[Steel Shadow]

What I learned:

1. Heaven sucks.
2. Solars suck.
3. Sociopathic Metal Lions are kinda scary.
4. Elly with a sugar bowl beats a rigours investigation by miles.
5. It must end where it began!

Also, the story of Silent Breath, Exalt of the Glorious First Age!

clicky!

It would be so easy.

The others were all for it. It wasn't like she didn't know stuff like this happened. A kickback here, a bribe there, that was how the system worked. Her parents had worked hard to get that lesson into her head. And worked harder still to make it stick. They were still worried it hadn't been enough.

She knew that if she moved to defend the shopkeeper from her fellow guards that she would prove those fears well founded.

To save them, to keep their precious daughter safe for them, all she needed to do was nothing.

She'd wanted to protect people all her life. She'd worked hard, trained hard, to become one of her town's defenders, despite the dangers the job carried. At her parent's insistence she'd done her best to stay away from the less noble side of her work. The corruption and exploitation. It had been growing harder to do so day by day, but her love for her mother and father had given her strength to keep trying. Until today, she had not failed.

She could keep doing that, after today. All she had to do was turn away as an old man was beaten, perhaps killed.

It was his own fault, they said. He refused to pay the protection money, they said. Have to set an example, they said.

She couldn't win a fight anyway. There were far too many of them. She could have held them back for a minute, perhaps two, but then she would be dead, or worse. And the old man might not have run far enough by then.

To just accept the way of things, and look away - It would be so easy.

Later that day, after she had sent her former comrades fleeing for their lives, the new Solar Exalt took the name Silent Breath of the Merciful Just, and went to war.

~

"So... That's it?"

"Looks like. Well, for us. You can bet the Eclipses and the Sidies are going to be fussing over the treaties for decades yet." The Dawn shrugged, a grin dancing on his bearded face. "But yeah, we're finished, I think. The big guys are done."

Silent shuffled uncomfortably in her armour. The rest of their circle had drifted indoors to the celebratory feast within, save herself and the Dawn. She didn't know about him, but she just didn't feel like sitting indoors when the sky was so bright. Was that a strange thought for a Night caste? She couldn't decide.

"So..." she broke the quiet again, finally plucking up the courage to voice the concern that had been troubling her all day, "when are they going to take the shards back?"

It hurt to think about. Everything had changed the moment she took her second breath, and the very idea of going back to how she'd been before...

"Eh?" The Dawn finally turned fully to face her, blinking. "Take them back? What are you talking about? Exaltation is for life. Not even the Sun could take it away from us now."

It was her turn to blink. "R-really? But..."

The Dawn laughed. "Ahh, I get it. I should have known!" He strode across the grass to put an oricalcum plated hand on her shoulder, looking her in the eye. "We were chosen to use this power because we were worthy of it, Silent. You, me, every exalt. No one is suddenly going to change their minds on that account. You proved yourself many times in the war, besides. Have some confidence in yourself, kiddo."

She felt her cheeks turn red, and she pulled her hood down further to try to hide them, batting the Dawn's hand away as she did so (which only amused him even more). Valiantly trying to push down her embarrassment, she asked another question. "So... What do we do now then? There are no more Primordials to fight..."

"That," the Dawn began to turn away as he answered, a strange glint in his eye, "is for us to decide. We have all of Creation to rule now. How do you think you could best make it better?"

Silent didn't have an answer for him. Not yet.

~

"Lawgiver, I'm afraid I don't understand why we're doing this."

Silent fought the urge to sigh, instead turning to look at her assistant/student. "Cathek, how many times have I told you to call me Silent? I'm pretty sure I've had to say it at least once a day since we started this trip. I don't want to be called Lord. I don't want to be called Lady. I definitely don't want to be called Lawgiver. It's Si-lent. Say it with me now. Siiiii-lent.

The Dragonblooded looked pained. "Ah, please..."

"Cathek, you and I will be working together for some time. This will be easier on both of us if we're friends, and friends don't call each other by titles. Mine call me Silent. Or Si. Or Sneaky-bitch-who-took-my-hearthstones... Well, only one of mine calls me that, but there was a good reason for it. I don't expect you to follow their example there."

