Chapter Text
He was frantic, racing down the tunnels beneath the village. The one that connected his village to hers had been closed off years ago, but he wasn't heading to her town, she wouldn't be there. She'd so rarely been back, spending most of her days with him, and him with her. He was only in his town himself because there was something he had wanted to give her, he hadn't even reached it, the town was in chaos. Every entrance, every passageway, in and out of the village was being heavily guarded, but there was one path he'd been able to reach in time. He hadn’t wasted a moment when he heard the other Vampires shouting, hadn't even had time or thought to grab his red-lined cloak or his silver stitched bag where he'd stashed them to avoid search and seizure when he heard the guards approaching, calling out orders for all Vampires to return to their homes...unlike the rest of his people, HE knew what it meant, he knew that their worst fears had just come true.
The Elder had made his decision, the Council clearly supporting it.
Which meant he had to escape, NOW, there was no time any longer.
He’d moved through the back alleys, the side paths not many ventured down, racing to the edge of town and out to the sandy beach, using the wind to push him faster, needing to beat the guards there, reaching the entrance to the tunnels just as he heard the voices of guards behind him, searching.
He dashed down them, hoping he was making the right turns in his haste, he could not risk moving down the wrong path and being caught. Too much was relying on him. If he was caught, all their plans would be for nothing.
More importantly, he had to get out and get to HER.
His StarBright, she would have no idea what was coming. She was in the Orchard right now, hopefully untouched by all this madness. He had to find her, he had to warn her, before it was too late for them both.
All the things they'd hoped to do, the time they thought they had…it was turning to ashes, fading as if the moon disappearing into the nights' sky.
His lungs burned, his legs felt like lead, he was exhausted from the recent days of little sleep, but he pushed himself on. He HAD to get to the Orchard, he had to get to her, he had to see her, to know she was alright and hadn't been found. By the Sun and the Moon and the Stars, please don't let her have been found. He knew his heart would only slow, his lungs only breathe air again, when he saw her unharmed.
He barely noticed when the tunnels ended and the large plain that led to the Orchard began, heading for the forest that marked the area the Orchard could be found. He slammed into a tree as he tried to turn, running too fast to manage it without stumbling. He grunted, but quickly ran towards the entrance, the gates sealed shut, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw the ladder stationed next to it. He knocked it over, using the wind to send it flying through the trees as far away as he could get it. No one could know she was in there.
He called the wind again, hefting himself up and over the walls. Racing off the second he was on the ground. He couldn’t risk remaining flying, others might see him in the air, or those flying in the distance might spot him, surely the guards spreading out from the villages would scout the skies.
It wasn’t till he reached a small opening near the waterfall, seeing her standing on the roots of a large Bloodfruit tree, on the entwined black and white roots, gathering some fruit from it that he finally stilled, nearly falling to his knees. He always called her a goddess, but never had she looked more like it. Her white gown, her detached sleeves, her skirt pinned to the side to not tangle with her legs while she maneuvered and climbed, her blonde hair cascading down her back, the small golden dagger at her hip...the glow of the sun illuminating her...she always did look ethereal in the sunlight.
He clutched at his chest, panting, his hand absently seeking the silver coin that usually dangled from a leather cord around his neck, only to recall he had it no longer, his relief to see her so great his mind felt slow, his eyes tracing every inch of her, making sure she didn't have a single blemish or injury or anything.
She was there, she was safe.
She seemed to hear him, turning to smile at him, only for her blue eyes to fill with alarm, dropping the basket of Bloodfruit to the ground as she made her way down off the roots as he rushed over to her.
He didn’t say a word at first, just pressed his lips to hers, the relief he felt at being with her, seeing her safe, was too overwhelming to form words. He rested his forehead to hers, taking a shaky breath, before he pulled away to look into her wide, concerned and fearful, eyes.
For a single moment…the world faded away and peace filled him.
They were together, she was safe and they were together, and everything…everything would be alright now.
***
She had never left in the middle of training before. The only thing that kept her being noticed in doing so was that she wasn’t the only one who ran from the training yard when the news broke. The only difference was SHE was heading in a different direction than the others.
Everyone was so on edge, and had been for so long, that learning of the latest attack on the Vampires meant no one was paying attention to the direction she’d fled in, most were too concerned about possible retaliation and trying to work out what happened. She hadn't cared to stop and listen in, all she had heard was the Vampires had just been attacked, the shout coming in right as she had flipped her training partner over her shoulder and onto their back on the ground. She was running before she even realized it. And, in that moment, she honestly didn’t care if anyone noticed, if anyone saw. She had to get out, she had to find him, she had to make sure he was alright.
She raced past the other Daywalkers, so fast their faces were no more than a blur in her mind, darting out of the village and down the path to the tunnels. She was so used to them, to patrolling them, that she knew which way to go, where to turn, which path to select. Never before had she been so grateful for all those monotonous and tedious marches back and forth, she would never again think the tunnel rotation to be miniscule and pointless, not now that she knew the tunnels like the back of her hand, could navigate them blindfolded.
