Archive of Our Own

She sealed her fate the night she left the Faerie Kingdom. The final trek that led her to discover the secret of Cookie kind. What would her into something she could no longer recognize. The agony of the blaze, the cackle of the Witches and then -

Darkness.

But, her story wasn't over.

Awakening under the Silver Tree, she was reunited with her companions and would finally meet her fate after leaving her best friends in their time of need. After her betrayal, it was all she could do to not crumble right then and there because of what her shattered half had done.

White Lily Cookie had decided in the depths of the Salt Catacomb what she would do. Silent Salt, regarding her with such contempt, anger she herself felt for what she had done to the cookies she loved and fought for. The freedom she longed to bring.

She prepared. Her final act of love would ensure the world would be safe once again. Tireless research for a lost kingdom, charts and modules to subdue the sea. In the late nights just before the sun kissed the horizon she drew on ways she may return to them when it was all over.

Coming face to face with the Avatar in the hallowed church she felt so much and yet so little. A mirror of blind devotion and that search for meaning ached within her. Those cookies crumbled, reforming within the layers of dough, icing and wax imbued with the dark magic of devotion. In her enactment or her plan she sealed herself with this creature, waiting. Time and place had no meaning and White Lily had to focus on her being, to deny the cries of the crumbled.

But she tried, in moments of lucidity when she craved a connection that was not just replaying her broken memories. When the Avatar cried those thick icing tears, the anger that poured off it met her aching sadness and pity; she knew she could do nothing to unravel them, to unmake what was already wrought upon this plane. Though there was not much comfort she could offer, the Avatar seemed its most calm when she hummed to it. It enjoyed most of all the songs Pure Vanilla taught her, and that too brought her joy.

When the portal opened below them, White Lily only had moments to act. The hot jam of her other self burned the frostbitten cookie as the vacuum of space offered no comfort. She barely heard the wails of agony between the cacophony of battle and howling winds of the ruined plateau had deafened her. As the Avatar climbed from the portal, it roared at this newborn witch and demanded justice for what had been done. It was just enough of a distraction to pour the last of her strength, the remainder of her power into one last spell.

Swallowed by the miasma of Dark Enchantress there was a final confrontation; twin souls torn apart, agony and freedom both in their own rights, a last ditch effort to drive the depths of madness. To remake the Cookie world, but White Lily Cookie would strike the final blow to drive that darkness out. Dark Enchantress would crumble into the ruined plateau, falling away and revealing White Lily Cookie as he sun kissed the horizon and created over the decimated battlefield.

As her vision faded she saw them rush toward her, her beloved companions that she finally brought freedom to. White Lily couldn't help but smile.

In death, White Lily Cookie expected to feel nothing. The endless expanse of whatever was to come; her essence would scattered and she would finally return to nature.

She did not expect for her eyes to open.

White Lily did not expect streaks of sunlight to make her blink and shy from the light, attempting to cover her eyes but strength failed her. Noise outside makes her head turn but she isn't able to make out much more than shuffling and conversations her fuzzy mind can't comprehend. Every table that isn't filled with healers supplies flowers, the sharp and sweet familiar scent, filling White Lily's mind of the past. As coherence settles around her, the white lilies fill her vision and the sounds outside become clearer.

The healer that sees her awake bursts into tears, calling something she doesn’t comprehend - quickly overwhelmed by the number of people coming to her room.

White Lily learns then that it had been a month since the final battle with Dark Enchantress. To many, they believed she too had succumbed to her injuries and crumbled - but the Ancients had brought her to the healers tents one late evening and had kept her here in secret ever since. In stunned silence, healers worked to ensure none of their work was undone with her moving. She asked once where the other Ancients were, and one healer peeked up from their work.

"They are being alerted to your awakening, my lady."

It took four days for the Ancients to gather once again.

Pure Vanilla was the first.

