Oh, they embrace, they hug, they cry. And as the tears wind down, the fairy tells them what they'd both already known, deep down — that it was nothing to do with nettles or shirts that freed the young prince of his curse, but rather their shared love and unfailing devotion. The elder, for suffering for his brother, and the younger, for leaping to share in it without a moment's hesitation.
[This time, he tips his face slightly into Noct's kiss to his jawline, accepting it a little more easily than he had the last. He's warming up to him, now; the story is winding down, and they're both growing sleepy, and something that had fractured between them seems to be beginning to mend again.]
Then the fairy told them to hold hands and drink of her spring, and to think of the place they most wanted to go while they did. So the two brothers clasped hands, and drank as one, and as they did they both thought of their father's castle, and in the blink of an eye, they were home.
And their father, who hadn't seen either of them in three years, was beside himself with disbelief and joy, and ran to embrace them, and they all hugged and cried and cried. And the elder's hands never fully recovered from the punishment they'd endured, and the young prince still sometimes craved fish and hated water and could be found dozing on his back in a spot of sun, but they were home again, and they had each other, and that was enough.
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[This time, he tips his face slightly into Noct's kiss to his jawline, accepting it a little more easily than he had the last. He's warming up to him, now; the story is winding down, and they're both growing sleepy, and something that had fractured between them seems to be beginning to mend again.]
Then the fairy told them to hold hands and drink of her spring, and to think of the place they most wanted to go while they did. So the two brothers clasped hands, and drank as one, and as they did they both thought of their father's castle, and in the blink of an eye, they were home.
And their father, who hadn't seen either of them in three years, was beside himself with disbelief and joy, and ran to embrace them, and they all hugged and cried and cried. And the elder's hands never fully recovered from the punishment they'd endured, and the young prince still sometimes craved fish and hated water and could be found dozing on his back in a spot of sun, but they were home again, and they had each other, and that was enough.
[He pauses.]
...The end.