When she burst out through the gate that would lead to the path to the Orchard, she stopped. It was dark out, she hadn’t expected that, hadn't paid attention at all to the time, but she didn’t care, it wouldn’t stop her. The night held no terror or fright for her, not any longer, not since him. If she stumbled or tripped a few more times than normal in her haste to get to their spot, that was her business.
She ran past the opening in the walls of the Orchard, moving down this path and that, until she reached the Bloodfruit tree they seemed to have claimed as their own. Large, with black and white roots intertwined.
But he wasn’t there, her Shadow…and her heart dropped into her stomach.
Terror shot through her that...that it had been him, that HE had been among those attacked...he always seemed to be there exactly when she needed him, appearing when she most wanted him at her side, like something inside him was pulling him to her. She had resisted it, that pull SHE felt, tried to deny the other emotions she felt around him, tried to ignore how her heart beat so quickly in his presence, how she smiled so much more genuinely, more frequently, when he was with her or when she even thought of him. She had stepped back, ignored, refused, what could have been so many precious, treasured, beautiful moments with him...and now he...
He might be...
He might be gone.
He might be gone without knowing how she felt, because she'd never told him, never even allowed herself to acknowledge what it was.
Her heart was cracking in her chest, splintering into millions of pieces barely being held together by a thin thread of hope that she was wrong and he was safe.
They weren’t meant to meet that night, there was no cause for him to BE here but…she couldn’t go to the Vampire village, not now. If the report was true and they'd been attacked, they would be on high alert, they'd be angry and vengeful with any Daywalker they came across. She would be attacked at the gate, if she even made it that far. And here was the only other place she could think to go.
She had to hope he would come there, that he would know her fear, sense her terror somehow, and come to her and reassure her he was alright, that he was alive.
She begged every star in the night’s sky, using the magic words he’d taught her, wishing on more than just the first one she saw, that he would be alright.
…if he wasn’t…she didn’t know what she’d do.
She had never felt this fear before and…
She gasped, spinning around when a twig cracked, and nearly threw herself into his arms as he stepped past the bush, looking worse for the wear, bruised, battered, but alive.
His arms wound around her and he held her tightly as she trembled in his arms, murmuring in her ear as the tears fell, at least until she pulled back and pressed her lips to his, stealing the words from his mouth, stealing the thoughts from his head, startling and surprising him with the move for all of a few seconds before his arms were pulling her closer, his lips pressing more fervently against her own, his hand diving into her hair...
She hadn’t realized, she hadn’t known…not till now, not till she’d almost lost him…
She swore to herself she would not make that mistake again. She was tired of complying with her people's views, she would not hold back with him ever again. To hell with restrained Daywalker sensibilities, she would embrace the Vampire way of loving someone with their whole heart and soul if she had to, there would never be a moment where he could doubt, a single second where he might wonder, if she loved him, never again. Starting with this kiss, the first of many if she had her way, and she knew he would deliver just as fully himself.
He was there, and they were together, and everything would be alright, because they were together…
***
Victor smiled as he slowly woke, a warmth in his arms and a scent in his nose that could only be Nova. In his hazy waking, there was no other thought in his mind other than how blissful it was to wake with her beside him. There was no concern, no frantic worry for HOW she was there, only a bone deep and soul-stirring relief that she was.
He could hear her inhale deeply, move slightly in his arms and he knew she’d woken, too, as if pulled awake just by him being awake. He blinked blearily as he rubbed at one eye, watching with a dreamy smile as Nova’s eyes fluttered open, immediately connecting her gaze with his.
They were vaguely aware they were on the ground, not quite lying on it, but nestled on the roots of a Bloodfruit tree, one of the largest ones in the Orchard, with roots that came above the ground, twining white and black together in a way few of the trees did. The shape of the roots created a slanted space, just perfect for two people to rest in comfortably.
It didn’t mean much to them in that moment though, because their eyes were on each other as the sun gently rose and why would anything else matter in the world than them being together?
“Hi,” he breathed, reaching out to brush a lock of hair behind her ear, her hair was down, out of its braids, giving him more freedom to then bury his hand in her tresses.
“Hello,” she smiled at him, reaching up to touch his cheek like she couldn’t believe he was real and really with her.
“Hey,” he murmured, wanting badly to lean in and kiss her but he could see tears glimmering in her eyes even as she smiled.
"You're here," she breathed, sniffling quietly, "You're ok. You're..." her voice caught before she could say the last word.
But he knew what it was: alive.
He knew, instantly, what caused it, the nightmares. The dreams where she was trapped in the Cauldron Chamber and he wasn't waking up and the nightmares turned it into a permanent conclusion. It seemed his hoodie and heartbeat hadn't been enough to keep them from breaking through, and the knowledge that she'd suffered while they were apart (more than he already guessed she was if what she felt was anything like what he had) absolutely shattered his heart.
He swallowed hard, nodding, "No place I'd rather be," he breathed, "And now that I'm with you...I'm amazing."
The way Nova beamed, the relief in her eyes, the way he could see her completely relax like she had needed this more than words could say, to see him, be with him, he couldn't stop himself any longer from leaning forward to press a kiss to her lips. Because he needed that just as much as she did.
Her other hand moved to his shirt, gripping it tightly in her hand like she didn’t want him to pull away. As if he ever would. He felt like he’d gone years without being able to kiss her, and he was finally able to make up for lost time.
