Raven walked beside Alara through the garden gate that opened into Rose Manor's marble-tiled hallway, Sanctuary's sun cast a soft glow over everything. The silence was comfortable, filled with the call of amimals and birds around the house.. But Raven’s eyes did not look at the scenery. They are focused on Alara. The faint sign of heat rising from her skin was unmistakable. She is close to awakening.
Without a word, Raven led her to the bedroom and slowly undressed her, hands swiftly undoing the buttons of Alara’s pink winter coat. She hesitated slightly when her fingers brushed the lace of the pink underwear beneath her shirt. The same pink bra and panties Raven gave her a few days ago. They were soft, delicate, and looked too good for a zombie to wear. But Alara wore them without complaint not because Raven asked her to but because Raven gave them to her. With her wounds long healed, Alara's skin flushed faintly from her intimate contact with Raven.
Raven took her hand and guided her toward's their bathroom. She refused to let Alara's awakening happen the way her own awakening did. Inside a freezing, empty pond. Alara would be safe, clean, and most importantly not alone. An awakening always brings intense body heat, so ice is needed to combat this.
Inside the bathroom, Raven knelt by the tub filled with ice. As she looked at Alara and said to her.
"Get in the tub, and no matter how hot you feel. Stay in the ice. It will help you with the pain."
Alara didn’t respond verbally, but her eyes looked into Raven’s without fear or hesitation. Her hand holding Raven’s was cold but soft, as she stepped inside the bath. Settling into the ice Alara realesed a slight hiss of discomfort, her breath catching as the freezing ice met her skin. Raven sat down next to her, never letting go of Alara's hand.
Ten minutes passed. Then thirty. The tub was no longer full. As the ice began to melt, with water now resting halfway up to Alara's chest. Raven stared into Alara's eyes, looking for any sign of failure, any twitch or spasm that is not normal.
Then Alara's skin began to change. As a crimson red crept slowly from her neck downwards, crawling along her limbs like veins awakening beneath the surface of a piece of jade. The heat coming off Alara was enough to fog the mirrors. Still, Raven didn’t let her hand go.
She remembered her own awakening vividly. The pain, the confusion, the way her bones felt like melting steel trying to reform. She had no one to hold her hand. Just the darkness of the pond, but now she has Alara.
Then Raven heard it. A whisper, thin and quiet.
"Raven..."
Raven blinked. Her gaze moving to Alara’s mouth.
"Say that again."
Alara’s lips parted, and her eyes opened—more focused than they have ever been. Her blue irises were no longer cloudy with the dull film of death. They now glowed faintly.
"Raven."
Raven exhaled slowly, her chest rising with effort. She didn’t know what she expected from the awakening. Some semblance of awareness, maybe. But this? Alara's voice? Her name? Alara is thinking and talking.
Raven looked at her for a long moment, then leaned forward slightly and rested her forehead against Alara’s.
"I'm here," she whispered. "You're not alone, Alara. Not anymore."
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