Love Can Save {An Aphmau Fanfiction}

Nana

I was elbow-deep in cookie dough when I heard the knock at the door. Frowning at my appearance, I blew hair out of my face and grabbed a towel from the counter. On the walk to the front door, I tried to get as much of the dough and flour off of my skin as I could. I wonder who that could be. The bakery isn't expecting this delivery until tonight. Maybe someone came to visit?

I got the answer as soon as I pulled the door open, ears twitching as I tried to brush flour out of them. "Hello Nana, I hope I'm not interrupting anything." I smiled brightly at the blonde man before me, stepping back to allow Garroth into the house. "I'm assuming the bakery is getting restocked tonight?" I laughed, flicking flour at him and causing him to duck out of the way.

"Well since you're here, you may as well help me with these cookies." Garroth smiled, and I almost didn't notice the tightness in his face. I frowned, tail curling over my shoulder. "Or let's sit in the living room. The batter has to sit anyway." He nodded, inhaling deeply and letting his gaze fall to the ground. "Go, sit. I'll be there in a minute."

I quickly wrapped up the dough and placed it in the icebox, wiping off my hands on a towel again. Within five minutes, I was entering the living room with a tray of green tea and biscuits I had made earlier this morning. Garroth took his cup gratefully, giving me a smile that looked more like a wince. I placed the biscuits and teapot on the table in front of us before sitting on the couch next to Garroth, sipping my tea and waiting for him to tell me what was on his mind.

We sat for several moments, and I could tell that he was working up the nerve to address me. While we sat, I tried to fix my hair from the mess it had become while I sweltered in the kitchen, almost completely hiding my ears in the tangled nest.

"I had a vision, the morning of Lady Aphmau's party." Garroth's voice cut through my thoughts, and I turned to see him staring intensely into his cup of tea. "I had been on guard duty since midnight, you know, and I was heading back to my room. I was exhausted, ready to collapse, so maybe this just came from my subconscious, but... there is no easy way to say this Nana. I saw Alice."

The teacup in my hand slipped, tea drenching my apron and dress and soaking into the fabric of the couch I loved so much. "I'm fine, I'm fine," I stammered out at Garroth's flinch of surprise. In all honesty, it was nothing to the shock I was feeling in my heart. I set the cup down, my hands not shaking at all. "Garroth, I need you to explain right now."

And he did. He told me about the vision he had seen on the balcony of the barracks. About the smell of vanilla and honey. About the black hair and eyes with purple intermixed. About the tattered dress and burn marks. About the tan skin and Meifa ears. And about his name whispered on the wind.

"And you're positive it was her?" He shook his head, running his hands through his blonde hair.

"I'm not sure Nana. It's very possible that I was sleep-deprived and imagined her. But I know what I smelled. And I know what I saw. Laurance and Richard, they didn't see anything. But they smelled it too. I know they did. I didn't imagine that."

By now we were back in the kitchen, my skirts pulled up around my knees and in the sink as I tried to squeeze as much of the tea out of the cloth as I could. Garroth was at the island, head in his hands as a new cup of tea stewed beside him. I tried to keep moving, to keep my hands busy. If I didn't, I was sure that my mind might explode.

Finally, I collapsed in the seat next to him, my head falling into my arms. My heart was so dangerously full of hope that even another word from Garroth might cause it to swell to the point of now return. The cookies and other sweets I had meant to work all day on were long forgotten, ingredients strewn throughout the kitchen with abandon as I had pushed them out of my way.

"What do you think this means, Nana?" His voice trembled with strain, along with the same hope that was now burning its way through my mind. I reached out to hold his hand, reminded so strongly of how we had spent the weeks following my sister's sacrifice.

I couldn't hold it back anymore; the constant talk of my beloved sister brought tears to my eyes, and I didn't try to halt the trail they left down my cheeks. "We're going to have to wait and see, Garroth. That's all we have left to do." A sob left my throat, and I squeezed his hand tightly before falling against his shoulder and letting the tears I had been holding in escape. He wrapped me in his arms, and we sat there for who knows how long. I felt a few of his tears drench my shoulder, but as normal, Garroth kept all of his emotions locked tightly inside.

"Garroth," I began, trying to choke back the wave of tears that threatened to overwhelm me again. "I... I really want it to be Alice. You have no idea- well, you know more than anyone how much I want her back. But... we can't get our hopes up. And no matter how much it hurts me to say this... I don't think it's her. Not really." Garroth pulled me away from his shoulder, brow furrowed as he stared into my eyes. I sighed, pulling my hair over my shoulder and messing with it.

"When Alice... when she sacrificed herself, she channeled a lot of magick through her body. That and the energy that was a part of the storm she summoned. That's what... well that's what destroyed her. She was ripped apart by all of the power in her body; it was too much for anyone to bear. So I think that, maybe... what happened is that she's still in the air, a presence that hasn't completely vanished. I think her spirit is still out there, holding onto something that's keeping her here. So I don't think that was truly her. Maybe... maybe that was her saying goodbye." Garroth held me again, resting his chin on my head in the space between my ears.

"Maybe you're right, Nana. And maybe that's the best explanation we can make. But that's not going to keep me from hoping. No matter how much it hurts me to keep holding on."