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Spurs of snow scratched the chin of a frozen dame, limbs sunk in the snow as she rode out a blistering flurry. She'd awoken amidst the snow, the haze of fog at the expense of a cold storm leaving her deaf and blind to her surroundings. Confusion and worry urged the woman inwards on herself, disturbing snow that'd cocooned her on one side and spearing the tender skin with shards of cold.

Last she could recall, she'd been stowed away in her den, molded against the stones of ruins Lucian's family had discovered. Exhausted and spent from the emotional turmoil she'd call a day, she took respite among the playgrounds she and her friend had claimed. She'd remembered a raspy baritone cooing to her just before she'd fallen victim to the tight grasp of sleep, though the memory was vague still.

She hadn't expected to wake with the winter's cold nipping at more than just her cheeks. But still, to savor what warmth she had left, she kept herself confined to the depths of the snow, eyes squinting out into a blanket of white in hopes of seeing the beginnings of the storm letting up.

---

@Lucian <3

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Icy fingers threaded themselves in his fur, scraping their nails against his skin. It was a comfort. The Fontaines had lived in the snow for as long as Lucien could remember, perhaps even as far back as his grandfather's grandfather. The ice was in their veins and hearts, in their very being. They were the keepers of the ice.

Luc felt a slight movement beneath his chin, along with a rustling. Blinking open his eyes, Lucian groggily glanced down. “Sylvan?” He rumbled, nosing the still raven. If Sylvan had come with him, perhaps she did too? Gods, he hoped she did. They have been inseparable since their youth, like magnets; wherever one went, the other followed. Unless the gods decided to play a cruel game and keep them apart. Just the thought made the cold pierce his flesh. Van was his best friend, the only one to see him as more than the Ice Prince. She saw him for him.

Lucian rose onto shaky limbs, his eyes slowly adjusting to the new lighting. He extended his paw to nudge the still corvid, hoping to wake her from her slumber. “Sylvan, wake up.” His voice held some tones of worry, though his cold face said otherwise. With a huff, the tall man dipped his head and gently picked up the bird between his jaws. Luc could feel her take shallow breaths, the only sign of life on the bird.

The prince lowered his head to shield the bird from the growing flurries as he trudged forth. Lucian hoped to find the cinnamon woman before the storm worsened. If the fates had allowed her to join him here. A fleeting memory appeared in his mind, drawing an image of the two resting in their
secret place within the Fontaine lands. Luc remembered telling Vanille a story about his family, perhaps one about his grandfather's time as a soldier for the de Medici family. He couldn't quite remember, but he did recall the warmth of her body beside his.

As the man pressed forth, a dark shape loomed before him. A conifer. Perfect. Lucian bounded towards it, his pale gaze searching the area as he placed the corvid on the ground. “You'll be safe here, Sylvan. I will return soon. I promise.” Luc murmured as he pressed his nose to the bird's wing. It was a promise he would keep.

With a final glance at the bird, Lucian ventured out into the snow, on a quest to find his friend. “Vanille!” He shouted, his voice carried off by a harsh blast of icy air.

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There was an echo; Vanille had almost been sure of it. Everything in the woman's body wanted her wishes to be true, wanted the distant holler to be as real as she thought it to be. But with there being nothing but a dimmed sheet of blank out in front of her, her hopes dwindled to nothing. It didn't matter to her that she was alone, instead she let herself rejoice in the small fact that Lucian was okay, he was safe. Back within their own tame builds of snow, the Fontaine would rule while a new world laid waste the friend he'd soon forget.

Those thoughts seemed to ease her sorrows and silence her prayers. The cold was gnawing still, biting after every bit of flesh it could see, but she felt a certain beauty to it. She was in a haze, a frozen stupor that felt more blissful than it did painful. She knew the frozen ground always did favor her.

