The hallways outside the training grounds were quiet, and the late afternoon sun cast long shadows along its walls. Kai and Sunny walked side by side, the echoes of laughter and clashing swords fading as they left the courtyard, a comfortable silence settling around them.
At some point, Sunny stopped abruptly and leaned against the wall, arms loosely crossed in front of his chest. He looked at Kai, a familiar smirk surfacing on his pale face, teasing and curious.
"You know… I've been wondering," he said slowly, "how you and Morgan ended up together. Not too long ago she was… well, enemy territory. I mean, you fought her… she fought us… and then — bam!" he clasped his hands together, "You two are suddenly sitting side by side, like nothing happened."
Kai exhaled softly, coming to lean beside Sunny. "I know. It wasn't simple."
"So… how? What made you… like her?" Interest gleamed in Sunny's eyes.
Kai's gaze drifted down the empty hallway as he spoke, quietly, the weight of old memories threading through his voice as he did.
"During the Siege of Bastion, when we were fighting Mordret… I noticed a lot about her. Morgan… she used to lie. Constantly. To protect herself. To hide fear, to hide doubt. I could tell because… Well, it's something I notice." A wan smile curled his lips as he met Sunny's eyes. "People always try to hide the truth."
Sunny raised a brow in intrigue. "Lies, huh? …And you liked that?"
Kai chuckled and shook his head slightly.
"No, it wasn't the lies. It was why she lied." His gaze drifted again, looking elsewhere, like he was searching for something that wasn't there. "She didn't want to be her father's sword anymore. She wanted… freedom. Choice. She wanted to be her own person. Even in the chaos of war, she was trying to change. And I… I was drawn to that. From the very beginning."
Sunny nodded slowly, contemplating.
"Interesting… So it started before she even switched sides?"
"Yes… and I secretly hoped she would. Change, I mean. That she'd realize she didn't have to be her brother or her father's tool." He took a breath, recalling the flames, the clangor of steel, the faces of allies and enemies alike.
"But it wasn't just hope," he said, voice growing wistful. "It was something more. Deeper. There was a pull I could never ignore, even from when I first made her acquaintance. A desire to see her grow out of her shell, her cage. "
Sunny hummed thoughtfully, watching the charming archer closely. He noted how Kai was playing with a strand of his dark auburn hair and the absentminded smile on his lips. The way his mesmerizing green eyes seemed to glow with a new quality when he talked about the former princess of Valor.
He grinned knowingly, nudging Kai lightly.
"Look at you go. Typical Kai, hopelessly stubborn, even in matters of the heart." He shook his head in exasperation. "But, go on — there's more to this, isn't there?"
Kai hesitated for a moment, then sighed, allowing himself to revisit the painful memories.
"There was a moment, near the end of the Siege. She tried to…" he swallowed, "to sacrifice herself. She wanted to kill Mordret, even if it meant dying. And I couldn't allow it. I just couldn't. So I forcibly took her back to Ravenheart to help us conquer the citadel." His shoulders drooped slightly then. "She was furious at me. She didn't understand why I did it, why I made the decision for her life. Why I chose for her to live."
Hearing the tortured tone of his voice, Sunny's gaze softened. "Of course. That would make anyone…" the mischief and mirth slipped from his face, replaced by understanding and empathy, "not thrilled, to say the least."
Kai nodded firmly, his jaw tight, voice becoming even quieter.
"She stayed in Ravenheart after the war to help out. But she kept me at a distance. She was cold to me. Curt. Unwilling to speak to me or be anywhere near me." Kai whispered, the tremors in his voice barely noticeable, "Why did I do that? Why did I think I could decide her fate for her? …She couldn't understand it then, and I couldn't explain myself either. Not for a while."
Kai fell silent then, eyes fixed on a distant point, his mind wandering to a different place and time.
Sunny prompted, "So, when did things start to change?"
Green eyes slid to meet his onyx ones.
"After the war, she remained guarded. Maybe more than before… and it was only a given, after what I did," he said, a wry smile surfacing. "And then there was Mirage City. I think… She went there partly because she was ashamed. Ashamed to be standing with the new leaders of the world. I think she felt like she was forgetting herself. Like she was clinging to her past relevance, instead of being who she truly was. And also… because she wanted to die. She thought that maybe, if she killed Mordret herself, she could finally do something meaningful for the world. Something beyond just being a tool of war for her father. To stop being a pawn."
Sunny let out a low whistle. "Damn… She went through all that and still kept going. I get it now… How you managed to fall for her. There's… a lot there, Kai."
The charming archer's eyes darkened a little, his expression a mixture of sorrow and concern for his love. But there was also admiration there, like an ember in the darkness.
"Yes," he agreed with Sunny. "And I saw it, even then. I saw how she wanted to change, how she tried to take control of her life. I couldn't tell anyone. Not then, and not even now, not really… Except for you, of course. But I… I hoped she would come to see that she didn't have to be just a weapon. And somehow, along the way… I truly did fall for her."
