[blue_ajah]

She has kept her silence for quite some while, knowing that the pace of time that passes between Twin Peaks and Milliways, and between Milliways and the world of her birth, is slowed and slowed again by factors she cannot explain. Still, it is no small gift, in that it grants her space in which to think and plan.

The Aes Sedai has used that time to study her options and the prophecies of the Karatheon Cycle, to dwell on the sound of the wind at night and her restless unease with every dawn. She has mulled over what Nynaeve had told her, and all the possibilities that the apocalypse at the bar at the end of all worlds may now have brought upon them.

("I cannot go back without undoing what was done. Can I?"

"That, I think, is mostly a question of how far back, yes? Or possibly it is a different kind of forward.")



There are other considerations to be taken into account, as it happens.

Dinner has become a habit for them, now, at least once or twice every week. It is her turn to host tonight, in the little house that she had begun to call her own. Moiraine has come to believe that she will always prefer tea, but she has developed something of a fondness for coffee all the same, and has been trying her hand at new ways of brewing it for these occasions.

The French press stands before her now on the countertop, and she slants a sideways look at him as she reaches for the canister that holds the coffee.

Comments

[blue_ajah]

"I know," she says, very simply.

"I have never thought it would be otherwise."

Moiraine hesitates for a moment, then adds,

"Before you decide, Dale, you should also know that even if you do not choose to accompany me, I do not think that I will be alone in what I must do."

[tibetanmethod]

Cooper blinks, and very carefully does not move.

And says:

"Then why do you want me there?"

[blue_ajah]

Her response is immediate and certain.

"Because I believe that you have both the gifts of observation and insight and the skill with weapons that will be critical for our success, and also..."

Her gaze is clear and direct, her head high, and the faintest hint of a smile flickers.

"... because I trust you as I have trusted less than a handful of others in the whole of my life."

[tibetanmethod]

Cooper is pretty sure that there will be others who meet that first set of criteria. The second set... that makes him nervous.

Very nervous.

Seriously: "I hope that if the occasion arises I'll prove myself worthy of that trust, Moiraine."

[blue_ajah]

"You already have," she informs him.

Moiraine tilts her head slightly to one side, studying him.

"Does this trouble you?"

[tibetanmethod]

Dale Cooper is very calm when he says, "The prospect of failure at a vitally important task always troubles me, Moiraine."

It's happened before.

[blue_ajah]

"There is always a chance," the Aes Sedai says, very softly.

"The Wheel weaves, and all things are part of the Pattern, but the threads weaving are not immutable."

[tibetanmethod]

"And that's the problem, isn't it." There's something rueful in his smile, which only intensifies when he realizes his coffee cup is empty.

"Moiraine -- "

It's a lot to ask? But she knows that.

Bad things will probably come of it? She knows that, too.

He owes debts to people here? She's got her own debts to people, and now, when she believes she has the ability to go back --

And don't they owe something to each other?

(Doesn't he want them to owe something to each other?)

"I don't know," he says frankly.

[blue_ajah]

Her smile is gentle, and there is a look of understanding in her eyes as she reaches to touch the back of his hand.

"Take what time you need to decide, Dale. It is all right. We need not discuss it further until then."

Moiraine nods to his coffee cup.

"Shall I pour?"

[tibetanmethod]

That's the trouble (and the good thing) about Moiraine: she always knows.

"Please," he says. "There's no better way to provide a lift to your cognitive processes."

Unless it's sleep.

Or meditation.