Nova’s hand moved from his cheek to his neck, sliding behind to briefly clutch at the nape of his neck, before her fingers were running through his hair for a moment. She slid closer, her arm moving around his neck entirely to pull him closer. His arm wound around her back, pressing her more to him as his fingers scraped along her scalp in a way that had her gasping into his mouth. She nearly gasped again when she felt something brush against her lips, begging for entrance when…
“GUYS!” three voices shouted.
Nova and Victor gasped, pulling away to see Vera, Vargas, and Ray were standing a few feet away, looking equal parts angry, mildly disgusted, and exhausted. Like they’d been shouting at them for some time and were at their wit’s end.
It was THEN that they fully became aware of just where they were, in the middle of the Old Orchard, in their pajamas, and that they were lying among the roots of one of the trees.
…hadn’t they just been at their homes? In their beds? Sleeping?
How were they here?
“Uh…hi guys?” Victor offered, shifting to try and sit up more, helping Nova rise as well, the two trying to subtly detangle themselves from the other, which didn’t work out nearly as well as they hoped, especially considering they refused to move away from each other and instead just ended up tangled in a different manner once they were sitting up.
Victor’s arm was around her, his hand coming to rest on her left hip, while she gripped his right hand with her own right hand, her left crossed over her stomach and gripping his shirt, they were both leaning heavily against each other.
“What happened?” Nova frowned, looking between them, “Why are we in the Orchard?”
The three of them knew she meant “we” as in all 5 of them, but they couldn’t help but shake their heads because the only reason THEY were in the Orchard was because of the two people in front of them.
“You don’t remember?” Vargas asked, cautious, and also curious what they did remember.
“Remember what?” Victor frowned, “The last thing I remember, I was dragging myself to bed.”
Or trying to at least.
The last few days had sucked the life out of him. By the time yesterday's meeting was over at Town Hall, his Aunt had just looked at him as he shuffled behind her back to the manor, rolled her eyes, and scoffed at him. She'd sent him to bed as if he were a child, and, for once, he did as he was told.
(He even ignored her remarks about how he needed to learn to manage his sleep better (that teenagers had to stop staying up all hours of the night when they had important things and responsibilities the next day) and her chastising him about how she'd wanted to hammer out a few details that he'd now be useless in assisting with. He didn't have the energy to quip anything back, just trudged up the stairs, grateful for the reprieve.)
He was just barely holding himself together, trying his hardest to not make a mess of thing so his Aunt wouldn't revoke his attendance at the meeting in Sunnyside. It wasn't till he reached his room that he was able to let it out, unclench his hands from the fists they'd curled into, gulp for air and release the breath he felt like he'd been holding in all day, and curl up the way he'd felt like doing since their non-existent lunch break.
He didn't know what was happening to him, but he was just at the end of his rope, he felt. It wouldn't be as bad, he'd thought, if there was more to DO, but his Aunt relegated him to the side, hardly speaking, barely moving, just...sitting there, listening, not participating, his mind on an endless loop of how Nova would never do that. She'd be beside him, holding his hand, smiling at him, listening to him, engaging in conversation, pulling him in and supporting his ideas, just like he would her.
It made him miss her all the more and he'd dragged himself to bed, wrapping her shrug around him, curling up in a ball on his side and praying for sleep. He just wanted to see her, he just wanted to dream of her. He needed just a few minutes where it didn't feel like his soul was shriveling inside of him.
...ok, that was dramatic, he could admit that.
But...he honestly wasn't sure just HOW dramatic it was or how...real...it just might be.
The side of his temple was pink from how much he'd itched it throughout the day, the itching in his brain more intense than ever. His hands, too, had pink patches on the backs and palms from where he'd rubbed at them, both of them tingling like he'd held them in a bucket of ice water for too long. He was fidgety, which earned him more than one glare from his Aunt throughout the meetings, and anxious and agitated and he was genuinely shaking by the time he'd managed to swap into his pajamas. He'd been fighting off the feeling of suffocating all day, feeling like his chest was caving in and he couldn't get enough air in him, it was just...hard to breathe with that fire burning near his heart. Adding onto that the feeling of dread and worry that had been with him from the moment he'd been woken by Vargas till he'd fallen asleep last night...he knew now it had likely been him somehow sensing that Nova wasn't ok. Maybe she'd only just had the nightmares recently, but he'd felt a terrible pull to her the entire time, his mind replaying the thoughts that she wasn't ok, that she needed him, that something was wrong. He wasn't sure whether it was lucky his Aunt had basically locked them in Town Hall all day or not, because he hadn't been able to go to Nova the way his entire being was screaming at him to do, which was good in the sense that it didn't make his Aunt even MORE irritated with him that he'd just bolted in the middle of the meeting. But bad because...it just made everything worse and to know Nova hadn't been ok and he hadn't been able to go to her...it hurt.
Last night he'd struggled to go to sleep, all day he'd struggled to focus, every single second of the day he struggled to keep himself in check. He knew part of it was missing Nova, but part of it was also just the sheer level of exhaustion he felt, both physical and mental and emotional. It was worse than that night at the beach and he was fighting, fang and nail, NOT to let the voices in his head that wanted to beat him down win.