He stared at her.

"... Okay, I kinda drifted off track there. The point is! You will call me Silent. Even if I have to make it an order."

Cathek hesitated, but eventually gave a gloomy nod. "Very well... Silent. If that is what you desire, I shall try."

"Great!" She flashed him a winning smile. "So, what is it you don't understand?"

"Well... Forgive me, La-... Silent," he managed to correct himself before the Solar's glare grew strong enough to do physical damage, "but I don't understand the point to what we're doing. Why are we on this journey? Why are we here, of all places?"

By here, he meant Sayam, a small town on the boarder of west and south. It wasn't a fancy place, nor rich. It was pretty out of the way in general, in fact. It farmed the lands and took advantage of the freshwater rivers, and occasionally gave passing caravans a place to stay and trade wares. It really wasn't anywhere special.

The two of them had been traveling through a great many places like this; each one a semi-brief stopping point on a tour around creation. At times, Cathek doubted his master really had any idea where she was going, though he never voiced the thought. She led on, all the same, explaining nothing all the while. It had taken until now before he had grown frustrated enough to ask. He didn't expect an answer, either. After all, if she hadn't decided to tell him already, why would she change her mind now?

But she hesitated, considering her words carefully before she gave her response. When she did finally speak, there was a hint of uncertainty in her voice... Perhaps he'd been right when he wondered if she knew what she was looking for after all.

"Oh, that. That's kind of hard to explain. It's... training, I guess? Hm, no, that's not quite..." She tapped a finger to her lips, resuming her walk down the street as she thought it over. "I suppose... Ah! There! Perfect example!" She pointed down the road towards a fruit vendor's stall, an eager grin on her face. "Look there, Cathek, and tell me what you see."

Cathek did look. "Fruit." He didn't see much.

She rolled her eyes. "Again. Look closer."

"L-Silent." He barely tripped this time. "If you are hungry, you just have to say so. I can buy some apples."

Silent just folded her arms. "You're going to miss it entirely at this rate."

"Hmm." He looked again, and this time he did see it. "Ah. You're referring to the little thief, are you not?"

A small child was huddling in the stall-keeper's blind spot, occasionally reaching out to swipe some fruit when the merchant's back was turned. It looked half starved - Obviously not well cared for.

"There you go! Well done." And she did seem quite pleased that he'd noticed. "Now! What are we going to do about it?"

"We're going to do something about it?"

"We are."

"Hm." Cathek was stumped. What answer did she want here? "Report him to the local authorities?"

She looked horrified. "Ew, no. Do you have any idea how they'd treat him out here? Look at him. He's just trying to survive." She began to walk again. "No, there's no justice in that. That's something I want to change, actually. But it'll take a while, so in the mean time..."

She caught the child's hand when it reached out for another pear, her speed belying her careful touch. She met hi- her (for the child was a girl, she realised) fearful gaze with a gentle smile, and patted the girl's head comfortingly, before throwing enough jade at the merchant to buy his stall fifty times over.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Kiddo. Come on, let's get you some food. And some clean clothes," she added, nose wrinkling. Heightened senses had their drawbacks sometimes. Scooping up the child, she began to walk again, Cathek following behind her.

"So... We're out here to save orphans?"

"No. We're out here to find what people really need, and how to give it to them. To all of Creation," Silent replied, her attention now divided between talking with her Soldier and bouncing the child in her arms. "I've been trying to work it out for a long time now. It's a Solar's duty to help mankind as best she can, right? I think I've finally found my way."

The Terrestrial blinked. "You have? What do you mean?"

She shrugged. "Well... Look, Cathek, it's kind of like this. We Solars are Great and Glorious pillars of Unstoppable Excellence... Or something... But there's only 300 of us. And Creation is huge. Even if every single one of us rules over part of it, a lot of places are going to be left out. We can take on the big things, like Primordials, or Fae invasions, but the really important stuff is tiny. Like this little one here.

