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Sky enjoys living at the school with his papa. And Aunt Fa. And Uncle Ben. And especially with Terra and Sam; he loves playing with his friends! Which he is doing right now while Aunt Fa is teaching the older kids. She made them a little nook in her classroom where they can be as loud as they want without anyone caring, since the woman has put up a shield around them. They can step in and out whenever they want, but Aunt Fa told them to be quiet when they come out. So, they mostly stay in their little corner and play.
Terra is currently telling him a story about an adventure she went on when her mother was still alive. Sky is listening intently when a sudden thought strikes him. He looks down at the stuffed toy he’s idly playing with; Aunt Fa gave it to him for his last birthday.
“Ter?”
“Hm?”, she hums, interrupting her story easily.
“What is a mom?”, he asks quietly, eyes still on the toy.
He feels both of his friends still around him, probably exchanging looks in that odd way the siblings sometimes do.
“Mom… A mom is someone who loves you.”, Sam quips, shuffling a bit closer to Sky’s side.
Terra mirrors her brother until they’re all pressed together.
“Mom cared for us, too. When we got hurt or had a nightmare. She made us smile whenever she could.”, the girl mutters.
“She gave us lots of kisses, too!”, her brother adds quickly.
Sky nods as he thinks it over.
“She gave great hugs… And she never told Dad about the extra cookies after dinner.”, Flora smiles.
“But aren’t moms always with dads?”, the blond boy wonders.
“Maybe… But I don’t think it has to be like that. Why are you asking, Sky?”
The boy shrugs, unwilling to tell them his thoughts right now. The siblings just nod, noting their friends mood shift and falling quiet in turn. They just sit until the bell rings, signalling the end of the lesson. Sky immediately gets to his feet and hurries towards Aunt Fa who’s just gathering papers from the students’ tables. He practically barrels into her legs, wrapping one arm around them while the other keeps his toy clutched to his chest.
“Sky? Hey, are you okay, sweetheart?”, the woman asks gently, placing the papers down so she can lift his face to look at him.
He whimpers softly, suddenly feeling like he’s about to cry with all the thoughts and emotions running through his head. Immediately, warmth engulfs him, and he’s lifted into his aunt’s arms. She hums into his ear soothingly as he clutches at her until his inner turmoil finally subsides. He snuggles into her arms a bit less tense, and his Aunt Fa picks up the papers again before moving towards her big desk at the front of the classroom. Ter and Sam are still in the corner, playing a clapping game, it looks like. Sky buries his face in the fairy’s neck, breathing in the calming scent of her perfume.
“Sweetheart, what’s going on, hm?”, she asks gently as she sits down and places him in her lap.
“Nuthin…”
“That’s not true. If you don’t want to tell me, that’s fine, but please don’t lie to me, okay?”
The child nods against her neck.
“Would seeing your papa help?”, she offers.
“Yes, please.”
“Good, then let’s bring Terra and Sam to their dad, and then we’ll search for papa.”
Sky nods again and stays firmly planted in his aunt’s arms. He hears her chuckle softly, but she never tries to put him down. Instead, she walks over to the playing nook with him in her arms and smiles down at Sam and Terra.
“Are you two ready to go? Sky and I’ll bring you to the greenhouse, to see your dad.”, Farah smiles at the siblings, who agree easily enough.
They grab their little bags before Terra grabs Farah’s free hand, while Sam takes his sister’s hand. Together, they leave the classroom, the few students they meet on their way cooing at the adorable picture the little group makes. Farah tries to ignore it, she’s still getting used to being the headmistress and what kind of image she wants to portray – but the kids make any embarrassment that might befall her worth it.
Soon after, they reach the greenhouse where Ben is still cleaning up from the lesson. He smiles at them as they come in, lowering himself to one knee as his children run towards him.
“Hello, kiddos. You’re earlier than usual.”, the professor huffs amusedly.
“I know, but Sky really wants to see his dad, so I hurried a bit. That’s okay, right?”, Farah asks.
