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my dream wouldn't be 
complete without
you in it

──● tiana
PRINCESS & THE FROG

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It hurts in a way Elijah really can't describe.

Hurts in the way that doesn't quite feel like pain, because it's an unreachable feeling. It settles in the back of your throat, strangling the air from your lungs as claws of desperation and despair dig phantasmal talons into your chest. It's the suffocating kind, that makes you heavy all over, like you can't breath, but there isn't any point in trying to run from it, because the pain, the hurt, is coming from you. 

It's even worse because Elijah knows.

When he'd lost his mother, he felt like his entire world had vanished from under him. He'd wanted to rip his heart out of his chest and bury it so it could never see the light of day again. He'd been more than angry. Elijah had been devastated. And it hurts knowing that Sage is feeling that too.

So he takes those few steps towards her, closing the distance. She's covering her mouth, hiding her sobs as he does so, and each shaky breath she takes in sounds too shallow for her to keep standing for very much longer.

He stops when he's close enough to reach and touch her, clasping his hands behind his back. That pain in the back of his throat is back, and he swallows the growing lump, blinking away the rise of emotions as memories of his own mother's funeral comes flooding back. 

Be gentle.

That's what Akiho had told him.

Elijah had asked for advice, on how to apologize in a way that really did seem sincere. Elijah knew that he wasn't exactly the best at apologies, and wasn't exactly the person to look to for them, but then again, Akiho hadn't been either. Of course, Leo was practically the embodiement of a puppy, but still.

"I'm sorry." His voice was soft, mirroring the gentle winds that spun the grasses beneath their feet, biting at Sage's bare skin. Her chest hitched, but she raised her head to stare at him, makeup stains running down her cheeks as she stifled her cries. Elijah took his own deep breath, keeping his voice soft. Not condescending, but gentle, like Akiho had said. "I'm sorry, Sage. I never meant to hurt you, or make you uncomfortable in any way, and if you want me to leave.." he hesitated, glancing around before making it back to her "..I will. I'll leave." he paused "but Sage, I-"

It wasn't more than another moment before Sage's arms were around his neck, head buried into his shoulder as her chest rattled with a new onslaught of sobs. It took only a second for Elijah to realize she was shaking, trembling in his arms with a mix of wretched sorrow and the chill that still lingered in the late February air. His arms slowly slid around her waist, and then his hand raised to brush her tangled hair, in that same soothing manner that his own father had done for him on his mother's passing. Elijah paused after a moment, setting his chin on the top of his head. "I know Sage, I'm here."

He says it because I'm sorry, doesn't do anything. It doesn't fix anything. It doesn't bring the person you lost back.  It doesn't magically make you whole again. It doesn't replace all the memories that you loved and cherished and adored, the memories that are now casted in a permanent blue light. Everything fucking hurts and I'm sorry doesn't do a goddamn thing, especially when it's the twenty-thousandth I'm sorry you've heard today. I'm sorry, still means something, but it doesn't mean everything in the world is automatically fixed just because someone says it.

Words that start to feel dangerously close to pity.

But, I'm here, feels like something different. It feels like a promise. A promise that you are not alone, that you will never be alone, and just because someone has left you doesn't mean you are going to feel this way forever. It's an assurance that there are still people left who care about you, who value you, and they aren't going to leave you when you need them the most. They are here.

Elijah just wants to be there for Sage.

She shivers in his arms, and another strangled choked sound escapes her as she tries to speak. Sage's voice is hoarse from crying, and she's holding onto Elijah like he might run away. Her words are crooked, but she forces them out anyway. "I'm - I'm sorry-" A sharp inhale inturupts her cries, like her lungs are desperate for air. "I"m so, i'm so sorry. I, I didn't , I didn't mean to call, call you, those, those things." She's crying again then, and each sob shoves his chest inward a little more. 

It hurts.

Elijah cups her face anyway, smoothing a warm thumb over chapped cheeks, and looks at her for a moment. "Sage. It's okay. I'm not mad at you."