"So that's why I came out here. Why we've been walking all over the place for so long. But I think I have my answer now. I should have thought of it sooner." She chuckled, shaking her head. "I used to be a guard, y'know. Before I took my second breath. I know how it is for them. I know how they work. And it's not well. Breaking with that was how I earned my exaltation. And now I'm realising that I should encourage others to follow my example.

"What people need, I'm beginning to realise, is Justice. They need protection, and law, and fairness. That's my calling, I think. That's what I'm going to fix."

"For... All of Creation? By yourself?" Cathek wasn't sure what to make of Silent's decleration. It was a tall order... But then again, she was a Solar.

"Ha, no. Not by myself. Even I have my limits, Cathek." She winked, the child in her arms crunching into her apple happily. Social charms were a useful thing indeed. "There'll be others. Every Terrestrial that's loyal to me... Those numbers are growing by the day. And there's always-"

"Me?" The Dragonblood barely managed to suppress a start as a man landed on the street beside them, the ground cracking under the impact. "Silent, dearest, you were supposed to meet me in Gossamer five days ago. You had me worried!"

"It was Surfs upon Eagles, Cathek realised. The Lunar's appearance was distinctive. then again, most Exalts were. He was a muscular man, with a tall frame to match. He towered over his Solar Mate - not a short woman herself - who was currently giving him an apologetic smile.

"Oh, Surf, I'm sorry. I just got wrapped up in what I was doing. You know how it is..."

The Lunar chuckled. "I have no one to blame but myself. Luna told me it was my job to keep your feet planted on the ground. Of course you'd drift off if I let you out of my sight."

"Surf!" Now Silent was blushing. The child giggled at her, and she let out a 'humph'. "I'm not that bad..."

"Five days. More, if I hadn't come to find you."

"Point. Um... I'll make it up to you?"

"Oh really?" Surf just grinned, enjoying watching Silent squirm a little. It never failed to impress Cathek how the Lunar was able to play his mate like a violin with only a few words. "How are you going to do that?"

"I..." The Solar hesitated again, caught flat footed. "... Uh... Name your price?"

The Lunar leaned over and whispered something into her ear. Immediatly her blush brightened until it was nearly luminescent (not impossible to achieve for a Solar, Cathek knew). "Surf! Not so loud! There's a kid here!"

It was, the Dragonblood decided as Silent's attention was firmly captured by her bond-mate, a bold plan. A nearly impossible undertaking. But who was he to doubt his Master when she put her mind to something?

~

"You're running yourself ragged. Even Solars need a break every now and then."

"I'm fine."

"Silent, you haven't left this office in over two months."

The Night caste blinked, looking up from her desk for a moment, before shrugging and returning her gaze to the papers strewn about before her. Deployment had been a real problem this past year, and she'd just gotten reports of an entire town being burnt to the ground in the north for reasons no one could explain. She needed to figure out who could best respond to the problem, and how many people to send without jepordising the rest of their mission...

"Surfs Upon Eagles has been trying to make an appointment with you for three weeks now."

"Busy," she grunted, flipping over another report. "So much to do. This is a critical time. You know that, Cathek."

"I do, it's true. But it will be done without you for one day. You are not the only person in this office, Silent. Go spend time with your bondmate. You've earned it."

She wanted to argue, to point out that without her work on the project would slow to a crawl. To say that a day without her at work was a day wasted. But she was so tired, and she'd come to rely on Cathek's judgement a great deal over the years.

With a breath, she stepped away from the desk, and left the office.

~

Deliberative meetings were a nuisance that Silent stopped bothering with after a few centuries. What was said could shape the future of Creation in it's entirety, but you'd only get three, maybe four moments like that per meeting. And meetings could last for days. All the rest was waffling and grandstanding. And arguing. Couldn't forget the arguing.

Going in with the right mindset could help. As long as you took nothing seriously it was hilarious! But, ultimately, a waste of time all the same. Silent had long ago fallen back to reading the post-meeting reports when she had a moment of free time - Something increasingly rare these days. Hell, she was lucky if she could visit Meru more than twice a season. Still, she couldn't avoid these things forever. Sometimes she had an agenda of her own to push.

But why, she wondered as she listened to an Eclipse conclude a long and very rambling report on western trade, was she here today? She suppressed a yawn, trying to wake up enough to remember...

