They Say Water Heals All Wounds- Zoyalai Boat Day fanfic

They Say Water Heals All Wounds

"Another nightmare?" Nikolai asked, his face buried in the crook of her neck, the scent of her hair and the oils from her bath filled his senses. Zoya of course would try to deny it, to claim that she was made of stronger things that silly things like nightmares couldn't penetrate but Nikolai knew her. He knew her better than he knew the waters he had sailed. He knew her better than the ship he sailed them on, and some might even argue that the bastard prince knew her better than he even knew himself. They didn't have anything they needed to do today, no Queenly duties for Zoya to busy herself with and no...bastardly ones for Nikolai to contend with either. It was just the two of them and the thought of that made him feel like he had landed on the better side of this deal by escaping the crown. Truthfully, he had never really wanted it. He had never wanted it and she had taken the role with a grace only few could display. He would like to think that somewhere in her misplaced pride his mother might have found a reason to agree with him on that notion. "We could go out on the water you know?" He offered, and she listened. Keen to have something that would take her mind from the ever-growing gloom that settled in her chest. It was pretty this time of year, but if you asked Nik none of that beautiful compared to that of Zoya Nazyalensky. She was more beautiful than any gem he'd seen, any treasure he'd found, any water he'd sailed on and any boat he'd designed. She was prettier than Volkvolny."Oh yeah?" she asked with a faint smile, turning over in his arms to face him, reaching up to push a stray curl from his face. "I'd like that, but didn't they say something ladies and ships being a bad idea?""Lady? I don't see a lady," Nikolai laughed earning a shove from her which only had him sticking his tongue out at her. This was the softest they'd been in a little while now, a soft dawn to a beautiful day and it was going to be what they made of it. Nikolai would make it great for her. 

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 The afternoon was theirs for the taking, a well-deserved trip for two people who had beenthrough far too much. Their lives had never been easy, though Nikolai had chosen a far different one than his family would have chosen for him. He had always been a bit of a free spirit, a brilliant one too. "I never would have pegged you for a pirate, but I can see it now," Zoya said with a wry grin, always willing to cut him down to size even if it were just playfully. She would give anything to see him smile again – it felt like neither of them had much reason to even if they were alive, sometimes living when so many had died all around them, when so many of them were lost, returned to the dust from whence they had come. Living wasn't easy and though they had won it was hard to call it winning when they had buried too many friends – people they had trusted, loved, and survived so fucking much alongside. It was moments like this that they needed the most. The moments when they were just two people who had known each other nearly all of their lives poking fun at one another."I'm a privateer, my Queen." Nikolai was still getting used to that title on her no matter how much it fit. No matter how much the monster in him – not to mention the way his blood was tainted with status as a bastard made him unworthy of the crown it didn't come easy. Some days –despite never truly having wanted the position he still felt robbed of the only birthright that he had known. "Mm, I do love the way that word sounds when you say it Sobachka." Zoya said, looking past him and to the pier as they walked towards where his ship was anchored. "It will be nice you know," she started, hooking her arm around his, bumping shoulder to shoulder with him as they walked down the wooden planks, the old saltwater worn wood creaked under their steps. It swayed a little as they walked, floating there, making their steps feel uneasy but it didn't change the sureness in them."It's a title." Nikolai said in a mocking tone without a hint of ire to them. "It's a title that is fitted for you, that's for sure," he snorted. "Alongside insufferable." They were more playful words from a man—boy with the charming smile of a prince no matter how much monster still lived inside of him."I'll show you insufferable, Nikolai Lantsov," Zoya threatened and if he hadn't known she was joking he might have even believed her. She was a fierce sort of woman, the kind that even if you knew she was your friend you couldn't always be sure because that biting wit was something that you either had to learn to love. She wasn't for the faint of heart, the marrow of your bones had to be thicker, your spine had to be fused with steel, anything less and one glare might cut you down to size and Nikolai loved her for it.There had been nothing easy about the time before now, and there was nothing easy about the time coming ahead of them, but they could take this moment to breathe. To relish in what peace, they could find. Sometimes Zoya would see him looking at David's old notebooks, the scrawling of a genius, the only pieces he had left of a strange man that Nikolai had considered a friend. He wasn't the only one who had grief to deal with, no Zoya had her own. She had Juris and that was just listing the one who had struck her the hardest. They tossed and turned sleeplessly, closing their eyes to see the dead staring back at them. The spoils of war were more – spoiled thanthey were something to revel in. They needed this. They needed time away from the rest of the world on the water where trouble couldn't find them if it had a map. They needed something intangible, something that would become so invaluable to them that they could remember what it was like to be a person before this war and the wars that would inevitably come. The world would only pause for so long, so they would embrace it while they could.Stepping onto the ship first he held his hand out to her, and of course she batted it away because Zoya needed no hand getting on or off a ship. Still, they were boarded, with no crew he set the sails himself, he tied and fastened where he needed to. Setting the sails and getting them ready before he brought up the anchor and turned the wheel to set them on a course all their own. There was no real destination, there was no agenda, just two war weary people seeking peace only some time on the waves could provide. "You make that look so easy," Zoya commented as she leaned against the railing as they left the dock. The boat listed to the left – starboard, whatever side that was she wasn't sure, but she liked the feel of the sway, it lulled something in her heart to rest. They hadn't even left the harbor yet and she could already feel why he loved it so much. She could feel what it did to him, because she was sure it was the same as what it was doing to her right now. They listed to the port side next as the ship righted itself."It is easy, you just think that its hard," he reasoned as he let the sails pull them out into the water.'

