Kira embraced them, afraid that she'd drift away if she didn't hold tight. Disappear and fade into the ether.
Daughter of Roake.
Vaguely, Kira became cognizant of power that billowed around her, waxing and waning. Like the inhale and exhale of a giant set of lungs. It soaked into the pores of her skin. Tiny pin pricks of pain that invaded every inch of her body.
Kira twisted away from it. Or at least she tried, only to find her limbs wouldn't move. They were caught firm. Something trapping them as efficiently as chains.
Kira whined as the discomfort grew, eclipsing even her high threshold for pain.
Hush, child. You have damaged yourself. This will help.
Her eyes opened a crack. The opalescent coils of a lu-ong, a creature both feared and revered by the Tuann for its sacredness, wrapped over and around her. The nook it created was just large enough for her to rest without fear of being crushed.
A very real concern since all it would take was a stray flex of the lu-ong’s body for Kira to meet a very untimely end.
Hazily, Kira took in her situation. Some part of her aware that she was dreaming again.
The lu-ong's coils moved, slithering over her. They rolled her as they parted, allowing the lu-ong to peer through the opening created.
Now, see, Roake's daughter.
Pressure built in Kira's mind. The lu-ong and its coils vanished, leaving her walking in an immense fog.
Her feet whispered over dead leaves as she moved forward. Trees parted for her, allowing her to step into a clearing where she found a boy sitting on the ruined carcass of a four wheeler.
His head was bent as he doodled on the ground in front of him with the stick he held. The bodies of monsters lay scattered around him. Tsavitee, Kira now knew, but back then they'd known them as 'master'.
"Are you just going to stand there?" the boy asked, finally lifting his head.
Eyes the color of daisies looked out of a face that she hadn't seen in decades.
"Jin," Kira whispered.
His grin was too mature for his young face as he gestured down at himself with the stick he was holding. "In the dream flesh."
"I've been looking for you everywhere."
"Looks like you've found me, Nixxy."
A sob escaped her as she fell to her knees in front of him and threw her arms around his small body.
"I've never been far from you," he whispered into her hair as her shoulders shook from the force of her sobs.
"I can't feel you anymore."
It was like he was dead. His absence a mortal wound in her mind. The connection that had been their strength was now her weakness.
Jin reared back. "You're stronger than this, Nixxy. You're the Phoenix. Even if I was dead, you would survive."
Kira shook her head. "I'm afraid not. Not this time."
Every person had a breaking point. A place where they couldn't take anymore loss or they’d shatter. Jin and Elena were hers. Dearer to her than her own life.
"No, Kira," Jin said fiercely. "This isn't Rothchild. You aren't alone this time. You have others around you that you can rely on. Lean into them. Don't let the abyss drag you into the darkness. Promise me."
Kira cupped the hand Jin had placed on her cheek, her smile sad. If he wanted her to, she'd lie to him. But that's just what it would be. A lie.
She could feel the future barreling down on them like a rushing wave. If he went, so would she.
Denial showed in his face as he shook his head. "No, I won't let you. You don't get to do this."
He leaned his forehead against hers. There was a tickle in the back of her mind, Jin fiddling with a few of her bonds.
Her brow furrowed as she sensed his tinkering. A few connections strengthening. One in particular that while much newer than the rest was among the strongest.
"What did you do?" Kira asked.
Threads spread out from her body, disappearing into the fog.
There was Jin's. Thin and frayed. Its glow dampened until it was almost invisible. Next to it, another bond shone, younger but brighter and more dazzling than the rest. Its stable presence in her mind radiated love.
"You have other people around you now. You aren't alone. Lean into them. Trust them to catch you should you fall," Jin urged.
Kira's gaze moved back to the bond that she somehow knew represented her connection with Graydon.
"Now enough of this laying about. It's past time to wake up. Elena and I are waiting for you to come find us."
There was a hard surface under Kira's cheek. Strangely, she didn't find it uncomfortable. There was also the incongruent scent of damp earth and the smell of growing things that left Kira vaguely disoriented since last she recalled she was supposed to be on a ship in the middle of space.
Kira blinked, opening her eyes to find black synth armor directly in front of her. She shifted, rolling partially onto her back to gaze up at the man the torso belonged to. It turned out that hard yet comfortable surface was Graydon's thigh. Her head lay in his lap, her face toward his front.
Graydon had always been beautiful, but there was something mesmerizing about his current expression.
It wasn't that it was gentle. Though it was. There was a softness that came with his guard being down. A vulnerability she'd only caught glimpses of here and there.
It was a version of Graydon that very few ever got to see.
Kira squinted at what he was leaning against. "Is that a tree?"
The sapling's trunk was thin but strong enough to support Graydon's weight. Its branches reminded Kira of a willow tree, sweeping in a graceful arc to brush the ground. Its white bark was tinged with traces of fuchsia. The leaves were an intriguing pastel blue, contrasting with the backdrop of space visible through the glass ceiling that had definitely not been there before Harlow got ahold of her ship.
Graydon's gaze dropped to Kira's face. "I see your powers of observation remain intact."
There was a tenderness in his gaze that made Kira's chest hurt. Their connection pulsed, feeding her warmth.
"What happened?"
"We left Ta Sa'Riel."
Kira closed her eyes. "The Mea'Ave."
Graydon's touch was gentle as he massaged her temples.
"This isn't the first time I've left the planet," Kira argued.
The side effects on that occasion were nowhere near as brutal. A slight absence. Barely noticeable unless you were as sensitive as she was.
"The circumstances then were different."
"You mean Jin's absence."
His nod had her sighing in resignation.
"Who would have thought the Tuann were so damn fragile?" Kira grumbled.
Humans would be shocked to learn that the race they called wizards due to their seemingly magical technology had so many vulnerabilities. She certainly was. For all her strength and abilities, it was frustrating how easily her body and mind could betray her.
"Why do you think we've never tried to conquer the galaxy?" Graydon asked.