, Sandrone would probably hate the noise but she didn't exactly intend to be around the ship all the time. Besides, it would be a nice reprieve from Columbina's constant presence. Sandrone didn't know where that girl had run off to, but she'd probably be back soon enough. A shame that she'd missed the Traveler and Paimon though, maybe they could give her a welcome distraction while Sandrone continued with her research. "Hopefully it's not too much trouble? If it helps, Furina and Columbina—"
"Hey…" Paimon suddenly interrupted. She looked as though as she were thinking very hard, and Sandrone felt slightly amused by it. "If Columbina knew Sandrone was back, then why didn't she ask Sandrone if they could film here?"
"What? Why would Columbina ask me that?" Sandrone frowned, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "Wait… How is she involved in all this?"
"You didn't know?" Paimon floated closer, eyes wide with confusion. "She's starring in Xavier's film! We just met her an hour ago!"
Sandrone stared.
"Um… if it helps, she didn't tell us you were here! She didn't mention you at all!" Paimon kept on speaking, as if she thought Sandrone was about to explode in fury. "She said she came to Fontaine to feel closer to you, guess she was just coming up with an excuse…"
"You… met with her an hour ago?" Sandrone turned to the Traveler who had gone eerily still. Lumine looked pale, her golden eyes shifting across the room. She must have sensed it too, the sudden paralyzing tension of being watched that had started to creep up on her the moment Paimon had stumbled into… this terrifying little discrepancy. "Are you sure?"
"Sandrone…" Lumine began, "There's something wrong—"
"Get out."
"What?!" Sandrone avoided the look of hurt on both their faces. She had turned her back from them, staring at the empty space of her office that just a few moments ago had been occupied with her sole companion these past few weeks. Something was wrong indeed, and Sandrone needed to get to the bottom of it.
"Let me handle this." Her hands curled into a fist, "She won't hurt me."
—
"Who are you?"
"Oh, you've realized?"
The moment Lumine and Paimon had left the room, "Columbina" had manifested into existence, her red eyes boring into her. She still had that serene smile on her face, as if she didn't care that her ruse had been revealed. Sandrone swallowed down the bitterness that threatened to rise in her. How quickly love turned into hate… but she consoled herself that this wasn't her Columbina.
"I'll ask you again. Who. Are. You?" Damn it. Sandrone wasn't prepared for a fight, and though this thing wasn't Columbina, she didn't know what it was capable of. It was powerful, perhaps not as powerful as a Moon Goddess, but it probably had some dirty tricks up its sleeve. "Was this some kind of sick joke?"
"Oh, my Sandrone. I know how much you hate such games." It floated closer, hands bracing the side of her face. "I never lied to you. I am Columbina."
"Tch. Do you think I'm stupid enough to believe you?" She slapped those hands away, yet they only persisted as it began to corner her against the wall. "What are you?"
"I would never lie to you, my Sandrone." It reached down for one of her hands, tangling their fingers together even as she struggled to escape its grasp. It forced her hand upwards so that Sandrone was cupping its face, and it leaned into the palm of her hand as though her touch felt like salvation. "I am her… the shadow of her. I am Columbina, maybe not yours, but you… you'll always be my Sandrone."
Those tears again. She felt it trickle down her fingers, catching against the grooves of her joints as if it wanted to imprint itself right into her. Though she knew she should shove it away, it was so difficult when it wore the face of the woman that she… Sandrone couldn't bear to finish the thought. Not yet. She lowered her gaze, ashamed at herself for being so weak when it leaned closer. She did nothing as it nuzzled into the side of her neck, its free hand grasping the back of her body as though she wanted to claw deep inside her skin.
Yet as the coldness of that thing's body seeped into hers, she thought of her own Columbina and how it had robbed them both of a reunion that had only been meant for the two of them.
She snapped back into her senses, but it was too late as her vision began to swim, the corners of the room darkening as her body began to succumb into a peaceful lull. It had begun to sing into her ear, a sickeningly sweet lullaby that threatened to push her back into oblivion.
She felt herself be lowered to the ground, her hand reaching up to grasp at its neck, perhaps in a desperate last attempt to choke it… or maybe to just… hold… her.
"Go to sleep, my Sandrone." It smiled, "I'm here."
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Columbina remembered the last time she had held her own Sandrone.
It was after Sandrone's fight with the Traveler. Columbina hadn't been there as the Tsaritsa had given her a different mission. She could barely even remember the nation she had been sent to. It had all been a blur. One moment, she was enacting Her Majesty's orders… and the next she was back in Sandrone's workshop. The Doctor had been the one to break the news, and though he was never one to show the weakness of his feelings, he had gazed at her with all the sympathy he could muster.
It wasn't enough. He would never know how she felt to lose someone so dear to her.
The Traveler had long departed by the time she had reached Sandrone's mangled body. She had left her there, discarded as if Sandrone was just one of the mindless machines that she spent countless hours on. If her grief hadn't rendered her immobile, she would have liked to hunt the Traveler down herself. Perhaps even take her anger out on that little companion of hers just so the Traveler could understand the pain that Columbina had felt as she had taken Sandrone's lifeless body into her arms.
It was unfair.
Sandrone had promised her eternity and yet even that had been denied to her. Sandrone had said nothing else in the world mattered more than Columbina, and yet she was still gone. Not of her own fault, but the world for taking what it didn't deserve to have.
She didn't know how long she had spent with Sandrone's body, only that at some point she had awoken to hear the moon's call from above. She hadn't wanted to abandon her Sandrone, but she felt an instinctive pull to follow.
Then, she was in another world… with another dead Sandrone.
Columbina had felt the shift in reality, but before she could unleash her rage at the thought that the Heavenly Principles had casted her out into a new universe just to mock her with another corpse of her beloved, the body on the table had quickly shuddered into life. She had quickly made her way to that Sandrone's side. It was all Columbina could do to keep her body from collapsing out of its human form from the sheer joy of it all.
And luckily, the new Sandrone hadn't realized anything was wrong at all.
Columbina giggled to herself at the memory as she continued to stroke her beloved's hair. Her Sandrone was still fast asleep, and she'll remain that way for as long as Columbina wanted her to.
After all, this Sandrone wasn't like her old one. Her old Sandrone had been far more capable, enough so that Columbina had been a fool to believe she could stand up against the Traveler all on her own.
This Sandrone was weaker… easier to crush.
Columbina was only protecting her.
She won't let anything in this new world take her Sandrone away again.