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femslashficlets2019-03-03 04:00 pm
samuraiter) wrote in femslashficlets2019-03-03 04:00 pm
Entry tags:
FIC: Healing Hymn [Dragon Quest XI – Serena / Jade (Mature)]
Title: Healing Hymn
Fandom: Dragon Quest XI
Pairing: Serena / Jade
Rating: Mature
Prompt: 198 – Scar
Word Count: 935
Summary: Serena comforts Jade after her return to the party.
* * * *
Notes: The characters presented in this story – tons of spoilers here – are their Act II versions, meaning that any history they share has yet to be changed by the actions of the player in Act III. (Also: Upon looking at the tag set, this might be a good opportunity to change the current Dragon Quest 1 tag into a Dragon Quest Series tag, please and thank you.)
* * * *
"I cannot begin to imagine all that you have survived in our absence," Serena said as she closed the door to the chambers she and Jade shared at the inn, "but I –" She paused, shaking her head. "I am sorry, Princess. If I had any notion that you had been in those circumstances, I –"
"No need for apologies," Jade interrupted, sitting on her bed and taking down her hair, accepting the brush that Serena offered and using it to banish the tangles that travel had inflicted upon her. "I believe I extracted every ounce of contrition that Booga had to offer." She stopped brushing, noticing that she had the brush in a white-knuckled grip. "That is, I –" She closed her eyes. "It feels like a long and terrible dream. I am going to ... need a little time to wake myself from it." A long sigh. "And it embarrasses me to have to say that. Of all of us, I am supposed to be the strong one."
Serena took a seat next to her, retrieving her brush and setting it aside as she said, "No one expects perfection from you, Jade, not the Goddess, certainly not any of us, your friends. You are human, and no human is without limits." The calm smile on her face had a note of pain behind it, and the fact that Veronica did not stand by her side to nod her head and add her commentary made the room seem empty in a way that could not be described. "I have never doubted your strength, and that is not – is never – going to change."
"At least you can be confident," Jade said, turning her back to Serena and letting her put up her hair in easy braids for bed. "I dare say the odds are stacked against us, if everything you have told me about what has become of Erdrea is true – Heliodor in ruins, monsters possessed of several times their former strength, the lieutenants of Mordegon ruling whole swaths of the continent." Again, a long sigh. "It is almost too much to bear, and I will bear it, but it is going to take all the effort I can muster."
"Do not put all the responsibility on your shoulders, Princess," Serena said, finishing the braids and double-checking them for any stray locks of hair. "You have all of us." Again, she smiled. "You certainly have me."
"The way you say that –" Jade narrowed her eyes and looked back over her shoulder at Serena. "Before all of us got separated at Yggdrasil, you and I almost had a ... conversation, and, if Veronica had not interrupted, I was wondering what it was that you wished to say." She paused. "I still do."
"You remember, then." Serena said it very softly. "But, with everything that you have experienced, is this ... the time to bring it all up again?" She folded her hands before Jade had a chance to see her fingers tremble.
"If the party is to set out again on the morrow, there might not be another chance," Jade replied, "so ... I urge you to finish that conversation." Her voice softened, too. "It might be exactly what I need to hear from you."
"Then –" Serena hugged her from behind. "– what I was going to say was –" She rested her cheek against her back and closed her eyes. "– it makes me so happy to have you back among us that it pains me to speak of it, but ... it is not only the happiness of friends reunited. No, I think that I –" She paused to rephrase. "For a long time, I had hoped that I might –" Another pause. "I thought that –" She sighed and sat up again. "Please ... look at me, Jade."
"Not a thing that can be said in so many words, perhaps?" Jade raised a brow as she turned to face her. "Then ... perhaps say it without speaking?"
They both leaned forward to kiss at the same time, almost bumping their noses together before changing their angle of approach slightly and getting it right.
After emerging from that long kiss, Serena whispered into her ear, "All those stories of the hero rescuing the Princess, and I looked up from them thinking that I might like the Princess to save me instead." She held Jade tightly. "Though, in the end, I wanted to save you more than anything."
Jade smirked as she replied, holding Serena and squeezing her shoulders, "You did. Congratulations." Another long kiss. "Your Princess is not without her scars, both inside and outside. If you can accept all of that about me, Serena, rest assured that I shall never again leave your side."
"Scars only mean that my Princess is the hero," Serena said, grinning. "And, if you keep kissing me like this, you are going to make my toes tingle."
"I have only kissed you twice," Jade said, her voice becoming heated. "Three times, and you will belong to me." A soft chuckle. "Is that how it goes? To win the Princess back from the Dragon, the hero must kiss her three times?"
"That might make for quite a ribald story, in that case," Serena replied before closing her eyes and pursing her lips for that third kiss.
