A bath of blood and wakfu

Chapter 1 | Aftermath

"That actually reminds me of that one time I had to babysit Yugo for a day, and almost lost him while playing hide and seek.", Ruel chuckled to himself. This took the group's attention. "Now you have my interest. Tell me more old man!", Dally bursted out. "A bit more respect!", the enutrof warned him, before starting his story from the beginning.

And while Yugo was intrigued to hear what Ruel had to tell, his eyes kept on wandering off to Amalia over and over. She just ate her food, keeping her eyes on the plate for most of the time. She must still be mad about what happened inside the tower. After all, they didn't have the time to talk in peace and find a way for them to clear things up yet. If there was ever a time when they could do that, it would be after lunch, he decided. Once all of them ate enough food to feed an entire Sadida barrack, they got up to prepare for their departure.

"Amalia!", while the others were about to leave the room, Yugo called her hesitantly, still standing right by the chair he just sat on. She turned around, but without giving him her usual smile. After he noticed, that she was not going to reply to him, he continued:"You are-, can we... I feel like-" The young eliatrope tried to put his words together. And though he usually knew exactly what to say, it now felt impossible to find any words at all:"I don't want to lose you. Can we please talk about what happened?" The sadida avoided her best friends' stare:"I heard what you said." She paused for a second, leaving Yugo questioning.

"Your conversation with Ruel. I heard everything." His eyes widened in regret, and more of the sharp shame he already felt boiled up inside of him. He never meant for her to hear any of that. All he needed was to share his feelings with someone, and let out some air so he could think clearly again. "I-..." Now instead his best friend was more hurt than ever. "I didn't mea-" "Don't tell me you didn't mean what you said.", instead of avoiding his gaze, Amalia now looked right at him. The pain on her face was evident:"You said it. Don't tell me you didn't mean it." Yugo thought about what he was going to say, but instead of waiting for a response, she continued:"Is it not true, that you feel miserable? Was that a lie? And did you ever get to talk about it with anyone over the past months, while your brother had been missing? Because I don't think so."

He couldn't deny that. That part was the truth. Yet he does not think of her as an egoistical, spoiled princess. "If you want to talk, then try it. I am here, and I promise this time, I will listen.", her voice was hard, but the look on her face, was quite the opposite, signaling him that she meant what she said. And it was not like Yugo didn't want to tell her, he just didn't know how. It was hard to express, but he decided to try.

"Do you know how long one thousand years are? Can you imagine that?", he frowned, keeping his eyes on the tiles below him:"A thousand years ago, none of this was here. None of the cities today, none of the houses, and none of the people.  And Qilby wasn't just a thousand years old. He was thousands of years old. Sometimes, when I think about how he turned crazy, I can't help but think that that might happen to me too. He saw so many people die, and there was nothing he could do about it, nothing that would make him forget." Inevitably, tears started to form, and his eyes turned glassy. "I know it's not the same. I don't remember my prior... selves, but none of you live as long as I will. You all will die. Alibert, Dally, Ruel, Eva, and you. And in the worst case, I won't even be old or fully grown up by the time all of that happens. Can you imagine that?"

He laughed weakly, as his tears started to fall. He couldn't ignore the feeling of doom that built up inside of him. Amalia swallowed hard, extending her hand to reach for him, before stopping mid-air:"Yugo..." "It's not like I don't like you. But what if I do want to spend the rest of my life with you? I try not to think about that. I try not to think about what it would be like to hold your hand until we are both old. Because in reality, you will get old, and I will be left without you with hundreds of years left to live." Yugo took his hands to push the tears out of his face. He didn't want to cry, he didn't want to have the need to have this conversation. "And then they want me to be king. Like I have any idea of how to be a king. They all expect me to be their savior when I don't even know if I can save myself."

This time Amalia didn't hesitate, and pulled the young eliatrope to her chest, hugging him tightly:"I am sorry Yugo.", she didn't know what she should tell him. There was nothing that could save him from his future. It was a destiny prewritten, and any way out would mean betraying his brother, and all they had worked towards for the last ten years.

And while she knew that she would never fully understand what that fear must be like for him, she felt like it was enough to just listen, and hold him while he could cry all of his worries out. Just for today. Until they had to go and push all of their fears and sorrow aside to save the world again.

Once Yugos tears had almost dried up, he loosened himself from Amalias' hug:"You know? I am not sorry that I kissed you back there. But I am sorry that I can't be together with you." The sadida closed her eyes for just a second:"Well, and if this kiss was my only kiss ever, I am happy I got to share it with you." "So can we agree to just be friends?" "Yes. let's just be friends for now.", while this decision weighed heavy on her heart, she didn't want to burden her friend anymore. She knew that trying to convince him that they could be possible, would make it even harder for him to come to terms with his seemingly eternal lifespan, and put their friendship on the line once more.

"Thank you Amalia, you are the best.", he leaned in for another long hug, while the princess had trouble keeping her tears at bay. From far away, the two of them started hearing several pairs of feet running along the hallway. The first voice that emerged from them was Percedals:"Are you two gonna hurry up soon? We have been waiting forever to leave!" Amalia managed to wipe the tears out of her eyes before anyone could see them and put her usual straightforward tone on:"We are coming, don't stress like that! Why do you always have to be so impatient?"

At first, they sent Ruel on his way, back to his dheller at home. Next up were Evangeline, Percidral, and their three kids. And while neither of the two older siblings wanted to leave already, Eva quickly got them to enter the Zaap portal by putting on a stricter tone.

"Are you really leaving already? You can still stay for a few days, I am sure my father would be ecstatic.", the Sadida princess tried to convince the brothers, but Adamai was the first to decline her offer: "Sorry Amalia, but it's time." "Adamai hasn't been home in months, and I am sure Alibert can't wait to see him again. And we also have to catch up on some brother time.",  Yugo shot her a light smile: "But I promise, I'll come to see you soon." She gave both of them a hearty smile back. For a second she contemplated hugging him, but feared, that if she did, she would not let him go again. No matter how much she didn't want any of them to leave, she knew that he would keep his word and that the brothers had more important things to do right now.

When Yugo followed his twin through the portal, he kept his eyes on Amalia, unsure of when their next reunion would be.

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Authors notes

Hey, first of all, thank you for finishing the first chapter, and giving this Fanfiction a shot. I am always happy to get feedback of any kind, so if you have any, feel free to drop it.

Also, for this Fanfiction I'll be assuming that the brotherhood is not stuck in the inglorium at the end of season 3. So if any of you noticed or were confused about that, - yes, that was on purpose.

I am honestly really looking forward to how they will resolve that in season 4 because I have absolutely no idea.