"Excuse me!"
Heavy shoes hit the floor, accompanied by rushed and frantic breathing. Foundation members screeched in surprise as a green flash pushed them to the side, papers flying out of her hand as the other held onto the hat on her head. A woman was barreling down the hallways, not caring for any of the people she has pushed out of the way. Only one thought rang through her typically too-loud head.
Isolde.
____________
Hours before, the therapist had been laying in her room, despondent. Papers with scratched, rushed writing sat about her, some stained with what looked to be tears. She had an arm over her eyes, frustration emanating from every pore in her body. She had been working at a new hypnosis cure for what felt like months now, but none of the things she had been furiously researching and piecing together worked. They each had holes, every single one of them, and in order for her to wake her up things needed to be perfect.
"Damn it all", she hissed to herself, hitting her bed.
Kakania sighed to herself, briefly glancing through the gap between her arm and her face. The sun was setting. She had been working on this all day.
She groaned to herself, silently and grimly resigning to just quit for the night. It was of no use.
I'll restart tomorrow. I will figure something out, she thought to herself, gritting her teeth as she kicked her feet over to the side of her bed and preparing to pick up the notes scattered across the floor. I have to.
Only about halfway through angrily cleaning her room did she hear a rather fervent knock on her door. Kakania pinched the bridge of her nose. If it was that kid coming to bother her again about some conspiracy field mission, she was actually going to hit him this time.
"Yes?", she called, annoyance very clear in her voice.
"Kakania!", came a familiar voice. It sounded urgent, shaking with what sounded like.... excitement?
I know that accent, Kakania thought as she pushed herself up off the floor, scrambling over to the door to messily throw it open.
She was greeted with the sight of a disheveled Timekeeper, her top hat held in her hand as she breathed rather heavily.
"Vertin? What could you need at this hour? Are you okay?", she asked, tilting her head in slight confusion. Something was wrong. Vertin almost never made personal visits at the foundation, what with her being busy at what seemed to be every hour of every day.
Vertin tried to catch her breath for a second, muttering something unintelligible under her breath.
"You're going to have to speak up, I can't hear you". Kakania crossed her arms, smiling slightly to herself as Vertin shot her a look of what to everyone else would just be a blank stare. But to her and everyone else who had spent even a modicum of time in the suitcase, it was a look of brief annoyance. It was gone just as fast as it appeared, however, as the Timekeeper straightened.
"It's Isolde. She's awoken".
__________
Kakania burst into the foundation's holding area, nearly running into the front desk with such ferocity that she could have tipped over. The woman stationed there was just about to pack up for the night and jumped nearly out of her skin at the sudden loud noise.
"I need to see a patient. Now", Kakania said, slightly breathless but eyes full of pure determination. She was not asking, but demanding.
"Oh! Miss Kakania? If you've come to see Isolde, I must warn you she-".
"I don't care what you have to say, with the greatest degree of respect! I need to see her. Now". Kakania brought her fist down on the table to emphasis that last word, her eyes flickering across the lady's face in a silent beg.
The foundation employee gazed around the place, biting the inside of her cheek. Against her better judgment, she sighed and tossed the key to Isolde's cell over to the lady in green.
"Fine. But return that key before you leave, okay? Just hang it on the wall behind me", the lady said, gesturing with her head to the wall of keys that sat just behind the desk.
Kakania did not have time to verbally express her thanks, so she simply flashed her a smile and dashed past the desk, feather dancing in the wind as she ran to her love.
She knew the way, even if she had only been here once in the years that had passed since that fateful day. She remembered the first time she came, the first time she gazed at that opera singer who sang so beautifully within that cell. It was something she would never forget.
Finally, she arrived. There was a chill that crept up her spine as she went to unlock the door, her hands shaking profusely. The door swung open slowly, creaking with age and rust.
All of the air in Kakania's lungs left her as she laid eyes on her love for the first time in many many years. She looked just as beautiful as she did the day she left her.
Isolde turned around at the soft gasp, letting out one of her own as she gazed at her doctor. She took a step back, arms defensively coming to cradle herself.
The two stood there, taking each other in. Neither wanted to break the silence, eyes searching the other's face for what they wanted to say. Thoughts seemed to exchange, jumbled with emotions long since stuffed down. Isolde broke the silence first, in a voice broken seemingly from lack of use.
"Doctor... is that really you?", Isolde asked. Kakania melted. She sounded so broken, so lost. So... scared.
Kakania stepped forward, unsure of whether or not to extend a hand.
"Yes, Miss Dittarsdorf. It's me", was all she said, eyes never leaving her face. She could not bring herself to call her by her first name. She did not want to hurt her further, nor scare her away now that she was just barely near her.
Isolde stepped forward in kind, hands instinctually reaching out. She seemed to catch herself though, her fingers curling into her palms.
She observed Kakania, eyes searching her face. Something seemed to come over her, tears pricking the corners of her eyes as she took another step forward.
"You look different, Doctor. Your smile does not reach your eyes... you look tired. I did not cause this, did I?", she quietly muttered. Her hands wrung against each other, gloves folding over themselves at the anxious gesture.
Kakania laughed briefly to herself, shaking her head. She crept closer, hands twitching at her side.
Of course she would notice.
"I have been waiting so long... to hear your voice again". It did not answer Isolde's question, but it was the truth. Isolde's shoulders dropped slightly at that, her lip trembling.
"Doctor...". With one final breathless call of that affectionate name, the songbird finally fell. Her knees hit the floor rather roughly, even for the layered dress she wore. Emotions finally breached the fog they have been hiding in for all this time, causing their captive to shake and sob into her hands.