"Then certain parts will have to be left out," Jade said before leaning forward again, reaching to one side and using two fingers to snuff the lone candle by the side of the bed, plunging the room into a warm darkness.
END.
Fandom: Dragon Quest XI
Pairing: Serena / Jade
Rating: Mature
Prompt: 198 – Scar
Word Count: 935
Summary: Serena comforts Jade after her return to the party.
* * * *
Notes: The characters presented in this story – tons of spoilers here – are their Act II versions, meaning that any history they share has yet to be changed by the actions of the player in Act III. (Also: Upon looking at the tag set, this might be a good opportunity to change the current Dragon Quest 1 tag into a Dragon Quest Series tag, please and thank you.)
* * * *
"I cannot begin to imagine all that you have survived in our absence," Serena said as she closed the door to the chambers she and Jade shared at the inn, "but I –" She paused, shaking her head. "I am sorry, Princess. If I had any notion that you had been in those circumstances, I –"
"No need for apologies," Jade interrupted, sitting on her bed and taking down her hair, accepting the brush that Serena offered and using it to banish the tangles that travel had inflicted upon her. "I believe I extracted every ounce of contrition that Booga had to offer." She stopped brushing, noticing that she had the brush in a white-knuckled grip. "That is, I –" She closed her eyes. "It feels like a long and terrible dream. I am going to ... need a little time to wake myself from it." A long sigh. "And it embarrasses me to have to say that. Of all of us, I am supposed to be the strong one."
Serena took a seat next to her, retrieving her brush and setting it aside as she said, "No one expects perfection from you, Jade, not the Goddess, certainly not any of us, your friends. You are human, and no human is without limits." The calm smile on her face had a note of pain behind it, and the fact that Veronica did not stand by her side to nod her head and add her commentary made the room seem empty in a way that could not be described. "I have never doubted your strength, and that is not – is never – going to change."
"At least you can be confident," Jade said, turning her back to Serena and letting her put up her hair in easy braids for bed. "I dare say the odds are stacked against us, if everything you have told me about what has become of Erdrea is true – Heliodor in ruins, monsters possessed of several times their former strength, the lieutenants of Mordegon ruling whole swaths of the continent." Again, a long sigh. "It is almost too much to bear, and I will bear it, but it is going to take all the effort I can muster."
"Do not put all the responsibility on your shoulders, Princess," Serena said, finishing the braids and double-checking them for any stray locks of hair. "You have all of us." Again, she smiled. "You certainly have me."
"The way you say that –" Jade narrowed her eyes and looked back over her shoulder at Serena. "Before all of us got separated at Yggdrasil, you and I almost had a ... conversation, and, if Veronica had not interrupted, I was wondering what it was that you wished to say." She paused. "I still do."
"You remember, then." Serena said it very softly. "But, with everything that you have experienced, is this ... the time to bring it all up again?" She folded her hands before Jade had a chance to see her fingers tremble.
"If the party is to set out again on the morrow, there might not be another chance," Jade replied, "so ... I urge you to finish that conversation." Her voice softened, too. "It might be exactly what I need to hear from you."
"Then –" Serena hugged her from behind. "– what I was going to say was –" She rested her cheek against her back and closed her eyes. "– it makes me so happy to have you back among us that it pains me to speak of it, but ... it is not only the happiness of friends reunited. No, I think that I –" She paused to rephrase. "For a long time, I had hoped that I might –" Another pause. "I thought that –" She sighed and sat up again. "Please ... look at me, Jade."
"Not a thing that can be said in so many words, perhaps?" Jade raised a brow as she turned to face her. "Then ... perhaps say it without speaking?"
They both leaned forward to kiss at the same time, almost bumping their noses together before changing their angle of approach slightly and getting it right.
After emerging from that long kiss, Serena whispered into her ear, "All those stories of the hero rescuing the Princess, and I looked up from them thinking that I might like the Princess to save me instead." She held Jade tightly. "Though, in the end, I wanted to save you more than anything."
Jade smirked as she replied, holding Serena and squeezing her shoulders, "You did. Congratulations." Another long kiss. "Your Princess is not without her scars, both inside and outside. If you can accept all of that about me, Serena, rest assured that I shall never again leave your side."
"Scars only mean that my Princess is the hero," Serena said, grinning. "And, if you keep kissing me like this, you are going to make my toes tingle."
"I have only kissed you twice," Jade said, her voice becoming heated. "Three times, and you will belong to me." A soft chuckle. "Is that how it goes? To win the Princess back from the Dragon, the hero must kiss her three times?"
"That might make for quite a ribald story, in that case," Serena replied before closing her eyes and pursing her lips for that third kiss.
"Then certain parts will have to be left out," Jade said before leaning forward again, reaching to one side and using two fingers to snuff the lone candle by the side of the bed, plunging the room into a warm darkness.
END.