Sunken beneath the frozen shards, she lay peaceful, still under the decision of whether or not it was protecting or suffocating. She began to reminisce of the cold winter nights she shared with her playmate, the northern lights she'd almost dragged him out to see. There was not a single moment of their lives that went unshared, unenjoyed. They were inseparable in the best and worst ways, bound by years of knowledge and the discomfort of seeking anyone else out.

The recalled memory was almost enough to snuff out the last of her resistance, but parts of her mind, those still warm to the touch whereas the rest of her body numbed, were alive and alight with the drive to see him again. They were never meant to be apart, it was simply untrue. They were parts of each other, built from the same piece, tied and taped together with as much love as the pair could muster. There wasn't one without the other.

So she fought, kicking and screaming at the numbness in her mind in hopes it'd give warmth back to the limbs trapped against her abdomen. She rasped out whimpers through a close-lipped maw, eyes clenched to try and pry that open too. There was weakness everywhere, it's all she felt. The cold felt colder, the snow sharper, even the winds louder.

The only movement she was even capable of managing was the drag of her head out from beneath its tucked place against her hind leg, matted snow plastered to a single side of her face. It wasn't much, but it brought a new influx of cold to her chest and face, it brought a feeling of pain and she held onto it dearly.

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Lucian pushed through the walls of white, narrowed eyes straining to see through the dense fog. She was here. He could feel it. She had to be. Vanille was a part of him, a piece of the intricate puzzle that was his being. They have been intertwined since birth, a piece of one another that nothing could ever fill. “Jebote.” — Fuck. Luc growled as his paw slipped over a rock hidden in the snow. He gingerly placed it on the ground, pleased to find it uninjured. He could still search for her.

The gray man kept pushing through the strong winds, struggling to catch any scents. A quiet voice in his mind said she wasn't here — that he was a fool for looking for her. Although he knew it could be right — that this was nothing more than a goose chase — he had hope. Lucian held the sliver close to his heart, a light within the storm. Though Lucian would never voice it, that was what Vanille was. A light in the storm that was his life.

“Vanille! Are you out here?” He called, trying to raise his voice over the howling of the wind. Lucian could hear something within the howling, a soft sound that could easily be mistaken for the sound of the wind against a branch. But he felt it within himself that it was her. And he wouldn't turn back now.

“Vanille! Answer me!” Lucian hated how desperate he sounded, but he was. Lucian was desperate at this point. He wanted her to answer him. To show him that she was alive. Flash him that smile that made her eyes glow with glee. He needed her. It was nothing that Lucian could ever voice, but it was true. “Please.” Luc whispered, the word carried away by the wind.

Lucian continued his journey, pale gaze searching for a sign of life, a pawprint, fur, anything. Just something. Something to show she was here with him.

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Just when darkness began to creep into the corners of her vision, purring and clawing at the tendrils of light fraying at their edges, she heard it. Like a sweet melody barreling through the howling winds, a voice so familiar sprung from the cold depths. It warmed the frigid parts of her, siphoning the warmth and acting as a conduit for the rest of her body.

“Lucian?” Vanille spoke softly, the words nothing but a cloud that left her parted lips. Had she been dreaming? Had that darkness grabbed her without notice already? Dragging her beneath their thrall like nothing but a bag to be lifted atop one's shoulders. She thought so, but then it sounded again, clearer this time as if the wind was urging him closer so that she might hear him. Realize. It whispered to her, cooing through tendrils of fur that whipped across her face.

Go to him.. It howled, and she tried. Grabbing hold of that tendril of warmth, she held tight and made every effort to pull herself beyond the brinks of her cold trench. It whispered its disapproval through hard bites at her ankles, snow pinching at the skin that lay beneath her coat. But the wind was stronger, more encouraging as it helped her to her trembling feet.

“Lucian! I am here, I am here, Lucian.” Her words were nothing more than a soft echo, the sound ripped away by the very wind that helped her. The numbness beat at the walls of warmth in her mind, sobbing at their sturdiness and clawing in hopes it'd break the barrier. She stopped then, when the winds pummeled either side of her and the sobbing within her mind turned inconsolable. She wanted to throw herself back into the snow, collapse, and let the wonders it promised soothe her to sleep.