He entered carrying a basket of things - a wool blanket to keep her warm, a few books to read and a soft sheep plush for her bedside - only to drop them when he saw sitting up in bed. The early morning sun made the wisps of her white hair shimmer like cobwebs, his trembling fingers carefully running through the strands in silence. White Lily had many moments in the years before the war to observe Pure Vanilla in silence but he had never been so sad, yet so relieved. She jumped when he fell to his knees, his quiet sobs that she gently soothed as she gathered the healer in her tired hands. They forgave each other in that early morning, as she kissed his brow, his nose and then his mouth.

Dark Cacao swept in quietly the next night. She was readying for bed after taking tender steps to test her strength in spite of the healers and Pure Vanilla's words, catching the two bickering on the state of her healing. The king embraced Pure Vanilla from behind resulting in an indignant noise but he melted into it just the same, holding his arms just a bit tighter. When she finally drew from the Vanillan to regard Lily she only had a meek smile. Cacao took to one knee, holding her bandaged hand in his calloused, pressed it to his forehead. Promised then to never leave her side. She cried, quickly swallowed by his robes and furs and those tears kissed away until she was calm enough to sleep.

The next morning she woke to arguing. White Lily recognized those voices, heartbeat quickening at the pitched lilt of one and growled cadence of another. She took the cane at her bedside, shakily stepping onto the mats and tugs that covered the floor of her tent. With limp wings and a charred staff that barely supported her weight White Lily dragged herself to the tent's opening.

Golden Cheese was held back by Hollyberry, their arms tangled and tears in the avian's eyes at the demand to see her. Dark Cacao is chiding her, demanding the goddess to keep quiet as she may have been sleeping - broken by her sound of pain just as White Lily's legs give out from under her -

Hollyberry broke from holding Golden Cheese to carry her inside, chiding her only a moment before nuzzling into her. A careful tender moment shared before she's laid back onto the blankets and furs. Pure Vanilla was at her side immediately, ensuring nothing was torn or undone but White Lily watched past him; Golden Cheese stood by the door, near to leave save for Dark Cacao's hand on her shoulder. Lily would never have held it against her if she left, but silently thanked the witches when the avian stayed.

Once Lily wasn't crowded by healers for attention Hollyberry was cradling her face, showering affection and adoration. She was the one to let slip her fear of Lily never waking up - a mention of ‘what they had done’ being for nothing, but when she pressed the queen mother the subject was already changing and she had been kissed at least three times leaving her mind blissfully blank. It was good to talk, to babble about things that weren't her healing body or the fuzzy memories she didn't have a grasp on yet or swirling anxious thoughts that more knew who Dark Enchantress used to be–

White Lily thought she woke alone in the night, drowsy and wiping crumbs from her eyes. She had fallen asleep talking to Hollyberry, remembering faintly being tucked in and the beaches on the southern coast they should visit again. Golden eyes startled her - watching brilliant plumage rouse and flattening back down. The avian was sitting at the foot of her bed, watching her.

"So you are real." Golden Cheese's tone held something akin to wonder, perhaps like Lily, waiting for some terrible truth to emerge. "When they told me you were awake, I had my doubts. We all did."

Lily couldn't bear that gaze upon her anymore, looking down at her hands trying to bite back bile. She was prepared for what would come, what she deserved. Next the goddess would condemn her, let the anger that had welled within for being the cause of her kingdoms terrible loss -

"But you're here."

She couldn't help but flinch seeing the other woman's hands. But they did not strike her - they cupped her face, holding her in such reverence and tipping her to the lamplight. White Lily saw the shimmer of tears already fallen, more gathering in pearlescent lashes of the goddess. Her goddess.

"You are here, and you are alive. One of my dearest once lost treasures."

Golden Cheese holds her as best she can - mindful of the bandages as she knees herself up and onto the bed. Her wings drape over them like an extra blanket and hang off the other side, unceremonious and just right. She even shows Lily a few adjustments to her wings, to lay them on the bed to rest. Many tears are shed and wiped away, just as many apologies given and accepted until they are drowsy and kiss drunk, found in the morning and gently chastised by a smiling Pure Vanilla.

--------

The act of recovering was the worst for White Lily Cookie.