He'd promised Nova he'd do better, and he was trying.
It was just so hard.
He missed her so much.
And then he'd fallen asleep, finally. He could barely remember the dream he'd had, only that he was just as anxious then as he had been all day to be with Nova again. And then he was there, opening his eyes to find himself in the Orchard of all places, with Nova actually in his arms again.
It was paradise as far as he was concerned.
“Me too,” Nova nodded, “And then I woke up here.”
NOT that she would complain about the wake up, it was…rejuvenating to have even those few moments with Victor. Her smile as she looked at him made that clear and he smiled softly back at her, leaning in to rest his forehead to hers for a brief moment.
Sun, she'd needed this.
She'd been so exhausted when Dawn finally left, had barely enough energy and willpower to get changed into her pajamas before she was curled in bed, Victor's hoodie tight around her, the recording of his heart in her ear. She couldn't even recall falling asleep, only that she hoped to see him in her dreams, hoped for another nicer dream than the horrible nightmares she'd had the other night.
In the moments between being awake and finally sleeping, it had been the worst part. Where she wasn't sure if she was dreaming or still in reality, where she felt heavy, and the world around her felt blurry and she couldn't keep the thoughts in her head straight.
Those horrible thoughts she'd been fighting against all day came screaming back. Listening to everyone talking about camp, about what went on while she and Victor were away...it reminded her of her time there with Victor. It reminded her of the Orchard burning, the Moonstone theft, the Cauldron Chamber...the fall.
She had struggled more than ever before during her time awake to remind herself Victor was alive, that the others seemed to know her feelings for Victor and accepted it and actually CARED about her. No way would they be sitting there laughing and joking and acting like everything was right with the world if he'd really died. Sunny wouldn't have asked for books, Helia wouldn't have asked about the necklaces, if Victor wasn't alive to answer them. But the night, the drifting, the way her mind played tricks as it began to slow down...she knew she'd fallen asleep with tears in her eyes from trying so hard to believe, to remember, he was with her and alive and ok and healed from the fall.
She knew she had tears in her eyes now, though it was for a completely different reason, a happy reason. Waking up to see him smiling at her, his eyes warm, full of life...nothing in the world was more beautiful to her than that. Her heart felt like it could finally start beating again, to see him alive, to be reassured the nightmare was wrong. He was there with her, alive, smiling, holding her, kissing her...she didn't even care how it happened, only that they were together, like in that dream, she'd been so desperate to find him, to make sure he was ok, and he had been then, like he was now.
Vera sighed, “You walked here, Victor, and then flew…while you were sleeping.”
“Huh?” Victor shook his head, “But we can’t fly in our sleep. We don’t have enough control…”
“You did, man,” Vargas said, “Remember the other day, when I tackled you…you were about to try flying while you were sleepwalking.”
This time he’d run to get Vera the second he saw Victor leaving his house. Thankfully she was just down the street and by the time he’d gotten her out, he already knew where Victor was heading. They’d gotten to the field shortly after he’d managed to actually take off this time. They’d flown close to him instead of dragging him out of his flight, ready to use their wind to catch him if he fell out of it, but he’d surprised them in touching down right by the gates and just walking into the Old Orchard. He’d walked right to that tree and just...stood there.
They’d been debating if they should try to wake him when he hadn't moved for 10 minutes, when NOVA appeared, seeming just a blank-faced and out of sorts, walking towards Victor, with a panting Ray rushing after her.
“You too, Nova,” Ray added, “Not the flying but, you walked here, like you were in some kind of trance.”
“I did?” Nova blinked rapidly at that, though she was starting to feel, now that she was more awake, that it should have been obvious. She knew she'd had a bout of sleep walking yesterday, that the entire point of the others keeping her awake was to stop her from doing it till everyone else was asleep...clearly she'd done it again.
Ray nodded, “You um…sort of flipped me at one point when I tried to stop you so I just kept track.”
From a safe distance.
He’d done as he promised the others, stayed up and kept look out out his window…and sure enough Nova had walked by it, just like yesterday. He’d followed her, debated waking her again, thinking about her reaction to him waking her last time. He considered himself lucky confusion and stumbling was ALL that happened. He'd had his fair share of having to wake her up from brief post-training naps after particularly killer sessions, the others could attest to that as many a Daywalker had been witness to Nova's reflexive reactions at being woken suddenly. Or the study sessions in the library that ran so long she fell asleep on her books.
He really didn’t want to get punched like those times so he’d just tried to follow her…until she’d gotten to the beach and headed for the tunnels, clearly about to leave Sunnyside entirely.
He’d tried to gently pull her away from them as she entered, like a gentle guide back towards town, thinking she'd just keep walking in whatever direction she was pointed…when she’d flipped him.
Even worse than having his breath knocked out of him and his back on fire as he landed on the hard stone…Nova had bolted afterwards, like she saw HIM as an enemy or danger she had to get away from. He’d been so out of breath by the time he’d gotten out of the tunnels. He’d only barely seen her heading in the direction of the Orchard, at a run, that he’d pushed himself on, hoping she wouldn’t hurt herself along that path. By the time she reached the open Orchard gates, he’d been walking with a limp from a cramp in his leg, his lungs burning. He’d nearly keeled over when he saw Vera and Vargas were in there, too, realizing he'd have help now.
