Chapter Text
In the months since the Battle for the Spire, Meridian slowly recovered. The first few days after the battle had been dark ones indeed as fires were brought under control and the wounded and dead alike were pulled from the rubble and tended to. But with each passing day things got a little better as the city came together and rebuilt what had been broken and mourned those that had passed. Erend wished he'd had more time to rest during the effort to return the city to some semblance of normalcy, perhaps then he'd have been able to spend more time with Aloy. But, as captain of the guard, he'd had many responsibilities and she had a sense of duty that wouldn't let her rest while there still might be someone to save. Often during that time Aloy was busiest where the wreckage was the worst, using her Focus to peer through the rubble to find those that might still be alive underneath and coordinating volunteers to carefully shift the debris lest they cause it to collapse further. He'd helped her directly when he had the chance, lifting beams and smashing fallen stones with his hammer at her instruction, and indirectly by sending his men to her when he was needed elsewhere. But there hadn't been a lot of time for talking during those days as what free time there was got devoted to food and rest.
As days became weeks and the city no longer looked as if a stiff breeze might blow it away in a puff of ash, Erend had found the time to convince Aloy that there was nothing in the city that needed her immediate attention, not tending to wounded nor feeding those displaced from their homes, and to spend an evening resting. That she would be spending that evening of rest with him had made Erend feel very clever indeed. He'd intended to take the opportunity to tell her over a large dinner how much he admired her, not only for her prowess in battle but for the compassion she'd shown for the citizens of Meridian during the recovery process. He'd intended to tell her that there would always be a place for her here, if she wanted to stay. He'd intended to ensure she knew that that place could be with him, if she wanted, and that she was the most beautiful and bravest person he'd ever known. He gotten as far as the first sentence before she interrupted with a tired smile, placing her hand over his and shattering his hopes.
“Thank you, Erend. It... means a lot to me that you think that.” she'd said, while his heart had leapt into his throat at her touch, her calloused fingers warm against his skin. “There.. was something I wanted to tell you as well.”
For a moment, he was hopeful, moving his hand under hers until he lightly gripped her fingers before he spoke, “Yeah? And what might that be? I hope that my Vanguard have been doing their jobs and helping while I'm not around or else I might have to put my boot in their asses. Was it Alik? It was Alik , wasn't it?” He joked, which elicited a bright laugh from her that he'd not heard since before the battle.
“No, no. Nothing like that,” She assured him, giving his hand a squeeze before pulling it away, “I'd just been thinking since we'd talked earlier today about the city no longer being in dire need. And... I was thinking it might be time for me to take care of some business of my own.”
And there it was. His hopes of her staying shattered as she laid out her plan to him to return to the Scared Lands to visit Rost's grave and then to find the resting place of a woman named Elisabet Sobeck. She tried to explain her relationship to this woman who was somehow one of the ancients, her mother and herself all at the same time and while he nodded as if he understood, he didn't. Not exactly. Even still he smiled through her explanation. Or at least, he hoped he did. Given that she was laying out her plans to leave, without mentioning if and when she might return before him, he may very well have grimaced unconvincingly at her while intending to smile. If he did, she was either kind enough to not mention it or else she didn't notice. He'd replied with encouraging words like 'Of course you should go,' and 'You deserve time to yourself.” Things he'd only been able to say because they happened to be true and he knew that any moment of her time that she gave to him was in itself a gift.
And then she left. She'd wrapped him into a fierce hug, pressing a chaste kiss to his cheek before setting off across the bridge and away to the east all while he stood and watched her go until she was out of sight.
It had been three months since that day.
The day was cool by Meridian standards. Spring had arrived and with it all the promise of a fresh start as flowers bloomed along the roadsides in the Maizelands below the Mesa. Erend stood on the balcony of the Palace as the sun began to set, very near to where he and Aloy had stood saying their goodbyes before he'd left for The Claim to lay Ersa to rest. He smiled, turning to lean on the rail with the sun to his back, pulling the letter he'd received from Aloy perhaps a half an hour earlier from his pocket. He always liked to read his letters here, in 'their' spot.
The letters had been a surprise, that was for damn sure. About two weeks from when he'd last seen her on the bridge the first had arrived, borne in the pack of a traveling merchant who'd found him on his way to the palace to report on reconstruction efforts with Avad. He'd had a hard time imagining who could possibly be writing to him as he opened the letter and started to read as he walked.
“Erend,” it had began. “I hope this finds you well. Here are two minutes, just for you.”
He'd nearly fallen over his own feet on his way up the stairs reading that, eliciting a few muffled laughs from the guards who'd been present which quickly turned to coughing as he'd scowled at them. There could only be one person the letter was from. He sat after that and read and re-read that first letter, which she'd apparently sent from somewhere around Daytower as she crossed out of Carja territory and into the Sacred Lands. In it she'd written of her journey up to that point, sharing with him her thoughts about how the machines seemed tamer since Hades had been destroyed and how nervous she was to return to the Nora, albeit temporarily, worried they'd treat her as an idol to be worshiped. Curiously, she'd included a second page which bore a rough ink sketch of the Daytower itself as seen from the approach from the Carja side of the gate labeled 'view from camp, last night in Carja territory'. He'd had no idea Aloy could draw. Fingers traced delicately over the image rendered in dark machine oil as he marveled over her having a talent that wasn't related to combat.
