Balthier had met back with Chimera once he made it back to the shores of Fenmyre. And by now he knew he was leaving the pack to head for The Hallows. In a way he was... happy to get out of here. It was why he left to begin with. The raft was important to him but he left on the trip thinking he'd never find it. He took his leave, or his break from Fenmyre because of Azzurra. Nothing had cleared the air around him in that time.

He moved the raft closer to the bungalow that he and his sister had claimed when they moved here. It was a little hard at first, there was a physical tension as he made his way onto the porch and eventually inside the house. There wasn't much inside for him to take with him... he didn't want to take any of the furs that Chimera had given them. He could tell that Azzurra hadn't been staying here for a while either. With a gentle sigh, he moved back out through the doorway where he stood and looked out at the beach where he saw his sister nearby the raft. He didn't move from his place on the porch for the time being, just looked out at her from over the railings. He was sober now moreso because he had run out of wine on the trip back. But he wasn't feeling any different than the last time he saw her.

"Azzurra & Balthier"

Life had settled into this new kind of normal after Balthier's disappearance. She had made new routines, made new friends, settled into a new bungalow. One after another she was beginning to defy her own expectations for herself and become more comfortable on her own. The only part that still felt strange and unwelcome was sleeping on her own, but occasionally she could even relieve that with Erys. The days that had immediately followed Balthier leaving had felt like her world had ended and she was never going to get her feet under her again, but with a bit of help she had managed and she had found ways to be content and even happy like this. Slowly she was learning how to be on her own.

She still continued to keep up with her routine of exercise and training even though she rarely felt the chronic weakness she used to feel. Part of it felt preventative and the other part felt habitual. She didn't want to risk falling back to the state that she had been and her runs had become a bit of an escape. She liked the burn in he muscles and the ache in her lungs. She was doing her usual run around the island on the beach when she spotted a familiar wooden structure moored at the shore, catching her off guard and causing her to steadily slow to a stop a few feet from it. She stared at the raft in disbelief and confusion for several moments. As the meaning behind the reappearance of the raft slowly began to sink in, her head turned toward the bungalow that she had once shared with her brother and her gaze landed on him.

Azzurra was frozen in place as she looked at him, unsure what to do or how to react. The sisterly side of her that could never stop caring about him was glad to see that he was okay, but that was joined by the anger and confusion she had felt over his abandonment and the sadness over the loss of what they once had. The only thing that finally got her to move or react was remembering all the times through this process where she had thought to herself how she would want to be able to show him how far she had come. Now was her chance so she was either going to have to own up to her own words or let go of this need to prove herself. Turning toward him, she crossed the stretch of beach between them, feeling very conscious of how she held herself and being careful to hold her head up with confidence. "I thought you had left," she said simply as she stopped a few feet from him, trying to gauge his expression.

"Azzurra"

He stayed just in his place on the porch as Azzurra grew closer, more of a dead look in his eye rather than a leering one. But she knew him enough to know he was still in the bad set of mind. He still couldn't forgive her, he probably never would. It was why he was leaving.

"I am." He wouldn't notice the way she held herself, the way she wanted to feel proud in everything she had done for herself. He was too daft to notice. Honestly he did have some kind of image of himself. He was not perfect, but everything wrong he had done between him and Azzurra was simply not true to him. He never would admit he had done anything wrong. It was wrong.

As if a switch flicked, his expression drew soft, sincere, and maybe it was. He went to move off the porch towards her, his steps were not careful around her, he was not hesitant. But at least he wasn't under the influence. "I'm sorry Azzie." He'd go to close that space between them, move to be close to her face to face. But he wouldn't push forward more than that, not now at least. For now he'd just look down at her with sad, sober eyes. Because he could actually feel without the alcohol and he was urging for the next time he could drown out his emotions.

