Weak To Fire

22

Y/N was sitting in her bathtub. It was really more of a small pool than a bathtub, because it was incredibly spacious. And what surprised Y/N was how the water was always warm - almost a little too warm for her tastes. They were probably heating it by having some sort of fire below the floor or something. Y/N was sure it was amazing in winter, but right now in summer it seemed a little over the top. Still - she wasn't going to complain. She was glad that she had gotten such a spacious bathtub in the first place. It wasn't something she had expected.

It was especially good, because Y/N spent a good deal more time in the water ever since Mereoleona had been promoted to captain of the Royal Knights Squad. She was busy planning some sort of mission and training her squad, but that was about the extent of Y/N's knowledge about Mereoleona's job. She had tried her best not to hear any details about the mission, because she knew it was going to be something that was dangerous and she didn't want to worry about Mereo.

But it was almost impossible not to overhear anything. Sometimes Y/N just overheard some small details by accident and from what she had heard the mission sounded insanely dangerous. And while she tried not to think about it, she was dreading the day that Mereo was going to leave for that mission, because Y/N knew damn well that she would have no way of knowing whether Mereo would make it back alive or not. It was impossible to say with this mission, judging from all the little bits and pieces that Y/N had been able to pick up. She really didn't like the sounds of it.

But what was she supposed to do? Mereoleona was a human. Of course she wanted to leave her imprint on the world somehow. She wanted to help people. Protect the people that were important to her. And she didn't have a lot of time for that, because humans only lived so long. It was something that Y/N had to learn the hard way several times before. She had all the time in the world to do whatever she wanted, but Mereoleona? And any other human? They had mere moments. And they had to use them wisely, because one small mistake might set them back years.

Honestly, Y/N couldn't really get behind how they managed to do it without going insane. If she only had as much time as a human to do something in life she would go absolutely mad. She'd constantly feel some sort of pressure to leave behind an imprint on the world, to do something meaningful, something with purpose. And then being met with the possibility of failing and not having enough time to try again... it just seemed cruel to Y/N. She admired humans for putting up with all of this, though. It was something she just couldn't wrap her head around.

But thankfully all of that wasn't for her to figure out. All she needed to figure out was how to stay calm and not worry too much while Mereoleona was out there risking her life to protect all the people she loved. And that included her, even though Y/N would probably be able to protect herself well enough... but still. Spirits in general weren't too eager to directly interfere with human affairs. They usually stayed out of things like politics and wars and diplomatic relations.

Sure, there wasn't a law or anything against it and it wasn't like there were no spirits that had ever taken sides, but usually that support wasn't shown in a very active way. And Y/N knew that getting involved in things like that would ultimately not work out in her favour (or probably anyone's favour), but she knew that if anything was to happen to Mereo, she knew that she'd fight until the bitter end to protect her and/or avenge her. Mereo was the one person that would make her actually get involved in things, no matter what. Even if it was going to end badly for Y/N.

Y/N sighed and sat up in the bath when she heard a knock on the door. She raised her eyebrows, wondering who would be planning to come in here when the place was occupied. The only person that would come to mind was Mereoleona, since they basically shared their rooms all the time anyway. Still... Y/N figured it was probably better to make sure that it wasn't someone else who got lost in the mansion. Y/N had gotten lost in this place herself one too many times, she knew just how easy it could be to end up in a completely different part of the house.

"Who's there?" Y/N asked, moving over to the edge of the tub, in case she needed to grab a towel or something to cover herself up. She was pretty sure that it was Mereoleona who had been knocking, but still. Better safe than sorry.

"Who the hell do you think it is?" she heard a slightly muffled voice through the door. Y/N chuckled to herself. Yes, that was clearly Mereo. She relaxed her shoulders and leaned back again.

"Well, come in then." she answered. She really wondered what Mereo could want from her. She didn't usually barge into the bathroom unless it was something important. Maybe this was about the mission? Y/N wouldn't be surprised. They had been training for such a long time and Mereo had been a little on edge lately. She looked over at the door as it slowly creaked open and as Mereo slipped into the bathroom, quickly closing the door behind her again.

"Hey. How long have you been in here? I can barely see anything with all the steam." Mereo said, as she walked up to the tub, glancing at Y/N with a small smile on her face. She was wearing her Royal Knights uniform - a black and green robe that looked weirdly elegant - and soon got her serious look back on her face. So something important was up after all and that's why Mereo was here.

"Just an hour or two. Why? What's up, Mereo?" she wanted to know. Mereoleona sighed and brushed a strand of hair out of her face, before kneeling down by the bathtub to be on eye level with Y/N.

"It's time... I'm going to have to leave for the mission now and I wanted to say goodbye." she told her. Y/N felt like all the colour drained from her face. So... this was it? Mereoleona was leaving for the mission already? Y/N almost wished she had asked to be told more about the mission, but it was too late now.

"Already?" was all Y/N managed to say. Mereoleona nodded and took her hands, pressing soft kisses to her knuckles.

"I'll be back, okay? Don't worry too much about me. I have every intention of coming back." she said. Y/N sighed and rested her forehead against Mereoleona's. Of course she had every intention to come back to her, but that didn't mean that she actually would make it back alive. It didn't mean anything. It wasn't going to help Y/N worry less in any way whatsoever. But it was the best that she was going to get. It was the best she could get and she knew it well. She had to somehow make her peace with it and then hope for the very best.

"Okay... Okay... I'll still worry, Mereo." she said quietly. Mereoleona nodded and kissed her forehead.

"I know. I know you'll still worry, Y/N. But please try to stay calm, okay? It'll be fine. It'll all be fine." she replied.

"It's a dangerous mission, Mereo..."

"It is. There is nothing I can change about that."

"I know. I just wish you didn't have to go. I wish you didn't have to put yourself in that kind of danger."

"It'll be fine, Y/N. I love you. I'll be back before you know it, okay?" Mereoleona said, pulling her in closer for a kiss. Y/N felt more powerless than she had ever felt before, but she knew that she had to let Mereoleona go and do her thing. She had taken on this duty after all and she had had enough time to think about it. She knew what risk was involved in it and how dangerous it could be. It wasn't like she had no idea what she was doing. She was well aware of the dangers.

"I love you, too. And I'll miss you. You better not end up dead." Y/N replied, half-joking and half-serious. Mereoleona smiled and gave her one last kiss on her forehead before heading back outside, as Y/N watched her leave. Once the door was closed again she let her body sink down under the water surface where she stayed for what felt like an eternity.