2024-06-18: You Are Safe Now
- Log: You Are Safe Now
- Cast: Yuliana Kafim, Elisa Kafim
- Where: The Silent Castle, Kaffeklubben Island
- Date: 2024-06-18
- Summary: Yuliana returns home to her wife -- though her ship is detected by the OCU military, as she leaves. All her stresses are soon wiped away by Elisa's loving consideration, as she tells her why she fell in love with her and offers her countless assurances. They're stronger together, and it's Yuliana's actions which matter... including her promise to represent them in the Dawn of Fold's first operation. (CW: Coercive control)
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
OST: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GxIhBQAyL8 CHVRCHES - Strong Hand
"I'm really going," Yuliana insists, standing beside Dr. Kimura. "... maybe I can come back, but... but I have to see to my wife," and her voice is thinner, saying that.
"Do you have what Leina gave you?" He asks, and Yuliana nods. (It's hidden in the hem of her cloak.) "Then," he goes on, reaching out to pat her shoulder, "good luck. I hope I see you again next month, Yuliana."
"... yeah," Yuliana says, glancing down to his fingers. "I... hope so. Um... thanks, Doctor." She feels far too awkward, as she pauses, for a moment.
Help me,
"See you."
She turns, enters her shuttle, and changes into some proper clothes. Jeans just won't do, in the Arctic, as much as she might enjoy them in nicer weather. (Warmer weather, she corrects herself.) She goes through all her pre-flight checks, sends a message to her wife to let her know she's leaving...
... stares at her message history, just a little too long, and fixes a smile on her face. She doesn't feel weird.
She doesn't feel bad.
It's the middle of the night, when the Ghost takes off from the hangar. It should be dark inside the cockpit, too, when she's running silent. Too late does she register the lights on around her -- "SHIT!" She barks, as she toggles a series of switches, and engages the shuttle's stealth mode when she's already high in the air. "Shit, shit, shit --" She turns, sharply and erratically, altering her flight plan immediately.
Down on the ground, on an OCU base --
"Did you catch that?" An officer asks, as he frowns, adjusting a dial. "An unexpected launch from the PPL."
"Ahh, it's probably just one of those harebrained Kabuto schemes," the Lieutenant waves a hand, as she dismisses it. "We can trust them." She's one of the Free Japanese who fought alongside them, after all; she's warm to them, even in this military structure.
"But -- sir -- it wasn't a PPL vehicle. Unknown shuttle. And I've lost it," the man under her says, as he keeps trying to zero in.
"That is strange," the Lieutenant frowns, leaning over to examine his screen. She adjusts her headset, and transmits: "Flight Squad 7, can you track down this signal?"
"... negative," a crackling voice replies, after a short delay. "No bogeys on the path."
"So they don't want to be found... run an identification request on the craft," the officer in charge of night shift decides, at length. "Let's at least figure out who that was."
And Yuliana isn't stupid enough to think she's gotten away with it -- just because no one's on her tail. Her grip too tight on her controls, she's glad, quietly, that she asked her mother to keep the boys distracted when she came back.
She's going to be in a state.
But, small mercies, no one follows her; no one was expecting that from the PPL, so no countermeasures were in place. (Until now, she's been quite careful.) She still has to be careful on approach to her home, of course, the eternal Arctic sun offering her no respite. As always, she approaches high to use the clouds as a cover, and then abruptly cuts her engines and drops down like a stone. A quick subsequent engine activation stops her from suffering the sharp stop at the end, and a moment later, they're cut again.
She can't thwart every effort of the listening post they know must be out there, but she can certainly frustrate their efforts to detect her movement.
The shuttle is silent, for a moment, as Yuliana extricates herself. Something clutches her heart, and she decides it must be relief. Urgently, urgently --
The door hisses open, and Yuliana springs from it, in her black fur robes and her sweeping cloak. The servants will collect her things, later, including her warm-weather clothes all tossed haphazardly to a corner; she needn't concern herself with them. No, she has one thing on her mind, right now. Her endless eyes search the dock to find, "Elya!" -- and she throws herself into her arms, sinking in against her, tentacles wrapping tightly about her wife.