“Of course, I was just surprised.”, Ben smiles and waves her worry away.
Farah can’t help but return the smile before saying goodbye to the kids. Sky merely waves, still a bit quieter than usual. They leave the greenhouse and slowly make their way towards the training grounds where the specialists have most of their lessons. And Saul is well-known for doing after-lesson-talks with his students, so Farah is confident to find him there. Sky slowly perks up as they exit the school building, telling her about the walk he and his father did yesterday. Farah listens happily, worry fading away the longer the boy talks. Finally, they reach the training platforms and see Saul standing near the last one with a few students around him. Sky wiggles slightly to be put down, and as soon as Farah lets go of him, he’s off towards the older Specialist.
Saul, of course, notices his son’s arrival way before the kid actually reaches him, but he pretends to be oblivious until Sky jumps him from behind. The students clap excitedly as Saul drops to the ground as if he’s been hit by a way heavier person than little Sky, and the boy giggles as he proudly seats himself on his father’s back.
“Well done, Sky!”, one of the students grins and gives the boy a high-five.
“You’re dismissed, get going.”, Saul chuckles and carefully shakes his son off his back before sweeping him up in his arms.
The students say their goodbyes, nodding at Farah as they pass her on their way to the dorms. Sky snuggles into his father’s chest while Saul carefully gets to his feet and turns to smile at Farah.
“Hey, you’re earlier than usual.”
“Well, Sky wanted to see you.”, she shrugs as she finally reaches the pair.
The specialist frowns at her for a moment before glancing at Sky.
“Is that so, buddy?”
“Mhm. Missed you.”, the kid whispers, hiding his face in the crook of his father’s neck.
Saul’s frown deepens, and he looks at Farah for something, but all she can do is shrug.
“Do you need me to cancel the after-school-club, Sky?”, the man asks gently.
“No… But can I stay with Aunt Fa, please?”
Farah’s heart melts a bit. Usually, the kid spends the hour his dad does his little self-defence club with the Harveys, since Farah needs to do paperwork and other administrative things to keep the school running. But to hear him ask for her when he’s obviously not feeling his best is making her feel rather warm around the heart. She loves that kid so much…
“Would you, Farah? I’ll pick him up as soon as the club’s over.”, Saul promises almost desperately.
The fairy chuckles and places a hand on the specialist’s shoulder.
“Sky and I will have a fun time while you do your thing. No need to hurry on our part. Right, sweet boy?”, she smiles at Sky, who’s lifted his face from its hiding spot to grin up at her.
“Can we have cookies and tea?!”
“Cookies without me?”, Saul immediately interrupts in mock-shock.
Farah laughs softly and pats the man’s shoulder again.
“Don’t worry, we’ll save some for you. Now, why don’t we leave your dad to prepare his club while we get started on that tea, hm?”, she offers, and Sky nods happily.
Saul passes his son back to Farah, who easily settles the boy on her hip again. They smile at each other, and the fairy can feel the gratefulness rolling off her friend in waves. She tries to tell him that it’s really not such a big deal without saying it out loud. But luckily, they’ve always been good at non-verbal communication, so Saul winks at her before they separate.
Sky wiggles to be put back on the ground as soon as they reach Farah’s rooms. The Mind Fairy places him on his feet, and the boy quickly hurries to the guest room that has unofficially turned into his second bedroom for when he needs to sleep over when Saul is gone on a mission or for nightly training sessions with the students. Farah closes the door behind her, slipping out of her heels to don on some comfortable slippers instead. Then she makes her way to the little kitchen to put the kettle on and find the various cookies she keeps mostly for Sky’s sake. And Saul’s because the man has a sweet tooth, he tries to hide from the world. Farah herself isn’t too interested in the sweet treats, but she’s impartial to dark chocolate, so she has bought some cookies with dark chocolate that she can eat while Sky and Saul eat the way sweeter ones.
“Sky?”
“Yes, Aunt Fa?”, the boy calls back from his room.
“What tea would you like?”, she asks.