Sage shook her head "I didn't, I didn't mean it Eli-" Her voice catches again, and her eyes dart elsewhere, as if she can't look at him, or simply doesn't want to. "The, the kiss, it, it just-" She inhales again, desperate for oxygen, and her eyes squeeze shut as she pulls her arms away, pressing the palms of her hands into her eyes.

"I know, Sage. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have kissed you."

"No, no - I wanted, I wanted you too." 

Oh.

Oh.

Sage had wanted to kiss him. Elijah's chest warmed against the chill of the outside air, silence lingering in his thoughts for a moment. His voice falls impossibly soft then, heart beating in his chest as much as he's telling it not too. This is certainly not the time to confess to her. "You wanted me too?"

Sage nods, but she wobbles on her feet, and instinctually Elijah puts an arm back around her. Her head drops back into his chest, still holding her hands to her face. "I just, I wanted it, it to be real." For a beat she's quiet again, sobs momentarily subsided. Sage keeps her head there, refusing to look up at him as Elijah is forced to take that information in. 

So, Keitaro was right.

Elijah had meant it. He'd wanted to kiss her, even if at the time it seemed like he was doing it out of spite and retaliation. He'd wanted to kiss Sage, and ever since he had, he'd wanted to do it again. Gently, he raised his hand to again smooth over her hair, murmering into the top of her head. "Sage, princess, it was real."

Sage stilled in his arms, her hands clenching the white shirt he was wearing. It'd probably be ruined with all the mascara smearing over it, but he really couldn't bring himself to care. Her head raising to look up at him, sniffling as she blinked cascading tears from her eyes. "It, it was?"

"Are you calling me a liar?"

"I,I don't know, are you lying?" Sage sniffed again, one hand letting go of the death-grip she had on Elijah's shirt to rub her eyes. "Are, are you just saying that cause, cause i'm crying?"

"No, Sage. I'm saying it because I wanted to kiss you." Elijah smiled at her, something warm and soft, and soley reserved for the people who deserved it. His mother said that his smile was her favorite part about him. Maybe that's why it's so rarely seen. "I still want to kiss you."

She blinked at him for a moment, then sniffed again, rolling her eyes characteristically, "I look like I jumped in, in a pool of water with a full face of make, makeup"

Elijah couldn't help but grin at her, that warmth flooding into his chest. "I think you look as pretty as you always do."

She huffed at him, waving him off, but seemed to pause after a second. Sage narrowed her eyes at him "That feels like an insult."

"It wasn't."

"I look like shit Elijah, don't lie."

"I don't think you ever look bad." Elijah grinned at her again, almost haughtily "And i'm the one looking at you, so you can't argue."

Sage let out another huffy breath at him again, rubbing her nose as she sniffled, her other hand still latched onto his shirt as a shiver ran down her body. Elijah sighed after a moment, shaking his head in mock disbelief and just shifted a bit to begin removing his jacket. Sage's attention was back to him in an instant, her voice returning to that soft, unstable tone. "Where are you going?"

Elijah paused for a second, looking over her before shaking his head, removing his jacket entirely and swinging it around to put on her, motioning for her to put her arms through it. Sage relented, and in another moment he picked up her hand, pressing a kiss to her knuckles, "No where Sage, I'm not leaving you."

The words seemed to rattle her again, because it was only another moment before her eyes glossed back over, and her lip trembled. Elijah just pulled her back to his chest, leaning down to press a kiss to her shoulder. Sage seemed determined to not cry again, leaning into him entirely. "I, I ruined your shirt."

"It's alright, I have others." He just held her for a moment, looking up at the darkening hue of the sky above them. Clouds were rounding about, promising some kind of storm to follow into the night. He again just looked back at Sage, smoothing out her hair. It was too tangled to do anything about it while they were still outside, but the motion seemed to soothe her. "Do you want to go home?" Her response was a shake of her head into his chest, holding tighter to his shirt.

