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Daimon

The memory faded away as it ended, the stars coming back into view.

Being here with Evelina almost made it feel like old times, when there wasn’t a war and Daimon was still the Nox boy she could lean on. He didn’t know if they’d ever get back to being so carefree with each other. He was curious if she felt the same, if she too missed what they had once had; the ease of a friendship between two people who trusted each other completely.

Daimon turned his head to ask Evelina if she liked the memory he chose, but the moment he saw her, he froze.

Tears streamed down her face. Her cry was so silent he hadn’t even noticed it.

Without thinking, he laced his fingers through hers. He half expected her to pull away, still unsure where they stood. But she held on. His thumb itched to rub her hand, but he forced himself to stay still—too afraid to move and have her retreat.

“There’s no crying in dreams,” he said softly.

In all honesty, he didn’t know what to do with her tears. She was one who rarely let a tear fall, her emotions staying bundled up in her mind instead .

She sniffed and let the tears keep falling. “Sometimes, tears are freeing.”

His brows jumped in surprise at her response. Even when her older brothers would play tricks on her and everyone would laugh at her, she wouldn’t cry as a child. Not even when she would fall down while running in the glade when they were hardly old enough to walk.

Seeing her emotions displayed so clearly on her face had his own buried hurt coming to the surface. She made him want to face it head-on, this strong and brave woman who faced the most painful feelings with full force. It made him want to mend old, broken wounds, because with her by his side, it wasn’t as painful.