Kakania rushed forward, instinctually going to catch her falling bird. Isolde, however, flinched away quite hard, causing Kakania to draw into herself in surprise.
"No! Do not come near me. I do not deserve your affection", Isolde mumbled. It came out as a choked sob. Kakania shook her head, trying to crawl closer to her long-time lover.
"My god... what on earth could make you think such a thing?!". The mere idea was insane. Isolde, undeserving? Sure, time had passed. Sure, things were different. But...
Isolde interrupted her thoughts. "Do not treat me like your lover. I have done too many horrible things to be your Isolde. You know that better than I. Please, be merciful. Please..."
Sobs echoed in the silent room as Isolde shrunk further into herself. Kakania's heart broke even further. She lowered her eyes briefly, resolve finally breaking.
"Isolde....", Kakania started. The girl in front of her gasped slightly at the sound of her own name leaving her doctor's mouth. It had been so long since she last truly heard it. She looked up at her, tears staining her dark eyelashes.
"If you truly think you are not who I knew, can you do me one last favor?".
Isolde surged forward, crawling on her hands and knees towards her only rock in this swirling storm of emotion.
"Anything", she muttered, determination set in her gaze so intensely Kakania almost had her breath stolen once more. She shook her head, squaring her shoulders as she averted her gaze.
Kakania reached up to her coat, removing the brooch that sat there. She cradled it in her hands briefly before sliding it towards the other girl.
"This brooch... take it back. Take it, and break it". It was said so matter of factly, so dull and devoid of nearly any feeling. Isolde shrank away from her and the brooch as though it had shocked her. Her voice shook as she spoke next.
"How- how could you say that? Do you realize what you are asking of me? I...". She took a breath, her hands shaking.
"I spent so long making it for you.... the gems.. I took them from my own jewelry! I even made sure they matched your eyes and mine perfectly. I could not bare to destroy it, and it is beyond cruel to ask me to do so!", Isolde shouted, anger seemingly blistering under her skin.
Kakania responded in kind, angrily snatching the brooch from the floor and waving it in front of Isolde's face.
"Only my Isolde would know such a thing! Only her! So, who else could you be except for her?!"
A silence filled the room. Tears softly fell down Kakania's face as she shrank down from her anger, eyes hidden in the shadow of her hat.
Isolde gazed at her lover, an indescribable softness overtaking her every feature. "Kakania..."
The doctor slowly removed her hat, staring at it in her lap. She took a shaking breath, shoulders tense.
"I will always be in love with you. Things have happened and there are things that need to be discussed but right now..."
Kakania suddenly looked up at Isolde, eyes red with sadness yet so full of love that Isolde almost had to look away at the sheer vulnerability of it.
"God, Isolde, I don't care! I was always yours, and you have always been mine! You always will be!". Kakania's voice was filled with a slight anger, rising and falling as she released all of the things she has kept to herself all this time. "Do not look at me and tell me you aren't the same. I have been waiting too long... way too long to hear that from you".
Kakania shrunk down as her tears truly fell. It was the first time Isolde had seen her cry like this. She looked so beautiful. The energy shifted in the room as Isolde softened even further, her own tears falling in tune with her lover's. Suddenly, Isolde fell forward.
Kakania gasped at the feeling of her arms around her. She sat in shock as the singer shook against her, muttering something under her breath. It was only after a few seconds did she realize what she was saying.
"I love you, Kakania". She was repeating it like she was pleading, begging her to return the statement. Kakania seemed to break in half, finally pulling her arms around Isolde.
"I know, I know. I love you too", she cried out, arms clinging against her. She gripped her hard, fingers digging into her shoulders as they cried together. Kakania tried to commit every sensation of this moment into her brain, never wishing to forget. Isolde shared the sentiment as her own hands gripped tightly against Kakania's waist.
After what seemed like forever, Isolde finally lifted her head. Her hands went to cradle Kakania's face. Kakania's gaze widened as tears fell onto Isolde's face, after which she quickly used her own hands to wipe her face. Isolde laughed for the first time in years; a bright, bell-like sound. Even after all this time, her Kakania was still so considerate of her. She moved Kakania's hands away from her face as she herself moved closer.
For the third time, Isolde rendered Kakania breathless. Having her so close after so long, it made it hard to control herself. She shook from the amount of willpower it took to remain still. Isolde smiled sweetly once she noticed.
She moved closer, lips just barely brushing against the other's. Her eyes flicked up, glistening with a single question. And Kakania, against all better judgement, answered.
The two finally came together, lips tasting of salt and long lost time. Smiles overtook both of their faces as they kissed one another, Isolde's hands moving up to Kakania's hair and her lover copying. They held each other as they proclaimed their love, warmth overtaking them. It seemed as though everything finally corrected itself, the world resetting to what it once was. The past did not matter, the future didn't exist. Only now was important.
When the two finally needed air, they parted. They pressed their foreheads together, breathlessly laughing together. They brought one of their hands together, intertwining they fingers. They just sat together for a moment, taking in the moment of finally being able to touch each other and be together. Words did not even have to be exchanged.
Kakania helped Isolde up after a moment, guiding her over to the bed in the corner. She sat down and brought her flush with her own body. They reveled in each other's warmth as both of their eyes slowly closed. And they both slept truly for the first time since they separated.
________
The Timekeeper quietly walked down the hall, intending to check in once again on the currently held Arcanist. She paused when she came across the ajar door. She poked her head in, laughing to herself when she discovered the two intertwined and sleeping every so peacefully. She slowly and silently picked up the keys discarded on the floor outside of the room and shut the door, allowing the two to rest in each other's company while they could.