There was no Lucian. It was a trick, a ploy the winds played on her to snuff out the last bits of her strength. Utterly devastated and weakened by the cold that bit at the bare parts of her body, a stifled sob convulsed the dame's frame. “Do not leave me, Lucian...I beg of you. Do not leave me.”

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@Vanille <3

---

Lucian would not stop until he had his friend at his side again. They were not meant to be apart, not in life or in death. From the moment they awoke on the earth to the day the earth welcomed them into its embrace, their souls were bound to one another.

“Vanille.” Lucian breathed, his eyes locked on the cream-hued woman. “I've found you.” His lips spread into a faint smile. He found her. She was safe now, with him. No one would be able to take her away from him now. Not even the devil himself.

“Nikad te više neću ostaviti.” — I'll never leave you again. He whispered as he curled himself around the smaller woman, protecting her from the wind's icy touch. “Bože, smrzavaš se.” — God, you're freezing. He chuckled, the sound rumbling low in his chest. Lucian couldn't help the bright smile that appeared on his lips. The Fates had taken mercy on him after all.

“Mislio sam da te nikad više neću vidjeti.” — I thought I'd never see you again. Lucian murmured against the slope of her head, almost afraid that raising his voice would whisk her away again. It felt like a dream, a vision that the storm was playing on his mind. But the warmth of his friend proved otherwise.

“The Fates smiled upon us today.” Lucian whispered as he pulled her into his warmth. He missed her touch, missed the sound of her voice. It felt like the last time they were together was eons ago when it could have well been only a few days. But at this moment, all Lucian wanted was to hold her to him. Just as he had in the past.

Lucian could barely restrain his eagerness to find them a place to call home. He wanted to get her out of this storm and into a warm cave, a place worthy of her presence. His beloved friend only deserved the best. “Are you able to walk?” He asked softly, the words murmured into her ear. He wouldn't rush her, but he wanted her out of there. Where she'd still be at his side, and he can protect her from the dangers of the world. “Don't leave me again.” He whispered, his words carried away by the howling winds.

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It was cold. Even with the form of another pressed against her chest, all she could feel was the cold. It bit at her ears, tore against her cheeks, and iced her breath before it ever left her throat. He was there. Lucian... He exuded warmth, pushing her into the coldest parts of her mind while it traveled across the expanse of her frame. It was overwhelming, searing; his presence left her beyond words. She didn't know if it was relief or survivability that had her stumbling into his grasp, eyes flitting closed.

“L-Lucian, please, you speak too much...” She murmured between chattering teeth, her nose pressed into the crevices of his pelt as she sought out all the warmth he was capable of giving. Her head pounded and her eyes grew heavy but she was soothed. His presence was a buffer against the lifeless and bleak future she dreamed for herself mere moments before he'd arrived. A future she was content with accepting until his voice rang out among the winds.

Despite her encouragement for silence, he continued. Question after question that the woman lacked all thought to answer. Her head was silent, her body frigid and stiff against the rough weather, yet he continued. She murmured something soft, muffled against the man's furs but even she couldn't hear the soft words.

“Take me home, Lucian. Please, take me home.” She'd revel in his presence come the time she thawed, answer whatever questions he seemed to have for her, and soothe his incessant worries. For now, all she wanted was warmth. She wanted to lie back amidst the snow and let herself succumb to the thrall of winter's wrath. She knew peace then. Pain, but peace and silence.

She'd already begun to miss it.

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He couldn't believe it. She was here. She was alive. Freezing, but alive. Lucian's lips curved with a smile as he breathed in her familiar aroma. Once he heard her voice, he couldn't contain the warmth that dispersed through his being.

