Chapter 5: Dreaming Awake

Alisha left the inn with Sergei at the appointed time after sharing a quiet meal with him and their senior officers. The pair walked quietly, each having decided to shed the armor that was no longer needed for the time being.

For Alisha's part, Edna had scanned the city and the nearby countryside for any possible threats before ordering Alisha to enjoy herself. Her companion decided to stay in the room and retire early. Sergei's excuse was that his armor would be more an impediment for where he wanted to go.

"So, your seraph friend...?" he asked, wondering if he was not actually alone with her. "Edna decided to stay behind," Alisha assured him.

"I wish I could see them," he sighed wistfully.

"It can be arranged, but you would have to hold your breath and hold on to the Sheperd to tap into that spiritual tether," Alisha explained, smiling inadvertently at the memory of the first time Sorey had introduced her to Mikleo.

"I see," he said thoughtfully. "I understand that Ms. Rose is now the Shepherd," he said, trying to keep up the conversation. "How is she bearing up?"

"Stubborn as usual, terrible at expressing her true feelings, burdened by the responsibility, but proud to do it," said Alicia thoughtfully. "That pretty much sums her up. Rose is still Rose."

She turned to him with a wry smile when she added, "Edna told me the funniest story of when you first met Rose and Sorey. You do know they weren't married?" Sergei snorted in a rather undignified way.

"Of course I did. Well, eventually, anyway…" he confessed. "I've never seen two people so uncomfortable with the idea of being married. Then it became truly amusing to play along and see how long they could keep up the charade."

"That was rather unkind of you. Sorey and Rose felt awful for deceiving you," Alisha admonished.

"Serves them right then," Sergei said with a boyish grin.

Overhead the stars were shining boldly in the night sky, watching the world as they had done for ages past, and would continue for ages to come. Noticing her upward gaze he commented, "The stars are always so beautiful this time of night. They watch over everything like silent sentinels."

"Yes," agreed Alisha quietly. "They are constant and unchanging, unlike people." "Isn't it better that people can change?" said Sergei thoughtfully. "People at least have that choice."

Alisha pondered his words as he led her to the tower bells. "This way," he smiled and she could see the glint of his white teeth in the street light as he offered to assist her through a narrow passage. Alisha took his ungloved hand, unable to ignore the tingly sensation on her skin. Had she ever touched a man's hand like that? She could not help but notice how his warmth spread quickly through her cold fingers as he led her up a spiraling staircase to the bells.

Priests had positioned themselves in the belfry and began to pull the long ropes connected to each bell in a synchronized routine. A soft, gentle melody filled the air, tinkling and chiming lightly at first, then swelling to full and resonant sounds, flowing through the quiet streets and floating up to the sky. Alisha closed her eyes as she sat beside Sergei on a ledge. "It's beautiful," she said softly.

"It's the last chime of the evening, compline, as the priests call it. They have a different tune for each part of the day. I discovered this spot when I was first assigned as a patrol guard here, long ago. It is really is the most beautiful sound I've ever heard."

"The tune reminds me of a Hyland lullaby my nanny used to sing to me." Alisha drew a deep breath to sing softly of the setting sun, the moon watching over all souls, and the dark night delivering the day. Her voice was clear and high, like a silver bell. Her style was gentle, lilting, with sweetly touched consonants, and slightly vibrato long notes. Her singing voice sounded younger than her twenty years, but Sergei thought it fit her perfectly.

"I stand corrected," Sergei stared with shining eyes when she finished. "That was the most beautiful sound I've ever heard my entire life." Alisha blushed furiously, hoping he would not be able to see it in the dim light and looked away.

"I don't sing very often."

"A travesty," he responded. She turned to see that he was being honest. Alisha had never known him to be anything but. There was something comforting about his presence, something she knew she could get used to.

"Tell me if I am being too forward," he said before taking her hand in his and bringing it to his lips. "I am undone by you who are so beautiful, so fragile and so strong, my lady. Yet I know you grieve for the loss of someone dear to you and I would not wish to impose."

His words surprised her and he could see that in her expression. Her hand was still held in his. She turned again to face northeast, though it was impossible to see the pillar of light from this distance.

"He is not lost," said Alisha quietly. "So I should not grieve. And though he is dear to me, it was simply not my fate to continue walking with him." She let out a slow, steady breath. "All I can do is continue to support peace, and quell hellions to purify the land as much as I can, so that one day, some day far off from now, Maotelus will be strong enough to sustain himself, and Sorey can be free to follow his dream."

"Then why is your expression so bereft when you think no one is watching?" he asked gently, still holding her hand.

"Because," she said trying to control the quiver in her lower lip. "He slumbers dreamlessly out of time while we continue; and when he wakes he may not even remember us, who will be long since gone by then. He may not remember the girl from Ladylake…who asked him to come down from the mountain….Our paths," she choked out, unable to stop the sob in her throat, "can never cross again."

She looked away. "Forgive me."