The other two seemed awake at least, even if Victor seemed to be in the same state as Nova, when he’d caught sight of the boy over by one of the trees Nova was approaching.
“I attacked you?” Nova stared, horrified.
“It was a reflex,” Ray waved it off, “You were literally asleep. I don’t blame you.”
“Still, I'm sorry about that,” Nova offered, but Ray waved that off, too.
“We both came to the Orchard?” Victor began, trying to make sense of it, “Why? Did we do anything? Go anywhere else?”
Vera shook her head, “No, you just…walked over to each other and just…laid down right there and fell back asleep.”
Nova and Victor looked at each other, feeling both an unease at the fact that they had done something without even being aware of it or their surroundings but also…feeling an almost elation settle in, like…they wanted to be together so badly they’d actually found a way to do it.
“Don’t you dare smile at that!” Vera snapped, seeing them starting to grin at the thought.
“Yeah, I’d rather not have to track you down in the middle of the night, Nova,” Ray sighed.
“I didn’t sleep a wink,” Vargas added, “I was too freaked out you’d try and fly again.”
“Sorry,” they both offered, though it mildly sounded like they didn’t feel sorry at all.
But they could at least admit it was dangerous for them to just wander off in the middle of the night without being aware they were doing it. Clearly they could use their power even in that state, what if they hurt someone else? And it also wasn’t fair to their friends to worry like that or have to give up sleep to make sure they were ok.
“Any idea what caused it?” Vera asked, seeing them coming around to the bad parts of it.
“I haven’t been sleeping well,” Victor admitted, “I just…I feel like I can’t sleep without…”
“Me,” Nova finished for him, leaning on him more, “I feel the same,” she turned, pressing her forehead to his neck and breathing in his calming scent, the talk of being without him reminding her of the harsh reality of their situation.
“When I do manage to sleep…” Victor hesitated, “I just keep dreaming of finding you,” he told her.
Nova lifted her chin to rest on his shoulder, smiling at him, “I dream of you, too. Us, in the Orchard, together,” she laughed a little, “On the beach and star gazing.”
“Hunting,” he added with a little smirk, knowing she’d get the hint that it was their game and not actual hunting, “Sparring.”
Neither of them wanted to speak about the dreams from last night, that frantic, panicked feeling like they were about to be torn apart forever only to finally find each other again, safe and sound.
Nova smiled softer at the thought that he was dreaming of her as well, leaning in to press a kiss to his lips, smiling into it more when his hand came to her cheek like he was trying to pull her closer to him.
“GUYS!” the others shouted again.
They pulled away slower than before, resting their foreheads against the other for a moment, smiling, before they pulled away to face their friends.
“Is this going to keep happening?” Vera asked, serious.
“Probably,” Victor said simply, making Nova bite her lip, “I always want to kiss her.”
The way Vera face palmed made Vargas laugh, “I think she meant the sleepwalking.”
“Right,” Victor nodded, THAT made much more sense.
“It looks like you guys only do it when you’re not getting enough sleep,” Ray pondered, “So…get more sleep?”
“Easier said than done,” Nova muttered, crossing her arms now, Victor’s arms moving around her to tug her back towards his chest in a comforting hold.
“Ok, but Camp ended almost two weeks ago, you’ve been apart for a while,” Vera rationalized, “Why is it only happening NOW?”
That…was an excellent question.
Victor and Nova looked at each other, not quite sure if they should say the not-quiet-excellent answer or not.
“What are you hiding from us?” Ray frowned, seeing it.
“We…haven’t been apart,” Nova admitted, because…well…Ray had caught her twice so far, sleepwalking, and had stuck by her side to make sure she was safe instead of running to her father, and it seemed Vera had done the same for Victor. They both knew that they were "sneaking out" the last two nights and had gone with them instead of really try to stop them.
They could have. Stopped them, that is. If they'd gone to their leaders. They both probably would have woken up in their rooms or the medical facilities or something in that case. But Ray and Vera chose to risk leaving the borders of the towns to follow them and keep them safe. Hopefully this new piece of "sneaking out" information wouldn't seem as huge as...well, everything that had happened in just the last few days.
“I haven’t seen a Vampire in Sunnyside,” Ray countered.
“And Shadyside isn’t exactly crawling with Daywalkers,” Vera added.
“We’ve been sneaking off to meet each other,” Victor told them, “I’ll fly to Sunnyside, to Nova, or we fly to Shadyside together. Sometimes during the day, almost always at night, because it's the only way either of us could sleep peacefully. Sometimes we just meet somewhere else, like at camp.”
He didn't mention the beach, that...that space felt too sacred and special and safe right now to risk anyone else finding out about it.
“You haven’t spent a night apart since camp?!” Vera gaped at them, at the same time as Vargas said, mildly impressed, “Secret midnight rendezvous, nice!”
It wasn't lost on any of the three that...if this HAD been happening since Camp, their leaders clearly had NO idea about it.
