Private Sands of Time, Always Ticking

[Colette]

Valery Noble

"Oof!" Colette huffed as she felt the arms of a child wrap around her. She slowly sunk to her knees and twisted around to hoist Aurra in the air. "You did, you got me!"

She caught that joy in the child's eyes and felt a warmth in her heart. The child-like innocence, the way she had yet to be embittered by the reality of the galaxy. A version of Aurra that would go away sooner or later.

Was this how Nix had felt when she and Colette had done this?
Was this why she had…

Colette eased the kid down to the ground, her eyes fixated on the clouds in the sky above with a blank, hollow stare. Somewhere beyond that sky of blue was a star around which a miniscule little planet circled with a people kept together by their traditions. Traditions that Colette had been once been part of but could no longer take part in.

A tear slowly pushed its way from her eye followed by another one. And another one. And yet another one. It took great effort but she managed to sit herself up, arms wrapped around her knees as the pain began to unfold.

She wanted so desperately to pretend her loss of ties to her past didn't hurt, but it did. It hurt so incredibly much more than she had expected.

 

[Valery Noble]

Aurra's laughter rang out for a few more seconds as she darted around Colette's knees, but then she stopped. The change in Colette's expression was enough to pull the little girl up short, and soon the other two joined her. Adam and Aeryn moved in, their small arms wrapping around Colette from either side as Aurra leaned in again, pressing her face into Colette's shoulder to offer comfort the best way she could.

Valery had been watching from only a few steps away. She crossed the short distance to Colette and settled her hand gently on Colette's shoulder, steady and warm.

"Hey," Valery said softly, her tone motherly and comforting. She crouched down just enough to be on level with her. "It's okay to cry."

Her gaze stayed with Colette, giving her space while the children stayed close in their embrace.

Colette ​

 

[Colette]

Valery Noble

And cry Colette did, even as she felt the love washed upon her. She cried because she knew it would make her feel better, and she cried because it meant that she had lost something beautiful to her, but most of all she cried because in a brief moment of joy she had seen for herself why Nix wished she would stay away.

"She is scared of me." Colette sobbed. "Of how the galaxy has changed me. That I'm no longer that child."

"She's scared of change." She sniveled. "They're all scared of me because I…"

"I changed."

 

[Valery Noble]

Valery stayed there with her, fingers steady on Colette's shoulder, the sound of the children's soft breaths mingling with the quiet sobs. She let a few moments pass, letting Colette's words settle, before she spoke.

"Change is never easy," Valery said, keeping her gaze steady on Colette's tear-streaked face. "For you, for them. You've grown, and growth always carries pieces of who you were and pieces of who you are now. That can be frightening to people who only know the child you used to be."

She shifted slightly, her hand brushing lightly down Colette's arm in a comforting gesture. "But change does not make you someone to fear. It makes you someone who has lived, someone who has fought and survived. If they truly care for you, in time they will understand that. Even if their lives are now separate from yours."

Valery's smile was soft, meant only for Colette. "Do not ever feel ashamed of who you have become. Let them have their feelings, but do not let those feelings make you doubt yourself. You deserve love for who you are now, and who you want to be. Not just who you were."

Colette ​

 

[Colette]

Valery Noble

There were points that Colette wanted to argue against as Valery spoke of change, but the energy had been sapped straight out of her. She gently let herself linger in the soft embrace of her new caring family and let the tears stream as freely as they had to.

Change was easy, actually. Every waking moment was one change after the other. Every second — for as pointless as the idea of a 'second' ever had been — was an imprint of the self. It was an irreversible picture only the force could observe. It told of who you were, where you were, what you were doing, and feeling, and thinking. It was the beauty of life and perhaps even the unstoppable current embedded within the force itself that drove it forward. Nothing remained the same, everything changed even if it was just a little and Colette was no exception.

But, the words or desire to speak of this did not strike Colette. She just smiled through her tears and pursed her lips to stave off the worst of her moment of despair.

"Thank you," She sobbed. "I love you."

"All of you, so much. You make my life so beautiful to live."

 

[Valery Noble]

The embrace lingered longer than it needed to, but none of them were in any rush to let go. Aeryn had her arms wrapped around Colette's middle, her head pressed against her shoulder. Adam clung just as tightly from the other side, and little Aurra had made her way in, arms barely reaching as she wedged herself between them.

"I love you too!" Aurra beamed up, her voice small but sure.

"Me too," Adam added, his voice muffled slightly against Colette's robes.

