WHO: 2023!Vex'ahlia and 2033!Vax'ildan WHAT: The twins reunite. 💙🖤 WHERE: The Outpost WHEN: March 28, 2033; after the fight and the Outlanders get to safety WARNINGS: None really, beyond typical future Vallo themes
There were still so many things about what was happening that Vex had been struggling to wrap her head around, and being thrust headfirst into a fight the moment she and the other Outlanders had arrived ten years into the future had not done much to help with that process. Less than twenty-four hours ago, she’d been reluctantly kissing Vesper on the forehead as her twin brother held the toddler in his arms and making them both a promise that she would be returning before they could even begin to miss her. There was a small, nagging worry that she was lying to both them and herself. But she had come anyway because she wanted her brother to have a beautiful future in this place–hopefully with her there by his side–and she was willing to do whatever was in her power to assure he got that.
She shrugged the shoulder she’d bruised when she’d been forced to fly into an unyielding tree earlier during the fight and tried to rub the soreness out of her arm. Having her broom had helped her stay mostly free from direct attack and, aside from her entire right side protesting to each step she took at the Outpost to find Vax’ildan, she had left the fight mostly unscathed. Mostly. At least getting a little banged up was better than others had fared in the fight. She’d been aware that the future was bad, but she had been unprepared for how bad it actually was.
Casting looks around the place, she kept looking for that familiar long mane of raven hair, colorful beads braided into it. She assumed he would be here and wasn’t prepared for the potentiality that he might not be. And while she kept an eye out for both Velora and Vesper, too, there was a not small part of her that hoped she didn’t find the latter. After all, she’d already surmised that she was only able to come here because she wasn’t in 2033 to begin with and if she wasn’t here, then–well, she just needed to find her brother. Needed his help to process the things she was still struggling with.
Blowing out a short breath, Vex side-stepped out of the way of someone who was not Vax and cursed at herself almost tripping over someone’s bag on the floor. She tore her eyes away from her search long enough to untangle her foot from the straps. The last thing she needed was more bruises from falling on her ass, too.
It had been seven years since Vax had last seen his sister. It had been before everything had truly gone to shit; the world was starting to get odd, but they were so far from understanding what was to come. Via had only been a baby and it had been nearly a year later before he and Gilmore had brought Jai home to join their family. Vax had gone to bed one night confident in his life and the status quo that he had been living in for six years, then he woke up with his sister and niece swept back to Exandria.
In the time that passed, the thought had become nearly bittersweet. On the one hand, Vex'ahlia's absence was felt as though he was missing a limb. On the other, he was relieved that she was being spared what had become his and the other Outlanders' reality.
That is, of course, until a Prigany psychic decided she needed to make a nearly two-week visit to the future to save all of the worlds.
Also bittersweet, Vax had been reeling in the days that had passed since the announcement of the plan had been made. He wanted to be angry that she was being brought into all of this, but he couldn't tamp down the relief at knowing that he was going to have his twin back, even for a short while. He had told Gilmore almost glibly that he would get the chance to say goodbye this time, but it had been more sincere than he'd perhaps realized--though he suspected that his husband had known the whole time. In the end, his feelings about the situation might have been at war with each other, but it hardly mattered; ready or not, Vex was coming to 2033.
Vax had tried his best not to get in the way when the travelers were brought to the Outpost, but he still couldn't help but stand on the edges, half hid in shadow as he was wont to do. His eyes scanned around, looking for a familiar braid and bow, when they finally dropped on her. His heart all but stopped in his chest for a moment, frozen before he rushed forward without a second thought. As he darted between a few of the others, Vax watched as Vex nearly tripped and looked down, preoccupied as he reached her and immediately threw his arms around her for the first time in far, far too long.
He had thought he would be cool and composed during this reunion, but Vax really should have known better.
For the briefest of moments, Vex thought she’d miscalculated her entanglement and was about to fall on her ass regardless, but then arms tightened around her and there was no mistaking their embrace or the familiar smell of him. Her brother had found her and–though she’d refused to let herself acknowledge the worry that he wouldn’t be here at all, that family had meant everyone but him–she let herself sink into his hug with the kind of relief that could have otherwise brought her to her knees.
Her arms immediately went around him, an audible wince at the way her muscles on her right side protested. She didn’t care, though. He was here. He was here.