How little were they paying attention to their own children, their heirs, that the two could sneak out for the entire night, or sneak someone in just as long, and NOT be noticed? They understood it was happening at night, when everyone was meant to be asleep, and they were both probably being VERY careful to NOT get caught but...it still seemed incredible to them that the Commander and the Eldress were none the wiser.
“We haven’t been able to get out much the last few days…with the Vampire Council planning to come to Sunnyside tomorrow,” Nova continued.
“I guess we just…didn’t do as well as we thought we would,” Victor added.
Ray eyed them, “How long is the “last few days?””
“Three nights?” Nova tried to count, though she hated to do it, hated to think about all that time she'd lost with Victor to tack onto her entire life before camp, “Including last night.”
“This…isn’t good,” Ray said what they were all thinking.
It was VERY bad, on multiple levels.
Besides the fact that the two had been risking a lot sneaking around at night just to sleep…the idea that they were sleepwalking to the other person the second they weren’t together was alarming.
“What if you just…stay away from each other,” Ray offered, “Like…get it out of your system?”
“Yeah,” Vera nodded, though she was hesitant to agree with Ray of all people, “Maybe the fact that you KEEP going to each other is what’s making it worse?”
Vargas frowned when he saw the way the grip Victor and Nova had on each other turned white knuckled, how they looked at each other like they were having an entire conversation with just their eyes, their expressions…
“What else aren’t you telling us?” he asked and the two looked at him, surprised, “I wanna help, man,” he looked to Victor, “But I can’t if I don’t know what’s going on.”
Victor sighed, “It…hurts. When we’re apart.”
“It’s…it’s a little easier during the day,” Nova tried to explain, “We can distract ourselves, push ourselves, keep moving but…at night…”
“When it’s all quiet and slow and still…” Victor shrugged, “It hurts even more.”
“Like your heart?” Vargas asked, because it was a little adorable how they just loved each other so much they hated to be apart.
“Everything,” Victor told him, “My heart hurts because I just…I want to be with her all the time, I love her, I don’t want to be apart. But also…” he took a breath, “It’s like there’s this burning near my heart and my skin feels like it's crawling and my brain is itching and I just…I need to know she’s ok.”
Nova nodded, “I feel like I’m burning, but cold at the same time. And everything feels suffocating and wrong and overwhelming and like I can’t breathe. It only calms down when I’m with Victor, I just…I miss him, so much,” she looked at Victor and touched his face, “I’ve spent my whole life missing you,” she murmured, “A week at camp isn’t enough to make up for that.”
Victor leaned forward to rest his forehead to hers, wanting so badly to comfort her.
“You said something like that, too," Vargas remarked, frowning now, Vera and Ray looking at him questioningly, “In the Orchard, when the Eldress and Bright stormed off after they charred half of it, you said you’d known Nova your whole life…”
Victor sighed, he hadn’t even realized other people were listening when he’d said that. It was like his entire world had tunneled down to Nova in that moment, to her in tears, before him, and he couldn’t see anything else but that.
He swallowed and pulled his face away, tightening his hold around her as she snuggled closer to him, “We’ve…been having visions, and dreams, about each other for…years,” he let out a breath.
Nova nodded, “All those visions I had, Ray,” she told him, knowing he was aware of them but, like her father, hadn’t cared to know about them if it had nothing to do with how to save the Orchard or their people, “They were of Victor.”
“Nova was the girl you were sketching all this time,” Vera murmured, realizing it, “I saw you, a few times, sketching someone, eyes and noses and things…a girl but…I didn’t know it was Nova.”
“I didn’t either,” Victor admitted, “Until we met at the gate.”
“That’s why you two bonded so fast,” Ray realized, “You already sort of knew each other.”
Nova nodded, “Yeah.”
Victor took a breath, “Whenever I’m away from her, I just feel like…I MISS her,” he shook his head, “So much that it hurts.”
“It was easier at camp," Nova added, “We were just a cabin away, we could step outside and see each other and…we can’t here.”
The days were excruciating, for them both.
The pain wasn’t AS bad as it had been at camp or when they'd stolen the Moonstones, thankfully, at least when they had more reason to believe the other person was at least safe. It wasn’t as all consuming as that one night, but it was persistent and present and enough that they felt it every second of the day when they were apart. Like an ache inside them, a longing, a desire.
How did someone deny themselves their dream come true? Stay away from their wish come true? Keep apart from the person who held their heart and soul in their hands?
It was torture because…the pain wasn’t as bad, but the longing, that feeling of missing them, was getting worse each hour they were apart.
They threw themselves into whatever they could, just to try and distract themselves, but it didn’t work. That ache was there, dulled, muted, for a time, but still THERE.
It wasn’t a crippling need, but it was a need.
The last three days had truly been the worst for them to not even have a "midnight rendezvous" as Vargas called them.
THAT was what made it worse, they realized.
Being able to just see each other, just be in each other’s arms for those few hours at night, even asleep, were all that kept them sane during the day. It was like they clung to those moments, to the knowledge that they’d be able to see each other, and it gave them strength to survive the day. But lately?
After that first night…they were struggling.
After the second night…they were tormented.
