don't go where i can't follow

She'd figured that it was just one time, when he'd followed her off the edge of the Spire. And he'd been alright; he'd found his wings, and they'd held each other till the ground beneath their feet was finally stable. Then, the war had been over, the need for death defying stunts greatly decreasing, and beyond the occasional nightmare—holding him when he didn't catch her, and cold sweat coated his skin—she'd put it out of her mind. They'd lived. They were happy, at the Storm Spire, visiting Ez in Katolis, in between her shifts and his mage training.

Then there had been a day where a storm had rolled in, and a near avalanche of ice and rain had rocked the Spire to its core. She'd been carried away by some of it, an onslaught of water spilling off the side, and Callum had dove in after her without his runes or wings, had dragged her body out of the water before passing out himself, both of them having to be revived by some of the other newly formed Dragonguard. She'd been too grateful and soaked to scold him, and intent on making sure he was okay.

And now this. Rebel elves making an attempt on the Dragon Queen.

She sat beside him once he was bandaged up, a little bruised but mostly in one piece, healthy enough to fret over her.

"I can't believe you charged him like that," she muttered, "without a weapon."

Callum frowned; he been disarmed before tackling one of the elves and gotten scraped against the stone peaks. They were both lucky it wasn't worse. "He was going to kill you."

"I was handling it."

"Your back was turned. And I wasn't gonna wait for you to react to me yelling, so…" He brushed a strand of hair from her face. "You're sure you're okay?"

"You're really still asking me?"

"Yes? I almost lost you. I hate it when that happens."

Rayla leaned into his touch even if her frown didn't leave. "Well imagine how I feel watching you risk your life like that. It's not enjoyable for me either. First the river, now this." She shifted to check on the bandage on his arm. "It seems tight enough, but no wings for a bit."

Callum let out a heavy sigh. "Okay. But I want Ibis' verdict too." He got up and made his way across the antechamber to where the mage stood, back from his scouting mission to make sure the last of the elves had either been captured or killed.

Rayla watched him go. She supposed she should have been thankful she could count the amount of times he'd actually been injured on one four-fingered hand. The cliff had been a near miss, and Dark Magic the worst by far. Then the river, and… Rayla froze.

Every time he'd gotten hurt, it'd been because he'd gone after her.

Her heart beat fast and loud in her chest. No, that couldn't be right. Callum did dumb things sometimes with magic, or throwing the primal stone, and he almost got hurt out in the storm, but…

Her eyes widened. Every time she'd nearly died, she hadn't because he'd gone after her. Because he'd thrown his life on the line to save hers. The dragon. The Spire. Even getting her to give up on her suicide mission for the Dragon Queen. And he'd never even said anything about any of it.

"Ibis agrees," he said when he got back, but tears were already building in her eyes. His brow furrowed in concerned, and it just made things worse. "Hey, is everything—"

"You brave, stupid human—" She reached up and hugged him tight and wasn't sure she'd ever let go.

He hugged her back, a little uncertain. "Did something happen?" he asked carefully. She pulled away just enough to look into his face.

She opened her mouth to speak, then just managed a weak smile. "I just love you," she said, kissing him firmly. She'd tell him the truth later, get him to agree to stop, when she had the strength for it. For now, she just needed to process.

Callum started out surprised and then melted into it, soothed but still a bit concerned when she drew away. "You sure everything's okay?"

"Everything's fine," she replied, giving him more of a genuine smile. She stroked her fingers over his cheek. "You're here."

"Is there something on your mind, Rayla?"

The Silvergrove was quiet in autumn. Adoraburrs drifted from the meadow and into the village, hiding under crunched leaves, and they'd left Callum out back of her home to play with them on his own while she waited with Ethari for tea. She'd wanted to talk to her father alone anyway.

She still hadn't told Callum her realization, although she thought she'd done a good job of hiding it the past few weeks. The Dragon Queen had been reluctant to let any guards off leave until recently, once the threat had been fully nullified in her eyes, and Rayla had only felt slightly guilty about requesting a week off so soon. But this wasn't for her, not really. It was for him, and that made the guilt go away, only to be replaced with a new kind.

She'd noticed it today too, walking around her home. The other elves were still wary of him (she didn't think they would have let him in at all if they'd known he'd ever done Dark Magic) but Callum always met the glaring ones with a glower of his own, even before she could. Gripped her hand a little tighter and made sure to block her from their gaze. A statement that he wouldn't be intimidated or cowed down, of course, but also… to protect her from her people's scorn. Always to protect her.

"There is something I wanted to talk to you about," she admitted. Opening up with anyone so freely was still new to her, but she and Ethari were all each other had left, and it had always been easier to open up to him than Runaan, anyway.

Ethari's face was gentle as he poured her a cup of moonleaf tea, some moonberry surprise in the oven behind him. "Go on, then."

"I… I'm okay, with risking my own life," she said. "I've known since I was young that I might have to. I'm used to it being a possibility in the Dragonguard. But… I realized recently that Callum has… a problem."

"A problem?"

"He does it too. But for me. And I didn't notice at first, I thought—it was a fluke? But every time I've almost died, since he and I met, the only reason I didn't is because he went after me. Even though that just means that he almost dies."