"... which brings us to the next subject - The charges against Silent Breath of the Merciful Just..."

Oh, right. That.

She hid her irritation as she took her place, standing before the other attending Celestial Exalts to give her rebuttal to the charges levied against her. Once, she would have been nervous, but it had been many centuries since she had found her stride as a Solar, and frustration at the waste of time was the only strong emotion she felt today.

Reaching the stand, she stopped holding back and let her full presence wash over the room. Several younger exalts, only recent takers of the second breath, fainted dead away. The others, made of sterner stuff, either rolled their eyes or chuckled at their less experienced colleges weakness. Silent coughed to hide her own amusement, before straightening her expression and focusing her eyes on a point three inches to the left and two below the speaker's own. It wouldn't do to appear too disrespectful in these chambers, after all.

The charges were simple. She had fought and crippled a group of Terestrial Exalts, thusly impeding another Solar's projects.

Her defence, while elegant and enthralling, was even simpler: They deserved it.

That got quite a bit of support. Dragonbloods were known for getting too uppity from time to time, after all. But the Solar who commanded them had quite a bit of political clout, and would need at least some reparations before he'd be content to let the matter drop. Silent had been prepared for this.

"A passionate response. Is there anything else you would like to add before we pass judgement?" The Speaker... spoke.

"Yes, actually." She'd been meaning to do this for a while anyway. The suspicious glances her brothers and sisters sent her way whenever she returned to the city had been annoying her for some time.

"I realise that my recent actions have made some among our number uncomfortable." A ridiculous notion, she thought privately. Why would they even consider the idea of her working against them? "That was never my intent. I act only to bring law and justice to the charges under our care, to better creation and its people - As we all do, in our own ways. The chosen of the gods have no need to worry about my intentions towards them. I will state quite clearly now that I have none. So far as I am concerned you are all above suspicion. In the spirit of this, I offer the deliberative my solemn oath, that I shall not directly interfere with the dealings of other exalts, without their explicit permission. You have my word."

"A word is not so powerful as you might imply, Silent Breath." Her head shot round to glare at the source of the interruption. Ah. Of course. Him.

"You doubt my oath? You dare insult my honour?" The rebuke would have stripped the flesh from a mortals bones. The Solar it was directed at just smirked.

"You are hardly a Dawn caste, Silent. Are not Night's known for their skill at deception?" Her glares intensity reached bone-atomising levels, and there were some angry murmers in other areas on the hall as other Night castes took offence at the insult. "Surely you would have no objection to an eclipse sanctifying your oath?"

The utter bastard. She was tempted to refuse his request out of hand, just to spite him, but that would ruin what she was trying to achieve here. He may have been a Solar - and thus above the law - but that didn't mean she had to like him. Nor did it deny her the urge to hurl him from the top of a very high building. Not to kill him, obviously, just to announce her displeasure.

She might do that, actually. Later. Right now, she had to deal with his suggestion. It wasn't a terrible one, honestly. She'd meant her oath. Binding herself so she would be compelled to keep to it... Made her uncomfortable - But she could live with it. And it would help her soothe her relations with other Solars even more...

"Fine," she spat, slamming a hand down on the podium and quieting the whispers around the chamber. "I shall do so."

"Excellent. I'm glad you see reason. Now, as for the wording of the oath itself, I think-"

"Hold your tongue," she snapped. "I've accepted one insult to my integrity from you already today. I will not calmly abide more. I shall decide the terms of my oath, not you."

The man, perhaps realising how far he'd already pushed his luck, wisely backed off.

The session continued.

~

"So... what did you swear, in the end?" Surf asked, his hand around Silent's shoulders. The pair of them had retreated to Silent's holdings in Meru, and currently they were stood on a high up balcony, looking out over the east of creation.

"Nothing big," she sighed, leaning into his side. "I'm not to attack any more exalted. That's pretty much it. There's some exceptions, like if they invite me to attack them, I'm allowed to. Oh, and if they're sworn to me. Y'know, for the legions. Still allowed to boss them around."

"You're ok with that?"

