trans_9 | Reunion

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Reunion

Visitation Day came and went and Goliath still had not seen any of his clan in what felt like, and might have been, years. He still had not seen Elisa since she was nearly killed in his sleep, then vanished angry at him. There had been several times like these before, when the gathering of new crew members has been too painful for him to attend, knowing that his clan would come from elsewhere and at other times, and so podpops offered him only one chance at reunion with a loved one.

Disappointment had settled on him again, and he warded it off with productiveness. Elisa's car shone with the evidence of regular care, but the rest of the castle needed maintaining. He would invite more people in to work in the gardens, dispose of more of Xanatos' things - but first, he felt there was more still to gain by researching the Mayan sun amulet that he hoped could give him control over his waking and sleeping. It would be a good idea to contact Lupin again, but at the moment, it it pleased Goliath to conduct his research in solitude.

Deep in his reading in Castle Wyvern's library, he didn't hear footsteps until the door had already been opened behind him.

[EDIT: Subthreads now open for other characters to comment, starting with the Drunken Dragon]

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He had always been a lot better at sincerity. Elisa was too good at keeping her feelings masked or suppressed. She did put her hand over Goliath's, though, in an unspoken gesture of comfort and affection. If she'd been alone on the ship for any period of time, she would have undoubtedly done the same.

"How could I forget? I didn't think I'd ever be able to persuade you to leave!"

They hadn't known each other for long. She'd been determined to do the right thing, but, at the same time, their relationship had been so tentative and so new that getting her voice heard had been difficult.

"You were right, though."

And he'd been so angry about it. He'd had to respect her that much more, just for standing her ground when he was that enraged.

It HAD been enraging at the time. It had been a challenge to the ideal he held dearest.

Now that this ideal had gone through several evolutions, it reminded him just how far that evolution had come.

"The castle has been here since I awoke, but it has never been home without my clan to live in it. When I've fought on this ship, I've fought for you."

And for the rest of the clan, of course. But she knew that without his having to say it.

"Until my clan is reunited, it will never truly be home to me, but if no one makes a home of it, it is wasted in disuse. I intend to invite the crew to make use of it as a home."

He paused, considering how to phrase his next thought.

"It was always the purpose of the castle to be a place of refuge where humans and gargoyles could guard and protect as partners. We have long been protecting each other. I would be honored if you would become the castle's first new human resident."

He paused, then added -

"Aside from the boy who claims our friendship in the future. He has already made himself a home there."

Not that Goliath minds. Peter's a good kid.

It wasn't easy to stand up to Goliath when he was angry, but Elisa had been determined to be a good friend to the clan. Friends tried to do the best for each other, no matter what. Even if the people in question didn't appreciate it at the time.

She nodded as he spoke, understand completely. Her apartment was just somewhere to sleep. It was the city - and everyone who lived in it - that was home. The same rules applied to the castle.

"I'd be honoured, Goliath," she said, sincerely, turning to face him. It was a solemn moment - a big step when it came to Goliath's life on the ship and, from a certain type of human perspective, a big step in a fledgling relationship - and Elisa treated it as such. Although she did smile when he mentioned Peter.

"You mean Peter? We've met. He's ... interesting."

A big, solemn moment. He was asking her to adopt his territory, rather than seek her own. And she'd accepted - that was a big step no matter what the perspective was.

"He has good intentions. I believe that he could have become our friend on Earth in time."

He could have said more - that he was glad Elisa had accepted his offer, that it would make him feel better to have her nearby, in case he needed to come to her aid, and for no other reason than that it would simply be good to have her nearby.

He settled for, "Bronx will be happy to see you again."

Their territory had overlapped from the moment that Goliath and the clan had decided to dedicate themselves to protecting the city. They'd protected New York together and it was a comfort to know that things would be the same here. Even if everything else had changed.

"Bronx is here too? What does he think of life on Stacy?"

A safe and neutral conversation topic, as well as a genuine inquiry about another member of her rather unusual family.

"He misses the clan." It's not hard to tell when Bronx, too, is moping. "It's been good to have him on patrol."

Good to have him as evidence that the rest of the clan was taken, as well.

The sky had continued to grow lighter as they'd spoken, to the point where if they had still been on Earth, they would have had to be prepared for their conversation to cut off very shortly. Goliath looked towards the false east, thinking of missions before this, and that last morning they'd had on their own world.

"I've seen suns since waking up here," he commented. "Many suns, on many planets. But still I have not seen one rise."

