𝐂𝐎𝐒𝐌𝐈𝐂 || 18+ 𝚢𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚜 𝚡 𝚑𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝙵𝙼𝙲

┉┈◈†𐌷𐍊𐍂†𐌸-†𐌷𐍂𐌴𐌴◈┈┉

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

She had to be hallucinating. Or possibly dead.

Because how else could Tük'hala be standing there?

She looked over his body, seeing scars that weren't there before. Why was she imagining new wounds on him? He came in and out of focus as she saw the hallucination wipe his metal hand off on the lower part of his loincloth draped down between his legs, before lifting a small, square device in his other, fully intact, hand. A tiny red dot began blinking on it as she saw the hallucination's mouth moving next to the object.

The ringing wasn't faded enough to hear, but she was sure from the shape of the words on his lips, he was saying... "I have found her. Come quick to my location."

And then he was on his knees before her, inspecting her with frantic concern. His eyes lingered on the eggs, grabbing the last one she birthed and placing it on her stomach, but then he refocused on looking over her for life-threatening wounds. His hands hovered over her where his gaze followed, like he was too scared to touch her, like she was made of glass. This hallucination was so realistic with the way each movement held back a torrent of emotions—rage, fear, loss, relief—but he couldn't be real.

And she said so to the hallucination's face. "You can't be real. You're dead."

He paused, broad chest heaving with deep breaths. It was almost like for a moment he'd been thinking the same thing. Then those amber eyes that sweetly haunted her dreams snapped up to lock with hers. The heavy, tormented weight behind his stare knocked the air out of her lungs. She saw a story in his very real eyes, one that told of a love so intense it could burn the world to ash, one that told of the rage, the agony, of losing it. Like ripping out a heart—stealing it right out of his chest. But the story also told her of its end, of light, of finding what was lost.

Of a heart finally beginning to beat again.

"Tük'hala," she breathed in realization, tears blinding her vision as she reached for him.

He met her the rest of the way, big arms loosely wrapped around her while he kept his body off of the eggs between them. She sobbed into his shoulder, everything hitting her all at once. But this was a good cry. A healing cry. Hoping hadn't been for nothing. This was more than she could ever have hoped for.

As her crying eased, he pulled back only to capture her lips in a kiss. Immediately, her mouth melted against his, feeling all the heartbreak and turmoil of the last couple months behind the kiss, mixed with the blissful triumph and joy of finally finding each other again.

The kiss broke, but he stayed close. His warm left hand cupped the side of her face, his thumb brushing away a fallen tear on her cheek. "My ssstrong Adiwé," he murmured lovingly, proudly, eliciting a fresh surge of tears to her eyes.

Her face crumpled with the effort to keep from sobbing again, but the tears won out. He brought her once more into his gentle embrace and her cheek rested on his shoulder, dampening the scales.

"I'm here, now," he cooed against her tangled hair. "I'll never be parted from you again."

He shifted slightly and her brow furrowed in confusion when she registered abrupt coldness on one part of her face, contrasting to the warmth of his scales. She pulled back and he let her, his amber gaze searching hers only to find her attention was diverted.

There were metal pieces draped over his shoulders, one on either side, coming down into points. Her fingers came up and brushed against it, before sliding over the curve towards his back where the metal continued, connecting at a slant to a mechanical piece at his spine. Her eyes met his again, looking for answers.