Victor honestly didn’t think he’d be able to survive another day if that night had been more of the same, if he hadn't woken up the way he did, with her there with him. He would have snapped and flown to Nova the second it got to be too much, no matter the time of day, no matter who was around him when he left or around her when he landed, he would have just kissed her senseless.
He felt like he needed her kisses to breathe.
Nova, though, she felt like there was an added pressure in her, an added anxiety that had nothing to do with that separation and everything to do with the Cauldron Chamber and his fall and those voices taunting her that everything after was just all in her head and he was dead.
She’d almost lost him.
Whenever he wasn’t with her, there was always that extra fear that the tower had happened, the rain hadn’t, and he was gone.
“Ok,” Vera took a breath, “So…one step at a time. Right now, you need to be together to sleep. But you can’t be together tonight because of the visit tomorrow and you can't be together today because of how Victor’s been pulled into all those meetings.”
“Right,” they nodded.
“And if you’re not together…” Vargas continued, “You try to be together, you try to find each other.”
“Yeah.”
“Ok, well…you’ll be together tomorrow," Ray tried to reason, “And the meeting will be over, no more late nights and long days. It should all go away then, right?”
“I don’t know,” Victor admitted, “We didn’t even know THIS would happen,” he gestured around at the Orchard, at how they’d ended up there, “Until we were sleeping away from each other.”
“And now that we’ve been apart so long,” Nova sighed, “I don’t know what’ll happen next. Even though we're together now, will we sleep walk tonight, too? It’s SO close the visit I don’t want to risk anything happening or going wrong or…”
“It sort of sounds like you’re gonna have to stay awake,” Vera said, because there was really no other option that she could see, not with such little time to work things out and more questions than answers.
“Yeah,” Ray agreed, “If this happens when you sleep apart, and you can’t be together tonight…you might have to just not sleep, to stop it happening.”
“Just for tonight,” Vargas promised, because he knew Victor had been wearing thin the last few days. He seemed FAR more rested and energized now, just after this one night, but giving up another night of sleep after the days he'd had probably wouldn't be great, “Just…stay awake tonight and…and we can all try to work out what to do.”
“How?” Victor asked, “There’s no guarantee the borders will be open after tomorrow. What if we just end up back in our towns again with no progress?”
“We’ll meet up here,” Vera suggested, because clearly it was a little too easy to sneak in and out of their towns...which was an entirely different and equally concerning matter, “The day after the meeting. You can see what happens tomorrow night, if things get better or worse or the usual. And we can ALL sneak out and meet here. We can talk about it, have more time to try and come up with a solution or figure out what's happening.”
“We can bring Stella and the others,” Ray offered Nova, “They helped keep you awake yesterday, so they may have thought of something since then.”
“And Virgil, Vada, and Vorian had that idea to let you walk off last night,” Vargas said.
“They what?” Victor looked at him, both surprised the three had been told about his sleepwalking and also that they’d suggested they LET him walk who knew where.
Nova, however, was surprised to hear a "Vorian" mentioned, thinking about Dawn and her sketches, though...now she had an educated guess that Vorian was one of the three Vampires Victor mentioned had given him a Blood Oath. He'd mentioned a Vada once before, so this Virgil must be the last of the three.
“It seemed to work,” Vera defended, “They said maybe it just had to run its course. An when we let it, you came here and just went to sleep.”
“Ok,” Nova cut in, “So…we’ll stay awake tonight, meet tomorrow,” she looked at Victor with a smile.
“I’ll sneak back to Sunnyside tomorrow night,” he continued, “And we’ll all meet here the next morning, see if we can’t get some more ideas.”
At the very least, it would give them time to work out some sort of plan or contingency if they DID sleep walk again after that night. Or maybe, just having more people, more perspectives, more thoughts, could help them work out ways to test it, narrow down what triggered it in a controlled environment. Or, maybe, they'd get lucky and it wouldn't happen again because, by then, they COULD keep sneaking out to sleep and it would be moot.
“Sounds like a plan,” Ray nodded.
Victor sighed, standing up and helping Nova up, too, “I’ll have to get back to Shadyside,” he murmured, sad, “Aunt E’s going to go insane with the meeting being tomorrow. If I'm not there by the time she wakes up or at Town Hall when the meeting starts...”
And that was another headache.
HAD he sleepwalked while his Aunt was awake? Had it happened after she'd gone to bed? Had she seen him? Well, he guessed the answer to that last one was NO. Otherwise he would have woken up in the dungeons, alone, instead of in the Orchard with Nova. But did his Aunt know he was sleepwalking? Had she noticed?
“My dad will probably finally pull me in on a few things, too,” Nova guessed, now that it was happening, actually happening, the next day, he'd need to dedicate less time to "assuaging the people" and more time to see what his Council had put in place for the meeting, getting her debriefed as well so she'd "know her place" and "play her role" to his standards. She didn't care so much about that, but she DID want to know all she could about what was in store for the Vampires, what the itinerary was, how they'd be greeted, and so on.
Even with the thought that they'd both be occupied and "distracted" from their separation that day...they both knew this was NOT going to be fun.