Even with the healers magic, their mending and her rest she was still unstable. With the ancients here it felt easier. A hand to steady her wobbling balance as she relearned to walk, someone to carry her to bed when all the pushing and working and breathing felt too much. She feels a twist of guilt every time she monopolizes their time or favor, knowing there is much work to do.

Much of Crispia also felt damage from the war, needing to be rebuilt. Somewhere White Lily knew the Beasts were being held although she wasn't sure, awaiting judgement. The Ancient Heroes were needed once more, but White Lily was forced into a tiny healers tent guarded and kept away.

Pastry Cookie arrives at her tent one dreary morning. It had rained off and on all morning, a fog rolling into the valley that left many of the healers nervous.

“It's auspicious, is all. We should be thankful that there hasn't been an attack on the camp.”

Sitting beside White Lily the young cookies worries a weak part of her skirt between two fingers, the weave already worn from countless moments of doubt. When she came in, Pastry laid a bundle of letters wrapped in ribbon and a parcel wrapped in cloth along with some extra healing herbs and a few tonics.

"I figured you would like to give the letters and the parcel," words trail to nothing when her breath catches, White Lily reaching to Pastry's lap to take her hand. Silent, unshed tears finally fall, Pastry bowing her head and bringing the pale hand to her forehead. "Please, please forgive me. I had prayed and- Silent Salt forbade me from going until- and by the time I came, everything was in dissary-"

White Lily nearly falls off the bed when she embraces Pastry, a hand on the back of the former sister's head. She can still smell the copal and mint of her incense, a salt she places with a sad smile.

"You did everything you could, Pastry Cookie. I am so thankful that I was able to reunite with you."

After being helped back into bed, they talk for a while, reflecting on what has happened outside while she recovered.

The whole of Earthbread seems to be recovering; with the aid of Sugar Swan now on her own journey, many who were not on the front lines have since returned to their homes, trying to pick up and rebuild and those who stay face perils and unimaginable beasts. Once the dust had settled on the fall of the Enchantress, the Ancients took bands of soldiers healthy to sweep the area; to find the injured or mourn the crumbled, bringing them to rest and ensure they would never be forgotten and fighting back any remnants of the abominations that were created in the ovens.

"What will you do now, Pastry Cookie?"

For a long moment she's silent, contemplating before meeting Lily's gaze. A warm wind blows the bottom hem of the tent and the smell of the spring rains and a flash of sunlight illuminates Pastry's veil.

"I have yet to decide, though for the moment, I have gained the freedom to think about it."

------

Something unspoken had slowly bloomed with the Ancients gathering in one place again.

White Lily had contained the traitorous feelings that stirred within her, feelings long since locked away when she went on her quest. In the time before the first Dark Flour War the ancients had been close; it wasn't something they spoke on openly but they were known to share more than rations and tent space, and they enjoyed each other on more than one occasion. She cared for her companions deeply and the sentiments were reflected in kind.

But that was their wild and unknown youth - a time when they were untouchable and full of abandon, forging their way and their kingdoms. Now, there was so much more. Four kingdoms, blessed lands and people that called for them and their words. People looked on them as icons and rulers, what would they say if they had not one but four partners?

Now, White Lily watches Pure Vanilla sitting across from Dark Cacao as they play a game of Go - the set borrowed from a few soldiers. They were relaxed, even sharing a few jokes even if the Cacao ruler was less jovial in his quips. But there was something more, she thought. How Cacao let his hand linger when teaching Pure Vanilla corrections in the game and how the Vanillian leaned in slightly as he listened.

"It's getting cold," Dark Cacao stands as Pure Vanilla counts his first earned win of the night. "I will get us some warm drinks."

Cacao claps a hand on Pure Vanilla's back, the touch lingering before drawing down his spine on the way down. She watches the way his face changes, something sweet and endearing.

"Pure Vanilla," still relearning her own voice, he meets her gaze with a smile. "I have... a question. Come here?"

He joins her bedside, a seat that they moved since their gathering that now never seems to empty. White Lily feels shame reamerge, trying to find a way to bring the topic up when one of Pure Vanilla's hands takes hers. In his warmth she found comfort, letting the worry die on her tongue.

"What was your question?"

