IMAGINE: Balian Looking for You After a Battle

     Balian moves past the city gates, a lump in his throat as he sees bodies scattered across the desert landscape. He swallows hard. The Battle of Jersulam has just taken place hours ago. This is the first time he has seen all of the wounded–all of the dead. As Balian walks through the desert, he feels the weight in his chest as he sees families sobbing over their dead family members and others carrying their wounded back to their homes. He can't deny the relief that fills him that the thought of you, his best friend and love, is hiding in a safe house. While he tried to get to you earlier, the passage was too blocked. It was too full of people and rubble to get through. Balian continues his walk through the battle and then stops when he sees a figure laying face forward in the sand. His heart nearly stops within his chest as he slowly makes his way over to the person, dread filling him from head-to-toe. Finally he can't take it anymore. He rushes over and, then when he sees who it is, he falls to his knees, clutching his chest. “No, no, no, no, no, no!" He moans, weeping. He crawls over to you, praying from the depths of his soul that you're still alive.        You're laying over something. However when Balian gently takes your shoulder and turns you onto your back, he realizes it's actually someone. A small child, maybe five or six, wrapped protectively is in your arms, his eyes wide and lifeless, blood running from his mouth. Balian lets out a breath and then looks to you. Your eyes are closed, your lips chapped. “Oh, Y/N, please." He pleads in a whisper. He holds out his fingers, which are shaking, against your neck. He feels the dull thrum of your heart beat against your chest. As he releases the biggest sigh of relief, he feels the onslaught of tears, only this time not grief but joy. "Oh, thank You, God. Thank You, thank You, thank You." He whispers, pulling you into his arms. You moan softly and your eyes flutter open. "Balian..." You whisper, weakly reaching your hand up to touch his face. “I'm here, my love, I'm here." He whispers, kissing your hand. “I-I was scared you wouldn't find me." You croak out. “I will always find you." He whispers. You smile slightly, your lips cracking.       "What happened?" He asks you, shaking his head. "I thought-I thought you were in the safe house." “I was. But this child...his father was fighting and the boy was frightened for him. He took off running out of the safe house and I followed. Once he got to the battle field, he was cut down within minutes. He...he died in my arms. I was hit in the head and lost consciousness." You explain, your voice hoarse, as tears come to your eyes. That's when Balian notices the dried blood matting your hair. “Oh, Y/N..." He breathes in horror. He gathers you more firmly into his arms. "Let us go and get you some water. I need to clean the wound." He says, starting to stand. "Wait, wait, wait! I can't leave him!" You exclaim frantically, grabbing onto the dead child's hand. Balian's eyebrows furrow with empathy. "Y/N, he's gone. He's dead." He says softly. “But his family... They don't know. They won't know he didn't die alone." You whisper, your voice breaking. “We will find them, okay? We will find them and tell them he wasn't alone." Balian vows. You nod slowly. ———      You sit on the ground near a small stream as Balian sits behind you, washing the blood off of your head. You wince every once in a while, the ache in your head ever constant. “I'm sorry, Y/N." Balian apologizes. You lightly shake your head. "It isn't your fault." You murmur. “I should have protected you. I should have watched over you." He says, angry at himself. You turn around to look at him. "Balian." You frown. You grab his hand. "Your job in this battle wasn't to protect me–I wasn't your small child that you had to look over. I'm the one that made the decision to follow the boy–to protect him. I knew he would get killed out there if I didn't follow him, so I thought that if I went with him, he'd have less of a chance of getting killed." You whisper the last sentence. Tears well in your eyes at the memory so fresh in your mind of the boy getting cut down the second he ran onto the battle field. You shutter despite the warmth of the sun. “I'm sorry." Balian whispers, rubbing your arm. You smile faintly and shake your head. He cups your face and kisses you softly, gently, as if he's going to break you. You kiss him back but when the gutteral cries come up from the city as more people bring in the dead, you pull away, your face pale. "We should...we need to bring the boy to his family. We need to find his family." You whisper. Balian looks like he wants to protest but you level him with a stare. "I will do it with or without you, Balian. I feel like it was my duty to look after this child while his parents weren't with him. And I will look after him until they're with his physical form once again." You say, your voice strong. Balian nods. "Okay, then we will look after him together." He grabs your hand and interlaces his fingers with yours. You smile at him and wrap your arm around him. "I love you." You whisper into his ear for the first time. He pulls his head back and looks at you in shock. "What?" “I love you. I didn't want to go another minute without you hearing it." A smile spreads across his face and he pulls you back into his arms. "I love you." He returns in a whisper, before kissing your temple. [THE END] I hope you liked it!