Archive of Our Own ^beta

Praise and Affirmation

“Dang it!”

As the knife Alear had thrown thudded in - not quite where she’d aimed, Yunaka couldn’t help but grin.

“Nice!”

“It’s still not good enough.” The Divine Dragon muttered, as she looked at the knives she’d thrown - both those on the target, and the knives scattered around it. The latter outnumbered the former - but not by much. 

In Yunaka’s expert opinion, Alear had progressed almost too quickly. As if she was just - well, bringing an old knife back to its former shape, instead of forging a new one.

Maybe she was.

Yunaka was at Alear’s side in an instant. “Not good enough for combat? Maybe. But you’ve only been doing this for a week.”

She called it like she saw it. Good work was good work.

“No, I haven-”

Alear cut herself off, almost the second she started speaking. An odd look came over her face.

By now, Yunaka was familiar enough with Alear to realize what this meant.

“Hey. It’s okay.”

Alear shook herself out of a daze - one of the dazes that came when she realized she knew something, but had no idea why she’d - well, no.

Alear knew why she had forgotten so much of her life. She was fully aware that, in all likelihood, her brain’s subconscious decision to jettison her conscious memory of her entire life before she woke up was a damned good one.

It still annoyed her at times. Being unable to remember why she knew what she knew.

“Hey.”

…but, well.

With her wife there for her, she couldn’t complain much.

Yunaka smiled at her. “If you did know how to throw knives before, and can’t remember, don’t - don’t see it as losing it, you know?”

Alear smiled back. “...really?”

Yunaka’s grin got bigger. “Yeah, zappy! Just… see it as… reclaiming part of the old you! Without all the bad memories attached. You’ll be fine!”

Presence (being with you)

When the memories return, they’re there for each other, without fail.

Some days are easier for Yunaka than others. Assassin training - left marks. Not just physical ones. It was better than dying, but the scars aren’t gone. Doing the dishes, cooking, and chores isn’t impossible any longer, but she’s still often happy to focus on other things and let Clanne, Framme, and Vander handle them.

(Alear remembers nothing of her life before she woke up. But she sometimes wakes them both up, screaming in the middle of the night because of terrors she can’t remember mere seconds later. Between that and Veyle’s story and memories of the first war against the Fell Dragon, Yunaka thinks her wife’s amnesia was likely more of a blessing than a curse.)

But regardless of which of them starts screaming, they always come to again in the other’s arms.

Thoughtfulness of a Gift

Assassin training and being a thief taught Yunaka many things, but selecting thoughtful gifts wasn’t one of them.

Alear wasn’t too fond of knives, despite her talent with blades, so her first gift - the Cinquedea knife she’d found when they were fighting Alear’s Corrupted mother… well, Yunaka had appreciated the hell out of it, but it had left Yunaka needing to wrack her brain hard, when it came to getting gifts.

Especially when Alear was - well, the chief deity of Elyos, these days, with only Veyle as real competition (and the sisters got along far too well to be considered rivals). She had not only a leg, but - well, she wasn’t just a leg up, she was on stilts compared to Yunaka, when it came to giving gifts.

Especially since she knew about Yunaka’s love of blades. (Lythos Castle and the Somniel - well, they apparently had a lot of legendary blades that had gotten lost in some basement over the years).

So, Yunaka had to think of something good. Something worthy of the Divine Dragon’s hoard. Lumera had apparently - well, gold, gems and such were something she had apparently moved on from a long time ago, and Alear was determined to take after her mother in that regard.

…actually… hm.

“Yunaka…”

Alear’s voice was filled with awe, as she stared at the statue that had just been delivered.

Yunaka smiled, at the tone in question.

“I thought - well, it would be nice if you got to see your mom again, sort of. You know?”

Alear shook her head up and down in awe, as she studied the present she’d just received.

(Yunaka - well, she’d used some of her own funds to pay for this, but - well, Alear had given her permission to use her own funds, for some things like this, so - well).

(They now had a life-sized model of Lumera overlooking the swimming pool. The stone composing it had been specially chosen and shaped by an earth dragon down in Lythos who had turned her life to making statues like this and who had met Lumera a number of times, to create memorials after the first war with Sombron).

“Even if you can’t see her any more… this isn’t a bad substitute, right?”