Valery stood behind them, one hand resting gently on Colette's back, the other brushing a few loose strands of hair behind her daughter's ear. Her eyes glistened, but there were no tears, just motherly warmth.

"And I love all of you," she said, her voice steady and soft. "So much." They stayed like that for another moment before Aeryn finally pulled back with a little sniffle, wiping her nose with the sleeve of her tunic. She looked up at Colette, smile slowly returning, the energy already returning to her gremlin eyes.

"Do you wanna play more?" she asked. "Or go for a walk?" Valery let out a soft laugh in response and looked to Colette with a small nod. The little ones were very fond of her and clearly wanted more of her attention.

Colette ​

 

[Colette]

Valery Noble

She could drown in this moment, suffocate on the love and die with a happy smile on her lips as she shed this mortal coil if she so wished. But she didn't want that, and so she wouldn't. Colette felt her tears pour down her cheeks for a moment longer before they slowly stopped altogether. She wiped the wet trails from her face and sniveled one more time as the children all began to let go.

"We can do both." She said and chuckled through another wet snivel. "I just have to get back into it. Get myself up off the ground, and—" She pushed against her knee to get back up on her feet again. "-get ready to chase you guys again."

She let out a gentle sigh.

"Just, remember these days when you grow up. You mean a lot, to a lot of people."

 

[Valery Noble]

"I will never forget!"

Aurra usually wasn't the first triplet to speak, but when it came to her big sister, she was always at the front. Colette was strong and sometimes stubborn, scary to the people who meant harm, but also gentle. She showed love to people and animals alike, so whenever she was near, Aurra felt safe and at peace. She felt understood and seen.

"Yeah!" Aeryn chimed in, "But you still won't find us!"

Adam grinned, knowing exactly what his sister meant, "Hide and seek?" They had already done plenty of chasing, so why not a little hiding? They loved the rush of waiting, hoping to not be discovered, and if they were... they'd have one last chance to run!

"That sounds like a fun plan," Valery agreed, her smile even warmer than before, "A game of hide and seek, and then we'll walk home, but the long way around. We'll pick up some ice cream on the way back."

"Yay!" all three chirped in unison.

"What do you think, Colette?"

Colette ​

 

[Colette]

Valery Noble

"Good!" Colette smiled back at Aurra. She turned to Aeryn. "Hmmm?"

Aaaaand they were off. She couldn't help but laugh and rub her eyes one last time to get whatever remained of her drying tears. All things considered it felt good to have cried. Not that Colette wished to cry more often, but the feeling it left in its wake and the tiredness was unmatched when it came to getting good sleep.

"I think ice cream would be great for them." She said and looked up at the sky. "It's pretty warm outside."

"Maybe one of those fruity crushed ice things for me." Colette pondered for a bit longer and slowly nodded. "As long as I don't drink it too fast, I guess."

"What about you? Feeling fruity or are you getting that nut treat you showed me before?"

 

[Valery Noble]

Valery watched the triplets take off into the trees, laughter trailing behind them as their little feet darted between bushes and tree trunks. They had already vanished into the thicker parts of the forest trail, but she could still sense them nearby. All three of them were having the time of their lives.

With a smirk tugging at the corner of her lips, she let out a soft chuckle. "They're deep in the woods already. I give it five minutes before Aeryn tries to climb a tree again." She turned to Colette with a grin, eyes playful. "The nut treat, huh?" She hummed as if thinking, then gave the younger woman a sideways glance. "I'm getting that later tonight."

She didn't elaborate, but there was an even bigger smirk, as she thought about Kahlil Noble .

"But alright, something fruity it is." She reached up to brush a few loose strands of hair from her face and looked toward the trees. "Come on, let's go find our little wildlings before they start digging tunnels or setting traps."

Her hand gestured toward the path ahead, already moving into a soft jog down the trail.

Colette ​

 

[Colette]

Valery Noble

Five minutes? Valery was being generous. Colette looked back towards where she had last seen the triplets before they darted off into the wilds and then shook her head with a gentle smile. Although it didn't last for long, her brows rose in surprise as she looked back at Valery.

"Oh! Date night?" She asked and missed the entire point of what Valery was hinting at. "Well, nuts for two then I guess. Anyway…"

She tilted her head over towards the kids and hopped into a faster jog. Of course she knew where they were, for as clever as they were they were still kids. They would adapt, but she had at least a year or two more before their brainpower could truly shock her.

"Ready or not," She exclaimed. "Here I come!"

It was a good time to be alive. Even if the coming weeks would sting a little more than usual.