"Yeah. I guess." She closed her eyes as he rubbed her back. "I wasn't planning on attacking any of them anyway. I just... Ugh."

He frowned. "What?"

"It itches," she whined, rubbing at her arms. "Seriously, Surf, you've no idea!"

"Aha.." He chuckled. "You know that's just in your head, right?"

"Doesn't help."

"Oh, well then. Maybe I can distract you some, and make the mean ol' oath leave you alone, huh?" He grinned, slipping a hand down to start freeing the Solar from her clothes.

"Oh! ... Hmmm~" She purred, a silly smile growing across her face. "I'd like that..."

~

When the shopkeeper was distracted, the child's hand struck ouch, quick as a serpent. But this time a grip like iron caught his wrist before his grubby fingers could even touch the apply that had caught his eye. He looked up.

What he saw terrified him, and he fled screaming. The meagre amount of food he'd managed to gather falling to the floor as he ran.

Silent watched him go until he turned the corner, then carefully replaced the items he'd stolen. Aside from the screaming child, the shopkeeper never noticed anything amiss.

~

"I worry about her, you know. It's been a long time since she last smiled in public..." The Old man confided in his grandson one day, as they returned home after tending to affairs at the office.

Bothab gave his honoured elder a confused look. "Who?"

The old man nearly laughed. "Why, Silent, of course. Who else?"

The young Dragonblood rolled his eyes. "You mean the Lawgiver, Grandfather. I wish you'd stop being so disrespectful. As for her smiling... Your stories were always far fetched, Old man. If the Lawgiver ever had a sense of humour, she sacrificed it for the greater good long ago."

Cathek just sighed, and let the matter drop. Sometimes even he doubted the memories of the young girl he had once travelled with...

~

It had been over ten years since Surfs Upon Eagles had last seen his bondmate. So when Silent showed up in his bedroom unannonced, he could be forgiven for being surprised. Especially since he was doing something at the time.

"Surf." Her voice froze everyone in the room instantly. "What are all these people doing in our bed?"

There was a moment of quiet as, collectively, the room's inhabitants weighed their chances of escaping if they started running right now.

"A-Ah. Silent, my love!" Ahh, there was Surf, extracting himself from the pile. "You've returned, after all these-"

"Surf. People. Naked. My bed. Why?" The solar cut off his welcome before he got started.

"Well I wasn't exactly expecting you back tonight..."

"And it's definitely the nicest room in the villa!" added a man who had perhaps had a bit too much wine.

Silent knocked him out with a look, then snorted. "Mortals, Surf? Really?"

"Mortals can be fun," the Lunar defended. "They know a lot of tricks."

Silent just rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I want them gone and clean sheets on that bed within five minutes. We're going to be using it."

The Lunar raised an eyebrow. "Really, Sy? It's been twelve years since I last saw you, and not two minutes into our reunion you're throwing orders around like you own the place?"

"I do own the place," she reminded him.

"Not the point!"

She sighed, and took a step forward, leaning into him. "I'm sorry Surf," she murmured, running a finger over his bare chest. "I've been busy. Every time I thought I'd sorted one problem out, there were five more growing up elsewhere. Even now there's work I need to be doing, but... I just couldn't stay away any longer."

Slowly, the Lunar wrapped his arms around the smaller woman. "Ah, Sy, we really should talk..."

"Oh, have mercy Love?" Her tone was little more than a plea. "Women have needs as well, you know. Besides..." And then it turned seductive. "No mortal tricks could ever compare to what I can do... Remember?"

From the look on his face, Surf could indeed remember. Slowly, he wetted his lips. "Five minutes, you say?"

"Three now," she said, rising up on her toes to kiss him. Hard. By the time they came up for air: "Two and a half."

"I'll get it done in one."

~

It felt like she'd seen every settlement in Creation. Maybe she had. Her work spreading the Silent Law around the world had been extensive. Some places were easy to reach (and it was growing easier every year with the ways other Solars were advancing technology and sorcery) but some...

Some made Silent unsure if she was impressed by Human resilience or frustrated with their stupidity.

