Aos Sí

19: Return

I panicked, writhed, and sobbed.

Everything flew by in a blur, then stopped.

"Aos sí, 's just us, yer fine."

Arms pulled me close, and Ethan's voice managed to break through the panic.

"Hey, hey calm down, we're okay."

I heard a short string of words I didn't understand from further away. I stared up at Ethan's face, my breaths shallow. My thoughts kept breaking, and it felt like sections of my body were still glitching, even though the haze was gone. My vision flickered. Ethan kept talking, but I couldn't understand.

When did he get a towel. Was that my blood?

My thoughts keep skipping.

We're in the dark? I hear roaring outside.

The static whispers to me.

Ethan isn't walking, but we're moving? The rhythm feels familiar.

I need to catch my thoughts. They keep floating away.

I wake up.

The plane was silent. When had we gotten on? Ethan slept nearby, looking far more relaxed then I had seen him before. The open window showed the ocean reflecting the stars.

"Aos sí?"

The soft whisper made me look over my shoulder. Seán rested his head behind his arms, eyes just visible over his sleeves. We simply stared at each other for a long moment.

My eyes drifted to his unbraced hand. A bandage wrapped around his palm.

"'s not yer fault," he murmured in response to my unspoken regret. "It'll be hard ta come to terms with. You'll remember a lot. But it's not yer fault."

I let out a soft sigh and looked back to him. "Do you think it'll happen again?"

He looked away, a sorrowful expression knitted into his brow. After a moment, he met my gaze again. "Always does, one way or another."

We watched each other, at a loss for words. I stood and moved closer. Seán went still, unsure of what I intended.

I leaned against his arms and rested my forehead at the crest of his nose. After a moment, I felt him relax.

We stayed there for quite some time.

"Think we're going to be okay?" I asked quietly, not wanting to move.

"Think we're gunna be fine, aos sí," he murmured.

"Does it get easier to remember?"

"Yeah. And easier to fight."

There was nothing else to say. So we stayed there, eyes closed, as the world traveled silently below us.