Sansa had a secret.
At the change of every season, a beautiful stranger would visit her in the woods. It was a promise made long ago, one that kept her going back into the forest in search of him every day.
Only at the change of the seasons could...
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His eyes were closed.
She wished he would open them.
It was so rare now, how often she was able to see the silver that flashed. With the brightness of the sky above, the sun filtering through the trees- the effect only added to the brilliance of the color.
But his eyes remained closed, breath steady and even. Part of Sansa had to smile at how relaxed he now seemed around her. She could still reflect back to those first few years when he was tense and alert. When every move she made caused him to flinch and shrink back from her.
She knew he was not afraid of her.
Just wary.
She had told him of her days already. Of how she was learning medicine, how knowledge was filling her and expanding inside. But she didn't tell him the true secrets that laid in her heart. How she was grateful for the escape of learning. How she poured herself into her studies because it made her think less of him and the pain that entered her heart whenever she counted down the days she had left to see his face.
It was a vicious cycle. She was aware of it now. In the first half of those months, after just seeing him and realizing that she would have to wait all over again for the next change of season- she became desperate to distract herself from any dark feelings. But then something would shift in the weeks counting down to his arrival. Her mood would lift. Her smiles would grow.
Even Doctor Nox had taken notice of it, wondering out loud what had caused such decline and rise in her outlook.
Him.
She wanted to answer that it was always him.
He stood.
"Wait."
She knew what standing meant.
He looked down at her, a smile coming across his face. She stood with him, reaching her hand out. He stared at it, a pained look entering his now opened eyes.
Slowly she pulled back, a crushing feeling entering her chest at his rejection.
And then the world moved to fast.
To fast as suddenly he had moved towards her, enough to make her stumble back. His arms reached out, catching her halfway.
They stared at each other in shock, his body still leaned forward as he held her just inches above the ground.
"I'm sorry," he whispered.
"You're fine," her cheeks heated at the tone in her voice. How breathless it sounded.
Slowly he pulled her back up. Her neck joined in the color of her cheeks as she realized his hands were still on her waist.
She felt a faint tremor run through them. She watched him shudder slightly, his eyes closing for just a few seconds before reopening to stare back at her.
"It's fine." She felt like she had to say something to break the silence that was between them.
He was staring very hard at her. Sansa wondered what he was thinking. What thoughts were running through his mind as a look of pure agony spread across his face the more he took her in.
She looked away from him as she felt his hands release her. She could still feel the heat of his touch. Still feel it on her skin, even through the fabric.
She wanted that heat back.
So she stepped closer.
Closer.
He only stepped back.
"Why?"
He shook his head.
"I've told you already."
"Then why even come here?"
He paused at her question, shock slapped onto his face.
She was shocked also. It might have been the first time she had made him speechless or ripped off so forcefully the mask he painstakingly took to maintain and wear.
"I..." Night cleared his throat, his hand rising to fall on his chest, "If you don't want me to come I...I won't... I'm sorry-,"
"That's not what I'm saying!"
She moved forward, sighing at his quick reaction to move back.
"When you treat me like a disease, it only makes me feel like I am one."
"No Sansa...don't think that..."
She paused at the sound of her name through his lips, momentarily distracted before regaining her senses and focusing back to the problem before her.
"I want to touch you."
His eyes widened in panic at her admittance.
It was her turn now to take a step away as she watched him bend down to wrap his arms around the back of his neck- head down and low laughter beginning to rise.
"Aaahh, don't say those things to a man Sansa. Ever."
"I just-,"
He stood abruptly, eyes blazing out against the light. A crazed sort of fire seemed to have been lit in them.
"I have to go."
"No don't-"
"Trust me Sansa. It is better for both of us if I leave now."
He paused only a second to look at her. He took in her panicked face. His hands clenched at his side, a small smile coming over his lips.
Sansa knew that smile.
It was a smile that meant he was in pain.
It was the last thing she saw before he vanished.
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Sorry for the short chapter! Thank you for reading! ♥