“Scrawny,” she breathed, eyes shut tight as she tightened the hug. She hadn’t even had a chance to look at him yet, to see how the years might have changed him, if at all. There was a part of her terrified of doing so because it was a gift that she had been so scared she’d never get to see. But here he was, ten years older, alive. And now she was the twin who’d left him behind. Maybe fixing their worlds would finally give them the chance to grow older together.
As he had gotten older--and, in truth, simply since he'd been in Vallo--Vax had gotten better at just embracing the big emotions that he felt. He didn't know if it was maturity or, in the case of this world of apocolpytic stress and exhaustion, if he was just too tired to hide what he was feeling at all times. Whatever the case, he didn't put up any walls or try to shield his sister from the rush of feelings he was experiencing as he heard the nickname for the first time in years or as he felt her arms tighten around him in a familiar embrace, even with time apart.
"Hey, Stubby." Vax's voice was strained, but no less teasing as it had always been when he used the nickname on her in return. He held her a moment longer, giving one more tight squeeze before backing up enough to look her over, hands coming to rest on her shoulders to allow for space while not letting her go anywhere.
Keen eye looking at how she was holding herself, and also having already gotten word that a skirmish had broken out once the wizards and past Outlanders had arrived once more in 2033, he asked, "Are you hurt?" Vax met Vex's gaze then, suddenly all too aware of the ten year age gap between them; though he hadn't physically aged a day, more or less, thanks to the wonders of elven genetics, he knew that he looked rougher than he once had, beard and tired circles under his eyes and all.
Before she could answer him, Vex lifted a hand to touch his bearded cheek. “What is this?” she asked, an affectionately teasing smile punctuating the question. He was still the same Vax she knew as well as she knew herself, but weathered by what she was realizing were too many hard years. She wanted to regret that, wanted to wish that whatever had happened over the past decade had been kinder to him, but he’d had ten years and there was nothing that could make her sorry for that.
Realizing she hadn’t answered him, though, she brushed his concern off with a dismissive shake of her head and said, “I’m fine. I promise. Just sore.” She rolled her shoulder as though it would be evidence enough that at least nothing felt broken. “It was Laudna. She shot at me with an enchanted gun and I barely missed the blast by flying sideways into a tree. I know this may come as a surprise, but it didn’t feel great.”
Vex’s brow creased in the first obvious display of just how worried the state of this timeline made her. “How many are like that? How many of our people–Outlanders–fighting against us? Am I– Is that why I was able to show up here from the past?”
It was impossible for Vax to not smile at the teasing, particularly about the beard. He tipped his head a bit, pressing into Vex's hand, as though a better angle might make it look, well, better. "Shaun likes it. I threatened to shave it and he said I could, but I crumbled under the bluff." All of which might have been stretching the truth of the conversation to a grand degree, but Vax felt light. This was complicated and would remain complicated, but he had his husband, kids, and, through great feats of magic, his sister back, at least for a bit. The world sucked at large, but it was borderline okay for the moment.
Still, his smile dampened at the mention of Laudna and the other thralls. "There are more than any of us would like. Some people are still working on somehow reversing it, but it's mind-fuckery magic." As someone who had been mind controlled far more than his fair share, it was clear that Vax wasn't optimistic about fixing it--at least, not when Interitus was still walking about. "We're hopeful it'll drop once the asshole controlling them is taken down."
Then, he quickly added to reassure her, "But, no. No, you're not one of them." Vax smiled again, small and a bit sad. "You were returned home. You and Vesper both."
“I’m just impressed that you learned how to grow one finally,” Vex teased again, but let her hand fall to rest on Vax’s arm. Despite everything, she took comfort in the fact that her brother at least looked like he was doing alright for himself given the circumstances. And she made sure to note the present tense of Shaun liking the beard. If he was able to like it, then he was still here, still alive, still himself. Vex could feel the fears she’d had coming here slowly, slowly chipping away.
This was furthered with Vax’s response. Maybe a part of her felt a little guilty for being so relieved that she and Vesper had returned home, but she was. She’d been so afraid of finding out that she had died and left Vesper alone in this timeline, but she hadn’t. Going home was best case scenario, even if the thought of being separated from Vax made her stomach turn.
Nodding as she processed that information, she said, “I’m glad she’s not here, at least. What about Velora? Is she…okay?” She’d take traumatized and jaded, at least, over far worse potentialities.
That small, sad smile of Vax's widened at the mention of Velora, growing almost smirk-like. Though it had been more than a little difficult to get by over the years without Vex, having his younger sister around had softened the blow, just a bit. It had been a damn blessing to have the opportunity to watch her grow into herself and become a headstrong, ridiculously talented twenty-year-old, even when the world went the way that it did.
