A bath of blood and wakfu

Chapter 22 | Confession

It took the inhabitants of the world of twelve weeks to get rid of the mechanisms. At least a large portion of them. The total death count still grew constantly, sometimes it was too gruesome to think about it for too long. Adding to that, it was most likely still grossly underestimated. It was almost certain, that some of the intruders were still somewhere deep in the forests, or high up on mountains, slowly sucking up all of the Wakfu they could get their hands on.

Nevertheless, the biggest part of the crisis had been overcome, and slowly but surely, all of the nations and cities started their rebuilding efforts. Now though, that the worst was over, Yugo had allowed himself a day off, as he had barely ever gotten more than a few hours of rest at a time over the past weeks. The same was the case for the rest of the brotherhood, so the eliatrope had taken his chance and asked Amalia to accompany him on a walk.

They were walking through the forest together, both of them enjoying the tranquil silence. This kind of peaceful silence was something that they had all been lacking with the constant fighting and screaming everywhere, so this was a more than welcome change. Both of them were walking so closely next to each other, that their hands occasionally brushed together, although neither of them found the courage fully reach for the other's hand.

Yugo was nervous, his heart beating fast, as they reached the clearing, where they had been training with Chibi before all of the hell fully broke loose. Where they had sat on the bench, holding hands. The young man's heart filled with warmth at the thought of it.

"Thank you for coming with me:", Yugo said, giving the princess a hearty smile. She looked at him, her cheeks tinted in a soft red:"Of course. I always enjoy walks, and it's honestly a welcome break." "Yeah, that's exactly what I thought.", he sighed, his hands trembling as he stopped walking. Amalia turned around to him, as soon as she noticed:"Are you coming?"

He took a deep breath, his feet shifted from side to side, as he tried to steady his voice in an attempt to hide his nervousness:"Can you do me a favor?" The princess raised her eyebrow, unsure what to make of that question:"Maybe. Unless you want me to ask Armand about changing up the dinner plans again just because Adamai doesn't like our food."

Yugo had to laugh, his nerves a little more at ease:"No, it's nothing like that." "What is it then?", she closed the distance to him, staring right at him, her face only inches from his. This only made his blood pump faster, as he started reaching for both of her hands, carefully holding them. "Can you close your eyes?", he felt the anxiety rise inside of him, his voice a little shaky:"And don't open them until I tell you to."

Amalia was confused and flustered, but respected her friend's wishes, as she closed her eyes. "Are they closed?", he asked, as he slowly let go of the princess's hands again. "Yes.", she paused for a second:"But what is going on Yugo?" "Just promise to keep them closed", he had to gather all of his strength, his hands already on his hood.

Then he closed his eyes, just like he told Amalia to close hers, before slowly taking the hood off his head. He could feel the soft fabric brush the Wakfu wings on top of his head, making him awfully aware of what he was about to do. He told himself that there was no reason for him to feel as scared as he did, but that did nothing to relieve the stress he felt in every fiber of his skin.

It took him another few seconds until he opened his eyes again, and looked at Amalia. The princess was clearly impatient, but she had kept her promise, and not opened her eyes. "Okay. You can open them now.", Yugo eventually said.

Her eyes flung open almost instantly, the curiosity in her taking full control over her, and then there was silence. For him, it was a dreadful, deafening silence, so brutally uncomfortable that it made him regret his decision immediately.

Maybe he should have had reason to worry. He prayed for her to say something, anything at all, but she didn't. They simply stood there. It made the eliatrope vulnerable, almost naked, and he suddenly was so painfully aware of every bit of Wakfu that flowed through, and left his body.

Then she moved again, lifting her hand, slowly bringing it closer to him. Yugo felt like his heart would jump out of his chest at any moment, his anxiety at a peak, but he didn't move. He didn't feel like he could, even if he tried.

The princess' hand hovers in front of the blueish glow, hesitant to draw any closer. Then she gathers the courage and softly touches one of them. The moment her finger came in touch with the Wakfu, Yugo winced, and an odd sensation washed over him. Never had anyone ever laid a hand on them, - except for him. The feeling was new and unexpected, although not entirely uncomfortable. His body was riddled with goosebumps, and she seemed to notice.

"Sorry.", Amalia pulled back her hand a little, her eyes still fixed on the Wakfu wings in front of her. "It's okay.", he replied, feeling his wings move up a little in uncertainty:"It's just... Unfamiliar."

It seemed to surprise her, her brows lifting for a mere second, before she put her arms behind his neck, slowly reaching for his hood. His skin prickled as her fingers brushed his neck, filling him with fuzziness. Part of him wished she wouldn't take them away again.

She slowly put her friend's hood back on his head, careful not to touch the wings that sprouted from the top of his head again. Yugo was unsure what to make of that gesture, once more frightened, that maybe he had made the wrong decision by showing her.

"You look a lot more comfortable with the hat on.", Amalia said eventually, smiling. Her reaction immediately made him feel more at ease, his shoulders relaxing as he breathed out. The Sadida reached out for his hands, holding them carefully:"But thank you for showing me. I know it must have been tough to make that decision." His eyes widened, and his body slowly filled with a tranquil feeling of warmth.

Yugo didn't fully think about what he did next, his body almost acting on its own, as he leaned closer, their foreheads almost touching. The Eliatrope stopped breathing, for just a moment, before their lips softly collided.

She let go of his hands, putting them around his face instead. She had yearned for this for so long, had been holding back, and pushing down all the feelings she had felt for Yugo, convinced that there was no possible future for them.

Yugo instinctively put his hands on her waist, wishing the moment would last forever. When they slowly drew away from each other, he could see the redness on her face, feeling some of that very same redness on his cheeks as well.

He locked eyes with her, his hands shaking, but for once it was not out of fear:"Amalia, I love you. And this time there's no backing out, no taking it back, I mean it.", he tried to convey his sincerity to her in every way possible:"I want to be with you for as long as the Krozmos will grant me. That is... if you want that too of course."

She blushed, and stared at him, her hand on his cheek, before she smiled wide, just a hint of tears in her eyes. She hugged him with such a force, that it almost made him topple over."Yes. I want to be with you, for as long as the Krozmos will grant us."

He was perplexed, her gesture throwing him off for just a moment before he returned her hug, not wasting another thought on worrying about anything else.

All that was on his mind was her.

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Authors Notes

Yes, this will actually be the last chapter of this fanfiction! Since the actual story arc is kind of done, I just really wanted to put a bow on the whole Yumalia arc with the last two chapters as well!

I am sorry if it feels open-ended, I really tried to close it off the best I could. And although some of the later chapters really gave me a hard time, because I wanted them as good as I could possibly make them, I really had a great time writing this fic.

And I really hope that everyone who read until the end enjoyed it. Either way, I want to say thank you for all of the awesome support, I really appreciate all of you <3.