The blond kid comes running into the kitchen, his feet now clad in fuzzy socks that he got from Ben. He peeks into the drawer with her teas and points to a berry mix.
“That one, please.”
“How did you turn out so polite with your dad around, hm?”, she chuckles amusedly and tousles the boy’s hair.
Sky beams up at her, obviously liking to be better at something than his father. Farah sends him off to get the couch ready, which basically amounts to Sky grabbing some pillows and blankets for them and also choosing a book to read. That’s how they usually spend their evenings when Saul is gone, but today, it feels like a good idea despite the man being just a few minutes away.
Once the teas are ready, Farah joins Sky in the living room and smiles as she sees the boy curled up at one end of the couch with his favourite blanket wrapped around his shoulders. He has his stuffed toy in one arm and a book in the other. He grins at her as she sits down next to him. She places the tray with the mugs and cookies on the low table before grabbing her own blanket and placing it over her legs. As soon as she’s situated, Sky snuggles into her side. She places her arm around him, and they just relax for a bit.
“Aunt Fa?”, the boy eventually speaks up again.
“Yes, sweet boy?”
“Can I get a hug?”
Farah blinks down at the boy for a second before carefully placing a finger below Sky’s chin and slowly lifting it, so the boy has to look at her.
“Of course, you can, but why don’t you tell me about what’s going on? Did you have a fight with Terra and Sam?”, she asks gently.
“No… We just talked.”, the boy mutters and then slowly crawls into her lap and wraps his arms around her.
She returns the hug, placing her cheek on top of his head. They stay like this for a while before Farah presses a kiss to the blond hair.
“How about a cookie?”
“Yes, please.”
She floats the plate into her hand and passes Sky a cookie before taking one for herself. The boy shifts until he’s leaning with his back against her front, looking towards the window.
“Aunt Fa?”
“Yes, Sky?”
“Why don’t I have a mom?”, the child whispers softly.
Farah’s mouth falls open slightly as she stares down at the boy in her lap. They’ve tried to explain to him that Saul and he aren’t the traditional kind of family, but the kid is still so young and can’t yet understand the situation fully. But he had never before asked about his mother. And Farah has no idea how to answer him right now, having been caught completely off guard.
“Uh…”
“Terra said a mom is someone who loves you.”, Sky simply goes on, seemingly oblivious to his aunt’s surprise, “And give me kisses. Make me laugh and keep secrets from dad with me…”
“I guess that is what a mother does.”, Farah agrees, though she barely remembers her own mother.
And Rosalind definitely never filled that role in any way, despite what many people said.
“But then I have a mom.”, Sky interrupts her thoughts as he turns on her lap to look up at her.
Now it’s official, the boy has lost Farah entirely. What is he talking about? She blinks at him, and Sky is simply looking back at her with a happy little smile. The fairy huffs softly.
“I’m sorry, sweet boy, but I don’t think I’m following you. Why exactly do you have a mom if a mom is all that?”
“Because I have you, mama!”, Sky grins brightly and hugs her.
Farah can only react on instinct, returning the sudden embrace, while her brain is going into overdrive. She, of course, knows that she loves the boy as if he were her own. That’s not exactly a secret, but she loves all the kids a lot, so most people simply assume that she flourishes in her role as an aunt. And she does. She loves being an aunt. But with Sky? With that little, blond boy, it’s always been a bit more. And she can’t deny that hearing him call her ‘mama’ has her heart fluttering and tears gathering in her eyes, but her brain immediately reminds her of Saul’s reaction to being called dad for the first time.
The Specialist has had problems with how he became Sky’s primary caregiver; killing your friend would do that to anyone. And when Sky had called him ‘dad’ for the first time, Saul had come running to her, asking for advice on how to tell the boy that he wasn’t his father at all. And Farah had sat him down and tried to explain that he really, really was. At least he was a dad to the boy who was – and still is – too young to really understand what happened to his real father. And even nowadays, Saul sometimes still worries about being called ‘dad’ by Sky, so how will he react to Sky calling her ‘mama’?!
