Private Freedom is Not for the Weik

[Kirie]

"I think I can place us near the time you would have left. We could visit her… change that thread of reality. You could tell her again how you feel—and she'd know you're safe, and loved."

"You would do that for me?" Kirie asked Quinn seriously. It sounded monumental, and act with potentially far reaching consequence to benefit only her. But she also knew Quinn did not make such offers lightly. If she knew a way to do it and keep them safe, then Kirie trusted that.

"Okay." said Kirie. "I want you to meet her too. I want to do it."

The second time around, the transportation into the memory came easier. Maybe it was because she knew what it would feel like, maybe it was because their first trip had frayed the strands of reality enough to step through. Or maybe, it was because this was a memory she actually wanted to see. A memory she wanted to influence.

Kirie closed her eyes and focused on the day that she had left Weik. Cold and clear, with clouds rolling in from the horizon. Frost clinging to everything, the town looking so small on the speeder ride out the valley to the spaceport. Even smaller watching it recede out the viewport. She had no trouble picturing the day, every moment was seared into her memory. But which moment to take them to? She decided on around when she had left the house for the final time, trudging down the long drive to the waiting speeder. That was the closest she could place them so that she knew her mum would be there. Kirie would just have to make sure she stayed out of her own way.

The air turned cold and sharp, and the rushing sound in Kirie's ears faded into familiar ambient sounds of nature. With her hand still tightly linked with Quinn's, Kirie opened her eyes. They had moved to the path outside the house, a few dozen paces from the front door. Kirie tugged on Quinn's arm and pulled them off the path, concealing the pair of them behind some small conifers. If she had timed this right...

Yes. Kirie's ears picked out a muffled voice and she motioned for Quinn to get down lower. A split second later, the front door slid open, and someone stepped outside. It was herself, looking less beat-up than the memory at the crash site, less downtrodden than she did now, but still melancholy. Kirie watched herself as she stopped at the door, looked back for a long moment, and continued down the drive before disappearing into the distance. Off to change her life forever, just not in the ways she was expecting.

The coast was clear, so Kirie carefully stood up and crept towards the door, her hand still in Quinn's trying her best to ignore the sick anxious feeling in her chest. Thankfully, the urgent pressure to keep moving stopped her from getting bogged down. Surely they only had so much time before she lost her chance. Kirie keyed the door and it slid open silently, revealing a house that was warm, and lit, and devoid of dust. A house that was alive.

"Kirie?"

A voice rang out from the kitchen, hitting her in the chest like a sledgehammer. Frozen, she let Quinn push her across the threshold, her legs jelly, brain scrambling, until she caught sight of her. Kara Corsell was tall muscled, with hair the same colour as Kirie's, but twice as long, running free down her back. She was wearing her usual apron stained with the wood oils she used to make tools, furniture and decor out of Weik's many fine varieties of trees. Where Kirie had inherited her father's wide brown eyes, Kara's were sharp and icy, brimming with humour and intellect in equal measure.

Kirie, for her part, immediately burst into tears. Unable to hold back any longer she broke away from Quinn and ran into her mother's arms, taking in the scent of varnish and wood shavings just in case she never got the chance to experience it again.

"Didn't you just leave? What are you wearing?" Kara's voice was confused, concerned. Kirie felt Kara eyeing her up and down as she huddled against her. Noticing the way her hair was longer, her shoulders more set. Her scars. Kirie thanked the stars her brand had been removed. That would have broken her mother's heart. "What's going on, Kirie?"

"It's... Hard to explain." said Kirie, looking back at Quinn for assistance. With Quinn's help, she tried to run through the details. At first, she had only wanted to explain that she was visiting from another time, but as she spoke the details spilled out more and more. She told Kara of the crash, of being picked up by the Kainites, then finding Quinn, and working to get back the Weik. The only thing Kirie omitted was telling her mum about coming back to find the house empty. It felt wrong to say it so outright, like a portent of doom, and the cogs were still turning in her mind, so she left it out.

"Oh Kirie." said Kara, pulling her back into a strong embrace. "I'm sorry. I thought that in sending you away, I was giving you the chance at a better life. If I'd have known..." Kara sounded mournful, but she did not weep. Her mother was stoic that way.