"Azzurra & Balthier"

Azzurra's pale, ivory dipped ear flicked and she gave a soft sound of acknowledgement when he said that he was leaving. She wanted to ask him why he came back, why even show his face here again after abandoning her the way he did, but she didn't want to be combative with him. She had said her piece and told him how he had made her feel well enough already and it was already very clear to her that he either didn't care, didn't understand, or was unwilling to do anything to change things between them. If this was just how it was going to be from now on then this was how it would be. She couldn't keep trying to fix things on her own and she couldn't keep compromising on her own happiness for him. She likely would have just walked away at that point if he didn't come down onto the beach and move closer to her. There was some trepidation in her expression, but she held where she was and simply watched him for now.

His expression and suddenly grown soft and more sincere than she had seen it in quite some time as he moved closer and she felt wary and uncertain about him in that moment. She knew that deep down there was still a weakness for him as her brother and her first love that she simply couldn't allow herself to give into. She kept emotions distant to protect herself from slipping even as he apologized. She didn't back down when he drew close, her head tipping up to continue meeting his gaze as she stood her ground in front of him. His sad gaze almost made her believe his words, but if he was genuinely sorry then it would never have gotten to this point. She knew he didn't see what he had done as anything wrong and at least for now they were just words or at best apologies for things she didn't want apologies for.

Still, considering this might be the last time she saw him for quite some time at least, she didn't want to pick a fight. Instead, she just nodded quietly, silently accepting his apology. There was a lot she wanted to say and even more she wanted to ask, but instead she just said softly, "Stay safe out there. I hope you can find whatever it is you need to be happy." No matter what happened, she would still always wish well for him and care for him as her brother. He was all she really had left in this life as far as her family went since they had lost all touch with their other siblings so she did secretly hope that one day he might sort himself out and find his way back to her again.

"Azzurra"

He just stood there over her, not seeing her stance as any form of authority or standing up for herself. Being strong in the ways she had come from to this point. He wouldn't see it. He was skewed and he didn't know it.

His eyes squinted gently as she made up her... farewell or as he saw it. And before she could turn away whether that was by foot or just in a turn of her head, his paw raised up quickly but not aggressively to wrap up around the top of her foreleg like maybe he had a grip on her. It wasn't so harsh physically though, it was more of some sort of mental control over her. It's not what he saw, or noticed but that was the general idea of grasping at her. That she wouldn't turn away from him. "Azzie..." His voice was quiet there on the beach in front of their once shared bungalow, a look on his face may have told her that he was begging to take her lips before it happened, and of course he would want more just not yet, "I will never be happy as long as I'm away from you." In some twisted way it was a guilt trip. She already knew he was never in the right mindset to know everything he had done wrong, he may have never seen it through his entire life. Only time would tell. He finally went to pull her forward into him, leaning down to kiss her for maybe the last time he thought. He still felt like he could never forgive her.

"Azzurra & Balthier"

Azzurra had begun to turn away from him to start walking back to her own bungalow when she suddenly felt his paw on her foreleg, forcing her to stop and look back at him again. Her ears folded back with uncertainty and distrust as the contact ate at the confident facade and and the defenses she had made for herself, allowing a bit more of the turbulent emotions she was hiding peek through. His gaze was as difficult to read as always, but there was a semi familiar longing there that for some reason she hadn't expected to see. She couldn't understand that want in his expression after how they had fought and how they had left one another and that caught her off guard enough that as he stated how he would never be happy without her and started to pull her in and lean down to her for a kiss that she didn't react immediately. She hesitated and his lips met hers for a moment, but she jerked back as soon as her mind caught up with the present.

She pulled out of his hold and stumbled back a couple of steps from him, looking up at him with hurt and disbelief. "No," she told him with a hard shake of her head, her jaw tight as she forced herself to keep her emotions in check. One of them had to be able to be aware of themselves and it certainly wasn't going to be him. "You're going to have to figure out how to be. I can't keep sacrificing myself for you." No matter how he tried to twist this or put the guilt on her she knew that just wasn't the case any more and she was too worn down by all of this to keep trying to make him see what was really going on. She turned away from him then and started walking down the beach, unwilling to entertain him and his delusion any longer.