Her frills fan out, flared and curling at their edges, as she pulls back just enough to look at her. Hers is a love almost upset in its frenzy. "Elya," she says, again, her voice cracking, smashed upon the rocks. She lifts herself up on her toes to match her wife's enviable heels, so that the first thing she does -- the first thing is to kiss her. There is something desperate to it, wanting and needing and yielding and pleading. Before Elisa developed that feathering at her ears, the only way Yuliana could impress her feelings on her wife was through her lips; with them, her fragile state is thrown into sharper relief.
She needs her reassurance, her validation, her love, and she submits herself to the process, even as she so blatantly tries to coax Elisa's humanity forward. She needs -- she needs! -- to know it's okay, she's okay, they're okay. In a way, she is afraid, though she insists she's just relieved to be with her wife again.
Please, she cries, wordless in her affection, let it be okay.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
There is much that Elisa Kafim knows.
She knows her wife. She knows her wife's condition. She knows her wife's doubts. And she knows, relating to all of those things...
They do not require the 'help' that Dr. Kimura would offer her now.
So, Elisa is there, waiting, when Yuliana comes home. The door hisses open and already she can see her wife. She is dressed in her robes, in a dark cloak, and of course in her heels. She is here, on the dock--
"My Yuliana," she says after a passionate kiss, as if she were almost human in her need to be near Yuliana. Almost. Not quite.
But she knows what Yuliana needs, better than any.
BGM INTERRUPT: Witch Image - Ghost https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymb-aG_lt9U
"I have missed you so," she says, her voice rich. Her lips are pained wine-dark, and taste faintly of blood and spice. Her eyes are so, so green.
"It has been terrible, to be without you. But I know that you would stay away only so long as it was necessary."
Elisa smiles, and she has the normal amount of teeth.
"All is well now."
She takes Yuliana into her arms. "I shall carry you the rest of the way."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"I missed you," Yuliana breathes, against her lips, and she missed that blood, those spices. (She wonders, but briefly, what Elisa has been drinking.) "I missed you." She missed the way she tries, though she isn't human.
Almost. Almost.
And she missed her voice, and she missed her eyes, and she missed losing herself in them, gazing up to her with unfathomable longing. "It must have been so hard for you," she says, her fingers trailing down her wife's cheek. She says, again, where she's standing: "It was so hard."
Until she isn't standing, any more, a little gasp caught in her throat as Elisa scoops her up into her arms. "Elya!" She chirps, delighted, as she curls her arms about her neck, coils her tentacles about her anew. She rests her cheek against her shoulder, and she thinks that surely it must have just been nerves, those nervous feelings she felt.
"Thank you," she says, softly, awash with her warm gratitude in her wife's cold arms.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
This isn't about that.
"Not so hard as it was for you, I think. You spoke to me of trouble..." Elisa looks down into Yuliana's eyes. "But it was."
Yuliana chirps, and Elisa is pleased with this, turning around to walk towards the interior of the castle and away from the dock.
Perhaps it could have been nerves.
"Of course," she says. "I love you. And I promised. One must always keep her promises."
That's just general advice, of course.
"We shall find somewhere comfortable to sit, and you can finally relax. All shall be well."
She steps into the corridor. "...I have spent much time with the children," she confirms. "And some amount of time exploring this world..."
She does not pressure her to talk. For now.
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"It was," Yuliana says, "very hard, Elya. I'm sorry I put us through it," and she's saying sorry again, and if she's saying it to her wife, who else would she have said it to?
But Elisa loves her, and Yuliana sighs, sinking comfortably into her wife's arms as they move into the Castle and climb some of those countless stairs. "Yes," she agrees, eyes fluttering half-closed, and she isn't at all worried about the ground passing beneath her.
There's nowhere she's safer than right here.
"I'd like that," she murmurs, when Elisa tells her they'll relax. "... and I'm glad you've been with the children... they look up to you, zhenushka." A light pause, and she adds, "... mm... I heard." Elisa knows that she did, of course. She said as much when she rang her in such a state, only a few nights ago.
