Misery Loves Company (Arianda, Sabriel)

Even as long as mere months ago, Sabriel might just have run a mile as Arianda spoke those three words. It would have set off alarm bells in her mind and she would have felt compelled to end the encounter and shut up shop mentally. Yet now, she simply did not feel the same way and even though there was a part of her that was still screaming at her to do so, Sabriel began to realise that it was not her doing it but her aspect. It demanded that she keep her bonds tight but not to the point of selfishness, which love always was. She had to remain as free as a bird in order to function but as she focused on her desires for once…the Arrancar realised that being in love did not mean that she had to be tied down. Love was what people made of it, right?

She could feel the sincerity from her fellow Arrancar and knew that Arianda was not simply saying things to help her recover from her torment. Sabriel knew that truth when she heard it and her smile widened in return as the words registered with her. The Arrancar did not have to go anywhere in order to have her desire achieved, as the woman who could fulfil it was right in front of her. All she had to do was reach out and accept the truth for herself.

“I love you too.” Sabriel finally said with a chuckle, tears starting to fall again but not of misery but of happiness, feeling such joy inside herself as they did. She felt a concoction of emotions inside herself, tumbling and stumbling over one another as the Arrancar desperately tried to figure it all out. The melancholy that had taken hold was beaten down, overcome and buried deep by the overwhelming sense of wonder that the dark haired woman was feeling. There was a feeling in her chest that she had never felt before, in all her long years. It tingled in a pleasant way.

Leaning forwards, she would return Arianda’s kiss, a loving smooch that might just take the breath away of her beloved if she was not careful. Not because it was overly powerful but because it was fuelled by sheer tenderness and love, a combination of emotions that the Arrancar had never felt before.