She could hear the door to the headmasters rooms creak as she left him wrapped up in his covers.
"Sky?"
She called out quietly through the dark, waiting for the blonde teen to join her in the kitchen.
"Hey Miss Dowling."
"You look like you've been through the ringer sweetheart, and we're in private, don't call me that."
His worry and exhaustion was clear, his hair was messy, his eyes were hollow, and he had let his posture droop.
"Is he...?"
"Upstairs, asleep."
"Good, that's good. I know you said to come to your office but I thought..."
"It's fine Sky. Go through to the living room and get a seat on the sofa, I'll bring you some tea."
"No, I um, I need to get back to the suite. I just came to see if he was, you know..."
She raised an eyebrow and put on her teachers voice.
"Sofa, now."
He looked ready to protest but stopped and sighed, nodding his head.
"Yes Auntie Farah."
Turning to the kitchen counters, she switched the kettle on and opened the cupboards to look for peppermint tea and honey. The boy waiting for her in the living room needed sleep and the tea was something she could do to help with that. The tea was something she could do for herself. It was a simple ritual, so embedded into her mind that it needed no thought, not that making tea really ever required much thought.
The steam rose from the mugs as she set them on the small coffee table infront of the sofa. Sitting beside her nephew, she took one of the mugs and handed it to the teenager before cradling her own in her hands.
"He's going to be ok."
It wasn't a question, it didn't even seem to be directed towards her so she hummed non-committedly and let silence linger for a few minutes before speaking.
"He's still going to be a soldier for the next few days. You'll need to be prepared for that, he'll start making preparations and have talks with you about what will happen if he dies. He's going to say things that will upset you."
"I'm not losing him. I lost my first dad, I'm not losing another."
"It doesn't mean that he won't think the way he's been taught too."
"The way both of you have been taught too you mean. You're doing it too, you're preparing me for when it's his turn to prepare me. You're already preparing yourself for when he's going to talk to you."
"Sky..."
"Stop it. Stop being my headmistress."
The teenager placed his mug back onto the table.
"Then stop acting like my student. I'm not an idiot. That man lying in his bed with injuries from a burned one that shouldn't exist anymore is my best friend. Now, I'm the adult, I don't get to fall apart just yet. You are my nephew and his son, you are still a child as much as you may hate it. You get to fall apart, it's why I'm here, because I'll catch you."
"I'm fine!"
He jumped to his feet and glared at her.
"I don't even know why I'm still here. I'm fine!"
"Bullshit!"
His eyes widened, it was the first time he had ever heard her use a swear word, she was always careful not to use them around him or his cousins. She watched him for a few minutes as the silence once again settled between them. When she decided it had gone on long enough, she placed her mug on the table and spoke quietly.
"Cut the crap Sky."
She leant back on the sofa.
"I'm a mind fairy not a court jester. Sit down."
He sat. She opened her arms. He reluctantly moved so that she could embrace him. It was the first time he had stopped since his father figure had been injured. The first time he had stopped pacing and his mind had been quiet. It was her fault, he knew it. She always made him feel calm, she always broke down every barrier he had put up, she always had. He drew in a ragged breath that choked in his throat. He let her pull him close as his body shook with sobs and tears made their way down his cheeks.
It felt like hours that she held him, rocked him gently, her grip on him never loosening. She whispered to him, held him close, told him he would be ok. She held onto him until sleep claimed him and even then she didn't let go.
Yes, this was her fault he thought. He never could hide anything from her.