But her heartbeat calms, as her wife shepherds her to a resting-place, and she can even believe she's under no pressure. It's just... nice. It's nice to be back here, with her wife, again.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
"It is well," Elisa says. "There is no need to apologize. We agreed that we would take what we required, yes? You must take all that you need. It is our way."
There is no need to worry. Elisa can build Yuliana up again. After those people tore her down...
"They do seem to," Elisa agrees about the children. "They are growing quite well. And will be pleased to see you once more."
But Yuliana... heard. Hmm.
She will eventually set Yuliana down, but only eventually. Is it nice?
"Here," Elisa says. "Take your ease. You are safe now."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"It is," Yuliana agrees, and broaches no argument to the selfish proposition.
Even if... a part of her feels bad, for needing to take that. Did she really require...
It doesn't matter. All is well.
"Good," Yuliana smiles, of the children. "Oh, I missed them, too. How is Sima getting along with his new friend...?" Swordtooth, that is, the world's sleepiest familiar.
(Of course she's sleepy; her master isn't ready yet.)
When they come to one of the Castle's sitting-rooms, a fire already merrily crackling in the fireplace, Yuliana allows Elisa to drape her over the fainting couch -- only to reach up and tug her down, too, so she can nestle up beside her again. "I know," she murmurs, her gaze lidding anew as she brushes her hand down her wife's shoulder. "It's... such a relief..."
How could she have ever thought she wasn't safe, here?
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Guilt is a poison.
"Quite well," Elisa agrees of Maksim and Swordtooth. "She is often sleeping yet. But that is her way. He seems to be quite pleased with her, and she will be loyal." It is not a question, or a guess. It is a certainty.
But Elisa does indeed let herself be pulled down, laying with Yuliana and wrapping arms about her as she looks down at her in turn. "Yes," she says. "I am certain that it is. Those environments... They are difficult for you, aren't they? Challenging."
"But here, you have your family. They will wish to see you. But first, I shall be selfish myself, and take your company for my own yet longer."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
If guilt is a poison, surely Yuliana is poisoning herself.
"Wonderful," Yuliana sighs, when Elisa gives her update on Maksim. "He was so happy when we were willing to consider a snake... he told me he would have been happy with a puppy, of course, but snakes are cooler. Isn't he delightful?"
Should she be concerned that she's raising the children in an environment where they think snakes are cooler than dogs? No, not really.
She gazes up at her wife, all tucked in beside her, and she smiles. "They are," she says, relieved to be seen with such clarity. "It was very challenging. I grew confused, Elya... and too sensitive. I thought..." She starts, and trails off, her gaze dropping down to her hand curled at her wife's chest.
"Take me as long as you like," she says, instead, rubbing her cheek against her wife's shoulder. "I missed you so much, Elya. I missed being with you... it's such a relief to be here like this again."
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Would Elisa poison Yuliana?
"A puppy is an acceptable pet," Elisa says, "I suppose. I do not mind them. But reptiles have so many fascinating qualities. He is right. They are indeed... 'cool'." A pause. "As is he. He is very good, yes."
Who would be concerned about that?
"You are never 'too' anything," Elisa says. "I like it when you live as boldly as you wish. When you show all of yourself, without any limitation. To hold yourself back--that is the crime."
She smiles. "I shall. ...Yes. I missed you greatly, as well. I know, of course, that it was important..."
"But there are important matters here, as well. The children, for example."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
Never.
"Of course, I do quite like dogs," Yuliana says, "but our precious little baby boy is so much more lovely than a Newfoundland, isn't he? Oh, I've missed Sokrova, too...!" Yuliana is of course terribly attached to Elisa's familiar, just the same. And is it any wonder? He's the perfect cat. There's so much of him to hug!
She smiles, when Elisa reassures her. "You've always believed in me that way," she sighs, sick with her love. "You've never wanted to change me, have you, Elya...?"
Was it... really that important?
Not as important as the children, surely. "They are," she agrees. "Were they well, while I was gone? I called them every day, but... with the time difference, there was only so much I could do."
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
"Yes," Elisa agrees. "Sokrova..." She smiles. "I am also fond of him, as you know. He has waited patiently for your return." That's the theme, after all. Everyone was waiting for her...
