Hold Me Tight
Author: Aki
Focus: Thuban/Morphia
Rating: PG
It was rare for Thuban to feel sick, especially enough so that he woke up in the middle of the night. So that night, four days after his marriage to Morphia, that he felt inexplicably nauseated he immediatly worried. Eyes closed, he pawed around in bed, searching for her shoulder or back to snuggle up against. When he couldn't find any such source of warmth he opened his eyes and looked around. Even without his glasses he saw that Queen Polaris was not there. When he put them on, he was shocked to find that not only was she not there but that her side was completly unmussed, even though she was the most restless, blanket-stealing sleeper he knew of.
Thuban immediatly got out of bed and stumbled down the hall, looking for his wife. The bathroom wasn't being used, she hadn't wandered to the library, she hadn't snuck down to munch on a snack in the kitchen. He searched high and low across the castle, absolutely panicked, having no idea where she could have gone. It seemed that she had merely disappeared altogether. He traversed back to their bedroom, a wreck. He stood outside on the bedroom balcony, tired from lack of sleep and still searching for her.
Finally, he saw her.
She was standing outside in the garden, standing on a rock and looking at the night sky. As fast as his feet could could carry him, the glasses-wearing husband of Polaris hurried down to her. "Morphia, what in the stars' name are you doing out here?" He called out to her.
She turned, eyes half closed and dazed looking. "I saw a lovely star. I wanted to watch it."
With a sumblimely pitiful look, he whimpered, "At least tell me where you're going! You scared me half to death! I thought you'd just vanished."
"Oh, Thuban. Don't be silly. I didn't vanish and I'm sure I never will." She said softly, jumping down and hugging him.
"B-better not." He sniffled and clung to her like a life preserver. Thuban cried and held onto her as they both walked back up into their room, not caring if his wife thought he was acting far too emotional. "Promise me you won't leave telling me."
Morphia hesitated for a moment as she climbed back into bed, "Fine. I promise that I will never leave without telling you."
"Good." He sniffled again and fell asleep, still clinging to her.
When he woke up the next morning, she was gone, completely this time. There was no sign of her anywhere on Polaris, anywhere in Bootes, anywhere on Callisto or Draco or Ursa Major. The strange thing was, he could've sworn he had woken up to her voice saying, "You will find me again. I believe in you."
Back to Aki's fiction.