The strangeness of the brightening sky wasn't lost on Elisa, watching the sun creeping up over the horizon without having to get ready to say goodbye for the day. It was a beautiful sight, even if it wasn't real.

"I've always wanted to walk in the sunshine with you," she confessed, following his gaze, "Just once. I wanted to see the look on your face when you felt the sun for the first time."

It had seemed like a foolish - impossible - wish back in New York and she was disappointed that she hadn't been at his side. Even if a stroll under an alien sky wasn't exactly a walk in a park in Manhattan.

"The warmth of other planets' suns will be that much more welcome, if I can share them with you."

If he could. If the ship didn't take her away again. If nothing terrible happened to her in a battle with the Ohm. If -

There were too many "ifs" to keep thinking of them all. Especially when she was here, and no danger reared its immediate head.

Perhaps there WOULD be worlds to share with her. There would most certainly be battles, and there would most certainly be danger.

Perhaps in between, there would be moments like these.

"And I have always wanted to watch the sun rise with you."

He touched her shoulder, inviting her to lean against him as the horizon filled with the hot golden glow of an impending sunrise.

Elisa needed no further encouragement and settled comfortably against Goliath, allowing herself to pretend that this was the moment that she'd been waiting for rather than an attempt to make the best of a bad situation.

It almost worked.

"It's not exactly New York, but it does look real."

She turned her head to look up at Goliath.

"What do you think?"

False or not, she wanted to find out what he thought.

It was beautiful. But the beauty of the sunrise was not what made this the moment of peace that it was for him.

The rising sun forced Goliath to lift his wing to shield his eyes, but he was already looking at Elisa as she turned to him. He brushed her hair behind her ear, saying nothing as he held her gently at his side and considered his response.

He let his talons slip from her hair, thinking of the loss of the Wyvern Clan, the first time the world as he knew it was destroyed completely. Then, he had asked for eternal sleep rather than face that trial alone. He remembered the battle on the ship with the Nightmare King, when a great evil had played upon that despair that had made him choose sleep instead of that same, lonely battle.

He looked towards the sunrise again, sighing deeply. "I think I have been lost, Elisa. For a long time." It was as much an admission to himself, as to her. "It is so easy to despair without my loved ones, when I should be strongest for them."

He looked at her again, considering that for so long, all he had wished for was this - a moment to see her again, to lay to rest all his doubts. "Yet seeing you again has brought peace to my heart. I am afraid to lose that peace, Elisa, but if I awoke and you were gone once more . . . I could go on now, with this moment to give me strength."

How could he not? How could he wish for sleep again, with the chance for moments like this to protect?

There was always more he wanted to say to her, always more that he hoped he would have the chance to say, at least once.

But this was not his last chance. And with hope, that last chance would not come.

"Thank you for this strength you give me."

Although Goliath didn't speak at first, it was obvious that he had something that he wanted to say. Elisa was content to wait and give him the time that he needed, though she did open her mouth to protest when he said that he'd been lost.

She closed it without saying anything. Maybe he was right. She hadn't been on the ship with him, sharing the battles and the hardships and the despair. Though she'd frequently shut herself off from people before meeting the clan - because a good detective wasn't supposed to trust anyone - she'd never been truly alone. She couldn't begin to imagine what it was like to lose everything. Twice.

It was enough to push anyone, even someone as strong as Goliath, over the edge.

"You're the strongest person I know, but sometimes we all need to be reminded why we're fighting."

She was afraid of losing it as well - of losing him to the pods or to the war or to something else - but she'd rather have a handful of moments like this than carry on without knowing the contentment and companionship that she felt when she was with Goliath. These moments made the despair and loneliness that they all felt at times worthwhile.

"Good. And there are going to be a lot more moments like this, I promise."

She smiled up at him, the other things that she wanted to say remaining just out of reach.

"You're welcome."

It wasn't everything, but it was enough.

He smiled at her, and draped his arm gently around her again, holding her close as he turned back to watch the sun rise.

It was much brighter for him than it was for a human, with his nocturnal vision, and he would never be comfortable with direct, bright sunlight. All the same, it was beautiful, and if it were not for this ship, he would not be able to see it. Or any of the other suns he had seen by then.

His doubts about whether or not their world could be restored at all would have to wait for another conversation. Even if they were fighting for no more than this - for survival, and moments like these - these moments were enough to fight for.

He shaded his eyes with his wing and held Elisa close, and for the first time in what felt like at least a year, was content.

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