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āI put my arms around myself and I'm unbreakable.ā
ćÉĪ¹Ī±ĘĻgĻ Ń cĻĘĻŃ:#BDA0CB ā ŃŠ½ĻĻ gŠ½Ń cĻĘĻŃ #F7B3DAć
|| Dear Winter || AJR ||
ćÉĪ¹Ī±ĘĻgĻ Ń cĻĘĻŃ:#BDA0CB ā ŃŠ½ĻĻ gŠ½Ń cĻĘĻŃ #F7B3DAć
|| Dear Winter || AJR ||
"I don't care," Ezra's hands balled into fists. "I don't care if I could die, we're not going to let you two fight this alone. Not again, not if it means we might lose you both forever." His hands were shaking, his expression no longer joking. Winter knew Elise's opinion already. "It's... fine," she coughed, Julian shushing her. "I'm coming too," Carter dabbed at the side of her mouth with a tissue once more, Winter looking up at him gratefully. Her limbs felt like led, far too heavy to lift. "Don't worry about it," he pat her head, the gesture a familiar comfort. "I'm coming too," Mercedes said suddenly. "I sat out in the last fight, I'm not going to sit by again." They all wanted to come, to fight with them. In truth, it was a relief to think that she would not have to fight against Arke without them. After all, Winter was strong against humans, but she was still the weakest Heir. Even against humans, a bit of electricity had been enough to take her out and mess up her body.
Oliver reentered the room, his holo phone showing them a video of the Vassals of Snow. It was normal for people to worship an Heir, some picked an Heir that they particularly identified with. It was not, however, normal to worship a vassal. Winter felt an uneasy, knowing that they had kidnapped her while she was asleep. No doubt, people like that would do it again. Elise thought that they could make sacrificial lambs, but Mercedes wanted to slaughter them outright. She exchanged glances with Oliver, the two of them seeming to think the same thing. "Even if they have volunteered to fight with us, they are still citizens of the Chrysanthemum and as such, deserve to be treated with the same amount of respect as everyone else. I won't just sacrifice them because they volunteered to fight." Winter nodded in agreement. What kind of Heir would she be if she didn't at least pretend to protect them?
"Sorry... El... can't... plan," she wanted to apologize for not being able to make plans with her. She wanted to explain that she had tried to call her name when things had first been going down, but just the apology had taken the wind out of her. "Winter, stop talking." Julian said, a bit more insistent this time. She nodded, her head spinning. Part of her wanted to go right back to sleep, but the other knew that it was important for her to stay awake. "We'll take care of the plans," Oliver reassured her. "You just sit back and let us carry you on our shoulders this time." She felt odd relying on others. It had been instilled in her by the Doc, that she should never rely on anyone else. That she should never trust anyone else. All of the damage he had done, Winter was still working towards undoing.
She could trust other people, albeit not as easily as when she was a child. Winter thought back to her dream, to her younger self. She had been strong for so long, she realized, that she did not know how to let go of that strength. She felt that she had needed to remain strong, or else she might let down everyone around her. So many expectations had been placed on her. She was only a child, a scared, lonely child that needed a friend. Instead, the adults around her had manipulated her. She was never allowed to have friends, everything she did had to be watched like a hawk. Even her phone and school tablet had been monitored. She never got to finish high school, but that didn't matter. She didn't need that sort of education in Olympia.
Winter looked around at the room full of people that rallied around her. That protected her, even when she had failed them. Even after she had left them without so much as saying goodbye. She had friends now, she had a fiancee now. Everything that the Doc had tried to stop her from getting, she had obtained. Now, she would fight for her freedom again. This time, against possibly the greatest foe she had ever gone up against, but she wasn't going to do it alone.