Post by aurorax on Nov 30, 2009 16:23:18 GMT 10
Title: A Study in Oppositions
Prompt: #13 – Once Upon a Time
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Kally/Evin heartbreak
A/N: I'm celebrating the return of my computer (it self-destructed, which is why I've been MIA for so long) with a nice long prompt response masquerading as a drabble.
It took him a long time to realize that he wasn’t compromising. At first he had been almost disgusted with himself- she was so young, so vulnerable, and she looked so much like her mother. He wondered how many men there would be, who dreamed of a Queen and settled for a princess.
But Kally had something of her own, something special. There was an unquenchable energy that buzzed around her, charging his veins and forcing his eyes back, day after day. Always going just a bit too fast, hair flying loose and eyes tearing in the wind- she was their girl, the wild angel with a Rider’s heart. No, he loved her for her fire, not for the beautiful image that was reflected imperfectly in her face.
A study in oppositions, that was what he called her when she was a child. And it was true. Her rebellion was the harmless rebellion of a caged animal, baring its fangs behind bars of iron to show the difference between captive and broken. When she ran away, no one went looking- she would be back, she knew her duty. But he admired her spirit, the way her fierce gaze asked for no pity; the way she accepted what was asked of her in life without complaint, what would be asked of her, and yet never stopped pushing at the edges of her boundaries, challenging the rules.
He told her she was the strongest woman he had ever known, the first day she kissed him. Her mother’s generation had broken boundaries, and now it fell to her to mend them, weaving together two worlds without losing herself in the process. She hadn’t been home long before she had sought him out, and he wondered for a moment if she really needed him or just someone to savor the last of her freedom with as the last of the winter snows melted and the world stood poised on the edge of change. But it didn’t matter, not really; and they had finally found each other.
Two weeks they lived in a storybook scene, the princess and the Player. She was still so young, looking upon the world with fresh eyes, and he felt lighter, freed for a golden moment from the weight of old scars. But Kally reminded him she was too old to believe in fairytales, and the bitterness in her voice made him wonder if she ever had.
He remembered her face at that moment, the sorrow etched in the strong line of her jaw, the quiver so slight he almost missed it and the drop of blood that blossomed from her lip as she bit down hard. She didn’t want him to see her cry, but she refused to drop her gaze and he couldn’t turn away. As he rode through the rain that night, away from Corus, he remembered and he smiled despite the pain, because he knew she was fierce enough not to break and because no title could take that moment away.
By the time he returned to the Palace, she was gone, an Empress with a soldier’s spirit in her breast and a soldier’s taste on her lips. So Evin wept silently for the girl who didn’t believe in fairytales, whom he had loved.
Prompt: #13 – Once Upon a Time
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Kally/Evin heartbreak
A/N: I'm celebrating the return of my computer (it self-destructed, which is why I've been MIA for so long) with a nice long prompt response masquerading as a drabble.
It took him a long time to realize that he wasn’t compromising. At first he had been almost disgusted with himself- she was so young, so vulnerable, and she looked so much like her mother. He wondered how many men there would be, who dreamed of a Queen and settled for a princess.
But Kally had something of her own, something special. There was an unquenchable energy that buzzed around her, charging his veins and forcing his eyes back, day after day. Always going just a bit too fast, hair flying loose and eyes tearing in the wind- she was their girl, the wild angel with a Rider’s heart. No, he loved her for her fire, not for the beautiful image that was reflected imperfectly in her face.
A study in oppositions, that was what he called her when she was a child. And it was true. Her rebellion was the harmless rebellion of a caged animal, baring its fangs behind bars of iron to show the difference between captive and broken. When she ran away, no one went looking- she would be back, she knew her duty. But he admired her spirit, the way her fierce gaze asked for no pity; the way she accepted what was asked of her in life without complaint, what would be asked of her, and yet never stopped pushing at the edges of her boundaries, challenging the rules.
He told her she was the strongest woman he had ever known, the first day she kissed him. Her mother’s generation had broken boundaries, and now it fell to her to mend them, weaving together two worlds without losing herself in the process. She hadn’t been home long before she had sought him out, and he wondered for a moment if she really needed him or just someone to savor the last of her freedom with as the last of the winter snows melted and the world stood poised on the edge of change. But it didn’t matter, not really; and they had finally found each other.
Two weeks they lived in a storybook scene, the princess and the Player. She was still so young, looking upon the world with fresh eyes, and he felt lighter, freed for a golden moment from the weight of old scars. But Kally reminded him she was too old to believe in fairytales, and the bitterness in her voice made him wonder if she ever had.
He remembered her face at that moment, the sorrow etched in the strong line of her jaw, the quiver so slight he almost missed it and the drop of blood that blossomed from her lip as she bit down hard. She didn’t want him to see her cry, but she refused to drop her gaze and he couldn’t turn away. As he rode through the rain that night, away from Corus, he remembered and he smiled despite the pain, because he knew she was fierce enough not to break and because no title could take that moment away.
By the time he returned to the Palace, she was gone, an Empress with a soldier’s spirit in her breast and a soldier’s taste on her lips. So Evin wept silently for the girl who didn’t believe in fairytales, whom he had loved.
Plus Kally/Evin is an epically wonderful pairing!
Maybe once we'd have seen it during Smackdown!