Ulric had shown them to a hall that was lined with doors that each opened to a small guest room, each one of them pretty similar with sparse decorations and a simple bed. She had started out in her own bed since they were each given their own room, but not even ten minutes in to trying to sleep she left the room and quietly slipped into the one beside hers where Balthier had chosen to stay. Not having him beside her felt so strange and especially on a day like today she felt all the more desperate to keep him close. It felt like every time she let someone in her life drift too far away they were suddenly gone, disappearing in the blink of an eye to never be seen again. There wasn't a fear that Balthier would willingly do something like that the way their parents had, but she couldn't quite shake the thought that if she looked away for too long something might take him away.

She quietly closed the door behind her and came over to his bed like a moth to a flame, climbing into it beside him and finding the now familiar place in his embrace against his chest. They slept like this every night since their father left and it helped her breathe a little sigh of relief as she rested her head on his chest. Her body still ached from the trip here and she was physically and mentally exhausted after everything they had uncovered, everything they had lived through, but her thoughts were still reeling. It didn't feel real. It felt like she would just wake up from a nightmare and suddenly everything would be back to normal. "Are they really gone?" she asked softly, leaving her head on his chest and not looking up at him as she spoke.

"Azzurra"

Balthier too wasn't sleeping soundly after they all went into the guest rooms to sleep. But somehow, it didn't feel right to him to go into the guest room that Azzurra had chosen, not with the Alpha watching. He didn't feel the same way as Azzurra, she had been more sheltered through their life but there wasn't really anything he had seen to tell him that he couldn't be with her, hold her, kiss her. But seeing the other wolves of Abaven, at least seeing the way that Poem and Sparhawk were compared to Shae and one of her brothers. But Balthier also never voiced any of the conflicted feelings with Azzurra either.

So he had laid awaken in his own guest room, with many things on his mind but missing the presence of his sister the most. When his door creaked open and he saw her in the door way, he didn't even have to think that it could have been someone else. He shuffled, giving her some extra room on the bed even though she was smaller than him, and welcomed her into his arms like she belonged there. His back against the wall, he cradled her, letting out his own sigh of relief as she did.

He only pulled back slightly when she spoke, his own breath getting caught up again while he could feel the tension from their losses. His own expression was more flat, but even edged on a sadder side, "They aren't coming back, but I think that's something we already knew." He spoke, maybe trying to make the feelings that were more upfront today get shoved under the rug, but the rug was starting to get full. He lifted his paw to gently brush back the fur on her cheek, "I've told you before, but I'll tell you again as many times as you want to know. I will always be here with you Azzie."

"Balthier"

Her ears fell back against her head as he spoke. His words weren't anything she didn't already know, but it was still hard to hear them. Her father being gone certainly hurt her the most and she tried to not be this upset about their mother that had already abandoned them, but it was hard. It was the knowledge that her faint and vague memories of their mother were all she would ever have. She couldn't remember her voice or her scent and the only reason she still remembered what she looked like was because she looked so much like Aranea. She had been countless days with her father as he took care of her while she was sick, but she hadn't seen her mother since she was very, very little and now she never would again.

His paw brushing her cheek pulled her gaze up to his, their blue gazes meeting as he assured her that he would always be with her. "I know you will..." she said quietly with a soft sigh even though she couldn't really shake her worry or hide it in her eyes. "I just... What if something happens? What if something takes you away?" Her voice broke a little as more tears collected in her eyes that she tried to quickly blink away. She had cried so much today and she really didn't want to cry again, but everything felt so overwhelming. Her paws curled around paw fulls of the fur on his chest as she rested her head on him again, fighting back the little sniffles and stuttering breaths while she tried to hold it together. "I don't want to lose you too..."

"Azzurra"

Seeing her like this, it wasn't necessarily new. But it still wrecked him every time. He wasn't very emotional himself, not outwardly. Maybe it was this persona he had forced himself into. Being the man of the family, holding everyone together. Like if he broke, everyone else would fall apart. He kept all those emotions inside because of it, and his exterior was starting to become numb because of it.

He pulled her in as she grasped him, tears wanting to come from her eyes again. He waited a moment before loosening his grip to look down on her again, "You'll just have to promise you'll always be here with me too." He chuckled with a break in his voice, a sign of the emotions he held back, "I'll protect you and you'll protect me. I know you can do it Azzie, you've become so strong already." He was more trying to give her her own role, he didn't expect her to fight for him. But maybe try to keep him out of trouble. He didn't expect anything of her. Still in his mind she was so delicate and fragile. But he wanted to give her the freedom that her illness never let her have too.

His eyes closed while he went to place the bridge of his nose next to hers, pushing against her gently, "I love you so much Azzie, I would do anything for you. I wish I could fix this. Everything, I wish there was something I could do."

"Balthier"

Her ears flicked uncertainly as he insisted how she would just have to stay with him and help protect him too. She couldn't possibly dream of protecting him, no matter how much stronger she had gotten. Just the walk to Auster had worn her down to what felt like nothing. She wasn't like him. He was big and strong and could fight and hunt so well. But hearing that little break in his voice and the emotion he tried to hide in his gaze she desperately wanted to be able to. With everything that he had done for her and how much he supported her in everything she wanted to be able to do things for him. Even though her doubt till ran so high she made herself give him a small nod in agreement. At the very least she could agree to always be with him. Even if she couldn't protect him she could at least keep him company and love him and hopefully that was enough.

Her eyes closed as well, leaning into his touch as the side of his muzzle brushed hers, making her heart skip and her ears fold back again. His words eased the pain in her chest, but put a whole different kind of ache in its place, a feeling that made her eyes squeeze tighter as it squeezed at her throat and overwhelmed her. "I love you too, Balthier," she said softly. "We can't fix anything now, but... You make it better. You make me happy." Even just being with him helped. When she was alone everything felt like it was crumbling in on her, but with him she had something to cling to so she could keep her head above water. But doing some things with him made her heart skip beats and swept her away from her worries. "Balthier... Will you kiss me?" she asked quietly, brushing the side of her slender muzzle against his, her breath already caught in her chest with the anticipation of it.

"Azzurra"

He let out a deep breath almost as if it was relieving that he made her better, he made her happy. Maybe it wasn't asked of him but he felt like the glue to the whole family, keeping them in line and making sure they were safe, fed, protected. Solo helped a lot too, but Balthier felt it more emotional than it was physical. Balthier was getting broken down every day with responsibilities he wasn't ready for. Allegro had left them just before they turned a year old. And even from watching eyes, that was far too young to expect to be left on your own. Even with supplies, losing both Aranea and Allegro he knew, everyone should know, it was too much for them to handle.

From his own hard shut eyes, he opened them to look at Azzurra when she asked. His mind told him it was wrong, but his heart yearned for her this way. He nearly hesitated as his breath became deep, but he found himself pushing forward in a more heated kiss than their last, only pure instinct that could show him a better way, each kiss teaching them more and letting them discover what felt right, even if there was a burning fire in the back of Balthier's mind telling him it wasn't. He pulled her tight while he kept their lips together, a desire he felt deep inside him that he wasn't quite old enough to understand. He just knew he wanted his sister close to him, always. Now, and any day that they had together.

"Balthier"