the ocean laps at the docks. he takes the drink from her hand and she squats down, fingertips stretching against the old, weathered wood. her legs fold and she rests her hands over her ankles, squinting up at the hot sky. it'd be nicer with more clouds, really, and her cheeks are already pinking from the short time she's spent in the sun. 

"still adapting," she says wryly with a raised brow.

she looks wistful for a moment. worries at her lower lip. "i've thought a lot about what you said...i've been taking it one day at a time. focusing on what makes me happy."

ALEXANDER STONE

☉

part of her is upset with him. part of her hates the hold he has on her - that just by questioning her, he's able to make her rethink everything. but the better part of her, the part that knows his goodness, missed his heart and his soul, is thankful, finally, to have a guiding light. 

"that i'm alive. that you're alive. that this region, and its people, won't stop trying. we're not just surviving. they - we - are making our moments count."

she chuckles, picking at a gnarled swirl of wood. "taking back sootopolis seems like a dream now. i'm...i'm happy where i am. making the most of it."

ALEXANDER STONE

☉

it is all they could hope for. not until all of her ugly had been stripped bare and thrust back into her face, forced to be beholden, had she glimpsed past her intensities. perfection isn't the right word when describe what she strode toward, but it's damn well close. and unable to settle for anything but her own impossible standards, she failed and fell, again and again and again. 

now, to take a step back and just breathe, has made all the difference. 

she laughs. "no?" she has many and they spring to mind in flashes; though her smile falters, it does not wither. "but what of the ones you do have?"

ALEXANDER STONE

☉

regrets or occasional doubts. she wants to dig deeper, to pick apart the bones and put them all out on the table. what he means to her - she can't lose that again. and that fear still sits inside of her, insecurities whispering all the ways he might disappear again.

now, at least, she thinks she won't have herself to blame. 

her jaw sets. would it have been different for him, if she had been ready with open arms to receive him? if their confessions had no obstacles?

her nail stops its scratching, gaze shifting from the foamy water and back to him. 

"i don't...want that for you." she sighs. "what can i do, alex?"

she muses aloud: "i've been more active doing grunt work. i could use a partner. gods know i need help with training the dragons too. it's been hard, managing the hoard, since...well, you know. or maybe we just have dinner. nice drinks. you could meet king.

"properly meet him, that is." not as a ghost and not on opposite sides hangs in the air between them.

ALEXANDER STONE

☉

red flags are waving in the corner of her vision, but she stays fixated on the sea's gentle rise and fall. work for the people, meaningful work, is something they did together years ago, but he doesn't push the topic. he doesn't plan for their, his, future. 

i take it things are going well between you two?

she would rather talk about dragons.

"they are," she says. "i live in slateport now. with him." she almost says and with his daughter, but it doesn't feel right to share. her pause is brief, barely noticeable, before she recovers.

"he's a good cook, actually." ought to be, with how often he jokes about being her house husband. "and he can bake." she gets a stupid grin on her face and rubs at it with her hand in an attempt to wipe it off. she explains, "he made a silly little salamence cake for me on my birthday."

more quietly, smile falling just a little, "if it's too much, i get it, but...he's a permanent fixture in my life." we can't keep skirting around the past. 

ALEXANDER STONE

☉

"good," she says, relieved. she smiles and wipes some of the sweat from the back of her neck. her hands drift over and into the water. a couple of curious corsola float upward to blow bubbles at her fingers. 

"i came here a lot, after what happened with you. before king. before fernando. i didn't have sootopolis, but i had this." she sips at her tea and hums.

"after all this time, pacifidlog still feels the same."

ALEXANDER STONE

☉