Multi-Fandom One Shots

I Care About You (Moiraine Sedai)

Fear was a powerful weapon. All forms of Dark used it. From Trollocs to Whitecloaks, fear was their first defense against all others. But it isn't an evil power. It was utilized by both sides. Even the Aes Sedai used fear.

You sat on the bed, in your newly private room, looking out blankly. Your leg was propped up, your palm on your knee and your chin on the back of your hand. Your free arm wrapped around your leg. You were in your own little world, not registering anything from the room.

Your greatest fears were how you tested for Accepted in the Tower. You dreaded your official test, but that was a greater time yet away.

Being alone, forgotten, even by her. You remembered walking through your childhood home, nothing to show any of you had ever existed. The weight crushed you. The challenge had been returning from the ter'angreal. Summoning the will. You were trapped. Suffocating, unstable, unable to escape. Your mind raced through mud, throwing you off. You'd forced your way through the test, escaping the confines of your horrid nightmare. You'd stumbled from the ter'angreal, falling to your knees. You'd nearly not made it into the next. You were exhausted. But you knew how to face your final fear. You'd done it before. The worst night of your life in a perfect cycle.

Your hair was drenched and a hollow ring-casing donned your middle finger. You were completely sapped of everything. You felt hollow.

Warmth seeped into your shoulder and you turned to face the pale source of it. A hand rested on the top of your sleeve, an arm sliding against your back. Moiraine sat to your left. You looked at her, saw the sympathetic older woman gazing down at you. A part of you broke, allowing her in, and you moved to rest your head on her chest. She didn't say anything, pretty much her whole purpose in life, but held you like that was all she needed. She brought the two of you back and forth, hummed soothingly into your ear. "What happened?" she finally whispered.

You shook, a sob coming free. "I didn't think I could do it," you managed through shudders and tears. The older Sedai continued to rock you.

Her eyes were shut tight above your head. It shattered her heart to see your reaction to the tests. They were known for being archaic and cruel. But the Aes Sedai have to have tough entrance policies, which include being wicked to the point of Dark.

There were no young Aes Sedai. There were only Sisters and Mother. You were astonishingly young for an Accepted, especially compared to your Novitiate age.

"You'll never feel as alone as you did in there," Moiraine tried to comfort you.

You slowed in your weeping to take in the information. You laughed at her, bringing yourself to stop. "You're so awkward," you laughed out.

Blue eyes lowered briefly before she grew content that you had calmed at all. The little sloth attached like you were her anchor/tree. Her arms circled you entirely, then her legs. You were a fly, trapped in the spider's web, all her appendages surrounding you. When you were thoroughly trapped, she forced her affection on you, pressing her lips to any skin she could reach. The two of you flopped back, breaking in the new bed, and staring at each other.

You let your finger trail down from her chin idly. "What did you see?" you asked in a tired mumble. The test and the weeping tuckered you out.

The Blue noticed, as she did all things. She watched you drift off to dream-land bit by bit, mumbling incoherently and not listening for a word she'd say. You slowly went limp, curling into the brunette.

Familiar with the feeling, Moiraine cradled you in her arms, watching over your vulnerable form sympathetically. "Would you like me to stay with you tonight?" she mumbled into your hair.

"Can you?" you asked right back, voice wet and teary. There were rules in the Tower, limitations, and spies for Ajahs other than the Blue.

Moiraine didn't answer, as she was wont to do. She simply slid down your back, settling in behind you. She never left your side, not until the sun actually went down. She held you for hours, skin rubbing against skin in an attempt to calm and soothe you.

"What did you see?" you asked in a tired mumble.

She didn't answer. Whether because sleep was pulling at you or for whatever her usual reason was. Of course.