"Azzurra"

When she pulled away from his kiss he looked back at her with a genuine hurt no matter how twisted it might have been. To him she could never turn away from him, or at least he didn't believe she would. He'd want to believe that she would always want him, that she too would suffer being away from him. And maybe that was true to some extent. They were brother and sister, they had both lost their parents. They were so far away from home, Azzurra may have never seen their other siblings again whether she wanted to or not. He'd never believe that she'd be happy without him.

She turned away from him, nearly storming off and away from him. It was like a bullet to the chest. He reacted quickly but it didn't feel that way to him. It felt like she was out of reach and like he'd never catch up to her. It was something emotional inside of him. His paw reached forward again, grasping around her foreleg to stop her and pull her in his direction. She was met back with tears welded in his eyes though still through a strong expression. A look she may have become familiar with but one that was rare. Balthier was rarely emotional, and this time he was sober. That really wouldn't matter though.

"Azzie... please..." He begged more through his eyes in the way he looked at her. He wanted to be with her, one last time. To remember the feeling like it was before. Even if they had surrounded it with his guilt. He thought of the risk of never seeing her again. It was for him, it wasn't for her. It was wicked. He'd lean forward again to kiss her, one last time. If she turned away again he had to let go. He wouldn't force it on her. Without knowing what he was doing, mentally maybe pushing her into her limits he wouldn't see anything wrong with that. He wouldn't use his physical advantage on her, that was impossible for him.

"Azzurra & Balthier"

Just as she tried to walk away, his paw yet again caught her foreleg, this time making her stumble a bit as he pulled her back toward him. A tightness gripped her chest as she was forced to turn back toward him, just barely catching herself and keeping herself from falling over. She didn't recognize the feeling that squeezed around her at first as she looked back up at him with wide, sapphire eyes, but she eventually realized that it was fear. She didn't think that Balthier would ever physically hurt her, but as she stood there with his paw gripping her leg and holding her there with him she had a genuine worry that she would never actually be free of this or get what she actually needed from him. She wanted to still have hope that one day he would sort out whatever had twisted in his mind that had made their relationship grow so detrimental and draining on them both, but now she feared that would never come to pass.

Her ears pinned back as he pleaded with her, both in his words and the way he looked at her with desperate tear-filled eyes. This didn't feel right. It hadn't felt right for a very long time. She wanted it to be right, but it had become so tainted and toxic that she couldn't even allow herself to play along. She had put aside her own feelings and needs for so long and now that she had gotten a taste of what a relationship could be she couldn't go back—not at least until Balthier was willing to work on himself and meet her half way. When he leaned down to kiss her again she didn't pull away this time, but she didn't kiss him back either. She was stiff and uncomfortable, feeling trapped in this situation that she wished she could just run away from. Still, it was painful because of the fact that he was her last remaining family. She didn't know where their other siblings had gone, whether they would even want to see her again after how they had left, and their parents were long dead. She didn't want to loose her brother like this, but he wasn't giving her a choice. When he eventually pulled back again she looked at him with a look with the mourning she felt over how things had once been. "Goodbye, Balthier," she said softly, waiting for him to let her go so she could finally separate herself from him, feeling like she couldn't really breathe until she did.

"Azzurra"

Balthier wasn't entirely dumb, and he could feel more the way Azzie reacted as he leaned down to kiss her again. He didn't pull away immediately though. A disbelief, a want, he held onto what was left between them. He wouldn't see the fear she had as he grabbed onto her again, or rather ignore it if he did. It was to be expected of him at this point.

When they were pulled away from each other and Azzurra had said her goodbye it was clear enough to him that this was it. He looked down at her with a sort of disappointment, sadness, still that way of trying to guilt trip her. But he finally let go of around her foreleg. He wouldn't say anything to her, just that stuck glare at her. But he would finally back up and turn away himself. It was an easy goodbye, or a kind one. But it was done. He'd sail away on the raft towards the Bifrost and The Hallows, and maybe Azzurra could feel free of him. Not that those thoughts were on his mind. He couldn't be relieved that this is what was best for his sister.

"Azzurra & Balthier"