But White Lily claims to not remember, focusing instead on the half circles swept along the back of her hand. Instead she just leans on him, relishing quietly in the points of contact.

Dark Cacao returns with drinks not long after, steam rising from the trio of mugs. He held one out for Pure Vanilla who took it with a nod and murmur of thanks. His own was set down at the bedside, offering Lily hers.

"I spoke with the lead healer, and he said you should be well enough for some cocoa."

He eases the mug into her hands, wide palms engulfing hers and supporting the mug. The warmth spread quickly though she knew it wasn't just from the mug, his calloused hands holding hers. It was divine, a rich chocolate that made her lashes flutter, sighing as the mug was pulled away by the king. White Lily doesn't catch the flush against his dark dough but notes the quiet intake of breath at her happy little noise.

"I missed having cocoa on nights like these." Pure Vanilla says, leaning his chin in hand, watching with amusement.

"While one of us is nursing lethal injuries?" A deadpan from Cacao that makes Lily snort.

"No," the Vanillian is pouting now. "Sharing moments like these. Something calm and... intimate."

The word hangs in the air while the men try to help Lily with her mug, though Lily does try fighting to hold on her own, if not for the warmth. She catches Vanilla's stare while licking the rim of her mug, tilting her head and allowing a trickle of cocoa down her chin on the next drink. Instead of wiping it away, Lily uses two fingers to catch what she can, licking them clean with quite impure thoughts.

—--

In the depths of the Catacombs, White Lily had faced herself and her truths. Facing the failures of herself granted her own freedom, her awakening. Becoming the Dawnbringer had released her of some things but she gained others, including the wings at her back. She had been somewhat neglectful, letting them lax and droop when she could or forcing them to sit against her body. They ached, pinched and prickled like an infected wound but she hadn't let anyone touch them.

This new set of appendages were a mystery to her. She hadn't deserved this gift, this second chance at life. Several times White Lily asked her companions on what had happened after Dark Enchantress fell but their reactions were mixed at best; Pure Vanilla deflected, Hollyberry changed the subject and both Golden Cheese and Dark Cacao simply ignored her! It grate on her nerves but they would do or say something that would soothe her, sweeping the thoughts away.

It seemed today she had to lean forward on pillows, trying to alleviate the pressure while Pure Vanilla read on a makeshift couch - chairs pushed together with blankets and other cushions over top. There were noises outside, turning her head toward the tent's entrance as an argument broke out. White Lily sat up a touch straighter, biting her lip as she focused on folding her wings to her back as the avian Ancient stormed inside.

"I have come as you asked, Pure Vanilla, have you brought what I needed?"

Golden Cheese wore traveling clothes instead of her sash and collar, tucking her pristine wings to her back, causing a fluttering envy within Lily. It wasn't noticed however as she approached the bed. Pure Vanilla stood at her side with a small box that he handed over. She sets it at the foot of the bed, a few combs and other tools Lily didn't recognize.

"Hiding them does nothing, you should know. Come on." A hand tugged at the offending blanket she hastily draped over back, Lily squirming and trying to hold onto it.

"They are fine just, a little dirty they-"

The look the Cheese cookie gives her makes Lily shrink, but the blanket is let go, revealing to the golden goddess the Dawnbringer's ruined wings. Lily heard a hiss of breath and something muttered under her breath, the next was touch - holding in her breath but remaining still.

"You should have called upon me sooner when you first saw this, Vanilla." Slowly drawing the wing to extend, debris and ruined feathers crumbling from the folds. "You're lucky you won't lose your feathers. Come, sit still. Bring some flour, not much, and a cloth too."

Pure Vanilla may have pouted but he did as he was told, leaving the two alone. One wing extended, feathers terribly out of place and grime, jam and crumbs lodged in each crevice.

"Why have you let yourself get so bad, my Lily? We are here to help you, to allow you to heal."

Golden Cheese started with the secondaries near the radius, the center of her wings working outward. White Lily whined and tried pulling her wings from the intrusion but a firm hand kept steady. Even with her hand somewhere so squalid the intimacy brought a flush to White Lily's face. There was no reason for her to do this, to be so kind to someone who has betrayed her in the most damaging way.

