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[roseredheart.insanejournal.com]

Characters: Erato, Achilles
Date/Time: Evening of Saturday, December 17th
Location: Erato's home
Rating: TBD
Warnings: Much cuteness, emotions running high.
Summary: After so long, the Muse is about to see her hero again...

It was a quiet December night. Erato's parents had gone out to a holiday party, but the little Muse had stayed home. She'd found a book to read, and was sitting next to a merrily crackling fire with a cup of cocoa, her cat Delilah purring contentedly at her side.

It was nice, but admittedly a little lonely. Erato glanced at the mistletoe hanging from the ceiling. Not real mistletoe, but the sentiment was there all the same. She missed Achilles. How could things have gone so wrong from something she couldn't even remember? But, it wasn't the first time in his history he'd insisted on sitting things out for a while until he dealt with them. It probably wouldn't be the last. Still, it had only been two weeks in the Greek camp. With her, it had been more than two months. Wouldn't he ever come around?

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[akhilles-heel.insanejournal.com]

Being alone was something Achilles was quite comfortable with, it suited him, but he'd remembered what it felt like to have someone to protect when he met his little Muse. In the wake of these events that had unfolded Achilles felt as if he'd failed her. He'd failed to protect her innocence when what was unfolding between then was so endearing. It had been tainted.

Achilles had put space between them while he had time to figure things out. He needed to keep himself calm or he'd regret what he might do in return. He'd spent king enough pouting now, Erato didn't deserve his vengance.

He knocked on her door hoping she was there.

[roseredheart.insanejournal.com]

The knock startled her. The man on the other side of the door startled her even more.

"Achilles..."

A hundred emotions seemed to hit her at once. A thousand questions raced through her mind. So much she had wanted to say, wanted to ask, but the words just evaporated in her mouth, leaving her speechless. Tears began to well in her blue eyes--eyes that still held much of that innocence, though there was a sadness in them now as well. Yes, she had been tainted, but she wasn't lost.

[akhilles-heel.insanejournal.com]

She looked so shaken, all he wanted to do was curl her into his arms. He stood however, strong and stern without words to give her. Then those tears fell and he sat a hand atop her head. His fingers stroked softly, pressing her in close, but there was still some space between them.

[roseredheart.insanejournal.com]

"I... I'm sorry..." she said softly, swiping the tears off her cheeks. "...I've missed you. So much..."

[akhilles-heel.insanejournal.com]

Achilles took a deep sigh, looking towards the ceiling. His chest felt tight the more tears she let fall. It wasn't a sight he liked to see, especially not from a girl who had started to wiggle into his life. Into his heart.

A shaky hand drew her hair back from her eyes, sliding it behind her ear. "I didn't protect you," he finally said. Always the deep warrior who put the situation on himself. He was the blame for Patroclus' fall. He was the blame for Erato here.

[roseredheart.insanejournal.com]

She shook her head.
"I don't remember anything of it. But I was told you were there. You came to rescue me."

[akhilles-heel.insanejournal.com]

"I did come. Not for Apollo or at his request. I came to rescue from the madness, but it had already begun. I shouldn't have let you from my sight." The maenads had even been too strong for him to ward off. He'd killed one with his own hands. A woman who outside of her possessed body was just a mere mortal.

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"I don't... I don't think you could have stopped it," she said, "Even if... even if it was like when we spent those weeks together all the time..."

Her breath hung misty in the cold air.
"Do... do you want to come in?"

[akhilles-heel.insanejournal.com]

It wasn't a matter of if he could stop it, it was a matter that he should have stopped it. This drew him back to the past, a time where women were nothing but mere slaves to those of war. Erato was different, she deserved better than that. To know what she'd been through it put a sore spot in his heart.

He stepped inside without saying another word, releasing her from his hold.

[roseredheart.insanejournal.com]

Erato sat down next to the fire again, carefully moving aside her mug of cocoa.
"I guess I'm not really sure what to say. I'm sorry to have put everyone through that. Especially you," she sighed, "But... no matter what did, or didn't, happen, please know that I never stopped loving you." She shook her head, her eyes still bright from the shine of tears. "Not once. Not even for an instant. And I still do."

[akhilles-heel.insanejournal.com]

"You deserve more than that. An apology I wasn't able to give you." His eyes fell from her gaze, taking a seat beside her. He was doing as well as he could to keep his heart unblocked from hurt but it was there. His guard was up, but he should have guarded her from himself.

"For that I am sorry."

[roseredheart.insanejournal.com]

"I forgive you," Erato said, gently laying her hand over his, "I just hope you can forgive me. There's so much I'm still trying to learn about who I'm supposed to be. But I still want it to be our story, as we find our glory again together."

[akhilles-heel.insanejournal.com]

She seemed so innocent now compared to the ordeals she'd been through. "You might not remember what's been done to you, but I do," he whispered, chin resting atop her head as he lay an ARM over her shoulders.

[roseredheart.insanejournal.com]

"I have no way to undo the past," she said, nestling into that embrace, "I suppose the question now is "Where do we go from here?" Do we find a way past this, or..." Erato's voice broke. She couldn't bring herself to finish the question. She didn't want to say 'goodbye.'

[akhilles-heel.insanejournal.com]

Achilles refused to give her an answer right away, his fingers delicately playing within her hair. He swallowed, not able to hear those tears in her voice without feeling guilty. "What is it you want?"

[roseredheart.insanejournal.com]

"I want to be with you. I love you," Erato said, "I know it won't always be easy. I'm still coming to terms with being a Muse and what powers my sphere holds, and you have your own troubles still to confront. But, if we work together to triumph over these difficulties, I know it'll be worth it. Of that much I'm sure."