Not Alone

“Why is that guy so intense!” Ui let out some energy before breathing a sigh of relief. “Making me think about everything, feel everything! Who does he think he is?”

“He’s the closest person to the Duke.” Cro’s eyes were still fixed in the direction Miront had walked towards. “He can’t let his guard down, not even for a second.”

Ui’s muscles relaxed. She leaned back on the monolith and slowly slid down to the ground. “And we can’t let our guard down, either…” Ui pinched Cro’s slacks and gently tugged them downwards. Cro, long since conditioned to it, knew to sit down next to her.

“There’s still something about him that we don’t know,” said Cro, still attentive to any signs of Miront.

“I don’t really feel any malice from him, or I would’ve...” Ui clenched her fist. “It’s just…”

“Are you getting tired of it? All the secrecy.”

“That’s not… what’s bothering me.” Ui grasped a fistful of the dirt that surrounded the war memorial and slowly let it trickle down back to the ground.

“Are you still thinking about what was said in that dinner?”

“How did you know!?” Ui’s eyes widened with surprise.

“I know you.”

Ui picked up a nearby rock. “Even if what they have in their mind is those rocks deep in Mt. Aure, it’s still true that I hurt all these people.” Ui leaned her head on the monolith and closed her eyes. Feeling the cold rock on the back of her head, she could only think about the past. “If only I’d never sung the Song of the Mountain, or the Song of Dreams, or…”

Ui opened her eyes to find Cro staring straight at her. “If you hadn’t, how many more people do you think would be inscribed on this memorial?”

Ui had only ever pictured the past and present that she created, and it blinded her from seeing the one that she prevented. “I… don’t kn-ow,” said Ui, her words breaking in pieces.

“Exactly. You don’t know.” Ui leaned her head on Cro’s welcoming shoulder. Cro didn’t move, and neither did his voice waver. “We don’t even know if we’d be here, or if there would be anyone left to care enough to put this rock here.”

A large, lone tear trickled down Ui’s face, once again with no reaction from Cro. Leaning on his warm body, she didn’t feel like she deserved his company, let alone his kindness. “Cro, do you still feel like… you owe me?”

“I haven’t felt that way for a long time, Ui.”

Ui closed her eyes and wrapped Cro’s arm with hers. All she wanted was to listen to his words, and believe them.

“Listen, Ui. You had no choice when it came to the war. But I believe in the Ui you became after, willing to single-handedly keep everything together, if she had to.” They both remained silent, with the sun failing to warm them up from the cool, late autumn air. “I just want that Ui to know that she doesn’t have to shoulder everything alone.”

Ui pulled Cro’s arm closer to herself. On that day, she realized just how warm it was. She didn’t want to let go. The cold air in her lungs, the cold monolith she was leaning on, and even the mildly warm sun were no match for Cro’s arm and his words, not in that specific place and time.

“Are you really choosing to feel guilty about all of this now?” Cro interrupted Ui’s thoughts.

She let go of Cro and elbowed his ribs firmly instead. Her Udari strength lost control for a second, and she noticed Cro flinch if only for an instant. “You know I’m not choosing,” she said, annoyed. “You do know I can take care of myself though, right Cro? As an Udari… You’ve seen my songs, too.”

“I know… But you don’t have to do it all by yourself. Not anymore.”

The pair smiled warmly and looked at each other for a lingering moment. Ui truly felt like she wouldn’t have to shoulder everything that led to that moment, including the monument, by herself anymore.

Out of the clear blue sky, an object rapidly approached, crash landing with a loud noise and leaving a small crater close to them, with enough dirt kicked up to make Ui cover her eyes before being able to see what had happened.

“I was informed I should check this location for magic that’s been unaccounted for.” It was Prishu. Ui recognized her voice long before she could open her eyes.

“Prishu…” Ui tried to cough out the dirt she breathed in by accident. “My eyes!” Ui rubbing her eyes was making things worse, and her eyes were too dry to wash off the dirt.

“Ui?... Cro?! This isn’t the kind of magic I was informed about…” Prishu looked around, trying to ascertain the situation. “Still, I see shards of ice around here. I must take the Royal Singer to see a doctor at once.”

Cro and Ui looked away from each other awkwardly while Prishu used magic to strengthen herself.

“She’s fine, Prishu.” Cro’s words barely slowed her down.

“He was just showing me… some new spells he learned.” Ui, flustered and surprised by Prishu, was also not enough to stop her. Before her eyes had recovered completely, she was already being carried by Prishu. Ui looked back and waved goodbye to Cro.

“And your clothes are all messy, look at all that dirt!” Prishu examined Ui’s clothes closely. “Not fitting for the Royal Singer.”

Now blushing, Ui was facing away, knowing Prishu was inevitable. “That was you, Prishu—” Her faint words were interrupted as Prishu launched herself into the skies once more with Ui in her arms, leaving Cro behind. With Cro’s warmth gone, and ascending at Prishu levels of flight speed, Ui was quickly overtaken by the cold air. “Can you… just take me home instead?”

“Sure, Ui.” Prishu smiled at Ui, who couldn’t hide how fast her heart was beating. “Why are you so nervous? It’s not like this is your first time.”

“Yeah… you’re right.” Ui tried to calm herself down. “You’re right…”

Prishu charged on with a smile, and they both remained quiet for the remainder of their brief flight as they made their way through the skies of Novestr.

Unguarded from the loud, cold wind flowing past her at high speeds, Ui remembered just how much she hated flying. Especially that day.