As One

A shiver ran down Sage’s spine as she listened to the heavy rain beating against the glass of her window. She had barely noticed its approach, no one had, lest they might be bearing one fewest beds that evening. Yet fate would decide that instead, a visitor on business would become a visitor for the night. It wasn’t that she minded, it has just been… a long time since she had played host. Not since her father had taken very ill. Yet even at this state, he insisted upon playing the host, in-so-meaning that it was Sage’s roll to play host to the young prospect. She couldn’t help but wonder if he had ulterior motives to his kindness. They would have been kindly meant for Sage’s sake, but she couldn’t help but find a flutter about her at the prospect.

A crackle of lightning and the drumming of thunder pulled a jump from Sage, bringing her back to reality. She glanced about the room around her, wondering how long she had found herself distracted by the beating of nature against the walls of her society. She wasn’t sure how long it had been, but she was very much sure it was getting late by the indication of the droopiness of her eyelids, though they had been this way for some time to begin with. Regardless, it was time to check in on her guest. With tried arms, Sage pushed herself from her chair, pulling it away from the window she had dragged it towards and steeling herself for the night to come. 

With a light pace, Sage made her way through her family’s estate. For some reason, it had felt so cold to her. It wasn’t the rain. It wasn’t the air. It was just, the home. There was none to it. There never had been, at least to her. It had been one of the reasons she had departed for the academy in the first place. And now, here she was, back again. It wasn’t that she didn’t feel welcome. This was her home, and even among the tension within her family and her step-mother, she knew she’d never be turned out. Yet she couldn’t help but feel cold so often. Yet for some reason, she felt warmer since her return. Something in her had sparked. She wasn’t sure what it was, but there was a love about her life that she couldn’t describe.  She couldn’t help but smile as she approached the guest door, knocking with a light rap.

“It’s open” a distant voice called from the other side as Sage pushed her way in. As she entered, Sage observed her dear friend just as enraptured as she had been only moments ago. Sylvain seemed miles away, almost brooding in an uncharacteristic like manner as the rain drummed against the dusty window. He almost looked foreign, like a distant memory just out of reach. She couldn’t help but reminisce about simpler moments as she stared at him. How long had it been since the fall of their friends and their school? Not too terribly, yet it felt a lifetime away. They hadn’t truly spoken as more than passing friends since then.

As she once again blundered around in thought, in a silence that seemed to last a lifetime, Sylvain finally turned to face her, a distant look turning to a smile that seemed almost sorrowful as his eyes laid upon her. A knowing look crossed his face as the silence continued, Sage suddenly realizing she had been staring at him for some time without word. She felt herself flush, but maintained her posture as she spoke to her old friend in almost too polite a way “I apologize for the condition of our lodgings. We haven’t had the pleasure of hosting anyone since father fell ill I understand. I hope it suffices well enough.”

The man smiled at her words, somewhat solemnly at the politeness in her voice. “How could It not, with your beautiful face here now. Good company makes everything better.” His words were kindly, sincere, yet Sage couldn’t help but feel a tight pain in her heart. “I’m only sorry to intrude on you so suddenly. I didn’t think I’d be forced to take up so much space when I came,” He responded, standing from his seat place as he maneuvered himself to lean on the chair on which he had been sitting rather casually. 

Sage couldn’t help but laugh slightly, shaking her head at his deprecation “You know you’re always very welcome, Sylvain. My father appreciates your attentions, mother her prospects and, well, I doubt your father would appreciate use sending you back in a state of soaked illness.” Don’t lie to yourself was the only thought that crossed her mind as she rattled off any and every excuse to reassure his company, despite ignoring the very one that pulled at her heartstrings the most. 

She observed him as his head fell slightly, yet maintained that same hiding smile he always had in moments of strained feelings, well aware that there was no true joy to be found in his expression. “You’re too good to me. You always have been,” he said, straightening himself up to mirror her own polite posture. 

It felt like the pair were a thousand miles apart, the few feet separating them stinging like a thousand needles. One they had been so close. They had opened up so happily, so contently, to be with one another. And then, they were no long. Sage couldn’t contain her heart any longer, yet would not project it to the world. Mindlessly, her head fell slightly, her locks falling into her face as she found herself muttering “It’s warmer now. I missed you…” just loud enough that the walls might not catch, but he most certainly did. 

Sage found herself straightening up quickly following her words, shaking her feelings off as she spoke quickly once more “I should leave you to rest. It’s late, I’m sure. If you need anything, you know where to find us. Don’t hesitate to call.” Following those words, Sage left no time for a response, quickly moving towards the door from where she had entered.

In her haste, Sage had failed to observe the following behind her. As Sage placed a hand upon the doorknob, she felt a warmth wrap around it, a larger hand encasing her own as they both grasped at the metal. At her opposite side she felt another hand press against the door, the warmth of another body trapping her between itself and the solid wood. Her breath caught as she felt the warmth radiating behind her, letting her head fall slightly, just out of view from Sylvain behind her. He followed in her suit, leaning his head down onto the back of her own as his forehead connected with her hair, speaking softly “Please don’t pretend. I can’t anymore. Whatever this was, please just let is have been real. I don’t want to forget it.”

Sage’s heart panged at his words, the water in her eyes beginning to clog her vision as she stared at the doorframe. For so long they had pretended, both of them. They had let themselves live up to that which was expected of them from the world. The vilified lady and the lauded noble. Yet here, they were just themselves. Together, they had always been just themselves. The shallowness of the world seemed to vanish in the moments they shared, even with the distance they had come to feel following the tragedy at Garreg Mach.  And in this realization, they had both come to understand: watching Sage walk out the door might have very well meant watching all the love the pair had ever known vanish before their very eyes. 

Sylvain’s head slid down from the back of her own, muttering in her ear desperately “Remind me”. All the time in the world seemed to stop as his lips grazed her neck, his hands moved from the door to Sage’s arms, trailing gently upward before encasing her in a hug, pressing his chest to her back tightly.

Sage let herself go in that moment, too sacred to move in fear of blowing everything away like dust in the wind, yet desperate to meet his please with the longing she had felt in their distance. She remained encased in his arms as the pressure on her neck built the pressure within her being. 

An eternity seemed to pass as the pair sat there within their own comforts, Sage too enraptured by Sylvain’s embrace to move. He finally began to loosen himself, terrified of any mistake he might have made in his actions yet too comforted to pull away entirely. In his sudden hesitation, Sage pulled to look towards him, the pair meeting eyes for a longing moment. His eyes were as watered as her own, his face a reflection of truth in a rare moment of his weakness. 

Sage felt pained by his expression, feeling selfish for her own hesitations, never considering what equal pains the separation may have brought upon him. She moved her hand to his face, moving a tear from his eye with her thumb as she stroked his check gently. The pair continued to stare for a moment, but felt a passion overtake them as they moved to meet one another’s lips with a fervor of a thousand years of missed chances. 

The pair found themselves in lock over and over again, Sylvain’s grasp returning to the tight grip he had upon her moments before, gripping her back softly yet with such power in that fear itself could not pry him away. Sage found her arms around his neck, pulling him equally as close, too sacred to let go that this all might have simply been a dream. 

After time and time again that their lips had met, the pair finally pulled from one another, gasping for air as Sage moved her arm down slightly to catch his back, resting her head upon his shoulder and moving her other hand to grip the back of his head, holding it tightly as as he placed his upon her own. As they released their lips, they made up for the loss in their grips, desperately clinging to one another in solace. There was safety between them, reassurance in a world without kindness of guarantee. Their joining had come to mean one thing, tried and true: Whatever was to come, they would face it as one.