But it was not truly her. No, it was a spun sugar faux White Lily, disguised in dough and spirit. A pilot who took her form to drive them all apart. The worst part was it worked. They splintered, never fully coming together until they were brought together by Gingerbrave and his friends. But it was her, in a twisted way. Her want for knowledge and the need to keep cookie kind so safe it turned into something so much worse.

Her breath hitches when a bundle of nerves are brushed by the press of fingers and debris- a squeak that's buried by pillows she pushes her daxe into. Hesitation of the hands, waiting for Lily before she could continue.

"I want to hear it." When had she gotten so close? Face aflame, White Lily turned to the goddess, those intense eyes pinning her to the spot.

"Please, I know that they- they need help."

With consent she moves again, pushing her fingers into the mess that were her wings. Pure Vanilla returned with the items requested, ending up on the other side of White Lily as she was being worked on. There was pain - barely enough to cry over - but it was the build up of tension, the tenderness and her two beloved friends that broke the dam.

Pure Vanilla draws in, cradles her head, petting the wisps of her soft hair as the tears dampen his shoulder. Soft soothing words and a hand that rubs circles into her back. There's a terrible part of her that wants more, something White Lily is able to smother in the moment. To have him turn her head, his lips on hers to sooth the thunder in her heart.

The moment Golden Cheese had touched her wings, arousal became a slow fire burning through her. Kindling of long lost desire created the squirming cookie she was, doing her best to sit still. By the time the first wing was done her tears were all cried out, and White Lily was consumed by the fire of her need.

"Could you show me how to do this?"

Heavens above, White Lily is set to combust when she hears Vanilla speak. The goddess gathers the debris to dispose of crumbling feathers and refuse. When Golden Cheese looks at him, he squirms a little under her gaze, a smirk forming when he speaks.

"I want to be able to help if you are unable to attend to her." His careful hand on her untouched wing has Lily biting her lip. Golden Cheese makes her way around, having her scoot to the far side of the bed.

"It will be a good idea. Our treasure is too clouded to do much more than rock with her need." The knowing seared through Lily, shamefully bowing her head when she saw the smirk. To Vanilla's questioning tilt of his head she supplies, "wing preening is intimate. There are nerves all along the wings, and it's quite stimulating."

Pure Vanilla's eyes widen with the knowledge and she can't bear to look but she can feel his gaze on her. His hand rests on her shoulder, comforting.

"This is alright, then, for me to help? To watch?"

Lily finally raises her head, the flush turning her scarred dough a pale brilliant pink and nuzzling the hand on hand on her shoulder. Her fuschia eyes are dark with a need she hasn't shown another in a long time.

"Please, Pure Vanilla."

He swallows, looking at Golden Cheese who's far too amused by this, rolling up his sleeves.

-----

In the crawl of the months that follow, White Lily discovers certain patterns in the way her companions hold themselves.

Pure Vanilla is the ancient to stay behind, becoming the guard of the captured Beasts next to a few specialized warriors under the Cacao kingdom. He throws himself into the work of deciding how to deal with their other halves, a touchstone for the Ancients to take reports and dispense wisdom. When he is not working or advising his time is spent in her tent which while White Lily appreciates it, she wishes he would rest, too.

Cacao and Hollyberry are the focus of the forces, using their armies to put any threat into submission and create safe perimeters and slowly map out villages that may need help. Golden Cheese is an enigma to White Lily - though she supposes it's because rarely does the golden goddess grace her tent unless dragged by another. She isn't able to get information unless asked, and even the other Ancients are unsure. The avian cookie has acted as a messenger and liaison, taking to the skies faster than the airships to deliver news and information on the fly.

But they also have their own kingdoms to mend, and after six months they reconvene to address the next steps. A last council before returning home to lick their wounds and mourn those they lost. She glances at a small bundle wrapped on her vanity, what Pastry Cookie had left, and what she was supposed to dole out. Perhaps-

White Lily turns at the voice of her current nurse, hears the excitement as the cookie steps back and bows her head.

