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whitherliliesbloom · 4 years

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Ｃａｎｙｏｕｈｅａｒｍｅ？

The first time he asked was filled with the wariness of a stranger who knew not even her name. The second time he asked, was for the sole sake of himself. The third time he asked, his voice had been filled with fret. And the fourth time he asked...

Words: 1,288 || Illya/Alphinaud (WOLXAlphinaud)

ARR, Post-ARR, Post-HW & Post-ShB

“Can you hear me?”

A voice calls out, a demand for attention. The attentive gaze she’d devoted to the worn parchment in her hand now pulled upwards, and their eyes meet. A stranger, accompanied by yet another.. and yet their identical faces make them unmistakably a traveling pair.

“Y-yes?” Her head tilts up, as does the brim of her straw hat. Violet eyes peer up past the protective shadows of her bangs to who she assumes to be the boy who’d spoken. He towers over her, only because of her own incredibly petite stature.. and the ray of sunlight cast behind him almost floods his likeness in a silhouette.

“This carriage. It is bound for Gridania, yes?”

The grip of her thumb over the surface of her map tightens, eyes darting to the front of the carriage before they return to settle back on him.

“I-It is, yes.”

“Much obliged.”

The same faced pair give a curt bow. Deemed now no more deserving of their attention, they turn away to step onto the carriage, and her eyes are momentarily blinded by the view of the unobstructed sun.

------------------------------

“Can you hear me?”

The wind billowing in her ears almost deafens her, almost makes her wonder if the voice she’d heard was nothing but a figment of her overactive imagination combined with unfulfilled wishes.

The tightly wrapped package tucked under her arm almost slips as she raises a hand up to her ear, head tilted down to give a nod that he wouldn’t be able to see.

“U-um.. yes. I’m here. I got the delivery.”

“Ah, yes. Thank you, Illya.” there’s a rustle in the background, accompanied by a chorus of muffled voices and the telltale exhale of frustration from the young man on the line.

He sounds distant as ever. She couldn’t bring herself to picture the look on his face as he thanks her. She could already tell - navy blue eyes not even sparing a second glance at her, at the furrow in his brows if she so much as spoke out of line.

“I hate to impose on you again, but could I ask another favor?”

Do you really..?

There’s a tinge a guilt that claws at her heart as soon as that fleeting whisper of doubt crossed her head, and her voice sounds all too eager to make amends for a mistake he hadn’t knew she made as she gives him her reply over linkpearl.

“Y-yes.. It’s no trouble.”

“Excellent. Speak to Ilberd once you’ve returned. He will tell you what I need you to do.”

And all too suddenly, the noises stop.. left alone with the rustling of the leaves on the trees around her, a long and lonely dirt road ahead. The wind seems to pick up, and her fingers tremble from the cold.

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“C-Can you hear me??”

A chill shoots down her spine and paralyzes her, the soaking of her collar with warmth her only comfort. And yet she feels something else, hears something else other than the howling of the wind.

Distant footsteps, the calling of somebody’s name faint and barely heard past the ringing in her ears.

When she could finally bring herself to open her eyes, all she sees is red.

Was the stain on her robe one of her own? Of the foe she just felled? Or yet another comrade she could not yet again save?

“Illya!”

His voice is clearer now, like the echo of a drop of water upon a still lake. It ripples, it stirs her, and everything snaps back into focus.

With vision still blurred, she forces her head up to look at him, and the look on his face agonizes her even more than any wounds she might have sustained before.

“Ah...Um...A-Alph-”

“Oh thank the twelve! Y-you’re... you’re okay. You’ll be okay.”

She knew not what his reassurances meant, and yet it eased her enough to turn her gaze back down to her lap.

“.....Estinien...?”

“Ah- He’s alright now. Ser Aymeric just took him away to have his wounds tended to.”

“Then...”

“You collapsed right after we threw Nidhogg’s eyes away, can you not recall?”

Her gloved hands tighten on her lap and she lifts her head up once more - this time to look up upon the cloudy sky above. The little trickles of falling snow tickle her face only to melt away in an instant, forming drips of water that do little to clean away the smear of mixed blood on her face.

But it serves to remind her, as does any longing gaze at falling snow does now.

It’s finally over.

Their journey through an endless plain of cold and white, their hard fought battles and friends they lost along the way..

And with them, the remnants of the dragon that tormented them so fallen away, never to be seen again, but never forgotten all the same.

It’s over.

“T’would seem your wounds were a lot worse than we thought. Here.”

Alphinaud extends his hand to her, her fallen staff she’d left abandoned after Nidhogg fell retrieved and held in his other.

There’s a crippling hesitation that prevents her from even lifting her hand, but her vision blurs once more when she looks upon the reassuring smile upon her companion’s face.

“Let’s go. Everyone is waiting.”

-----------------------------------------

“Can you hear me?”

Why does she always feel cold when he asks her so? Why does the wind howl and cry, as if in defiance of any little comfort she may wish to feel?

But this time she’s tuned the sounds of the surroundings out, with ear pressed against the flat of his chest, hands gripping tightly onto his vest and refusing to let go.

As if sensing her desperation, the arms he had wrapped around her tighten, attempting to hold her closer than he already was.

For but a brief moment, Alphinaud’s eyes open to look in the distance, where the crystal tower’s glow illuminated the starry night sky like the brightest of lamp lights.

He looks upon it with pride - for it is proof of what they’ve been through together - of how far they have come.

He knew not to attribute too much of this scenery to himself, of course.

Every twinkling in the sky, the dark blanket of the night and even the moon that peaked past the gathering of much welcomed clouds... it was given to this very realm as a gift by a girl who will never be able to be given back as much as she deserves for all her sacrifice.

The Warrior of Light, the Warrior of Darkness.. His..

Alphinaud would tell Illya to look up, to savor proof of her very heroism, and to feel as much pride as he does for her.

But he cannot bring himself to, not when he hears her nuzzling closer to him.

His hand find the obscene length of her white hair and brushes through them, feeling each and every silken strand run through the gaps of his fingers and falling down her hips, almost long enough to pool around her on the floor.

And then there’s his longing to hear her voice, a longing that he never knew built up over these past five summers until now. What a fool he was.

“Can you hear me?”

He asks again before he presses his lips to meet the top of her head.

“Not yet. Just a little longer.”

Her head finally turns, though only to press her other ear against him now.. but it gives him a glimpse of the gentle smile upon her face.

“I want to hear your heart.. I want to hear proof that we’re both still here.”

#ffxiv #final fantasy xiv #alphinaud leveilleur #alphinaud #warrior of light #warrior of darkness #wol x alphinaud #illya skawi #fanfic #i finally write again after 100000000 years and its garbage #we've come so far

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