Elijah hesitated then. She could go with him back to his house, but he didn't want to seem pushy, or like he was expecting anything from her at all, because he wasn't. He just knew that she shouldn't stay out in the cold for very much longer. She was probably already going to be sick, and the longer she stayed out there, the worse it would get. 

"We, we could go to my house, if you want." he just set his chin on her head again, wearily eyeing the clouds that seemed to be rapidly approaching them. "Or, we could just sit in my car, but either way, you really shouldn't stay out here for much longer, you could get sick."

For a moment, Sage was silent. The quiet was unsettling, reminding him of that dreading feeling he'd experienced before coming here. Instead, it vanished once Sage responded. "What about Ward?"

"Cara is watching him, she said it'd be alright for her to stay with him."

"What about your siblings?"

"They won't bug you, they might still be at your house."

"My house?"

"Yeah." He paused, then sighed. His hands glided up to her face again, cupping it. He ignored how cold she felt, biting the scolding back before just brushing a thumb over her cheek again. "I know you don't like accepting help, Sage-"

She stiffened, "I don't need help-"

"I know." Elijah's tone was firm, hands still against her chilled cheeks. "I know you don't need it Sage. It doesn't mean I don't want to help you." At his words she seemed to quiet, staring at him with glossy eyes. "I know you are smart, and resiliant, and adaptable." His voice softened. "I know you're strong, Sage. I already know that, and I've known that for a long time." He hesitated, only briefly before sliding his arms back around her into a hug. "It doesn't mean you need to be strong all the time. You can have help." His arms tightened, his own eyes squeezing shut as the words richocheted into his stomach, into the hollows of his mind. "You deserve help."

For a moment, Sage was still, leaning into him, but then nodded. "Okay." Her arms just slid back around him, dropping her head back against him, "Okay, Elijah." She was quiet for another minute, the her voice dropped, speaking impossibly soft, "Can we go to your house?"

"Yeah, Sage. We can go." He pulled away from her, reaching down to take her hand, gently pulling her in the direction of his car. It didn't take long for them to reach the twisted metal gate, flowers curling at the edges of it against the ground. Elijah opened the door for her, something to which Sage let out something like a mix between a scoff and a trembling laugh. He smiled at her anyway, going back around to the driver's seat. 

The ride home was mostly quiet other than Sage's occassional sniffling. At some point she reached over to take Elijah's hand, holding it tightly as she stared out the window. Elijah obliged her, rubbing his thumb against the patch of her skin he could reach. 

The house's lights were on when they got home, but Elijah only took her hand again, pushing open the door only to find his siblings home, but busying themselves. They looked up in sync, and upon seeing Sage behind him, immediately turned back to their work, pretending not to notice her presence at all. Elijah watched Yume's eyes linger, but she quickly looked away herself as he led Sage up the stairs and to his room. 

His face flushed at the realization of what it looked like, but he quickly shoved the thoughts away as he looked back to Sage, who just rubbed her face again. Elijah sighed, tracing her arm as he spoke quietly. "You want to shower? You don't have to do it in here, I don't want to make you uncomfortable."

Sage sniffed again, but huffed at him. Instead of answering right away, her own hands went to his face, pulling him closer and pressing her lips against his. This time it tasted a little bit like tears, but that lingering taste of something sweet pressed into his mouth. She pulled away again after a moment, just staring at him. "You don't make me uncomfortable, Elijah."

"Yeah- well- I got that now-" He felt heat rush up his cheeks at being caught off guard, and for the first time that day he saw her mouth twitch upwards. Elijah huffed petulantly at her in response, crossing his arms over his chest, "Prick."

"That's you, actually." She pulled her hands away after a moment, rubbing her face again. She glanced towards the bathroom again, then just back to him "I don't have anything to wear."

"Oh- I can find you something, you can borrow something, I have plenty of sisters-"

"Elijah." Sage huffed again, tilting her head at him before smiling hesitantly "Could I borrow a sweatshirt from you?"