"Though I believe they will be the most excited for you, my lady."

She can only offer a kind smile, quiet as the nurse leaves.

The mirror in her room had been turned some time ago, an act of kindness in the early days of her healing. A careful hand turns it toward her once again; scarred dough healed with medicine and magic, lines that cracked and crumbled her. She hadn't asked how she survived. There was still a fear that this was all but a dream, a torturous thought that this was a purgatory she would let herself drown in. Her eyes had hardened, though perhaps it was the way she glared at herself, forcing a breath out to relax. Her fuschia eyes were dull, faded like the burns in her dough - forcing herself to look at anything but the pity she felt for herself. She didn't deserve that.

One nurse had told her they had to cut much of her hair - jam and ash had muddled into a hardened mass that was easier to remove than treat. Even now it was too short for her liking, barely glancing off her shoulders, but it was healthy, and growing. That meant she was healing. She is alive.

With some shaky exploration and a bit of guidance she finds the tent where the other Ancients had been discussing their plans. She adjusts the satchel weighing one side and raises a hand for the First Watcher who approaches. Caramel Arrow bows her head and makes a single gesture to the other soldiers. She pushes the flap on the tent, catching the four in mid conversation.

"It would be advantageous if we advance through here before we withdr– Announce yourself before your ent--" All the snarl in Dark Cacao's grandeur is gone when he realizes who is there. "White Lily-"

"What are you doing out of bed!" Golden Cheese beats the Cacao king, swiftly at Lily's side and guiding her toward a seat. She won't sit at first, claiming she was alright to stand.

"All of my favorite people are here in a meeting," she finally says, allowing herself to lean on the Cheese cookie. "As an Ancient, I should be here, no?"

She's coaxed into sitting by Hollyberry, captured in the queen's lap while Vanilla and Cacao negotiate. As they pull away from ground zero and attempt to leave, how will they proceed and who will go where -

Lily is, however, distracted; warmed by the embrace and her face pressing into the queen's neck. That familiar berry sweetness and a hint of spice that she could lose herself in. Whatever conversation going on at the war table was lost on her, feeling a hand at her waist, sighing into sun-kissed skin. Hollyberry only gives a quiet huff, though her head tilts, giving Lily the expanse of her neck. She couldn't help herself, truly, between the warmth and comfort and her own needs rising that she leaned forward, hidden in luscious hair to nibble and kiss at little spots, finding a place to bite down.

Hollyberry swallowed any sound she made and adjusted in her seat, arm tight around Lily. Keeping her close. The men were still talking about how the trade ships could make the best time to distribute supplies in a focused method without the tremendous use of fuel as White Lily found another spot to mark, kissing the tender skin while watching on. Golden Cheese however was half listening, mentioning how the weather patterns may affect the course when she caught the fidgeting queen across the table. Their eyes met for a moment when Hollyberry smirks, revealing their flushed Lily under the curtain of hair, blinking and catching the gaze of the goddess. Her lips are flushed from her current task and she could only give a bashful bat of lashes before tucking back in.

"This is foolish," Cacao rumbled then, turning from the table and catching Hollyberry and Lily, eyes widening a fraction. He stumbles over his words and decides to look away just as Pure Vanilla realizes what the king is looking at. She pulls from Hollyberry, another new mark blooming dark and nuzzling in, smiling up at them - seeing how flushed Vanilla becomes watching them.

"This is- you should be resting," Pure Vanilla makes his way over, gently tipping the Dawnbringer's face up. Her lashes flutter, smiling and nuzzling the hand. He leans down, a chaste kiss that she leans into, wings rousing and settling against her back, making a little mewl when he pulls away. A thumb brushes along her bottom lip and she only whines again. "Have you not been able to attend to your needs?"

Lily shakes her head, feeling the squeeze of Hollyberry's hand on her hip again.

