Assassins Bane (wof medieval human AU)

True North

Winter stared at the woman before him for a solid half minutes before his brain managed to register what she had said.

"Oh, yes, of course."

She stepped inside.

"Uh do you, want to sit down? Or something?" Winter asked uncomfortably.

Moon smiled at him. "Thank you."

She sat down on the edge of his bed and folded her hands together in her lap.

After another half minute waisted on his trying to decide what to do with himself, Winter sat down beside her. Not to close, for decency's sake.

After a few seconds past in awkward silence, Moon suddenly straitened up and squared her shoulders, as though she were preparing to take a dive off a cliff.

"I've avoided this for too long." She said. "I'll get to the point. Winter."

She turned and looked him dead in the eyes, with an intensity that made him almost feel the urge to edge away from it.

"Do you still love me?" she asked.

The question was both unexpected, hoped for, dreaded, surprising, and potentially led to his heart once again being smashed.

His head spun with all the possibilities for why the question might have arisen.

Had he been to obvious?

Had he said something that made her uncomfortable?

Moon waited for his answer patiently.

"Yes."

It was a simple answer.

He had meant to say it in a much more detailed and original way, but his frazzled brain couldn't remember a single good word one might use in expressing love for someone, if indeed he had ever known any.

Moon narrowed her eyes.

"Can you look me in the eyes and say it?" She asked.

He tilted his head up to meet her gaze.

"Yes." He said.  

She breathed. So did he, realizing that he had been holding his breath the entire time.

"I think-" she stopped. "No, I know. I'm in love with you.  I  mean, I love Qibli, but It's different with you. Lately I've been feeling . . . unhappy here. The love I'm being given was comforting at first, but now I feel suffocated, constantly surrounded. Choked by it. Listen, I know you are not one to trifle with me, if your feelings truly are as the way they were two years ago, tell me so at once. I realize this is probably really strange, but if I ignore this feeling, it won't be of any good to any of us. You me or Qibli. We've all gone through tests throughout these last few years, it seems that the both of us had to learn to accept things that we weren't comfortable with.

"Honestly this entire thing is so confusing. At first, I denied it, then I refused it. Why does love have to be so complicated? When I read about it in books, love is always a strong, undeniable force that is clear and holds true. But it's so different when you really experience it. Sometimes it's just as described in stories and legends, other times, it changes, weakens, and shall become questionable. Even the deepest love can be shaken. The most beautiful love can fade for no reason at all.

"I love Qibli. I know I do. These feelings I had for him still exist,  but I love you, Winter even more than that. If I ignore this, ten, even three years later, I will regret it, and I could have missed my chance. An opportunity to make the right choice, for all of us."

She took a deep breath, then continued.

"To tell the truth, even now this is so confusing. In admitting my feelings for you I am uprooting my entire life, and yours, and Qibli's. But I know for sure, that though difficult times lie ahead, one can do no wrong in choosing the right path. Winter, for me-"

She reached out her small white hand and grasped his own. "For me Winter, you are the right choice. Look inside yourself and tell me truly, with no fear or hesitation for what your answer might bring, am I yours?"

Through his shock, his surprise, his fear, and his confusion, a small spark of ever existent emotion pulsed brightly and warmly within his heart, like a compass, it's arrow pointing straight and true towards true North.

True North, a promise, a destination, a future and a life spent with the person he treasured most.

Winter did not need a verse of romantic poetry to convey his feelings.

"You always have been." 

As Moonwatcher walked through the hall, a promise on her lips and peace in her mind, she tugged closer the light blanket that had been placed around her shoulders. Though the hands that had bestowed it upon her figure had been cold, there was naught but warmth in her body.

At last, at long last, Moonwatcher was sure, she had made the right choice.

The early morning sun rose, marking the beginning of a new day, and the start of a new path.

Qibli washed his face and combed his hair, feeling at ease despite the conversation he had over heard the other night.

When he felt fresh and clean, he joined the beautiful young woman sitting outside in the pale sunlight, and for a moment they both just enjoyed the breeze that would soon be gone, replaced with the deserts harsh heat.

It was a precious moment that was shared only between the two of them. A moment that was theirs and theirs alone. 

"Qibli," Moon said after another few moments of peace and quiet.

"There is something I have to say-"

"I know," Qibli cut her off.

There was no bitterness in his voice.

"I have known for a while. Maybe longer than you have. There's a bridge between us that wasn't there before."

He turned and smiled at her. "I'm never going to force you into anything Moon. I can't and I won't. Neither shall I bind myself to you in such a way as to hold myself prisoner as well. I love you Moon, and because I love you, I am willing to let you go. And you love me too, just as you love Winter, and even more importantly, you love yourself. I admire that. You are freeing us all Moon, and I hold no resentment towards you, or Winter."

He gently took her hand and slipped the warm, golden ring off her finger.

"Be free, my beautiful bird, fly where your heart urges you to fly, land, and take off again. May you never be bound to anything, or any place. May you always feel free to be as you are, knowing that my friendship is yours for eternity, and that this time we have spent together is a blessing and a precious memory.

Even when we both have new lives, these memories are ours, and ours alone to treasure and keep. Thank you Moon, thank you for giving me these precious two years, they are a gift, one that shall never be forgotten."

Moon rested her head against his shoulder and they just sat there, not as lovers, not simply as friends either, but as two people, without any titles or lines drawn to give them a name.

Just two people who were brave enough to make a choice that would better both themselves, and others.

Two people who shared feelings, and now shared memories.

The pain in Qibli's heart was piercing, and sharp, but it was beautiful, because it was his pain, and it was his to keep along with all other emotions that came with loving someone.

Though the no longer stood close together, the bridge was knocked down, and all at once there was no barriers between them. 

Sorry for the wait, mistakes and poor quality chapter!!! I really wanted to get something out there. I'll try to update again tomorrow :) 

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