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.

As Arianda uttered those words and laid against her, Sabriel could not honestly remember having ever felt so happy and content. To be with someone who actually thought of her as a partner rather than simply a walking sex machine. It filled her with such intense joy that she briefly chided herself for being so adverse to it in the past. How could feeling like this possibly be wrong? How could having such a delightful person to count on as Arianda be a negative? Oh, how she hated her aspect just then and the dark haired woman made a promise to herself just then to do her utmost to never become a slave to it again.

“I know and whatever happens, I will never feel alone again. With you by my side, there is no need for me to fear and regardless of what comes from my terrible mistake, there will always be a place for me here to return to.” Sabriel replied sincerely, every word spoken in a sweet and tender tone. “I do not know what will come of all of this and I hate the fact that I may draw you into it but I know this much. The world does not seem as dark as it did when I walked through your door.”

Thinking a little deeper, a smile would cross her face. “You were worried about confessing, were you not? Concerned that maybe I would react strongly and head for the hills at the first mention of love?” She knew Arianda well enough to ask such questions, knowing that the white haired woman would be perfectly honest with her.

It felt so wonderfully strange to feel such peace, having only minutes ago be in the throes of absolute misery. Never has Sabriel felt such contentment and all from such a simple confession. It sounded almost daft that such an act could bring such a change but there it was. The solution to her torment had been there for her all along. She just had to finally find the courage to reach out and discover it. The pain she felt did not seem so overbearing now that it was shared and the Arrancar had never felt so grateful to be in the arms of anyone as she did just then.

She was in love.

Just thinking those words seemed to cause a smile to cross her face, words that seemed to go against everything she stood for. For a woman of lust and hormonal drives, a creature who spent nights sleeping with everyone under the sun, one who could never be committed to just a single person. Yet, now she realised that there was more to love than just what the humans believed. It did not have to be as black and white as what they decreed. Why should she and Arianda live according to the creed of humans anyway? They could find their own way.

“I confess that the strength of my own feelings have taken me by surprise as well but I cannot deny them. We have known each other for what has only been a short period in our long lives and yet I feel closer to you than anyone I have ever met already. I understand why you were hesitant and even the me of a little while ago might have been spooked but the Sabriel of today? No. I am happiest when I am in your arms and that is what I have learned during my time together.” The Arrancar replied, whatever was left of her miserable exterior to fade away entirely.

As Arianda looked up at her with those beautiful blue eyes, Sabriel would lean down and kiss her fellow Arrancar with all the tenderness in her body and soul. Yet, despite the amount of times they had locked lips, there seemed to be an extra touch of magic to this one, as though the dark haired woman truly was accepting her feelings, combining her soul with Arianda’s just for a moment.

She was starting to feel strangely fuzzy inside, a warmness that seemed to envelop her whole body, resonating from her chest. What it was in the moment was unknown to her but it was most pleasant.

Cheesiness was not something that Sabriel dwelled upon too much and she simply appreciated Arianda’s words for what they were, holding the beautiful woman in her arms. She could have stayed there for eternity, simply appreciating having someone in her life that truly wanted her, warts and all, as humans liked to say. The dark haired woman honestly started to feel that she could say anything and Arianda would understand, a feeling that she had never truly felt before towards another. Forever the deceiver, Sabriel had always had a rather forked tongue and yet with the Arrancar in her arms, she honestly felt that she did not have to speak in any way other than with pure honesty. It would have been frightening, if it did not give her such relief.

Yet the position they were in soon changed and Sabriel found herself where she had so often during their time together, on her back and at the mercy of Arianda. The purple eyes of the Arrancar would gaze up to meet Arianda, looking briefly confused as to just what was going on. Frankly, she was not truly in the mood for their usual play, even now and while she was willing to indulge the white haired woman, Sabriel herself was more than satisfied with just some quiet time between them.

Then the reason was explained to her and Sabriel cocked a brow, her confusion mounting as to what she had just heard. A heartbeat? Her? The idea sounded ridiculous at first and Sabriel originally planned on stating that to Arianda but instead she briefly waited and focused within, that warm fuzziness continuing to flood her body. It was awfully bizarre and the dark haired woman pondered if perhaps that was the explanation. Was she going through some kind of change? Had recent events changed her more than she could have imagined?

“Check my right ankle, Arianda, the source of my Hollow hole. Tell me what you see.” Sabriel suggested, not fully believing what she was hearing but also knowing that Arianda would never lie or joke with her in such a way.

It was a bizarre feeling for certain and Sabriel was unsure of what to make of what was going on at first and until she actually looked at her foot with her own eyes, she was still disbelieving. An Arrancar with a closed hole was not a common occurrence and the dark haired woman did not know anyone who had been through such a strange transition. Yet, the evidence was there and all she could was accept what she was seeing, hearing and feeling. As she dwelled on it, Sabriel had to admit that it explained some of the oddness that she had been experiencing.

“I have never seen anything like it.” She replied in an astonished tone, uncertain as to how to feel about this new experience. A part of her was concerned that there was something wrong going on and that her recent unhappiness was causing her to spiral out of control. Yet, the stronger and far more prudent part, mused that it was more likely to have come from her feelings of remorse and regret, not to mention her affection for her beloved Arianda. Surely that made more sense than her initial worries.

Eventually, a smile would return to her face once her musing was done. “Well, I am going to take it as another sign that my feelings for you are genuine and that my place is here by your side. I have no idea whether my hole closing will eventually lead to me regaining what I have lost but I know that my best chance of doing so is while I am in the arms of the one I love.”

With that said, she would sit up and draw her beautiful white haired lover into her arms again, making sure that Arianda’s head was once again leaning against her chest. “Tell me again that you hear my heart beat.” She requested gently, becoming more at ease with the idea as time passed.