appointments

[meritocracy]

APPOINTMENTS FOR NATALIA
Need to reach Natalia for threads or plots that would otherwise be difficult to do,
such as one-on-one meetings, interactions and run-ins. Please specify ahead of time in a PM or in the subject line.


"I will do everything in my power as the
 Princess--no, as a citizen of Kimlasca."

Comments

[February 12th Early evening]

[seleniahymn]

[Tear had just been on her way to returning from spending the day with Freyjadour when she saw Asch come from the direction of the house, watching him carefully from a distance as he passed by. Strange, he rarely came by of his own volition, that she knew of. But his business was his, it was not in her right to pry nor was she inclined to at the moment.

What was her business was finding her best friend sobbing on the steps of the front porch. Without any hesitation, without even putting any thought into it she steps quickly toward her and sits beside the princess, gently placing a hand on her shoulder while allowing her face to show the concern and worry she felt for her best friend.

She wouldn't force her to talk, or leave until Natalia was done. As always, she would remain at her side until she was ready to tell her what those tears of hers meant.]

[February 12th Early evening]

[meritocracy]

[Natalia hands slowly come away from her face, as tears drip onto her palms. She lifts wide, tear-filled eyes to Tear and she opens her mouth, a smile on her lips--maybe even a shaky hello but something goes wrong. Instead her face twists, her eyes brim, clench with an unnatural weariness, her mouth trembles.

She chokes out her best friend's name, her head falling into her shoulder. ]

I did it, Tear. The things I needed to say..--It's over.

[February 12th Early evening]

[seleniahymn]

['It's over.' There were many things that those words could mean, but given what she saw prior to arrival it wasn't hard to piece together what Natalia meant. For so long she had witnessed the pain on her best friend's face whenever they came across Asch, how her face would soften and her eyes turn to a place she could never reach while somehow still remaining strong for everyone in a way none of the others could. Somehow she had managed to do what she must have known needed to be done for so long.

And Tear could only admire her all the more for it as she stroked Natalia's hair gently, allowing her to rest on her shoulder for as long as would be needed.] What did he say...?

[February 12th Early evening]

[meritocracy]

--More like--what I said. [she sniffs, her shoulders quietly shaking.]

I was wrong. I kept confusing him with Luke..the Luke I was supposed to marry. But he wasn't..that Luke had been gone for..so long. I wasn't validating who he was--and it hurt him. Out of all the people--the one person who should have accepted him, who should have understood--and I didn't. I hurt him so badly, Tear..[she bit back a sob]

And yet I cannot let him go. This is..a chance I will never recieve again. I asked him if he..wanted to start over. And he--he said yes. And we talked--he even smiled at me.

To think that--if I had done this before--his..--[she swallows]
If I had done this before he had died--I wonder if he could have felt any sort of happiness. I should be happy--I think a part of me is but..--still to let go.

It seems you and I--have had to let go of many things on this journey, haven't we?

[February 12th Early evening]

[seleniahymn]

[Tear listens to every word carefully while continuing the soothing motions of running her hand through the princess's hair, but just as Natalia is finishing she pauses and feels her body stiffen – after all, she was not yet aware that Asch was dead, that if she were to return home it would only be a short time before Luke would inform him, after witnessing his original's death.

How much more did Natalia have to suffer on behalf of that man? Though she doubted that the princess saw it that way, and now was not the time to dwell on that either, not when Natalia herself was talking to her about moving on and taking the second chance offered to them. It was a thought that had been haunting her mind more vividly ever since they had gathered at the turn of the new year.]

We have... and here we are on yet another journey, even if it is different from what Auldrant gave us. We have been given these chances to... start over again. You don't have to dwell on the ifs, Natalia, not when Asch has already agreed. That was why you asked him, isn't it?

[while she didn't know what this particular chance would mean for Natalia, she would have to hope for the best, that Natalia would be able to hold that happiness in her hand.]

[February 12th Early evening]

[meritocracy]

[at the stiffen her eyes lift to hers, her smile tired.]
You didn't know, did you? No he--..[her voice comes out choked]
He cleared a path for us--by himself. Run through with swords..so many swords, Luke said. Alone. He was alone. [her hands quiver in her lap as she swallows, knowing tears are still coming.]

..Another journey. I wonder if enough time has passed for me to be ready for that journey. But I want--I want to see where this one leads. [she laughs weakly]
I simply want to get to know him again. That's really all I can ask of him.

[February 12th Early evening]

[seleniahymn]

... No, I did not. [And from the way their relationship was now, it seemed he never had any intention of letting her know. While they were his own reasons, she can't help that there is the smallest sense of hurt inside her. She had never trusted Asch truly because of his former relationship with Van, but he had undoubtedly been an ally who understood the frustrations involving her brother.]

Are you afraid of this new journey, Natalia? [She both expects it and doesn't at the same time, for this was the princess with the heart of a lioness who held unbelievable strength and tenderness at the same time. If there were some reservations, she would not be surprised.] You're not alone in starting it, if he wants to just as much.