blue_ajah | (no subject)

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[After this.]

When she returns from Milliways, Moiraine does not stay in the apartment for any longer than it takes to cross the room and walk out the front door. Two minutes later, she is gliding down the street at a brisk pace.

All things considered, it does not take her that long to reach the sheriff's station. Lucy blinks in surprise upon seeing her.

"Hi Moiraine -- are you looking for Sheriff Truman? I mean, probably you are, since this is the sheriff's station and all, and you haven't come by just to visit before, but I don't think he's here, or at least he wasn't here before, unless of course he came back while I was making another pot of coffee and is here now, in which case he is here, and if he is here, he'd be back in his office--"

"No, thank you, Ms. Moran-- Lucy," the Aes Sedai amends hastily, as Lucy opens her mouth again. "As it happens, I am seeking Dale Cooper; do you know where he might be found at present?"

"Well, he might be here too, except I don't think he is, unless--"

"Do you have some means of locating him?"

Mere moments later, the dispatch radio crackles to life.

"...Agent Cooper?"

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He's in an armchair in the Bookhouse. He hears his name.

He crosses the room and picks up the handset. "Cooper here."

"Agent Cooper, Moiraine is here. She's asking for you. I asked her if she wanted to see the sheriff since this is the sheriff's station but she said she was looking for you, and you aren't here, and neither is Sheriff Truman -- "

"Lucy, tell Moiraine I'll be there in five minutes." He's already reaching for his coat, hanging neatly from a rack of antlers mounted to the wall for that purpose.

Lucy puts her hand over the mouthpiece as she looks up at Moiraine.

"He says to tell you that he'll be here in five minutes. Which means he'll be here in five minutes, because he pretty much or I think even always does exactly what he says he's going to do, which I guess now that I think about it is kind of unusual but also very nice when compared to how some people act--"

Moiraine nods, even as she interrupts once more.

"No."

Lucy breaks off in confusion and stares at her.

"No?"

"Please tell Dale, if you would, that I shall meet him at the park, instead."

"Agent Cooper, Moiraine says to tell you that she'll meet you at the park, and I guess it's the upper part, not the lower part, because the upper part's prettier, but it's not a very big park so if she's not there she might be in the lower part."

"Thanks, Lucy." He grabs his keys off the table -- not that the park is driving distance by any means, but rather that if Moiraine is looking for him, and it's important enough that she'd come to the station, he wants wheels. Just in case.

He doesn't spray gravel in pulling out of the Bookhouse lot, and it's not even close, but it's possibly a good thing that nobody else is driving by.

There are not many people in Upper Twin Park, which makes it easier for her to find a quiet place, and it is a pleasant place to wait.

Moiraine is seated on a bench, hands clasped loosely together in her lap, studying the fading glint of afternoon sunlight off the gold of her serpent ring.

He doesn't trouble to keep his footsteps quiet as he approaches. Still, he's approaching over grass -- there's not much noise to make.

Cooper rests a hand on the back of the bench before he circles around, and takes a seat.

Quiet: "Hello, Moiraine."

"Dale," she replies, glancing up at him. She appears composed, but a discerning eye would likely note that she is unusually pale.

"I am sorry if I have disturbed you."

He's noticed.

"You haven't," Cooper says simply.

He's noticed, and he'll wait to comment on it until he has a better grasp on the situation; he doesn't like it. It's too like the early days, after her return.

It makes him think of bad news.

"Still," she says, and then goes silent again for a moment.

"Something has happened," Moiraine says at last. "Something almost beyond belief."

Bad news, Cooper thinks.

"Almost," he says, with a very small smile.

"Almost," she repeats. "Almost."

Moiraine lets out a soft sigh, and looks up at him once more.

"Tarmon Gai'don. The Last Battle against the Shadow has come to pass... and has ended."

A pause.

"And the world has survived it."

Cooper sits up very straight.

"Then -- "

He knows it: Moiraine can't go home. And yet --

" -- what you did -- "

And yet.

"It paid off."

It was worth it, he doesn't say.

"It appears to have, yes," the Aes Sedai tells him.

"Lan returned."

She takes from her pocket the crumpled note and hands it to Cooper.

"I have seen him, and spoken with him," she adds. "He confirmed what he had written, and told me of it, as well."

If the battle was that big -- and Cooper realizes quite easily that he can't fathom what a battle that large, for all the marbles, would look like -- it's a miracle Lan survived.

He scans the note.

Quietly, without looking up: "How many lost?"

She shakes her head.

"It is too soon to tell. I am not sure that the full number will ever be known."

"He doesn't sound optimistic." Cooper holds out the note. "Moiraine."

She reaches to take it back from him, refolding it with some care before returning it to her pocket.

"Yes, Dale?"

He must phrase this carefully, in order to get an answer that isn't a deflection.

Cooper takes his time.

"How do you feel about hearing this?"

She nods, very slightly.

"Overwhelmed, I suppose would be the best way to put it. It is... difficult to grasp, although I have begun to do so."

"Certainly." Cooper says this quietly, while nodding. "How do you feel about being here, with all of that going on?"

She looks away from him, back down at her hand. Moiraine carefully runs the tip of her index finger over her ring, feeling its texture.

I know dreams for dreams. This is reality.

For several long seconds, silence is her only answer.

When the price is high, that is how you know it is worth paying.

"It does not really matter, does it?" She glances back up, meeting his eyes. "There is much to be done, of course. Even so -- I can never return."

Dale Cooper takes in a long breath, and lets it out, slowly, looking away. Prana, he thinks. Pranayama. Mind as the blank page.

"It matters to me."

He says this with a faint, faraway smile; his eyes are on the gazebo in the center of Upper Twin Park, and the pond beyond.

"It might matter to you, to have someone who -- knows what this means, not just for where you came from, but for you. Especially because you can never return."

A pause, and then,

"Ninte calichniye no domashitsa," she says, very softly.

Very, very softly.

"I thought that you might --" Moiraine breaks off there, and tries again. "You will have guessed that there was a reason I came seeking you, Dale. I asked for you, because I trusted that you would come."

"And I needed... not to be alone with this knowledge, not just now."

"You're not."

He's not guessing why she called: he doesn't have to. There isn't anyone else -- Harry, certainly, Harry who is steadfast and kind and ruthlessly creative; Harry who works best when you can meet him on his own level.

This goes a little beyond the pale.

Milliways presents its own challenges. Its own temptations.

Cooper exhales again, and straightens, feeling the wood press against his back. "Do you want to talk about it more?"

"I think perhaps that I should, but I am not entirely certain how to begin," she replies.

"Why didn't you stay in Milliways?"

The question is out before he's thought about it too much.