“Did- Did I upset you, Aunt Fa?”, the boy suddenly whimpers from her lap, now having realised that his aunt hasn’t reacted to him all too much.
“No, Sky. I’m just a bit surprised.”, Farah quickly shakes herself from her stupor and smiles at the boy, caressing his cheek.
The kid leans into her hand but keeps looking up at her with slightly teary eyes.
“But you- you’re not happy.”
“Oh, sweet boy… I am really, really happy that you think so highly of me. And I love you, no matter what, okay?”, she tries to soothe him.
“So I- Can I keep calling you mama?”
There’s so much hope in the boy’s voice, and Farah wants to say yes. Desperately, even. But she isn’t his mother, and she isn’t that special one to Saul, so how could she dare? But she looks at Sky, and her mind screams at her as her heart shrieks, and eventually, she kisses the boy’s forehead and nods. She can deal with the consequences, but she won’t have Sky suffer for wanting this.
“Of course, darling. I’d be honoured.”
“Yay! I love you, mama.”
“And I you…”, she smiles and tightens her arms around him.
Sky happily falls against her, nuzzling his face into her neck. Farah presses more kisses to his hair and just enjoys the closeness.
About half an hour later, a student knocks on the door to tell them that Saul needed to go into the forest to find a group of first-years that went there for a dare and lost their way. He also took a few of the oldest students with him to help him cover more ground. Farah sends a question through their bond but gets reassurance in return. It really isn’t all too dramatic, it seems. He probably only wanted her to know, so she wouldn’t worry too much and take care of Sky.
The boy looks a bit down at hearing that his dad will be late, but he perks up when Farah tells him why.
“He’s saving students?”, the kid frowns.
“Yes. They got lost in the forest.”
The boy’s frown deepens even more.
“But it’s so late already! Why would they go there now?”, Sky asks, sounding almost like a grown-up talking about reckless teenagers.
Farah chokes slightly as she laughs.
“That’s a good question, Sky.”, she chuckles and ruffles his hair, “Just remember that when you’re a teenager as well.”
“Okay!”, he agrees easily before asking about dinner.
Since it’s already rather late in the afternoon, and they kinda missed lunch, Farah agrees to an early dinner, and since it’s unlikely that Saul will need her, she decides to do the kid a favour. So, she picks him up and just smiles as he asks where they’re going. Only when they reach the cars does the boy light up.
“Are we going to eat at the nice little cottage?!”, he asks excitedly.
“Unless you’d rather eat here?”, she smiles, knowing exactly that the boy loves the little restaurant near the town.
It has great food. Simple but always incredibly tasty, and the owners know them well enough by now. Sky always gets a little extra, whether it be cakes or pies or cookies or ice cream. And Farah loves the different teas they have to offer. And maybe she can have some of the pudding to go for Saul to enjoy later.
They spend a nice dinner there, listening to the latest town gossip and even meeting the newest addition to the town, the bakers’ baby. Sky stares at the little bundle in absolute awe while Farah and the mother talk about different spells that are useful with babies and toddlers alike. Once all the food is eaten or packed up for later, they say their goodbyes and drive back to Alfea. As they park, Farah sends a question through her bond with Saul, but she only gets exasperation and the mental image of the forest back. So they’re still searching, it seems, but there’s no fear or even too much worry in Saul, so Farah tries not to worry either. But well, those are her students, and despite them being stupid at times, she would hate for them to get hurt or even overly scared.
“Is Dad home, Mama?”, Sky’s voice yanks her from her thoughts.
“No, not yet. The students seem to have gotten really lost.”, she sighs.
“Should we help find them? You’re really good at finding people.”
“Your dad would be very angry with me if I took you outside with me at this hour.”, she huffs amusedly.
Sky pouts.
“But if we help, Dad will be home sooner.”
And really, Farah can’t argue with that. And it’s also not like the forest is that dangerous even beyond the barrier. She sighs.
“Okay, darling, listen to me.”
Sky immediately nods, his whole attention on her.
“You stay close to me at all times, got it?”