Even now, so long after she'd started, she would still occasionally hear of a place she had yet to visit. She'd correct that, of course, and place it under her protection. It was usually a pretty simple process. She'd make her pitch to whoever was in charge (and she'd gotten very good at making that pitch), then she'd assign someone from her organisation to whatever law enforcement or guard regiment they already had - Or, if they had neither, she'd provide an entire unit to do the job. Once they were settled, she'd leave, and later drop by to inspect their progress, or offer personal training. It was just one of the many duties she'd taken upon herself as she roamed creation.

Of course, occasionally she found cities like this. A thieves paradise. No law. No order. No justice. Just everyone, out for themselves, the strong screwing over the weak for whatever advantage they could get. It disgusted her.

Which possibly explained why the next morning found the city leaders nailed to a wall in the middle of the town, bodies arranged to spell a single word.

'LEAVE'.

And why, a few days later, the place burned to the ground.

Sometimes they just weren't worth saving.

~

"You're leaving already?"

Silent froze half way through pulling on one of her boots, and inside her head she cursed up a storm. Next time she'd use her presence concealing charms from the get-go, instead of waiting to get dressed.

"Sy, you've only been back for one night..." It was painful, hearing the hurt in Surf's voice. She'd been hoping to be gone by the time he woke up, specifically to avoid this talk.

"And it was a very fun night," she said nonchalantly, tugging her other boot on. "But now my lord has signalled the start of a new day, and with it my work resumes." Her voice was cold, even to her own ears. But that was how it had to be. She loved Surf, but she knew he'd never understand.

"What, and that's it? Dammit Sy, I haven't seen you in years! We've barely said a word to one another. Haven't you earned some time off? Why can't you stay a while, like you normally do? A few days, a week or two, Creation won't dissolve into the Wyld if you take a break!"

"There is always more to do." With a set of 'click's, she fastened on her hearthstone bracers again, feeling the pleasant rush as her lines to her manses were re-established. "I've put my own selfish needs ahead of my duty too much already. I can no longer be as frivolous as I was in the past. One night is all I can stand. Perhaps, when I have made up for this slip, and can stand to shame myself again-"

"So you're ashamed of me, is that it?" Surf snapped.

Silent's icy exterior shattered in a heartbeat. "Wha- No! No, of course not! I just meant-"

"Save it, Sy." He rolled over in their bed, turning his back to her. "I love you, more than anything, but there's only so much I can take. If you love me even half as much as I love you, you won't leave. Even if it's only for one more day, you won't. but if not..."

He trailed off, unwilling to finish, but the unspoken words hung over them both all the same.

For the longest moment, she couldn't do anything but stare at him. Was he... ending it? Them? "I..." She cleared her throat, her voice coated in ice once again. "I came back for a night. That should mean something."

He didn't react.

She knew he wouldn't understand.

Surf stayed still, laying in bed for three days before he could force himself to look back, and see for certain that Silent was gone.

~

"This part of the swamp, here... Probably where our little bandit infestation is hiding. So if we set light to this dry area over here-"

The moment that Surfs Upon Eagles died, Silent Breath stopped everything.

"Are you sure, Sir? There might be- Huh? Where'd she go?"

And for the first time in a millennia, she abandoned her work.

~

No one really wanted to talk about the battle once it was over. Things had become... Strange, after Surf fell. Their opponents had started dying. Fast. Painfully. And with no apparent cause, save the obvious. After all, when a creature finds itself dangling upside down from the tree-tops, swinging by it's own intestines, it is not long for this world. That wasn't an image that would be leaving anyone's nightmares for a while. And it wasn't even the worst one, by far.

Some of the survivors, later, would think they saw someone, a woman in a black cloak, leaning over Surf's body. But only for a second, and she never said a word.

~

"Are you alright?"

The new Lunar Exalt stopped short and looked up. Across the clearing ahead of her, between the trees, was a woman. The Lunar was absolutely positive she hadn't been there five seconds before. Given the way her night had been going already, that probably meant the woman was here to eat her or something. Well, she'd had quite enough of that, thank you.

"Would you just leave me alone?" she groaned, ignoring the way the other woman flinched. "I've had a really long day. Just let me go home, please?"