"I do believe in you," Elisa says, technically without answering the question. "I want to see you express yourself fully. This is... vital."
"They were," Elisa says. "But they will be better with you here. Though..."
"I will have some work to do myself, soon. For our mutual friends."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"He's such a good boy," Yuliana sighs, and if there's a little guilt in her contentment -- it's something she's introduced on her own.
"Vital..." She murmurs, and a frown crosses her face, briefly, as the question crosses her mind. But --
She smiles, reaching up to smooth her fingers through her wife's hair. "I understand," she assures her. "I'll be here to take care of the boys, Elya, so don't worry at all." Surely that's what Elisa was worried about, wasn't she? If she had to leave the children...
After all, even when she went to visit that Lucine, it was through her mirror. She never left the Castle. She must have felt so restricted...
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
A very good boy. Elisa does not stop to ask Yuliana what her question was. Instead, she considers. Yuliana will take care of the boys. "That is well," Elisa says. "You are so very good with them. It is natural." A pause. "Though..."
"I do worry," she says. "My ways are not the ways of the others. I am confident that I could achieve our aims, but to see me exerting my Power so directly might be... frightening, to those that we wish to court."
"They may not understand, as you do."
"So few do."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
Of course Yuliana is a natural with the children. She loves children. She'd be a great mom.
But Yuliana frowns, when Elisa worries about -- fitting in? She has been trying to study Earth, she thinks. "I guess..." She sighs, pressing her forehead to Elisa's, closer and closer and closer. "You're right, Elya. They might not appreciate you. It isn't fair," she insists, in defence of her wife.
"Perhaps," she says, the idea coming to her totally unprompted, "I ought to go instead, boyevaya podruga. I was thinking I'd like to, anyway... so it wouldn't be so hard for me to take your role on, as well. Though I know you'd like the chance to stretch your legs... if it's for the sake of securing the alliance, this way might be best."
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
She would! Elisa is certain of that.
Elisa looks into Yuliana's eyes, her cool dark skin smooth against Yuliana's warmth. "It isn't," Elisa agrees, "But it is so."
Of course it's Yuliana's idea. How else would it have come about?
"If you are sure," Elisa says. "...But that does sound like a good idea. Your natural charisma and skill as a warrior would do well to secure our allies. More than the presence of one of my dragons might."
Because of course that's the alternative. Naturally.
"You are so brave and capable..."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
They're natural counterbalances, that way. How do other couples cope with both parties having internal temperatures? It would get far too hot under the covers. Elisa's chill is a boon.
And Yuliana smiles, so close to her wife, when Elisa praises her skills. "You're right," she agrees, and she, at least, is warm. "I'll make sure to impress them for us, zhenushka. No one will be able to miss me!"
Should she be worried about that, when she was detected leaving the Labs? It's fine.
"Oh..." She sighs, and tilts her head, nosing her face in against Elisa's neck. "I'm so pleased you think so." And she pauses, hidden there against her wife, for a moment; does she even need to ask?
She should, if only to put it to rest.
"... can I... ask you something strange, Elya?" Yuliana ventures, after that moment's hesitation.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Of course it is. And of course Elisa is right. "Perfect," the witch says. "Yes, I am certain that many eyes will be upon you. You will do well."
A pause, as she strokes Yuliana's hair, tilting her head as Yuliana speaks a question. She imagines it must be a weighty one, for her to call it 'strange' in this way.
"You can ask me anything," Elisa says simply. "'Strange' things included. Please, ask your question."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
Perfect, Elisa says, and Yuliana's cheeks flush with affection. But...
With Elisa tilting her head, too, it's not so difficult for Yuliana to tilt hers to be able to catch her gaze. "Was that..." She starts, and blinks, and takes a breath, and starts again. It's okay, she tells herself. It's okay. She can feel her wife's fingers, running through her hair, and this is the right question to ask, because she was sure she ought to ask it. "What was it, Elya, that -- that drew you to me, when we met? Why... did you fall in love with me? Was it just because of... my connection to the Void? Or..."
Her heart has quickened, again, in her chest; she draws herself closer to her wife, as she asks the question Leina put in her head.