"Will you consider an alternative?" Sergei asked earnestly. He caught her gaze once again. "I am offering to be a comfort to you, so please, feel free to speak openly with me." Offering his strength to her, he pulled her fragile frame closer so she could cry on his surcoat. It was sufficient invitation for the flood gates to burst open.

She wept as she clutched his linen sleeve and buried her face into his shoulder. "My first friend. I miss him," Alisha managed to say in between trembling breaths.

He waited patiently for her to finish. By then, all the priests had returned to the sanctuary for the night. "Are we not enough for you?" Sergei asked quietly when all was silent again.

"What?" she asked as she pulled back to look at him with her glistening eyes. He offered her a white linen handkerchief and a small smile came to Alisha's face as she gladly took it.

He would be the type to have an endless supply of white handkerchiefs, Edna's words branded her thoughts.

"The ones who are here for you now, the ones who support you, all of your new friends; can we be enough? The man embracing you now, offering you his shoulder to cry on, desiring to be closer still, wishing someday that you will be happy, and hoping he could be the cause. Can he be enough?" Sergei looked down at her surprised expression and kissed her chastely on the forehead.

"Do you think he could ever be enough for you, this man who cannot see seraphs, who loves books and swords equally, and cannot carry a tune worth his life? Would you at least consider him?"

Alisha's pale green eyes were wide now, wondering if she had heard his proposal correctly. "Consider him for what?" she asked softly.

"Consider him as the man who will walk by your side for as long as his life will allow; a man who remains awake with you, who dreams the same dreams as you," he responded without hesitation.

Her shock rendered her speechless.

"You don't need to decide now, but I am volunteering to fill that position. Will you at least let me try?"

Alisha was lost in thought as she looked at her hand still clasped in his, examining that simple gesture anew.

As the ambassador of Hyland she would be spending more time in Pendrago. The Rolance government even set aside a beautiful house in the nobles district as the location for the new embassy. Sergei's Dragon Knights were quartered a mere stone's throw away. There would be ample opportunity to spend time with him and get to know him better.

She looked into his forest green eyes and envisioned a future of bouquets of fresh field flowers picked on his way back to town. There would be fancy parties in Pendrago and in Hyland and she would be required to attend, and he seemed the type who would always invite her to dance at least once to have the pleasure of holding her close in public, declaring his intentions to all.

Someone like Sergei would always make her blush by never failing to tell her she was beautiful just as she was, regardless of whether she believed him. In his deep emerald eyes she would always be the most beautiful of all.

He would never be cross with her, and his chivalrous nature would put her needs first. She could always open up to someone like him and he would give her every opportunity to vent.

As a gentleman he would not deny any request, even if she asked to spar with him, and he would let her win. He would escort her wherever she needed to be and walks under the stars would be frequent.

And when her relatives tried to snub her or treat her with disdain he would stand staunchly by her side, hand at the hilt of his sword, silently glaring at them until they retreated. She foresaw her cousin Albert, however, would adore him and welcome him to tell him stories of the knights of old, while playing chess by the fireside whenever Alisha came to advise the king.

Best of all, she foresaw that on days when they had nowhere they needed to be, either in Rolance or Hyland, they would spend quiet afternoons in the library reading, enjoying each other's silent company.

Their children, as there would be more than one, would grow up to be prominent leaders in both kingdoms, reinforcing the peace both their parents had fought so hard to establish. Their descendants would be knights, politicians, tradesmen, regular people, Shepherds and Squires.

Some day, when the world no longer remembered the names Alisha Diphda or Sergei Strelker, Sorey would awaken to a peaceful world, a land free of malevolence: Alisha and Sergei's legacy.

Then, fulfilling a promise she had made centuries earlier, Edna would deliver Alisha's letters to Sorey, each one detailing her life's journey, shared with a man who dreamed the same dreams as she, filled to the brim with light, love and laughter.

Her only request would be that Sorey would remember her from time to time as he stepped out into the word to finally follow his own dream.

This was her answer.

A single tear fell gently onto her hand and the sensation brought her back to the present from her waking dream. Alisha smiled as if a heavy weight had just been lifted and the pricking sensation in her chest faded. Sergei's thumb wiped the drop away and shyly smiled back. "Is that a yes?"

"Yes," she answered, leaning into him once more to be closer to the future promises his warm embrace offered.

Fin.

Author's note: Thank you for reading. There are enough stories of Mikleo out there so I was looking for balance. Alisha isn't everyone's favorite, and I'm not sure she's mine, but I wanted to tell a story of heartbreak and sadness after finishing Alisha's DLC. But instead of empty, unexplained and unfulfilled pledges to Sorey I wanted Alisha to work out her feelings, and not just by taking it out on Rose. There's nothing sadder in my opinion than the thought of Sorey waking to find all his human friends gone. Even now I still feel that weight in my chest. So I wanted to tell a story that shows how his human friends would connect with him even in the distant future. Since I prefer Alicia over Rose, I told this story from her perspective. Edna is my favorite seraph, of course. Couldn't leave her out. Hope you enjoyed it.

Until next time,

-K (12/2/15)