“I can hold your hand!”
“Very good.”, she praises and holds out her hand.
Together, they make their way into the forest, and Farah allows her magic to leak into the air, her eyes glowing softly. Sky watches her with awe-wide eyes, always fascinated by his aunt’s magic.
“We’re going that way.”, Farah decides after a few moments, pointing towards where she feels the presence of a small group of people.
They trudge onwards, hands clasped together.
“What are you gonna do with the students, mama?”
“Well, they’ll be punished. Uncle Ben always needs a little help in the greenhouses. Or maybe they can help with the dishes.”, Farah contemplates.
Sky stares up at her.
“All the dishes?! That’s a lot!”, he gasps.
“Maybe, but then it would probably keep them from doing something like this again.”
“I’ll tell them off for scaring you!”, the boy declares seriously.
Farah smiles at him fondly and doesn’t even try to talk him out of it. That boy is just like his father: way too stubborn. They keep walking, and Farah keeps her senses scanning the area, searching for the students. Eventually, she feels something from their left, so she veers off the path that would have led her and Sky to Saul’s group. They follow a little creek for a few minutes before quiet voices drift towards them, and Sky looks up at his aunt.
“Did you find them?”, he asks in a whisper.
“I think so.”
Farah pats the boy’s head and then keeps going until they stumble across a little clearing with three teenagers huddled together. Farah can feel their fear and worry, but also bits of anger and something close to despair. She huffs softly and stops before they are seen, squatting down next to Sky.
“You wanna tell them that they’re safe now?”
“Can I?”, the boy asks with bright eyes.
Farah pats his back, and he launches forward, dashing onto the clearing. The fairy follows him at a slower pace as she watches the teens jump before their eyes widen as they recognise Sky.
“What-”, one of the boys breathes.
“Hello!”, Sky grins at them, “Aunt Fa and I found you!”
“Aunt Fa- Headmistress Dowling!”, the teens exclaim and jump to their feet, quickly coming over to her.
Relief practically drips off of them as they gather around her while Sky skips over and hugs his aunt’s legs with a happy smile. Farah allows a small smile to grace her lips as well. She can be the stern headmistress tomorrow, after the students have had some time to relax.
“I hope you will not keep me busy for this long again.”, she states.
“We- No, we won’t.”, the only girl of the group promises with teary eyes.
Sky bounces slightly on the balls of his feet as he nods.
“That’s really important! You worried Aunt Fa a lot!”
“We- We did?”
The little boy nods rapidly, and the teens seem to wilt a bit more.
“We’re really sorry, headmistress.”
“I won’t say it’s okay, you know it isn’t. But we can discuss this tomorrow, yes?”
The teens nod, and Farah carefully picks up Sky to place him on her back. They need to meet Saul’s group, and she’d rather speed that up, so no one needs to worry any longer. Luckily, she can feel them close by and soon enough, they see the dim light of multiple flashlights.
“Headmaster, someone’s coming from over there!”, they hear a voice before they step past a little group of trees and step right into the search party’s way.
Saul’s eyes widen as he recognises Farah and Sky among the teens, but mostly, he just seems relieved to have found the students.
“I’m assuming Headmistress Dowling already told you that we’ll be discussing this?”, he sighs.
“Yes, sir.”, the lost teens mumble, heads lowered in shame.
Saul nods and then steps closer to Farah after signing for the older students with him to take the first years between them as they slowly start trekking back to the school. Farah, Saul and Sky fall behind easily, the woman still carrying the little boy as Sky tells his dad excitedly about their dinner in town. Saul smiles as he listens, jokingly asking about what they brought for him. Farah huffs as Sky exclaims about the pudding and even the pasta dish they got to-go. She catches Saul’s eyes and isn’t surprised to read his demand to talk in them. She nods softly, and then they just keep walking.
Sky falls asleep on her back from all the excitement, so they decide to go to Saul’s rooms, though the specialist takes a little detour to retrieve the food. Farah can luckily enter the rooms by herself, her magic ingrained in the locking mechanism. She quickly washes Sky’s face in the bathroom before putting him into bed, but just as she drapes the blanket over him, his eyes flutter open sleepily.