Judging by the long, drawn-out kiss Yunaka got two seconds after she finished talking, it was far more than a “bad” substitute to Alear.

Acts of Service

Yunaka hated politics.

This wasn’t a new opinion, to anybody. She was a commoner, born and bred, and - well, she may have been royalty now, even just by marriage, but it was not something she was remotely used to.

At least she was, according to what she had heard from the other royals, the easy mode.

(Lythos was - well, maybe it wasn’t odd, that the Holy Land was oddly casual, about politics. The leaders of the various clans formed around each dragon tribe, human, hybrid, and dragon, all had known each other since before Sombron arrived).

But that might change. They had known about Alear for a thousand years, but they still hadn’t gotten used to their new ruler yet.

Much less her, the foreigner who had married said new ruler.

But, Alear was sick. So off she went.

“Don’t worry, Yunaka! It’ll be fine. Vander’ll be there with you, and Lady Veyle’s coming too!” Framme said cheerfully, as she grasped the young woman’s shoulder. “And we’ve been to these before - the tribe leaders aren’t gonna expect you to know everything right away!”

“Right…” Yunaka nodded weakly. She hadn’t gotten to know the twins all that well, while they were fighting Sombron, but - well, a year or two with them in Lythos had gotten them very used to each other. And their constant exuberance never failed to amaze her. “So, you and Clanne will be fine taking care of Alear, right?”

“Don’t worry! The Divine One will be fine.” Framme nodded. “We’re gonna make her soup!”

Well, it’s better than what I could have done… Yunaka reflected to herself. “Well - here we go!”

Well… it hadn’t been a disaster. They had been accepting of her. Maybe it was just her natural pessimism at work, but Yunaka was happy to call that a win, zappy!

“...ugh…”

The moaning from behind her made Yunaka perk up and turn around.

Sure enough, there was Alear, looking as if - well, it seemed she had finished puking again.

Yunaka hadn’t really thought in the past that dragons could get sick, but Alear was doing it pretty we - well, not well, but - she was indisputably sick.

She was pretty, too. Even looking as if she had just gotten trodden on by Sombron.

“Hey! Hope it helps, but I got that meeting finished! They - well, they didn’t mind me!” Yunaka announced.

Alear smiled weakly, before wincing. “Good. I was - well, I was worried you wouldn’t like it there…”

Yunaka sighed. “That’s - kind of inevitable, honestly. I - don’t like spending time with that many people who know about me.”

“Then - why did you go?” Alear asked, puzzlement clear in her tone.

Yunaka looked at Alear as if she was an idiot. “Cause if I didn’t go, zappy, you were going to drag yourself there no matter how sick you were!”

Alear’s only response was to shrug.

Yunaka sighed, and walked over to kiss her.

Her wife was the most well-intentioned idiot she had ever known, sometimes.

Connections

Yunaka loved waking up in her wife’s arms.

And Alear loved waking up in her arms just as much.

(They had told each other ages ago. Yunaka - it was hard opening up for her. But Alear was worth it).

It - well, it was hardly a surprise that either of them loved it so much. Lumera had been the only consistent source of comfort in Alear’s life before she woke up.

As for Yunaka - well. Her caretaker had used her as a chore horse, and forcibly trained her as an assassin. Comfort was something she’d had to find for herself.

She’d never dreamed that she would find it in a - well, the arms of - well. Alear may have been a deity.

But to Yunaka, that didn’t matter.

First and foremost, she was Alear. 

And she would take Alear over any other deity there may have been any day.

“Mmmmm…”

As her wife started to stir, Yunaka grasped her, ever so lightly. “Hey!”

Alear didn’t seem to mind the tight clutch the ex-assassin had on her. “Hey…”

“I know you’re busy, being the Divine Dragon, and all that…” Yunaka began.

“...but you want me to stay for a bit longer and cuddle?” Alear finished sweetly.

“You know me so well, zappy!” Yunaka nodded happily, already nuzzling closer.

Alear didn’t seem to mind as she did. 

Quietly, she fell into her wife’s embrace.

Just for a bit. She had work to do.

And despite Alear’s intentions, it didn’t take long for them to fall back asleep.

(Even as they did, their embrace never ended).