"It's okay, Mum." Kirie said, her voice muffled. She extricated herself from Kara's strong arms, linking her hand with Quinn's again and pulling her close. "My life is better than it ever could have been here. It's just... Complicated. But I have a safe, nice place to life, good work and food, and someone to love who will protect me with her life." She smiled shyly at Quinn and gave her a nudge.

"Mum, this is Quinn."

Quinn Varanin ​

 

[Quinn Varanin]

//: Kirie //:

She had done it. Quinn had finally made a promise that she could keep. The power that was at her fingertips was raw and addictive. They were in the past, a moment in time that changed the course of Kirie's life. Maybe there was a way, Quinn thought quietly as she looked over her shoulder — waiting for the past Kirie to wander off, heading into the danger that Quinn could easily prevent.

If she did, how would Kirie's life change? Would she stay on Weik? From what she gathered, the young woman was miserable here, but she was also safe. The bigger question would be if Kirie would even bother hearing her out. At this point, Kirie didn't know Quinn — if she did, Quinn was only a name. She did a quick calculation and realized she was still in her reclusion.

If her name was used in the media, it was an embarrassment.

'Sad Princess Quinn is a no-show again.'

'Princess Quinn, still no news'

'Princess Quinn is a hoax — really died on Exogol.'

Her eyes continued to follow Kirie, weighing her options. If she had convinced the other Kirie, their relationship might never have happened. She pressed her tongue to the back of her teeth as she began to make up her mind. Being with her was dangerous; maybe this was for the best.

Kirie then moved, the one from her time, grasping Quinn's hand and dragging her from changing the Weikian woman's fate further. The other Kirie disappeared over the horizon — off to experience one of the worst days of her life. Her heart broke knowing that she couldn't stop it. Quinn was helpless.

Though there was a part of her — the selfish part of her that was utterly content with the storyline they were following. In this timeline, she was able to keep Kirie. Even with all the bad, there was so much good.

Quinn followed, nervous, wondering what the woman who raised Kirie was like. Was she kind? Would she accept her? So many questions swirled in the Echani's mind, not even thinking about how they were going to explain changing the reality of time itself, and that in a few months or so, she would be gone…

She walked, assuming Kirie would enter the room. However, when she didn't, she was forced to push the poor woman into the house that had been her home for so many years. They were greeted, and Quinn took in the sight of the mother. She seemed warm, welcoming — unlike the mothers she had known, who had so much of the galaxy weighing on them.

Still, the warmth behind her winter eyes reminded the Princess of Srina. There was the familiar love that she had grown used to as a child.

They explained, and Quinn mostly listened, only stepping in to clarify the phenomena that brought them here. She didn't want to interrupt this moment. If anything, it was going to be the last moment that Kirie was going to be able to have with her mother. If Quinn could alter time enough, maybe she could save her? Luckily, time was fluid, and she had time to figure this out.

She would figure this out.

Quinn snapped out of her musings as she heard her name. It wasn't how she expected to be introduced; she had figured Kirie would have given a title or something along those lines. Though Weik was outside of the Empire's borders — they were free from the Blackwall, but seemingly still suffering like many of the outlying planets.

Again, she pulled herself back into the moment.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," And with a grace that had been carved into her bones, the Princess curtsied to the mother of her love. Standing back up, she looked at both of them. She realized she was not among the nobles and royalty, and this was probably not something typically done.

The porcelain skin of the Princess blossomed into a heavy blush as she looked almost mortified at the crime she had just committed.

"I-I-" Quinn tried to let her mind catch up; she had never been in this situation. When she was introduced to Prazutis, this was fine — he bowed back and then they weren't along their noble highbrow ways.

Quinn looked to Kirie for help, but knew she needed to prove that her love and care were all Kirie required in the future when her mother was no longer able to help. An arm snaked carefully around Kirie's waist, and Quinn cleared her throat — the blush still staining her face now rose from her neck to her ears.

"I love Kirie a lot and...um," The Princess went through the list of things she loved about Kirie. Most inappropriate for a mother to hear about their daughter. This only made Quinn blush deeper as she quickly recovered the best she could.

"She makes me very happy, and I hope I do the same for her."