"We should make sure our treasure is fit to travel before we make our way back to the Vanilla Kingdom," Golden Cheese's head appears from behind Pure Vanilla, playing with one of the tassels on his robes. He shivers as she presses from behind, giggling at him. "Stop squirming Vanilla, I'll want to claim you here and now~"

He bats at her, feeling her laugh even harder when she keeps pulling and using his height as her advantage to scale and wrap her legs around his waist. Pure Vanilla scoffs but he’s leaning forward with a groan.

"You are- you are just as bad as her, Golden Cheese-" But the avian is able to keep them steady with her wings out, Pure Vanilla holding onto her thighs at his side. He sighs, ending up leaning on the table and setting her down there, though her legs are wrapped around his waist and she is quite content to not let go.

Dark Cacao is rubbing his face with frustration building with his growl.

"We need to figure out where we are taking White Lily before we give in to – into this debauchery-" He smacks Vanilla's hand away when he reaches, still grumbling. Hollyberry's laughter is bold, sitting back and jostling Lily but keeping a tight grip.

"We'll take her to the Vanilla Kingdom. It's where we will hold the Beasts until we decide what to do with them. Solved.” Her grin turns sharp and she tilts her jaw up in a challenge to the king. “Now come kiss me, you old codger."

Whatever he was going to say will die on his tongue, making a little face before closing the distance and leaning down to capture her lips. Hollyberry growls into it, biting his bottom lip - Cacao quickly submitting in it and opening his mouth for her. Lily watches how his eyes close, wide palm on her shoulder kneading her just below where she had made her marks. He pulls away, spit slicked and flushed, back to a more regal position though Lily catches the shift, a subtle adjustment of the front of his robe.

Desire pulls taut in White Lily, watching Golden Cheese tease Vanilla - his robes rucked up over his waist and her hands on his sides. She gets to see the softness of his skin, thankful he's not lost too much of those curves and the body she curled herself into during the colder months. He was always so warm, so soft and so sweet when they laid together, mouth watering and having to tuck her face into Hollyberry to stop from whining.

"This is nor the time or place, Golden-" Pure Vanilla is cut off as a hand rests on his mound over the body suit. With how deep he's blushing his eyes nearly glow. "We should go somewhere private, a-at least. As well as discuss what we are doing."

The goddess pouts yet she relents, her legs unfolding from his waist and robes dropping down around the healer. Leaning back on her hands he slips away, adjusting and fixing himself though that pink seems to be staining him.

"Again we should discuss this." Vanilla opens a palm in a wave to the five drawn close. "This is akin to what we.... We used to be." That unspoken thing, reckless and saccharine. "We never really spoke on those times either but, time has changed, as have we."

Silence permeates in the war room.

Change had rendered them apart, ruined them in ways and wove them together again. White Lily had played her part but she knew there was more in what happened when she was missing, hurt she would never see. Hollyberry adjusted her hold on the other woman, making sure the arm under her wings is firm.

"I liked what we had," Hollyberry starts, smiling down at White Lily. "It was good. Felt good, and it's something we've started indulging in with each other again -" her eyes shift to Dark Cacao and Pure Vanilla with a smirk. The king looks away while the Compassionate blushes and raises his hands in some kind of defense. Golden Cheese snorts, covering it with her arm when Cacao glares her way, White Lily giggling into Holly's shoulder - the sounds dissolving the tension that was forming.

"I missed this," Lily eventually says, gathering what courage she had. "Being with all of you, not only ensuring the safety of Earth Bread but sharing time, comfortable silences and-" face flushing when she looks to the hungry eyes of Passion. "I missed being able to lay at your sides. To share in ourselves in emotional and physical senses." Her wings rouse, mirrored by Golden Cheese, wings shifting and stretching and the goddess follows suit, ignoring the tumbling of pieces across the map behind her, laid plans left ruined.

She fears the new silence she brings is too much until she feels the near crushing weight of Hollyberry.

"I swear you are the sweetest thing White Lily-" The squeak the smaller cookie gives is wholly ignored, kisses peppered across her face. She's unable to escape, noises claimed by the queen and her mouth until strong hands take her at the waist and pull her away. Dark Cacao is careful as her wings extend - something she's learned since reclaiming her wings with Golden and Vanilla - stabilizing herself until her back rests against his chest.

