Unlikely Pair: Dark Elven Princess and Her Bird [Lailah x Qrow]

Chapter 6: Dreams & Revelations

Chapter 6: Midnight Visions

Lailah stared at her bedroom ceiling, the fractured moonlight casting familiar patterns that usually helped her meditate. Tonight, however, peace eluded her. Every time she closed her eyes, she felt the phantom pressure of Qrow's lips against hers, heard the soft catch in his breath before they'd kissed, remembered the way his silver eyes had looked at her with such unguarded affection.

"This is ridiculous," she muttered, pressing her hands to her burning cheeks. She was a princess of the dark elven realm, a royal guard, a warrior. She shouldn't be lying awake like some lovesick teenager in one of those romance novels she'd caught Qrow reading...

Qrow.

Her face heated further. The memory of their dance replayed itself: his hand at her waist, the surprising grace of his movements, the way he'd remembered every step of her people's traditional dance. He'd learned it for her. Just as he'd been learning their customs, their poetry...

Sleep finally came, but with it came dreams that made her earlier embarrassment pale in comparison.

*In her dream, she stood in a garden that blended dark elven and Vale architectural styles. Moonflowers twined with roses, and the sound of laughter - a child's laughter - echoed through the evening air.

"Mama! Look what Dad taught me!"

A small figure darted through the shadows with impossible grace. A little girl, perhaps seven or eight, with Qrow's black hair but streaked with Lailah's signature silver sparkles. Her eyes, when she turned, were a striking mix of orange and silver, gleaming with mischief.

"Papa says I'm getting better at controlling my Semblance!" The child demonstrated by disappearing into shadow and reappearing across the garden - a perfect blend of dark elven shadow-walking and Qrow's transformation abilities.

Dream-Lailah felt her heart swell with pride and love so intense it almost hurt. The little girl - their daughter - was everything beautiful about both their peoples combined.

"Still having trouble sticking the landing though," a familiar voice drawled, and dream-Qrow emerged from the shadows, older but still wearing that infuriating smirk that made her heart skip. He caught their daughter as she attempted another shadow-walk and stumbled. "Just like your mom when she's trying to prove a point."

"I do not stumble," dream-Lailah protested, but she was smiling, and when Qrow pulled her into their group embrace, it felt like coming home.*

Across the campus, in the STRQ dormitory, Qrow was having his own sleepless crisis. He'd loosened his tie hours ago but hadn't bothered changing out of his formal wear, too busy pacing and occasionally touching his lips as if he could still feel Lailah's kiss.

"Would you please just go to sleep?" Raven groaned, throwing a pillow at his head. "Some of us didn't spend the whole night dancing with princesses."

"Shut up," Qrow muttered, but there was no heat in it. He finally collapsed onto his bed, closing his eyes...

*His dream opened in a combat training room. He was watching a sparring match, but instead of students, it was a little girl with familiar silver-streaked black hair, wielding a weapon that seemed to be a hybrid between his scythe and Lailah's curved blade.

"Focus on your footwork, little bird," dream-Lailah called out, and the girl adjusted her stance - perfect dark elven formal posture combined with his more adaptive style.

"Like this, Mama?" Their daughter executed a complex maneuver that made dream-Qrow's chest tighten with pride. She had Lailah's grace but his instinctive ability to turn bad luck into advantage. Even as he watched, she transformed a stumble into a perfect defensive roll, her mixed orange-silver eyes sparkling with triumph.

"Just like we practiced," dream-Qrow heard himself say, moving to adjust their daughter's grip slightly. "Though maybe with less property damage than your old man usually causes."

"That's rich, coming from you," dream-Lailah approached, her formal guard's attire now incorporating some elements of huntress gear. "Who was it that destroyed half the garden teaching her to transform?"

"Hey, she got it didn't she?"

Their daughter beamed at them both, and dream-Qrow felt something he'd never thought possible - complete belonging.*

Both Lailah and Qrow jerked awake at almost the same moment, in their separate rooms, breathing hard.

Lailah pressed her hands to her chest, feeling her heart race. The dream had felt so real, so right. A future she'd never even considered wanting now seemed to fill every corner of her mind. A daughter with Qrow's smile and her eyes, with both their strengths and none of their loneliness...

In his dorm room, Qrow stared at his hands in the darkness. He'd never thought about having a family - his Semblance made it seem impossible, dangerous even. But the dream lingered: a little girl who could turn bad luck into shadow-dance, who had Lailah's royal bearing but his rebellious spark...

"Oh no," they whispered in unison, miles apart but sharing the same realization.

This wasn't just attraction or rivalry or even simple affection anymore. This was something far deeper, far more terrifying and wonderful than either of them had been prepared for.

In her quarters, Lailah touched her lips, remembering their kiss and now seeing it in a completely new light. "What am I going to do?"

In his bed, Qrow ran a hand through his disheveled hair, remembering how perfectly Lailah had fit in his arms during their dance, how right it had felt. "I'm in trouble," he muttered.

Neither of them got any more sleep that night, too caught up in visions of silver-streaked black hair, mixed orange-silver eyes, and a future that suddenly seemed both terrifying and infinitely precious.

In the fractured moonlight, two souls lay awake, their dreams having shown them a possibility that all their carefully constructed walls of rivalry and duty couldn't protect them from: the simple, earth-shattering truth that they wanted a future together.

The question was: what would they do about it in the morning?

To be Continued in Chapter 7: The Path to Destiny