Wings of Fire Oneshots

Expectations | Hawthorn x Sequoia

A/N: This oneshot involves a very much one-sided romance between Hawthorn and Sequoia. Just making that clear. I'm not gonna call it angst, but it's not particularly happy either. And... well, if you know what happens in the books, then you know this doesn't end well anyway.

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Summary as seen on AO3: In one final attempt to make Queen Sequoia recognise him for the brilliant, dazzling LeafWing he is, Hawthorn presents to her the plant he found which he believes will help her get the revenge on Wasp she's always wanted. Unfortunately for him, Sequoia doesn't quite have the extravagant, awed reaction he'd hoped for, but at least he's piqued her interest.

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About 50 years ago...

     Hawthorn slipped across the treehouse hallways and crept quickly but quietly up the spiral staircases between levels. Did he have permission to be here? No. Did that matter to him? No. And it especially wouldn't matter once Queen Sequoia got a look at what he'd found. He knew it. He kept his long wings curled in close to his sides as he dashed up to the next level of the baobab, his talonsteps as light as he could manage.

     With each calculated step he took, the pouch around his neck thumped gently against his chest, right above where his heart was thumping much more violently. He kept his eyes as focused on the steps before him as a panther stalking its prey, never looking down at the leather bag. But he always felt it, and the light weight of its withering contents jostling around inside.

     She'll be more proud of me than ever. She'll see me for the smart, amazing, helpful LeafWing I am. She'll finally get the revenge on Wasp that she wants, and it'll all be thanks to me! Oh, I can't wait to see the look on her face. The glint of admiration in her twinkling, beautiful brown eyes...

     Hawthorn shook himself. That wasn't what he should be focusing on right now. But... What if this was the spark that would finally get Sequoia to say she loved him too? His heart surged hard enough to knock him off-balance, and he spent the next few seconds reorienting himself and listening keenly to make sure no one had heard him. And absolutely not listening just a little bit for the sound of his queen's confident, firm voice from the top level of the treehouse.

     Sequoia wasn't the only reason he was doing this. No, not at all. Sequoia wasn't the only reason he had dedicated so many years of his life to searching the deepest, most dangerous reaches of the Poison Jungle for something she could use to avenge her tribe. He knew it was what she wanted most. She wanted Wasp and the HiveWings gone, because they had eradicated most of her tribe, and the ones who remained had been forced to hide in a jungle that could prey on them just as easily as they could breathe.

     So he'd been working and working to find just the thing for Sequoia, and now he was sure he'd hit the jackpot. He was going to show it to her, and her face was going to light up with shimmering, vengeful joy, and she was finally going to answer Hawthorn's unwritten love letters to her. And this, right now, was kind of like the best form of love letter he could give.

     Finally, the twisting wooden arch of the throne room towered regally just ahead of him. To his mild offence, the first thing he was met with was the talon of a guard, who had reached out to halt him. He skidded to a sudden stop, all his momentum gushing out of him like river rapids as he almost toppled over. Wouldn't be the most flattering look, he thought to himself with an internal chuckle.

     "And what exactly are you doing? What business do you think you have with the queen?" At the words 'the queen', Hawthorn's eyes shot up. And sure enough, there was Sequoia in all her sunlit majesty, all her beauty that he dared say could rival the beauty of nature itself. She looked exceptionally bored, but it appeared that her interest had been piqued by the sight of the enthusiastic Hawthorn bounding up to her throne room and coming extremely close to barrelling straight through her guard.