“I will shut up.” The prince chuckled as he pressed closer to her shivering form, but worry gnawed at his mind. They had to get out of this storm. And quick. The blizzard would only worsen; at this rate, Vanille needed a warm shelter. Somewhere away from the storm's grasp. “But swear to me, you'll never leave again.” He whispered, almost to himself. He couldn't lose her again. Not when it was just the two of them in these novel lands.

“Vanille, there is no home to go to.” He murmured, all humor dissipated from his voice. Sadly, they were no longer in the Fontaine lands or with their families. They were utterly alone in these foreign grounds. “But we will make a home. Together.” Lucian said, eyes peering into her own. It was no longer a question in his mind but a statement. He would build them a home, a family to call their own. They would not be alone, not again.

“Come. I think I spotted a cave on the way here.” He murmured as he began to help the woman down the mountainside. He'd have to go back for Sylvan soon. A soft sigh left his lips at the thought of venturing back into the storm, but he could not leave her to freeze.

As the duo descended the mountain, Lucian could not help the worry that crept into his mind. What if she didn't want to stay with him? What if Vanille found this to be her freedom from him? He should know better than to dream.

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Vanille clung to her lifeline, desperation driving her slow steps closer until all she could see, breathe, and hear was the whisper of his fur and the heavy beat of his very warm, very real heart. He was here and alive, not some dream of death or a whisper of survival in a wind's howl. He was here—Lucian,—he'd found her. Of course he did.

His next words, stricken with a worry she was sure she'd never be able to erase from his eyes, from his memory, pulled her head upwards. A smile hung low on her maw and her paw ached to caress his cheek, to offer that additional reassurance through her touch, but she couldn't. Not yet. “I swear, Luci, I won't leave.” And she meant it. Even death hadn't torn them apart, simply made them anew—together and in a new world.

Her brows furrowed in confusion the more he spoke, the more his words hit her and cut through her skin. What? “You are mistaken, Lucian, s-surely we're just a little far. We can make it if we start walking, right? Lucian, it's not true.” Her home, her family? Her teachers and friends? She was simply supposed to believe they were...what? Dead? Gone? They'd taught her better than that, better than to believe the foolish games of children. “W-Who told you this? They're wrong, Lucian, I know it. Please.” Believe me. Believe in them. She wanted to beg him, drag him to the ends of the earth and find their home. But she knew, knew from the way he looked at her, that what he said was true.

Her eyes welled with unshed tears, lips thinning as she reigned in what emotions were beginning to show across her snow-dappled face. She let him guide her but her movements were robotic while her mind drifted elsewhere. She had dreams and aspirations. Lucian, too, were they just supposed to forget that completely? She was still a child, coddled by both her family and her friends. The brute who stood alongside her now was her protector, even more suffocating than he was before.

Vanille sighed and turned her gaze forward. “Where will we go, Luci?” She asked the question in a whisper, her voice tight as she focused on keeping herself upright and her steps straight. She didn't know what Lucian had planned, where he intended on taking her the moment she recuperated. Had he found someplace worthy of this so-called new home they'd make? She didn't know, and in that moment, she didn't necessarily care either. Her mind was set on the lost opportunity, the memories that were quickly fading, and the family she hadn't even bid her goodbyes to. Their laughs echoed throughout her mind, their warmth so contrasting against the cold now surrounding her.

How was he so calm? So..resilient? She envied it.

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At her words, his fears silenced themselves. Vanille would never leave him. “And I will never abandon you.” He replied, gaze holding hers. No, he would never do it. He couldn't. They'd only have each other in these lands, and he wouldn't leave her defenseless. Not like he left her...

“I'm sorry, Vanille. I am so, so sorry.” He whispered against her head as he held her close. Her stuttering felt like sharp knives stabbed into his heart, each one another aimed to kill. Guilt was eating at him, blaming him for this. Maybe he was at fault for this. His sins had come to punish him, with the greatest being to send Vanille with him. “I, I wish I could send you back, back to your family. I-” He fell silent, eyes flicking back and forth. His heart ached for her. She was taken from her family far too soon. She was still a child to them, a child in need of their guidance and love. And yet here she was, shivering in the snow without them.