"I..." The woman backed off a step. It was strange, the Lunar thought. There was something really familiar about her... Had they met before? Why was her heart beating so fast? "I'm not here to hurt you.."

"Yeah, sure. Forgive me if I don't take your word on that." Sarcasm, the world's greatest form of wit.

"..." Typical. Silent never had a clue how to act when she was trying to bare her heart. It had always been kind of adorable...

Wait, what? Where had that thought come from? Silent? Was that this woman's name?

"Look, at least let me get you to civilisation? I don't know how much you remember... Or... Anything about you, I guess, but... It's not safe out here. Please. I can leave after."

"Fine time for you to start caring about that now." The words snapped out of her mouth like a whip, and Silent (that was her name, she remembered now) reacted appropriately, falling back as if struck.

"I always cared..." The Solar tried weakly, voice shaking. "I... I came to find you as soon as I could. Lytek didn't give me much to go on, but..."

The Lunar (She really needed to get around to picking a name) sighed. How was she supposed to react here? She could feel her past life's frustration with his mate as clearly as if it was her own - Which it was now, really. But she also felt his love for her the same way. In fact, just by meeting Silent, she'd started falling in love all over again... Or was it for the first time? Argh!

Maybe... Maybe they could try again? Maybe this time they could stay together. Maybe this time she wouldn't let her love out of her sight, ever? Silent was offering her an olive branch. It was a chance...

If it failed, if Silent left her again, it would hurt. It would hurt so, so much. Was she willing to risk having her heart ripped out again?

"... You don't have to leave, Sy." The Lunar saw a hopeful look dawn in her bondmate's eyes. "I... don't want you to leave. Can we just... Go home? Together? Please?"

Silent's response was a tight hug and a kiss that sent sparks down the Lunar's nerves.

She took it as a yes.

~

She had work to do. She knew that. She knew she always had work to do. She knew it would never end. It was her duty.

... But she couldn't leave Blossom of Harmony. Never again. In her heart of hearts, she knew it was her leaving that had gotten Surf killed. She couldn't take that chance with Blossom. No, she would stay at her side, she'd protect her forever.

Anything to make her love happy, she would do.

Still, the fact that she was shirking her duty tore at her, and eventually Blossom dragged her to her offices in Meru to see if there was anything light that she could do to make her feel better. What they found there was a surprise.

"Actually, we're doing fine." It was one of Cathek's descendants who met them. Silent was embarrassed to realise she wasn't sure which one, but she knew his position at the head of the Meru office had stayed in the family. "Everything's running smoothly. You can leave it to us, Sir."

"..." After a few moments, the Dragonblood shifted uncomfortably, then leaned over to whisper to Blossom. "Does she always stare like that?"

"She's just thinking." Blossom smiled. "Give her a few minutes. She'll be fine."

It took Silent seven before she shook her head and asked the Dragon to repeat themselves.

"We're really fine. You've done an excellent job setting us up. Every division is well trained and well equipped, we're spread over all of creation, our lines of communication are fully open and tended to at all times... We're good. Really!"

"..."

"Yes, she might need another few minutes. Do you have a book?"

This time when Silent came out of her stupor, she looked confused. "Um, Blossom?"

"Yes, Dear?"

"... What... Do I do, when I'm... Not... Working?" The concept was almost alien to her at this point.

Blossom just smiled again. "Oh, I'm sure we can think of some things."

~

Officially, the Silent Law organisation was still under her command. Occasionally they'd even approach her to lobby things for them in the deliberative. But aside from those rare encounters that she was happy to agree to, Silent only checked in on them once or twice every thirty years or so. For the first time since the end of the war, she felt satisfied. She'd done her part, done it well enough that it didn't need her anymore. Now all she had left to give her attention to was Blossom.

Which isn't to say there were no more adventures. Silent's circle was still active, even if the roster had changed a fair bit over the centuries, and every now and then they'd be called together to accomplish something. And Creation was never boring, really. Together, she and Blossom watched the first age continue to reach ever more glorious heights.

But through it all, they stayed together. And slowly, bit by bit, Silent learned to live again.

It was never going to last.

~