Elisa will have a good explanation. She always does.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Was that?
Ahh, this question. Elisa smiles fondly at Yuliana as she asks her question after all, her hand pausing, fingertips gently pressed into her hair. "Ah, yes, I remember clearly..."
"Of course, there was such influence; my mission was to find you. ...But that is not what made me love you, no. That is only what drove me to meet you."
"When I first came to understand 'love' for myself..."
She smiles. "Was after we were together first. We had become what I would consider now friends, and partners. But it was not until we were closer--until you told me that if I left you you would kill me--yes... That is when I saw the beauty in you for more."
"I was so pleased. To know that you would fight for what you desired with such fervency..."
"I liked you before that. I liked the way you presented yourself. I enjoyed your work. But when our relationship progressed to that point, and you said that to me..."
"That was my taste of 'love'. And I have chased it ever since."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
Elisa acknowledges the influences of the Void, speaking true, but she has her own answer for love. Yuliana tilts her head into her wife's fingertips as she looks to her, a lovestruck smile spreading over her face, flush with affection. It was her own jealous fervency which caused it...?
"Oh, Elya," Yuliana sighs, with all the tone of a romantic. "No wonder you love my forcefulness so... I knew it could not only be the Void! If you really found me so troublesome, why would you feel so strongly...? It was a question which made no sense... I'm so happy. And it's so reassuring... they were wrong, weren't they, saying that kind of talk was dangerous? It just meant I'd chosen you..."
Why would she be bothered by Elisa falling in love with her jealous threats of violence? Surely, to her, it is an expression of devotion and desire. Surely it's a normal expression of passion, to speak that way.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
It would be absurd not to acknowledge their influence. But there is more. Yuliana smiles, and Elisa sees it, and is pleased. She is not flush, but a hungry affection is in her green eyes all the same.
"You see?" Elisa says, as Yuliana declares that it is no wonder. "No, I do not find you troublesome. I wish that danger stalked you less readily, of course. But you cannot be cooped up in one place forever. Your spirit would not tolerate it."
She's happy. That's good. "Of course they were wrong. It might be worrisome for ordinary people. But we are far from ordinary."
"You are far from ordinary, my love."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"Of course... it's the danger you're troubled by," Yuliana explains it, for herself, puts the pieces together which Elisa has laid out for them both. "Oh, Elya... it's so obvious! I don't know how I didn't see it!"
Perhaps her gaze was clouded, being away too long.
She presses her fingertips into Elisa's shoulder, to steady herself to lean up and kiss her wife again; she has always been sure to feed her hunger, whatever form it takes. Her wife should not be left wanting. "You're right," she murmurs, then, against her lips. "We're not like them, Elya. Their concerns... are built around other people. They were just trying to help... but..."
Her gaze drops, then, to look to the curve of Elisa's shoulder, where her hand still grasps her. There, on her thick wrist, still lies her violet-stone bracelet.
Why she would look to it, in this moment...
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
"It is hard, to understand another." Elisa knows this--she also knows how to use this. It's important, to understand.
Elisa returns Yuliana's affection, and opens her eyes to stare into hers. "They were," Elisa says, "But intention is not always aligned with action. And you..."
Ah, yes.
Elisa sighs, but fondly. "You find it an imposition, don't you?" she asks.
"Say the word, and I shall remove its capabilities and render it only jewelry once more. I wished to keep you safe..."
"But if your 'spirit' requires more freedom, I shall trust in you."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
Yuliana blinks, surprise crossing over her eyes as she looks up to her wife. "You're not... angry that I know?" She asks, uncertain. "I -- I was afraid maybe you were, since you were so busy, that day... and they thought it was safer not to tell you the details." Should she feel bad about throwing them under the bus? Maybe a little, because she adds: "It's -- it's not their fault. I tried to explain what was going on, back then, but... they were just worried about me."
Her frill lowers, as she adds: "I should have told you I knew... but I wasn't sure if it was something from another universe. I didn't want to accuse you of anything, Elya... that's all. It's... it's not that it's an imposition, it's just..." She pauses, one too many teeth pressing delicately into her lip.
