Storms of the Eye - A WolfWren fiction

Epilogue

And there it was, that spark, back in Sabine's eye. The girl's mouth had almost imperceptibly twitched as she was now truly looking back at her. It was defiance, fierceness, fire. She did not delude herself into reading love, affection, or care. But it was finally something. Shin felt everything again.

She felt the faint smell of blueberries from the girl's last shower. It suits her more than me, she thought. She was longing for that warm peculiar smell of her body, the one she had inebriated with in their intimate moments. Sabine's lips were still pursed severely. And she was longing to kiss them, part them again with her tongue, eat the girl's hot breath and her salty-sweet taste.

But she hates you now, doesn't she? The thought, darkly. She all but said it. and Shin felt destroyed by the injustice of it. Because of what she felt, in return.

"You know it," she breathed. "You know I love you. You know I'll die for you. That I actually did already. So nobody here is ever touching you. I wouldn't let them. Ever."

Sabine did not waver at the words, but Shin chose to believe she could feel the girl brace against her tears too. She kept her perfect composure, but her mask of coldness seemed ever so slightly cracked, and in this moment it was everything to Shin.

"Stop it," said Sabine. Her voice was firm, but her severeness was blunted at the edges, echoes of tenderness and sorrow showing in the corner of her words. "You're... making it so complicated..."

Shin was fighting a storm like no other. To restrain herself from jumping at the girl, curling in her arms, and kissing her was so straining she felt like she died again. She remained still, her heart tearing apart with the effort.

"I'm not," she said, barely audible in the absolute silence of the corridor. Time itself seemed to have taken pity and given them that last-needed moment. "But you said it yourself... you deserve better."

"That's... not exactly what I said," said Sabine, the vacillation in her voice crackling some more her cold facade.

Shin had trouble concentrating. Sabine was painfully too far from her, but just enough that every word of the purple-haired girl would send a faint warm breath washing over Shin's face. She wanted to close her eyes, and be soothed by it, that warm and spicy tide she loved so much. And the tempest of embrace, of wet hungry kisses that always came after. But not anymore. You killed that when she saw who you are, she thought, void in her heart.

"But that's how it is anyway, isn't it?" she said, turning around. She chose to believe she'd been just quick enough to hide that stray tear in her eye. "I might as well spell it out for us both."

She stepped out of the cell, expecting the girl to follow. Without looking at her, she added something in whispers.

"I won't do it, you know?" she said. "At some point, they'll have me chase you down, you and your friend if you find him."

She paused, taking a long painful breath, then continued.

"If I catch up to you... If that happens... just know I'll fake it. I'll play along, and it'll feel like I'll really try to fight, it will feel true even to you. But I'll fake it. I don't promise anything about your friend. But you... I won't harm you," she said, her voice trailing in sorrow.

Shin's heart broke when she saw Sabine's face harden. What she just said had felt, for her, like the most heartfelt declaration of love. But the Mandalorian felt unmoved.

"Right..." said Sabine, the coldness of her tone now barely covering her own emotions. "Thanks, I guess. Fake-murdering me is nice. I'd rather we not cross paths anymore at all though. But I guess we'll both do what we must anyway. Since we failed to do better."

In that last "we", Shin all but heard the heavy shadow of a "you". And her heart broke some more.

Shin did not respond, pressing her pace. She put just enough distance from Sabine to cross the corner of the corridor before her. And in that brief moment when she was out of the Mandalorian sight, swiftly, she wiped the many tears from her eyes.

***

The small shuttle cruised across the grey sky of Peridea, shuddering under the heavy rain and winds. Shin's gaze lingered by the transparisteel window, battered by raging water. The ominous reliefs of the planet started to emerge from the mist and clouds. She could make the tall and eerie statues of giant scary nightsisters. Like one evil witch wasn't enough, she thought darkly.

She let her gaze linger in the confined space of the shuttle. Behind them all, as silent as they were, sat Sabine. Shin lost all interest in the landscape outside. The rumbles and shakes of the ship felt like distant realities.

The pale orange light was casting delicate and dancing shadows on the Mandalorian's face. She let herself look once again at that beautiful delicate face. At how those short purple hairs were springing life inside the dark shuttle deck. How that delicate pointy nose of hers made for so much of the mutiny and wit of her charm.

And then, of course, those eyes. Those fierce hazel eyes, where she had caught so many storms happening, rumbling and touching down on her. They had lit up with fury against Shin, and pure angst. With despair, and resignation too. They had lit up with laughter, mischief, and happiness when they had jested and played.

They had cried for her, and because of her. But Shin could not get out of her head how they had glowed at her too. In those eyes, she had read love. Unconditional, sincere, simple. Sabine never had to speak of it for her to know.

Sabine turned her gaze to her too. Their eyes met.

Shin's heart skipped a beat. There it was, again, the storm in the girl's eyes. The angst. But also the care. The screaming and loving.

They said nothing. But they both felt it. How they plunged into each other, how they relieved every minute of that trip together.

They lived it again, for a tiny second. The screams and tears. The hurt and fights. And also the kisses. The embraces. The stillborn love.

I still love you, said Shin's eyes. Her gaze was almost soft.

The Mandalorian's eyes were fiercer. But for a moment there, she let the anger go. Her features relax ever so slightly.

Sabine's eyes said nothing. Nothing Shin could decipher. And now, here they were. As they felt the rumble of the Shuttle touching ground, their gaze finally broke contact. And there, right before she looked away, Shin could swear.

That Sabine's eyes said everything.

THE END.

Sabine and Shin will return.

In fact, they are already back.

The story continues right here:

https://www.wattpad.com/story/357559929-the-kiss-of-tempest