Elijah again felt his face flare up. A sweatshirt. Like a girlfriend would wear. Less confident than he would like, he nodded, motioning to his closet "Yeah- you can take whatever you want, or just keep it, I don't care-"

Sage laughed that time, reaching up to cup his face and kissing his cheek. "If I knew you were this cute when you were flirted with, I would have done it before"

Elijah grumbled, despite the heat in his cheeks, and leaned into the affection. "It's only cause it's you, Sage." She responded with a smile, and another kiss to his cheek before pulling out a sweatshirt and taking it to the bathroom before shutting the door.

The moment she did, Elijah scurried out of his room, and to his father's office. At the least he should explain what Sage was doing here, in his room. It didn't take him long to get there, hurriedly knocking and opening the door without a response, poking his head in.

He paused however, at seeing his father asleep on the desk, slumped over, and Suga sitting beside him, looking over paperwork as he rubbed his father's back. Suga only looked up, brightening, "Oh! Hi!" He paused, squinting for a second "Oh, right, you're Elijah, aren't you?"

Elijah, still distracted by the faltering feeling at seeing his father so exhausted he'd fallen asleep in the middle of work, just looked back to Suga, nodding hesitantly. "Yeah, I just- my friend is over, she's just staying the night-"

"Your girlfriend?"

Heat rushed back into his cheeks, and he shook his head "Well, no, I haven't asked her technically - but I'm going to! She's just going through a lot right now, and I don't want to force a desicion on her or anything like that about our relationship."

Suga hummed absently, glancing at Elijah's father for a moment before looking back to him. "I think that's very thoughtful of you. I"ll let your dad know when he wakes up, alright?"

Elijah, still half shocked by what he was seeing, nodded, the promptly shut the door. He shook the thoughts from his head as he hurried back down the hall to his own room, busying himself by cleaning up until the bathroom door squeaked open, and Sage came waddling over to him. She just climbed on the bed, pulling Elijah with her before curling into his chest. She was quiet for a moment, absently tracing his chest "Can I stay here tonight?"

Elijah blinked at her for a second, then adjusted, pulling her entirely to his chest before kissing the top of her head "Sure." He just smiled a little at her, kissing her cheek, "Sure you can princess."

To his delight, he watched heat sear into her scrubbed cheeks, staring at him "..princess?"

"Well sure, you can be my princess."

She flushed again, but hid a smile, curling into him as she closed her eyes. "Does that mean you're my prince?"

Elijah couldn't stop his smile, holding her tighter, "Yeah."

"Mmkay," Her breath was heavy, exhaustion quick to settle into them both, "Goodnight."

Elijah again pressed a kiss to the top of her head, "Goodnight." Although he didn't feel all that tired, Sage evidently was, because it was less than five minutes before her breathing evened out, and she fell fast asleep, holding on to him. Carefully, Elijah got up, locating his own clothes to change. He went into the bathroom to do so, ignoring the apparently permanent smile on his face.

It didn't take long, but when he opened the door, a glittering coloration had filled his room. Miniscule green lights lit up the room, swirling in patterns over the darkness. It spun into shapes of animals, illuminating them before they vanished into the night. His book had opened, sitting on his desk as the pages flipped wildly, until it stalled on an empty page.

transformation.

The green glitter spiraled over Sage, illuminating her in the light of it as the sparkles took shape over her head, into the form of a tiara. Then it vanished, plunging the room once again into darkness.

Elijah didn't mind. His smiled didn't vanish as he again sat next to Sage, feeling her curl closer to his warmth.

Well. He'd have to tell Yume she was right too then. 

✦

✦ OPHELIA ✦

- princess >>>>>

- new covers !! ty for
being so patient !!

- sorry for the long chapter!

- part six is finished !

- let me know how you felt
about his arc <33

- check out monarch
(new applyfic) pls <3

no question today ! as part
six is finished , and we'll be
moving to part seven shortly !
so i need all opinions on keitaro
done as soon as possible <3
if this is already done feel free
to just comment as such !

──● answers