Since then he'd received a letter from her every few weeks. Each starting the same way and each including a sketch of wherever she was. Unfortunately, she was never in one place long enough for him to write back given that his first letter back to her returned undelivered shortly after he'd received his second letter from her. Apparently, she'd moved on again shortly after sending it and the Nora the merchant had spoken to had only the vaguest idea of where she'd gone. The second letter detailed her interactions with the Nora and her visit to Rost's grave and all the complex and shifting emotions she'd dealt with at the time. He could see her frustration in the bite the pen had made in the paper as she recounted how all but a handful of the tribe insisted on calling her 'The Anointed' and her sadness by the discoloration her tears had left on the drawing of Rost's gravesite, his chest tightening as he read the neat script more than once wondering at the fact that she chose to even write to him at all. Since he apparently couldn't write back he began collecting the letters and illustrations she periodically sent between the pages of a journal kept on the table at his bedside, writing responses to them there. He knew she'd never see it, but it made him feel better.
He shook his head, banishing the lingering thoughts of her previous letters as he unfolded the most recent, smiling softly as he read the familiar first line.
Dearest Erend,
I hope this letter finds you well. I've found another two minutes, just for you. After days of careful searching, listening to Elisabet's last recording over and over on my focus for clues, I finally found it. The place she called home. The place she came to die when the world of the Ancient Ones fell apart. I suppose part of me didn't really think I'd find much, if anything, after all this time. I listened to her recount a story from her childhood, a story about her own mother, as I rode towards the ruin that was her home. Listened to her speak about why she'd never had children of her own during her life but what she'd always wished a daughter of hers might have been like. It's funny. In some ways, she is my mother, this woman who lived and died so long ago trying to ensure there would be a tomorrow for people she'd never know. An entire world of people she'd never know. I wonder what she would think of me. If she'd have been proud. If she would have seen those qualities in me. I like to think that maybe she would. That maybe she would have loved me, like Rost had. It's a nice thought... but I know I'll never really have an answer. I found her, what was left of her, sitting on a bench outside of what was left of a house. She had a beautiful round bauble in her hand, holding it as if it were a gift for me. Maybe it is. I'm sitting here by the fire now, looking at it as I write this. It feels nice... having something that was hers. Curiously, she was surrounded by flowers, shaped in a triangle around her final resting place. Like the triangle of blooms you see around those odd mechanical flowers with poetry written across their petals. I'd always wondered at their purpose. Maybe it was GAIA's way of honoring Elisabet? Her way to say goodbye to her creator? Again, I can only speculate, but I like to think so. There is so much more I'd like to tell you, but I'm running out of sunlight and room on this page. Maybe there will be time, when I have another two minutes for you.
Yours,
Aloy
He felt the familiar swell in his chest he always felt when he read her words, painful and sweet all at the same time. He slipped the letter behind the following page using the quickly fading daylight to look at the drawing she'd included this time. This time the sketch showed the ruins of an ancient house and framed between what looked like it might have once been a sign between two posts was a figure seated on a bench as viewed from behind. It could only have been this Elisabet woman and her final resting place. That Aloy would choose to share the sight of something so intensely personal with him was flattering and a little confusing all at once.
“That girl... why she writes to an oaf like me, I'll never understand,” he said with a shake of his head and a soft, self-deprecating laugh as he carefully folded the letter and slipped it between his armor and shirt for safe-keeping until he returned home. The sun had nearly sunk below the horizon, painting the evening sky in a deep, dusky orange that reminded Erend of the color of Aloy's hair as he finally left the balcony and started on his way towards home. He greeted the guards he passed, Carja and Oseram Vanguard alike. The Carja nodding respectfully at the Captain, the Oseram calling out raucous greetings and questions as to whether they'd see him in the tavern later that evening.
“Sorry you miserable bunch of drunks! Duty calls early tomorrow and someone ought to be responsible,” he replied, which earned him a response of, "Yeah? Who's that then? Did the king wise up and find someone else to be his Captain?” from Alik, one of the Vanguard particularly known for his smart mouth.
“If he did, you'd certainly be out of a job. No one else would even pretend to put up with your sorry ass!” he called back with a laugh, not slowing his step as he moved through the evening city crowd towards his home.
The city really was rapidly returning to normal. Most of the displaced had either found more permanent residences or had already rebuilt enough to move back to their homes. It was lucky that the winters in Meridian were so mild, especially when compared to places like The Claim he thought. There was no snow nor freezing temperatures to hamper the rebuilding process. He rounded the corner to his street as the street lamps were being lit for the evening, bathing everything in a cheery light.
“Beautiful night... a new letter from Aloy,” he said to himself, placing a hand over where he'd tucked her missive into his armor, knowing he'd read it all over again once he returned home. “Doesn't get much better.” And just as he released a sigh of contentment was when he noticed the shadow by his door. Odd, he thought to himself, There should no longer be anyone sleeping in the streets. He slowed his step, approaching his front door carefully, reaching for his hammer as he angled to get a better look at whoever decided his front stoop was a good place to sleep. It was then the lamplighter lit the streetlamp nearest to his door and he realized this caution was unnecessary, the light shining off her hair like burnished copper. He released a shuddering breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding as he stared dumbfounded at the woman asleep, leaned against his front door, pack behind her and spear held loosely in her arms.
“Aloy?” he said, making her name into a question as he started to approach her. He'd started to crouch before her, reaching out hesitant fingers towards her shoulder as if she were a vision that would disappear the moment he touched her. “Aloy,” he said, firmly this time, causing her to stir. She blinked the sleep from her eyes, as if trying to remember where she was before she settled her gaze on Erend, face lighting with a smile.
“Oh... good. You're home. Surprise?”