The Hardest Part is the Night
Dragonsfall Weyr
Amber Hills Hold
Vintner Hall
Healer Hall
Hidden Meadows
Dolphin Cove Weyr
Dolphin Hall
Emerald Falls Hold
Harper Hall
Printer Hall
Green Valley Hold
Leeward Lagoon Hold
Barrier Lake Weyr
Sunstone Seahold
Citrus Bay Hold
Writers: Paula
Date Posted: 4th May 2016
Characters: Lenala, Uetia, Sabia
Description: Grieving isn't linear process and sometimes insomnia brings you together.
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 6, day 2 of Turn 8
Notes: Mentioned: Rhosyn
It looked like it was going to rain, which would make day's Threadfall easier. It still made Lenala nervous. Orlaith was brooding over her eggs, so she was leading the Cascade wing. She had studied Threadfall charts and weather predictions late till the evening. After she'd gone to bed, sleep eluded her. At some point she just gave up trying to fell asleep. Throwing a light robe over her nightgown, she went to for a walk. She gave Vilarth a quick scratch on eye ridges before heading towards the beach.
She wasn't only insomniac.
Uetia had woken up to a nightmare, one where drowned Sabonus had come to claim his daughter. Sabia had been sleeping poorly too, probably because she was teething. So she took her and went to walk along the beach. The clouds hid the stars and the moons, making the night darker. Watching the waves crash to the sand, Uetia shivered and wondered if this nightly walk was mistake. The ocean looked very sinister tonight.
She kept thinking of all those relatives and loved ones who ocean had claimed, or might claim. Not happy thoughts. Sabia made irritable sounds and drooled to her shoulder.
Lenala watched greenrider holding her baby and felt a stab in her heart. Her baby...if things had gone as they should have, her baby would be ready to be born around now. A sob escaped. She thought she had been over it but she wasn't. She fell to her knees, sobbing, unable to keep it all inside. Her baby!
A strong, muscular arm was wrapped around her shoulders. "Hey, it's all right. I know how it feels," Uetia murmured gently. "You think you're beaten it but then something reminds you and you fall to pieces all again." Uetia had tears in her eyes too.
Lenala leaned against her and Uetia rocked her like a child until the worst of crying spell passed.
"Hey, wanna borrow a baby to hold?" Uetia offered her to take Sabia. It should have made Lenala feel worse but it didn't. Maybe it was because Sabia was an older baby, six months now. Or maybe it was just because she was alive and holding her filled the aching hole in her heart.
Somehow they ended up to Lenala's weyr, drinking tea and just talking. Sabia seemed quite happy to be on Lenala's lap. Lenala had never felt very close to Uetia. To be honest, the tall, muscular and free-spoken greenrider had always seemed so intimidating to her. Now she was discovering that they did indeed have things in common and that Uetia had a good heart under all that bluntness.
When Rukbat rose, it found Lenala sleeping in her bed and still holding Sabia, while Uetia had fallen asleep on her couch.
Last updated on the May 20th 2016