They were FINALLY together again, but most of it had been spent asleep. It felt like too little time, it felt like it would only make the hurt even worse to get back to their towns after having had each other in their arms and been forced apart, again, so quickly.
They both tried to focus on the fact that they had HAD this moment, they'd been in each other's arms, they had actually slept peacefully, seen each other, confirmed the other was at least physically ok even if they were both struggling with their separation. They tried to absorb every last touch, every last look, every last moment with each other into themselves, knowing they were SO close to not only being together again in broad daylight, but to peace, the first steps towards real peace.
It was just a few more hours, they tried to remind, just hours, not days, not weeks, not months...hours.
(It didn't help as much as they hoped.)
Victor glanced over at the others, "Can you give us a minute?" he asked, not sharply or annoyed, but softly, as much as he knew they had to leave...he couldn't go without doing this first.
The three nodded and moved to head closer to the waterfall, here the sounds of the water would help cover up anything he had to say to her that the super-hearing Vampires might pick up.
He turned back to Nova and offered her a gentle smile, "Turn around?" he asked.
She didn't hesitate to turn her back to him, and that show of trust still stole the breath from him. He swallowed hard, knowing he didn't have time to do everything he'd want, be able to give her everything he could to help her make it through the day, but...he could do this. He reached up and ran his fingers through her hair, working out any knots that might have come about from her trek from town or how they'd slept last night, before he divided her hair in three parts...and worked it into a simple plait.
"To help remind you," he murmured, leaning forward to press a kiss to the back of her head, winding his arms around her waist from behind.
Nova spun in his arms, stepping closer and hugging him tightly for his thoughtfulness. It was something so small and so simple, but...it really would help enormously. Because this wasn't a normal style for her, she rarely, if ever, wore her hair like that. So whenever she saw it or touched it or felt it, she'd know it was VICTOR who did it, and if her hair was like this today...clearly he was alive, he'd have to be for her hair to be in a braid. He had taken something she'd been struggling with for the last few days and given her a way, proof, something she couldn't argue against, that he was ok. His hoodie could have been a gift from before the Cauldron Chamber (even if it was a new one), his heartbeat could have been from before the fall...but her hair? It wouldn't look this smooth or tidy if it hadn't been done just that day.
She wished, more than anything, that she had some idea of something SHE could do to help him as well. But she had nothing on her and her mind was blanking for anything she could do...except maybe just give him a good memory to end on.
Her gaze flickered down to his neck, to her bite, his bruise, and she leaned forward, pressing her lips to it like she'd once threatened to do, kissing his bite.
Feeling the way his arms tightened around her, the shudder that went through him, the sharp exhale as if she'd stolen all the breath from him...she smiled, feeling at peace, inordinately pleased with herself for his reaction. She leaned forward more, knowing he'd need at least a few more seconds to absorb it all, process, come back to himself, and let herself lean on him, rest her head on his shoulder, enjoy the tightness of his arms locking into place in a way she knew she couldn't escape from, not that she wanted to escape. Like this, she felt safe and content and desired and loved and powerful and...she felt that familiar fire, that belief inside her that she could do anything, because of him.
She could make it one more day, for him, so she could see him again, be able to stand beside him, with all her people watching, as they began taking steps towards peace and unity.
"Not making it easier to leave," he mumbled in her ear as he took a deep breath, coming out of the stupor her kiss had sent him into.
"Incentive," she repeated, the same as the other morning, "More where that came from, if you can make it one more day, for me."
"For you?" he chuckled, "Anything," he took another deep breath, pulling away just enough to catch Vargas's eye and nod his head that they could come back over, before he looked at her, "I’ll miss you,” he murmured, moving to rest his forehead to hers, keeping their hands entwined from where he'd slid them from her waist to take her own.
“I’ll miss you more,” she countered, pressing a kiss to his lips before he could remark on how that was impossible.
“I’ll see you tomorrow?” he asked with a weak smile, his grip on her hands tightening, revealing how little he wanted to let her go again.
“I’ll be counting,” she nodded, squeezing his hands just as tightly. She took a deep breath, and forced herself to let go, nodding at him encouragingly as Vera and Vargas lightly tugged him back so they'd have space to leave, keeping her eyes on his the entire time, committing every detail to memory.
This time, unlike last time, the Vampires took off into the sky to head back to Shadyside. It was much later in the morning than they could make it back to the town on time if they walked. They’d need to be back sooner to make sure Victor wouldn’t be caught missing or late to anything. She could at least have the excuse that she and Ray had gone out for a morning job, exercise, if her father was awake by the time she got back home. He hadn't said anything specific about meeting with her today or involving her in plans for tomorrow, so he couldn't be irritated or upset if she wasn't at home like normal that morning, not if she had no idea she was needed.
Nova let out a long breath, waiting till they could no longer be seen, and turned to start walking out of the Orchard, Ray at her side, crossing her arms in front of her as if hugging herself, already feeling cold at the knowledge that it would be another day, another night, without her Vampire Boy.
“I’m not saying a word to your dad about this,” Ray promised her as they went.
She smiled, glancing at him, “I know.”
She didn’t trust him with everything just yet, she wouldn’t trust him with Victor’s life…but she felt like, maybe, she could at least trust him with this.