I spent basically no time on the doll because I was really more excited to work on the story attached to it. But I think Sara's outfit is pretty accurate to her modern style and I actually like how Asuriel's lion emblem turned out. No background, though. The #TwilightRealm belongs to @LadyLeaf! ~Gwenn (story in the comments)
As I said, it puts a smile on my face whenever I see a doll of Sara! She looks absolutely lovely with the purple top and black skirt. You did an amazing job on Asuriel's garb, and that lion emblem is fiercely adorable! It's so great to see Sara finally meets someone she can trust, even for a brief moment. They are both sad characters, me to blame obviously, but I see light in Sara's future.
Sara accepted another hug from Asuriel before the latter turned toward the window. "I will try to see you again, but I will warn you that I am very busy with my own affairs. Playing the double agent has never been easy."
Sara nodded and tried to speak through her clamoring thoughts. "Goodbye. I hope we'll meet again soon."
"Oh, and Sara," Asuriel added, glancing over her shoulder. "Don't lose what made him fall in love with you--your heart. Things are never as they seem."
Asuriel simply shrugged and smiled somewhat mysteriously. Sara had never seen Asuriel without a stern or at least mildly annoyed expression; it was so strange to see her face softened and her eyes filled with the knowledge of centuries of life. "I'm really glad that you're not dead," Sara said quietly.
"I expect I don't have much time left," Asuriel answered. "I'm just grateful I could speak with you at least one last time before I go."
"And now I don't even know who to trust anymore. This whole thing is more convoluted than I ever could have imagined. Louis Bonnaire? I thought he was a close friend. And then Cyrusâ"
Asuriel laughed softly at that, causing Sara to fall silent in indignation. "He's not as bad as he seems," Asuriel explained quickly. "He's very misguided, but he's not...well, he's not Marcellus. Or really like anyone else in the Legion."
"He still tried to kill me," Sara pointed out.
"Then you'll stay? Be with me again?" Asuriel hesitated and Sara nodded sullenly, breaking away. "That's what I thought. Everyone leaves. Everything ends. Nothing gold can stay, right? That's what I learned on my own, Constance. Even the people who do not ignore or reject me have to leave me in the end. The only person who ever tried to get to know me died in 1947. I'll never get him back." Sara folded her arms.
"I once thought that a human life would be the best thing for you, but...it's clear to me now that you could never be anything but Lylthian. It's time both of us started anew, wouldn't you say? Stop lying to the ones we care about."
"There's no one left that I care about," Sara said in a nearly inaudible tone. "Even you are supposed to be dead."
"But I am not, now am I?"
Asuriel rushed forward and wrapped her arms around Sara in a protective, reassuring embrace and Sara did not resist. For a moment, Sara felt like the little girl who lived in the mountains again. "I have made so many mistakes, dear Sara, and the first was believing that I could raise you in the first place. None of this was ever meant to happen. I'm afraid I ruined your life."
Sara squeezed her eyes shut. "I ruined HIS life."
"Yes."
Sara was caught a bit off-guard by Asurielâs simple reply. "And I think you know exactly what this story is like. Only now YOUR role is that of the innocent bystander."
"Don't you dare bring up Pierre like that!" Sara practically shouted, not caring if the others heard her or not. "I know what I did to him." Tears spilled from her eyes and she sobbed into her hand again.
Asuriel shook her head. "If I had told you, my spells would have had less potency. You believed you were human, so no one was able to find you. You effectively veiled your own aura, with some of my help. Then you met Jean-Pierre."
Sara took an unsteady step backward, her lips parted slightly and her amethyst eyes hardened to steel. "You know J--you're just as bad as the rest of them. I mean, really--do you know how much pain I've been in because I didn't know all of this?"
Asuriel grew silent and bowed her head, not wishing to look into the tear-filled eyes of the child she had let down in so many ways.
"You let me watch you die," Sara said emphatically. "You could have stayed with me all those years. I wasâ¦so alone." Sara's voice broke and she covered her mouth with a hand to muffle her sob. She took in a steadying breath and tried again. "You could have told me who I was, at least. Prepared me for this life."