“Mama?”
“I’m here, sweet boy.”, she whispers, hoping he’ll fall asleep again, but he doesn’t.
“Where’s dad?”
“Grabbing the food we brought for him. He’ll be here in a second, I’m sure.”
“I wanna hug him…”, Sky mumbles.
Farah smiles and gently runs her hand through Sky’s blond hair.
“I’ll tell him, you can sleep.”
“No… Wanna be with you… You’ll be all busy again tomorrow…”, the boy whines softly and curls into her, head now pillowed in her lap.
Farah’s heart almost bursts in her chest.
“Oh, darling… You can always come to me. Even if I’m at the office or seem busy. I’m never too busy for you or your friends.”
“You promise?”
“I do.”
Sky smiles up at Farah, tired but all bright like the sun.
“Love you lots, mama.”
“I love you, too. Now, lie down, I’ll tell your dad to come and hug you, okay?”
The boy nods and moves back to his pillow, eyes falling shut easily. Farah smiles down at him and then presses a kiss to his forehead before getting up. She freezes as she turns to the door. Saul stares back at her. How long has he been standing there?
“Uh, Sky would like a hug…”, she stutters quickly, pushing past her friend, hoping against hope that he didn’t hear his son calling her ‘mama’.
Saul merely nods and disappears into Sky’s room, leaving Farah to nervously pace the living room, debating whether leaving without talking to Saul first will be better or make everything worse.
Saul carefully settles down on the edge of his son’s bed, watching the boy slowly flutter his eyes open again. The smile spreading across Sky’s face lifts whatever leftover irritation has been sitting in his chest.
“Hey, Sky…”, he whispers softly.
“Dad…”
“I- Uh, I heard you talking to Aunt Fa. You- You called her something? Something different, I mean.”
The boy nods sleepily.
“Yeah… I called her mama. Because she is my mom. She loves me and kisses me and hugs me. She even gives me treats without you knowing…Oops. I wasn’t supposed to tell.”
“I’ll forget about that part, buddy.”, Saul chuckles.
Sky grins and opens his arms in an obvious demand for a hug. Who is Saul to deny him? He pulls the boy into his arms and squeezes gently before pressing a kiss to Sky's forehead.
“Now, sleep. We can have lots of fun tomorrow.”
“Will mama be here?”
“If not, she'll only be a few moments away.”, the Specialist promises and watches as his son slowly drifts into dreamland.
And as he looks at his son, he wonders how he missed this. Because Sky is right. Farah has always been more than just an aunt to the boy. Even before Saul killed Andreas, Farah had been close to the kid, being a favoured babysitter for when Andreas needed Saul with him. And while Sky doesn't remember that consciously, it probably helps a lot with their close bond nowadays. Of course, there’s also a voice in his head, telling him that it’s wrong. Sky shouldn’t be calling her ‘mama’ or him ‘dad’, because there should be Andreas.
Saul huffs a quiet laugh to himself and gets up. Well, if Andreas were still alive, maybe Farah would still be called ‘mama’. The man had seen how good the fairy was at caring for the boy, and, asshole that the man could be, he’d have definitely tried to take Farah away from Saul… Then again, if Andreas had tried, Saul might actually have told Farah about his feelings for her, instead of pretending that friendship is all he wants. But maybe it’s time to tell her now. To try and do something for Sky and himself.
He finds Farah pacing around the living room, her nervousness almost developed its own presence. Saul sighs. She definitely thinks he’s gonna scold her for allowing Sky to call her ‘mama’...
“Farah.”, he calls out gently.
She jumps slightly at his voice and turns around to face him. Her smile is a bit off, but Saul doesn’t comment on it. Instead, he signs towards the kitchen.
“Join me for a glass of wine?”, he asks.
“I- Uh, okay…”, she stutters and follows him to the next room and settles down at the counter.