Despite awakening in the exact location and what he assumed was the same time, Lucian felt relief knowing they were no longer in their home. He was free of Étienne's chains. Free of the whispers that always trailed behind him. Of his guilt. His heart cracked seeing the tears that welled up in her eyes, and he wished he could banish them. Vanille never deserved this pain. If anyone did, it was him.

In truth, he had no idea what to say. Where would they go? Lucian had not yet ventured to scope out the region, but he was making promises he wasn't sure he could keep. But for Vanille, he'd do anything, even if it meant walking hundreds of miles to find a place suitable for her. “We will head south. I have a feeling this area already belongs to another.” His words were unwavering despite his rapidly beating heart and the loud roaring in his ears. He couldn't show Vanille how much the situation terrified him lest he also cause her to be afraid.

He was doing his best, but he, too, was worried. What if their lives fell apart? What if she left? While she swore she wouldn't, Vanille had no reason to stay with him. She could find a new place to be, where she would bloom and become the woman she was always meant to be. But Lucian? What right did he have to stay with her?

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Vanille clung tightly to the chest of her friend, one of her paws curling around his leg as he murmured to her. However, it wasn't until his apologies met her ears that the woman withdrew completely, blurry eyes widening as she shook her head in disagreement. He thought he was at fault? That he was the sole reason she was here? Heavens, she couldn't have asked for someone better to accompany her in a strange place. She might've let herself stay in that snow if it had been.

“Lucian...” She frowned and lifted a paw to caress his cheek, imploring him to believe the words she'd intended to say. “You-...You are all the family I need. All the family I want.” She offered him the barest of smiles before playfully pushing his muzzle to the side. “Some new world won't take that away. Not if you're here.” That much Vanille was sure of. It wouldn't matter where they went, or who accompanied them, her friend would remain the constant he always was.

Lucian was the very beat of her heart. He kept her alive as both a protector and a friend, but there was a kindling of more beneath her skin. A place that softened underneath his tender care, one that found joy in the moments they spent together, that felt utterly defeated at the thought that he might not have woken with her. One that was prepared to die if she had to live without him.

There were things the healer let herself be privy to, but the knowledge of Lucian's feelings hadn't been one of them. Between their aspirations and the pressure of his father, there was never time for her to dwell on the what-ifs, if any at all. Besides, Vanille was made clear of the intentions Lucian's father had, the bride awaiting him the moment he came of age. It was a futile desire she held, regardless of the responsibilities that fell from their shoulders the moment they'd woken someplace new.

She only assumed that because it was all he knew, he'd continue searching for an advantageous pairing. A woman capable of bringing him more than Vanille ever could. For him, for the happiness she knew would come from creating a great kingdom, she'd let him have it. And perhaps, in the midst of his own search, her own feelings for him would be put aside long enough to allow her the bliss of being happy with another.

It was a deep thought, either way, buried beneath flowers and remedies, smiles and laughs. Vanille let out a sound of acknowledgment as she inched closer, drunk on the warmth he exuded as it clashed with her own coldness. “We will find a beautiful place, I'm sure of it.” She offered another smile, a broader one this time, as they began their walk south.

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His skin burned where she grazed him. Luc knew he should not feel anything for Vanille, his childhood friend and confidante. His sun and moon. They were friends, and that is how it should remain. Van had grown to be everything for Lucian, but the moment the crown was forced atop his head, he knew he couldn't give in to the longing in his heart. But there were moments when he wondered if she felt something for him. If she, too, was battling the emotions that raged within their souls. Did she also resent Étienne's decision to arrange a marriage for him? Though Lucian was not privy to her sentiments, perhaps that was good. If he knew, what would have prevented him from damning himself for her?