Ethari glanced out the window and Rayla followed his gaze. Callum was lying, laughing hard on the leaves while the adoraburrs chittered and piled on top of him.

Ethari hummed. "Well, I suppose I'll have to thank him now."

"What? No—Ethari, that's not the point—" Rayla huffed, a little desperate. "I need to get him to stop. It's one thing for me to risk my life. I can't ask him to do that for me."

"It doesn't sound like you've been asking."

Rayla pressed her lips together in a thin line. "But—he shouldn't."

"And he doesn't seem to think you should be risking your life quite so much either."

"But that's my job—"

"And he's your partner. It shouldn't be surprising that he wants to take care of you, and yes, protect and save you when the need arises."

"But—if anything happened to him—"

"You wouldn't let it, would you? The same way he doesn't let anything happen to you." He smiled a little. "If there's something I've learned about love… The things you'll do to keep each other safe don't always make sense. You hardly think about the why, because you just do it. I'm glad you've found that, and so early in your life, too." He gave Rayla's shoulder a gentle squeeze. "It's not a curse, Rayla, to have someone who loves you that much. It's a blessing."

Rayla barely managed a smile. "How do you learn to be okay with it?"

"Well… I figured, if both parties keep risking everything for one another, both keep the other safe in the end, don't they? And even if it doesn't work the way you want…" His face fell. "But you're both always together. You'll be okay."

Runaan. Her heart twisted. She took Ethari's hand and squeezed it. "It's a good thing Callum and I won't be going anywhere anytime soon, then," she promised.

He smiled a little. "I have missed the company," he confessed.

"We'll try to visit more often. And if you ever wanted to go see the other side of the border, I'm sure Ezran would be more than happy to have you. He can get along with anyone, I swear."

"If he's as unusual as his brother, I'm sure," Ethari said, his smile easing.

"Callum and I were talking about going back to Katolis for some human holidays in winter," she revealed. "Would you like to come?"

"I'll consider it," he said, and she knew he would. Ethari paused and then gave her a sliver of a more satisfied smile. "You feel better now, little Ray?"

She smiled, a little flushed at her childhood nickname. "Yes. Thank you."

"Alright, now get your boyfriend, before the adoraburrs bury him completely."

"As if he'd mind," she grinned, but she went out back anyway, fond as she watched him allow an adoraburr to roll along his arm. "Callum? It's almost time for dinner."

He reluctantly dropped the adoraburr carefully back in the grass. "Alright." He brushed the dirt off his coat and then went to stand up, and then did a double take and stayed where he was. "Why're you smiling at me like that?"

She didn't stop and held out her hand, her eyes crinkling when he took it. "I just love you."

He didn't stand up right away, instead pressing a kiss to her knuckles. "I love you too."

Rayla narrowed her eyes. "If you pull me down—" She yelped when he did so, shoving at his chest when he laughed. "Jerk!" she grinned, rolling in the leaves as adoraburrs scurried out of the way, although it seemed like nothing could hurt them. Callum stayed flat on his back from where she'd shoved him, beaming as she rolled over to look at him on her side, her body curved slightly above his.

"Hey," he greeted, still with that wide, lopsided grin on his face. Her heart melted with little resistance.

Rayla picked an adoraburr out of his hair. "Hey."

"Didn't you come out here for something?"

"Hm, well I did come to find my boyfriend, but I'm afraid the adoraburrs got him."

Callum feigned a twisted expression, a hand on his chest. "How tragic."

Rayla barely held back a giggle. "Tell me about it."

He reached up and tucked her hair behind her ear. "Well, if you need a shoulder to cry on—" Rayla laughed loudly and shoved him gently in the chest again, still beaming when he guided her face down for a kiss. They rolled onto their sides as she pressed her lips more firmly to his, his other hand resting on her waist.

"Come on," she said, once she drew away. "We should get inside."

"Alright," he sighed, and sat up. They helped each other up, and she tightened her grip on his hand, holding him to the spot when he went to start walking. He gave her a silent, questioning look.

"Callum?" She gave him a small smile. "Thank you, for all the times you've saved my life."

"Of course," he murmured, looking only a little caught off guard before his expression shifted to something earnest and loving and open. "You'd do the same for me. You have."

She tilted her head at him. "I have?"

"It was the first thing you ever offered to do for me."

Say the word and I'll go back into that tower with you. "I suppose it was," she agreed, the memory receding. She squeezed his hand. "So, that's how it's always going to be, then?"

He leaned in to kiss her cheek. "So long as you don't go where I can't follow, yeah."

"I don't think there's many places there," she said, swinging their hands between them as they started the walk back to the house. He'd somehow wandered to the very back of the property. "You're pretty stubborn."

"I wonder who I learned that from?"

Rayla barked out another laugh and he looked utterly pleased with himself. "Come on. Ethari's made moonberry surprise."

His face lit up. "Ooh—are you finally going to tell me what's in it?"

"After you try it," she promised, although he didn't look disappointed at all. She tugged him along. "Come on," she said one more time, even if she wanted to stretch his moment out, and make it last forever. "Let's go home."