Saul rummages through his fridge to find a nice wine for them and eventually decides on Farah’s favourite white wine that he always keeps in stock. He pours two glasses and then, just to stall for time, he eyes the containers he got from the car curiously.
“So, what did you bring me?”
“Pasta and pudding for dessert. As you very well know because Sky told you all about it a few minutes ago.”, Farah snorts, taking a sip from her wine.
Saul has the decency to look sheepish as he opens the pasta and searches for a fork. He’s about to eat the dish cold when Farah shakes her head disapprovingly, and her eyes light up in a slight yellowish hue. Immediately, the pasta starts steaming softly again, just the right temperature to be eaten. He throws her a grateful smile before digging in.
Farah manages to stay silent for about three minutes before she practically bursts.
“Can you just say it already?! The silence is making me nervous.”
Saul swallows and tilts his head slightly.
“Say what?”
Her eyes narrow, and her bottom lip slowly slips into a pout. Saul has to admit that she looks entirely too adorable for the situation.
“Don’t play dumb with me, Saul. You know exactly what I mean.”, she grumbles.
Saul nods slowly and places his fork down.
“Fair. But I don’t think I’ll say whatever you’re expecting.”
“Then what are you going to say?”, she challenges.
The specialist chuckles and leans towards her, forearms placed on the counter. He only stops once their faces are mere centimetres apart. He can see Farah’s eyes widen slightly and there’s a soft blush on her cheeks now. He smiles.
“I’m surprised that I never realised it before today. How much you are a mother to him. And how much he loves you for it.”
“You-”
“And if you think I’m angry,”, he interrupts, “then think again.”
She blinks at him, obviously taken aback by his response. His smile softens.
“Were you really that worried?”, he asks.
“I- Well, you’re still questioning the fact that he calls you dad… So, I- I just wasn’t sure…”, she tries to explain, but words seem to desert her.
“Then let me tell you, so that you can be sure. I love seeing you with Sky, Farah. I love how much love there is between the two of you, and I’m sorry if I ever made you doubt whether you could express that love or not.”
She stares at him for a few moments before her gaze falls back to the countertop, and she’s biting her lip adorably. Then she glances back up at him, eyes searching for something before she opens her mouth again.
“There’ll be questions and rumours if he continues calling me mom or mama.”, he mumbles then.
“Probably, yeah.”, Saul agrees easily because he knows their students.
“And you’d be okay with that?”
“You mean whether I’d care if the students said that we're in a secret relationship and had a love child?”, he chuckles.
Farah nods slowly, her cheeks painted a beautiful soft red. He shrugs.
“No, not really. Though I’d hope that our relationship won’t be so secret once I manage to confess my feelings.”
It takes a few moments for the words to register in Farah’s brain; he can see the moment it clicks. Her eyes narrow for a moment before widening in surprise and finding his again. He carefully grabs her hands in his and squeezes.
“Because I’ve been hiding my feelings for you ever since we were at school. Because I couldn’t imagine that you would ever feel something more than friendship for me. But seeing you with Sky has made it incredibly hard to not simply wrap you up in my arms and kiss you until you’ll stay with us forever. I-”
“Will you?”, Farah interrupts him quietly.
He blinks for a second before realising what exactly she’s talking about. His lips pull into an odd mix of a smile and a smirk because he’s happy that she hasn’t fled the apartment yet, but he’s also a bit smug that the kissing part is what got her talking. But he doesn’t say anything and instead, he pulls his hands away from hers to instead, cradle her cheeks in his palms and pull her in.
The kiss is soft. Barely more than lips against lips. But then Farah relaxes, sighing softly as her hands fist into his shirt. He pulls away only long enough to round the counter until he’s standing right next to her. She turns to face him, shuffling slightly until he’s standing between her legs as he pulls her in again. This time there’s more heat, but it’s still soft merely a sign of how much time they’ve both wasted being afraid.
Because he can feel it. He can feel it in the kiss and from their bond. She loves him too. She’s been afraid, too. And she’ll stay for as long as they want her. Which is as close to forever as they can manage.