“Vanille...” He whispered, his skin warming beneath her touch. Those were words he longed to hear but wished she never said. Lucian never wanted to take her from her family. While the Fontaines were never pleasant, Vanille grew up loved. She had parents who wanted her to be herself and loved the woman she was becoming. They raised their daughter without expectations or held a sword over her neck, prepared to swing if she made a mistake. But that smile of hers, a beam of light in the fog that was his mind, silenced his thoughts and forced them back into their box. Luc allowed his head to remain turned, his shifty eyes jumping over the landscape, attempting to focus on something other than her touch.

But he couldn't help it. Lucian turned his gaze back to Vanille and leaned his forehead against hers. His pale eyes examined her cerulean pools for emotions he knew she hid from him. Was he looking for an affirmation of her feelings? Or was he looking for the tears he had seen moments ago? Not even Lucian knew what he wanted to see. But he knew he wanted to stay here with her, like this. In their own world, sheltered within the winter's storm. Nothing to force them apart. No one to take Vanille away from him. There were no chains pulling them apart or duties held over their heads. At this moment, they were free. “Kako sam ti dopustio da preuzmeš kontrolu nada mnom. — How I have let you take control over me.”

But Lucian knew within his heart that this was temporary. Once they had a pack to call their own, they would turn away from each other. Both would be too involved with their duties to spare a thought of the what-ifs. He to his crown, and Vanille to her patients. Luc had always known Vanille to be a dedicated healer, wholly giving herself to her duty and patients, often blind to the rest of the world once she had her purpose. While losing her to her tasks did pain him, he was proud of Van. She had found her calling, and there was nothing more he would want than to see her satisfied.

“With your eye, Moj mali zeko — My little hare, we will find a home fit for our family.” He smiled as he began to make his way down the mountain. They would find a place of their own, one worthy of being called home. One fit for his sun.

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Words were silent on Vanille's tongue. What could she say? What words could possibly be right for a situation when he looked at her like he was, hoping and praying for something even she knew they weren't allowed to give? Their lips were bound by the past, bound by men and women that didn't even exist anymore, but yet haunted their corners like monsters within closets. Any wrong, but painfully right, word would send their lives hurling down its path like a ravaging avalanche, leaving nothing but disaster and cover in its wake. They would be trapped beneath its depths, beneath years of feeling that they'd ignored, that they denied.

It would consume them. It would kill them. They weren't meant to be together. They would never be together.

Tears bloomed within her eyes for an entirely different reason. As much as Vanille knew Lucian, she knew he wouldn't accept her words much less believe them. Even continuing to remind him was futile unless he came to the conclusion himself, which she doubted he ever would. Maybe that would be okay, because she was a reminder, a true reminder that she'd chosen him, and not her family in death. Vanille lifted her head at the same moment he'd come to rest his own against hers.

A soft sigh left her and the chill was a distant hum at the back of her mind. There was only Lucian, his warmth and cover. Him. Like a balm to her wounds. She remained there, still against his body as she relished in his comfort and the fact that he was alive. She grasped her tongue between her teeth, head beginning a slow shake against him before her eyes opened to stare at their snow-covered paws. “I was prepared to die without you, Lucian. I woke...and you weren't there. And I was ready to leave, to come meet you again, because without you, there is no me.”

She pulled away to level another look upon him. “There will never be a Vanille without her Lucian. It would not be a life worth living, neither one I'm capable of surviving.” She withdrew and blew a breath, as if it was the scissors to the thread of tension she'd begun to feel in the moments closest to him, threatening her resolve. She could live without her family, come to accept it, but they were unmatched in comparison to the true family she held. Lucian. He was there every time they weren't, consoling her at her weakest, helping her become her strongest. He was everything and yet nothing she could say would be adequate enough for a description.

Her head turned back to him at his next words, another grin pulling her lips to match his. “And it will be one fit for you, Luci. It will just be pretty, too.” The woman laughed softly, warmth cascading over her the longer she remained by his side whilst easing their way down the mountain.

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