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They had sailed until there was no land to be seen, until it was just them and the water, until there was nothing to be heard but the quiet lapping of soft waves against the sides of the ship. It was beautiful, a serene sight as they both stood at the bow of the ship and watched the sun setting on what had started out to be a bad day. Nothing could get them here. There were no monsters, there was no war, no death – the ocean wasn't teeming with their dead friends like their dreams would. "Saints I needed this," Zoya hummed softly, leaning her head to rest on his shoulder, her arm sliding around his waist. He could see the gooseflesh on her arm from how cold the breeze was making her. For a moment he didn't move, he just wanted to embrace this, to feel the simplicity of it before he pulled away from her. As attached to her as he was it wouldn't be for long, no he would be back at her side before she could even question it."I needed this too," Nikolai agreed as he pulled his jacket from his shoulders and moved to hold it open, watching as she slipped one arm in at a time. It dwarfed her in size, but it looked good on her, everything looked good on her. "It's nice, isn't it?" He didn't need to hear him tell her the answer to know it was true, it was a nice place to be with somebody that you loved. Where they could forget there was nothing else in the world aside from the two of them. No more ghosts. No more sadness, just soft waves and gentle rocking. "I don't think I want to go back; can we stay out here for another day?" Zoya asked wistfully, the kingdom could wait for another day, couldn't it? There would be no harm in that. That was what her tone said, that was what she was praying for. Asking the saints for just a few minutes longer of this silence where the only other thing she had to worry about was the man next to her. "I was hoping you would say that" Nikolai told her with a kiss pressed to her temple. "I had them prepare us provisions. A few days' worth, so that we could have a little trip away from it all." Regretfully, he pulled away from her again, taking her hand to pull her from the railing so that he could lead her down under the deck and to the cabin. "Would my Queen like some wine?"He offered, plucking two mugs – ships were not made for delicate stems and fragile glasses. He poured for them both before he laid out the cheeses and fruits. Tomorrow he would fish for their dinner, show he that he could do more than just sail a ship, he could cook her a dinner fit for a Queen."You really are a too clever fox, aren't you?" Zoya said with her squinted eyes and an accusatory glare, but she sipped her wine, nonetheless. "I love you for it, always thinking steps ahead, always knowing what I need even when I don't know it myself sometimes." It was a rare moment of vulnerability that only Nikolai got to really see. He cherished these moments."What do you say we eat out fill, drink to our delight and lay out under the stars. You'll see them like you never have before, no light pollution, nothing to obscure our view." He would show her what it was like to let the rocking of the ship lull you not into just sleep but other things as well. A weekend away – a few days to themselves so they could forget the world behind them on the shores and just focus on one another. They say water can heal all wounds – and maybe this would be no different.