"Velora is going to be running this place before long," Vax assured her, glancing around the stone walls of the Outpost as demonstration. "She's here and excited to see you. Make sure you ask her about her bow."
At the mention of excited to see you, though, Vax couldn't help but continue, "And I don't want to throw too much at you at once, but I've got kids? You don't have to meet them until you're ready, but." He shrugged his shoulders once, looking a bit sheepish. "They're excited to meet you, too."
Something warm flooded her heart as Vex tried to picture her little sister all grown up. She knew she was missing ten years of memories with Velora, but it wasn’t hard to see her spitfire ten-year-old sister growing into a person that could call the shots. And…her bow? Gods, that made Vex so damn proud. She was already teaching her sister what she could about archery in her own time, but actually hearing that maybe she rubbed off on her in such a significant way made her happier than she could articulate.
“I can’t want to see Velora, too. And your kids,” she said, feeling her eyes filling with happy tears. Happy tears were the last thing she’d expected when she’d come here, but she was glad to be pleasantly surprised by them. “Is it Via? Jai? Hazel? Or is this a different timeline?”
Vex shook her head and held up a hand. “It doesn’t matter. I’m always going to be ready to meet your kids, regardless of whether they’re the ones I would expect, or not. Honestly, darling, I’m just so damned happy to know you and Shaun have good things here, even if the world is clearly shit.”
A brief pang of longing echoed through Vax's heart at the mention of Hazel and the idea of the other children that he and Shaun had expected to one day have. Whether they were safe behind the walls of the fey realm or the circumstances of Interitus just changing how things might have been, Vax didn't know. It was something that he had only brought up to Gilmore a few times, during those stretches where he was able to visit, when Via and Jai were fast asleep and he could use the excuse of darkness and the comforting familiarity of his husband's arms to quietly whisper his mind.
Now wasn't the time to linger on those thoughts, though; perhaps later, but for now he pushed himself to focus on the good. His life was not the one he had expected, with his twin gone for so long and physical distance having had to be made between himself and his husband and children as he fought the good fight and stayed at his younger sister's side. Now his family was together, if only for a short time, and that would have to do for now.
"Via and Jai," Vax supplied, even after Vex said it didn't matter; it didn't, he knew, because she would immediately love any niece or nephew that he gave her. "The situation isn't ideal, but we make it work. Usually Shaun and the kids are elsewhere, for their own safety." He shrugged a shoulder, as though it was no big thing despite knowing she would see through him and to the core that it was absolutely a big thing. Vax then quickly added, "Sorcerers, all three of them. Magic being what it is, he's trying to teach them control, so--it's just safer for everyone."
Realizing that the smile he'd been trying to keep on his face was growing rather dim, Vax let out a breath and tried again and delivered the better news. "They're here now, though."
Putting the pieces together to form a more solid picture of her brother’s life here was more than just a little heartbreaking for Vex to hear. She wanted a future for him and maybe she was selfish enough to want him to have one even if he swung the pendulum all the way over to completely fucking miserable in it, but that didn’t mean she didn’t hope for more. She could appreciate that he had Shaun, and she loved that he had a family he was actively watching grow. Living primarily apart from them, though? Having to miss the little details in the everyday because he had to fight for and protect them?
This was why she was here.
She would do whatever was necessary to make sure he continued his life here with the people he loved. Vex might not be here for the long term, but she was here now and she was going to make that count for Vax’s future.
Expression softening as tears pricked at the corners of her eyes, Vex lifted a hand again to touch Vax’s cheek and then pulled him back into a hug. She pulled herself so close to him that she hoped he would feel it even once she returned to her own time. “Let’s go see them, then,” she said. “I’ll share the fresh pastries I packed for the trip.”
Vax's eyes fluttered closed as he let himself just feel the hug from his sister, his own arms tight around her. It had been too long, far too long and once more his thoughts lingered on how he was going to be expected to go back to way things were once this was all done and over with and their displaced Outlander loved ones returned to their proper place. Would their actions be enough to keep Vex from disappearing at all? Would all of their work and sacrifices mean that there would be a version of himself that would get to keep his family together in Vallo? Would they all be able to be happy, content, safe?
By all the gods, he truly hoped so.
With one more tight squeeze, Vax let go of his twin, but still reached down to take hold of her hand. They had been apart so long for him, surely she could forgive a touch of affection. "C'mon, then," he said, tugging her along. "They're excited to meet you."