"... they were worried you were too controlling," she settles on, eventually, speaking softly. "And... and, I... I had a lot of difficult feelings. I was so confused... I even wondered if I was in danger. So I kept those things they were saying from you... oh, Elya, I feel so unfaithful. They think such awful things about us!"
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
"Not at all," Elisa says, and because Yuliana does not ask how she knows she does not bother to volunteer it. Instead she says, "I'm sure they would think that. But you've long known the lengths to which I will go to keep you safe. I will not blame them for trying to aid you; it is why you were there at all, to be helped."
Hmmm...
"I see. I appreciate the desire to spare my feelings, but you can bring anything to me, my darling."
"Including this."
She is thoughtful, as if musing these matters for the first time. "Would you prefer that I lead less?" she asks. "In your difficulties, you have seemed to need a stronger hand. But that was not always so. You are never in danger from me."
Elisa feels that strongly enough that her nose wrinkles, as if finding the very idea distasteful.
"Perhaps you doubted me," she says, "But you did return. That is what shall count, to me."
"...Not their thoughts, but your actions."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"You've always gone so far for me," Yuliana agrees, softly, "and you're so generous, zhenushka." For not blaming them...?
She nods, when Elisa says, again, that she can bring anything to her. And just as Yuliana doesn't ask how she knew -- she's sure she knows how, because it was made to track her, and she took it off and had it scanned, of course she knew Elisa would know -- Yuliana doesn't bring up the fact that this isn't the first time Elisa has had to remind her of her open-door policy. Maybe... maybe she won't notice.
"I have changed..." Yuliana starts, only to frown, reaching up to stroke her wife's cheek. "... forgive me, sputnica zhizni," she apologises to her companion-for-life, concern creasing her brow, distracted from voicing her own needs by the needs of her wife. "I did doubt you... I was misled too easily. But -- I know you'd never harm me. I know."
She takes a breath, and says, "I don't want to do anything to harm you, either. I just don't think about the consequences of my actions... I know I can be thoughtless. But I'll do right by you, Elya," she says, a thread of desperation in her words. "I will. I will, I -- I'll show you. I'll come back to you. I will." If she promises enough, will it come true? She has to keep her promises, after all.
It was general advice.
"... I'm not... bothered by you leading, Elya," she settles on, after a moment spent trembling under the weight of all those promises. "Really, it's comforting... you are stronger than me, so it's natural, after all." It's their way. "It's just... sometimes, it's... hard for me to know what's really happening. Ah, I don't really know how to say it..." Yuliana lays her head against her wife's shoulder, sinking into her. "I just wish things were clearer to me," she settles on, after a moment. "Since I -- I get so turned around -- and I don't know what to do. I get afraid, then... because I might do the wrong thing, but... I'm not always sure what that is."
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Of course for not blaming them. They deserve blame.
Elisa knows many things. Yuliana's worries number among those things.
Elisa strokes Yuliana's hair. "I know," she says. "I think ahead, and you move with passion. The difference makes us strong. But some would take advantage of that."
Not bothered... Hmmm.
"Of course," Elisa says. "You need certainty. Take comfort in remembering strength. You are strong. Never forget that."
"So long as you and I are together... There is nothing you could do that would be 'wrong'."
"That is something you can remember."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
They deserve that blame, but Yuliana doesn't want them to suffer it, anyway.
She's fond of them.
All the fondness in her gaze right now, though, is for Elisa; her gaze lids, under the feeling of her fingertips. "I don't wish for anyone to take advantage of you through me," she worries, as she extrapolates out her wife's meaning.
Her eyes blink closed, trusting in her wife, before she looks up to Elisa again. "I am," she repeats, obligingly. "I am strong. Back then, when we first started... I didn't know how just strong you were, Elya. In another life... our positions might have been reversed, isn't that strange?"
She sinks into her wife, relaxing, soothed. "But when you stormed the Institute to save me... that was when I knew I could trust things to you. You were so strong... the people who broke me couldn't even challenge you. That's when I first realised I could give myself over to you... instead of taking you myself." When what she was offering became her whole self...
"I'll remember," she murmurs, finally, smiling. "We're stronger together, Elya."