Sunny nodded, a small, respectful smile forming.
"I get it. Makes sense. You were drawn to her from the start. It wasn't because she switched sides, but because she was fighting to become herself… I think that's something worth fighting for, as well as something worth loving for."
"Something worth loving…" Kai echoed, soft and vulnerable. "Yes… And now, she's here. Still the same fierce, determined Morgan. But also someone who has learnt to trust, who trusts me. Even if we haven't said everything yet, we understand each other. That… that's enough for now."
"Damn straight." Sunny straightened himself, clapped Kai lightly on the shoulder, and began to walk away. "You've earned her trust, Kai. Don't mess it up."
Kai stared at his back, a faint smile tugging at his lips, tinged with both fondness and quiet relief. He felt like a weight had lifted from his chest.
"I won't," he affirmed to himself. "I won't mess it up."
The weight of past battles, choices, and confessions lingered in the air. Sunny let Kai have this quiet moment, knowing that behind the calm exterior, Kai's mind was a storm of emotions.
Yet, through it all, there was always one constant, one truth.
He knew now that Kai's heart had always belonged to another, that it had always been loyal to Morgan.
Even when the world didn't understand it.
- - -
The soft light of the late afternoon sun spilled through the tall windows, illuminating Morgan's room in Ravenheart. The former princess of Valor sat alone, staring at the floor, lost in her thoughts. Her sword rested untouched against the wall.
Morgan still remembered the Siege of Bastion like it had happened just yesterday — the chaos, the fire, the sound of ringing steel, the faces of her companions and the enemies… Through it all, one memory stood out in particular:
Kai.
Why would he do that? she thought bitterly, her fingers curling into her lap. She had been furious when he forcibly took her from the battlefield, saving her from the near-certain death she had accepted and would willingly embrace. Who was he to decide my life for me?
After the incident, she kept her distance. She was cold to him, unforgiving. She couldn't let him see that his intervention had shaken her in ways she wouldn't admit. She was — had been a Princess of Valor, after all. She was supposed to be untouchable, precise. A weapon of her father's design. To feel vulnerable in front of him…
It was unacceptable.
And yet… Slowly, she had begun to notice him differently. Not just as a fighter, a fellow warrior or leader, but as someone… more. Someone who saw through her, who could see beyond the walls she had built.
She remembered how he had always been aware of her lies, the small white lies she told to protect herself, to hide her fear and her doubt that gnawed at her from within. Most saw her as deceitful, some saw her as weak and pitiful.
Not Kai, though.
He had understood her, and he hadn't judged.
He saw me, she realized. Her chest tightened at the thought. Not the tool. Not the princess.
He saw me.
Her gaze fell to her hands which were balled into fists, her knuckles white from how hard she was clenching them.
The memories of Mirage City surged unbidden. The fear, the shame, the desperation, and the hopelessness that had pushed her to go there. She had left Ravenheart because she had been ashamed of her behavior, unsure if she even belonged with the new leaders of the world.
Am I just clinging to them to feel relevant? that thought had haunted her endlessly, until she could take it no more and fled.
It wasn't just that, however.
She had wanted to die. She had planned to confront Mordret alone and perish in the process. So she could leave behind a different legacy than that of valor and war. She wanted to prove that she could act for the betterment of the world, that she wasn't only a weapon her father created.
She had failed, though. And in the quiet moments after escaping Mirage City, when she returned to Ravenheart, Kai had been there, and he had never left since, always a constant in her life.
She remembered his calm presence, his steady gaze, his quiet insistence that she didn't have to face everything alone.
It had infuriated her at first, that someone would try to understand her pain, try to offer guidance without permission. But slowly, for some reason, she began to trust him.
"I… I don't even know when it happened," she whispered to herself, voice fragile like glass. "When I started to see him, too. When I started to hope he would understand me. That he would see I was neither just a princess nor a weapon, but… me."
Her lips curved into a small, bittersweet smile, tinged with regret and relief and hope.
"I was so scared, so afraid. Of being forgotten, of being just another name in someone else's story. But he saw me.
Kai saw me.
He sees me."
She had allowed her walls to crumble, and he had seen her. He hadn't shied away.
For the first time in a long while, she let herself breathe. Just a little.
She wasn't ready to admit it out loud, not yet. But the weight of her anger, her insecurities, her shame… it had lessened slightly, replaced by a quiet understanding that someone truly cared for her, beyond the wars, beyond her family, beyond the legacy she had once clung to.
Morgan's eyes glistened, a single tear threatening to fall. She brushed it away quickly, not wanting anyone to see, not even herself. But the knowledge stayed with her: Kai had always been there, noticing, understanding, quietly supporting her, cheering her on, hoping she'd choose herself.
And maybe, just maybe… She wanted to stay. No longer a weapon or tool, or a princess paraded around for the world to see.
Just Morgan. Her.
She closed her eyes for a moment, letting her emotions settle.
For now, no words needed to be spoken, no confessions to be made.
They understood each other in silence, and that was enough.