Break my heart

He’d never seen his mate like this, Elise was devastated and broken as tragedy struck the pair of them. He didn’t hesitate to take her into his arms and hold her close, as soon as he did she wrapped herself around him as she endured the dark necessity. They were losing the pregnancy that they both wanted so much. The pair of them only craved a family more than one another and realizing what was happening broke Iroh and Elise both. Tears streamed down his eyes as Elise buried herself in his fur and sobbed uncontrollably. He held her tight, the feeling of helplessness like nothing he had ever felt. Why, in Abraxas name, was this happening to them? He said little as the process shook Elise to her core, he grit his teeth as she tensed and whined through her contractions. Ever so slowly her body rejected the very much wanted children from her womb.

As he suspected, Sarabi gathered up her little plants and herbs and gently offered them to Elise, who reluctantly took them from the mandrill. She was a wizened old creature, an elder in her tribe that helped with a lot of her people’s births and pregnancies. Wolves were not much different and this was nothing she hadn’t seen before. There was no surprise, only compassion as the primate did her duty and stepped away to give the couple their space. They weren’t even through the hardest part though and she lingered in the shadows as Elise’s body went through the motions.

He held her more tightly as her attention shifted from the herbs back to his fur and she continued. He wrapped his neck and head around her, trying desperately to shield her but only succeeding in being her support through the heartbreaking process. Iroh grit his teeth as her sounds of pain filled his ears as their joy was killed completely. This pregnancy was over and they were rewarded only with sorrow and grief. He looked up only as Sarabi moved forward again, carefully working on cleaning up the tragic mess on the floor. She lit some smoldering herbs to help cover the scent of blood and death. Carefully she wrapped the tiny fetuses so she might bury them. Iroh caught a glimpse of their partially formed little bodies, struck at how much they already looked like tiny puppies.

He grit his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut, holding Elise tighter as the image burned into his brain. Sarabi worked silently, tending to everything and to Elise, making sure there had been no complications, that her body expelled everything and she wasn’t bleeding out. Iroh shifted both of them, holding her stomach to his as he cried with her. The loss of Malleus, his mother, Pyrrhic stepping down, none of that could compare to how he felt right now, holding the woman he loved as they lost the pregnancy they waited so long for.

Sarabi had long left when the couple’s tears had dried and everything was over. Their hearts broken and the future again bleak. He nuzzled against her cheek and held her, there weren’t any words to say that could soothe this ache. Her raspy voice met his ears, a soft apology after everything. Iroh furrowed his brow but he kissed her cheek and stroked her back softly. ”I am too,” he returned softly. ”This isn’t your fault.” He tried to convince her, he knew she didn’t want this. ”I love you.” He whispered as he kissed her, knowing there weren’t any words to be said. This was an awful tragedy and he knew the both of them would feel the effects for a long time to come.

Iroh Abraxas