Chapter Text
Ever since [y/n] told Alcina a little about his past, it seemed to open some wounds that refused to close again; it pained her when they started sharing a room together that he would wake up from a cold sweat dreaming of those times he once knew but turned into the nightmare. She didn't know what to really do when he was in this state, opening up must have triggered something or how she acted first when finding out made it trigger and that worried her to no end, so she started looking into what kind of life he had before, and she went to Mother Miranda for some help with this matter of hers.
Speaking to her with leaving a few things out even if she knew or not it was better to play it safe to let her think Alcina wasn't going soft for [y/n] even though she already has; but Miranda gave her something to give him to sleep which would let her see some glimpses of what his past used to be when she slept and maybe she could understand him a bit longer and understand why this is haunting him so much.
Once dinner was over which was lively as ever; it was heartwarming when the girls called [y/n] father, it made them feel like a real family in the castle. As they were getting ready for bed, Alcina slipped the powder into his water that he had every night; when he fell asleep, she soon closed her eyes as well ready to see what was truly bothering him for the last couple of weeks.
Opening her eyes once more she found herself in a room; a castle made of strong stone but where this castle was, she did not know, she heard the sound of children laughing when she turned around, she could see two young boys. One was about seven and the other was about five, they both looked so much like their father [y/n] it made her smile warmly when watching them play together, but her eyes cast up to the woman sitting by the fireplace sewing something; her hair was like gold and her eyes like sapphires. That's when the door opened making Alcina's attention break to the door.
"Father!" the boys both shouted when dropping their toys and rushing to the man who walked into the room.
Seeing [y/n] look so different took her by surprise, his hair was longer, and he had a clean full beard on him when he smiled and chuckled; dressed in royal armor when he picked his boys up in his arms making them laugh while their mother walked over to them standing on her tippy toes as [y/n] leaned down and kissed her still holding the boys; but the beautiful scene before her broke into the nightmare he described to her weeks ago. Seeing the angry servants yelling and screaming while throwing anything they could find next to them, the guards held down the chains that were around [y/n] neck dragging him out of the shadows and into the light which started to burn him; his screams of pain were horrifying to Alcina while she watched, she heard the boys bringing her eyes to the two young boys being held back by their mother who was looking like some kind of mad woman, [y/n]'s sons tried to beg everyone to stop hurting their father and tried to get to him.
Alcina tried to step forward to stop this but the scene before her went black and she suddenly awoken from the sight she saw; taking in a couple of deep breaths trying to calm her beating heart as best she could when sitting up in the bed.
"You saw, didn't you?" the voice of [y/n] made her jump and turn to look seeing him standing in a dark corner of the room while the fireplace lit the rest of the room.
"I just wished to understand, to help you try and heal" she spoke while standing up slowly like he was a frightened animal on guard now, taking small steps towards him.
"Being through what I have been, wars, betrayals; you start to learn you never heal from those. It was nothing like yours, you were given the choice to change; I however was forced. I kept telling myself I changed to protect my mother, my sisters and then my own family only for my former wife to turn on me when I thought she loved me through good and the bad" [y/n] spoke with a slight coldness and loneliness in his voice, having a distant look in his eyes when Alcina was walking closer to him taking his hands into hers feeling them shaking violently when speaking of such a time.
"I know betrayal, my own father turned on me when he turned into a lycan; that's when I lost faith in men and vowed to hate them for eternity but, you changed that" Alcina spoke about what happened to her as a child when she slowly reached up to [y/n] cheek to turn his attention to her seeing the tears building his beautiful eyes.
She pulled him closer, letting his arms wrap around her when he bent down to lay his head against her shoulder; she could feel the silent tears fall from his eyes and onto her shoulders when she wrapped her arms around his large form holding him; knowing he hasn't felt safe in years after what his wife did to him, she knew that feeling as a little girl with her father and through her power she found her safety but with [y/n] here and beside her, her own nightmares were gone.
"I love you" she whispered to him feeling him slightly stiff for a moment not even used to the word itself anymore and that broke her heart knowing the woman before her did this much damage to his very soul and heart.
"I love you too" he whispered back to her, holding her sightly tighter in his arms; relaxing once again while they held each other this night. Knowing he was finally safe within the castles he once called home with a woman who understood what it was like to be different from everyone else.