"If we are in agreement with this," his rumbling against her sends sparks down her spine, realizing that Cacao holds her as easily as his sword, her feet still off the ground. How easily he could manhandle her, setting her face aflame. "Then we should not allow Hollyberry to keep our Lily to herself."

The offended noise Hollyberry makes is quickly outweighed from laughter by the other Ancients. White Lily reaches up, fingers threading through long dark hair as she tilts her head, meeting the stolid king. But she sees, as the others do, the sweet betrayal of emotion as he leans down to kiss her. The parcel at her waist, forgotten.

-----

In only days White Lily finds herself packing her meager belongings into a trunk provided to her by one of her… a thought of what she could call him makes her face flush. Her companions.

Her treasures, as Golden Cheese would call them .

The encampment was being taken down, making way for recovery across Crispia. With the help from the Creme Republic and modifications made by Strawberry Crepe Cookie, transport airships and caravans were planned to take the efforts from ground zero to the rest of Earthbread. Over the course of the last week ships were arriving and departing, taking technicians, engineers and soldiers that were not leaving on foot. Soon it would be their turn, remembering Hollyberry's excitement while they ate breakfast, the queen ensuring she had her fill of tea and slightly stale croissants. While she did long for fresh fruit and cream, White Lily's hunger was for other flavors.

Since the warroom they had set loose boundaries; nothing in open public or anything that could hurt the other person beyond prior discussion. There were other things that Lily may have glazed over but who could pay attention when someone's hand was up her skirts? Face aflame and thinking of that night she hadn't heard the tents opening parse nor the footsteps until-

"Are you almost ready, White Lily Cookie?"

Her hands fly out, a bloom of lilies bouncing and weaving themselves around Pure Vanilla though none of them do any damage. Hands raised in defense he’s apologising over frightening her, laughing softly and patting her shoulder once the magic fades.

"I was just, packing the last of my things." White Lily makes a handwave to the few shirts and trinkets that she's been given since all of this started. Pure Vanilla smiles, reaching and brushing some hair from her face.

"It will be good to bring you back to the Vanilla Kingdom, I've missed having your company."

She mirrors his smile, eyes flicking to his lips before turning and focusing on folding one of the blankets. Pure Vanilla lingers, his hand resting low on her back, playing with a few secondary feathers slightly out of place. Lily bumps his arm with her hip, questioning but just chuckles.

"Forgive me, my Lily," crowding her now, his free hand cupping her face and turning her head. "May I kiss you?" She answers by leaning in, rising to her toes to catch his lips and bring him down. A hand slides into her hair, angling her mouth to swipe his tongue against her lips. Her gasps allow his tongue to explore - pressing back with her own as he guides her away from her task at hand. Pure Vanilla leans on a wall, pulling her into him and holding her close.

Vanilla slots his knee between her legs, still kissing but guiding the hand at her waist to draw her further, letting her rest against his thigh. Already that heat is building - a bundle of coals kept warm for days fanned by the adoration of the other four who bestow her. She lets herself press into his leg, that slow grind delicious but not quiet enough, sounds swallowed by his mouth still. They're so distracted that they don't hear voices until their tent opens once more. White Lily nearly trips over her own feet pulling away that her wings flare subconsciously to catch herself.

"I see you've already gotten here first," the rumbling from Dark Cacao comes part amused and indignant as he ensures Lily can stand. Righting herself with one of his hands at her side she can feel the heat ebb off him, something she leans into. "The airship is ready for us to board. I've spoken with Clotted Cream, and he has allowed us a vessel for our use to take us and the Beasts to the Vanilla Kingdom for proper judgement."

He hasn't let her go, instead he's drawn her closer, letting her wings carefully brush his front. White Lily looks up, his impassive face but a mask for the warmth in his eyes.

"It will be good to be in familiar territory, as well as privacy." As he says this, Cacao's fingers press into her side, enough to feel the expanse of his wide hands across her dough. The Cacao king could easily wrap his hands around her entire torso, face burning darker when she finds Pure Vanilla watching amused.

She's let go to finish her packing, the chest being taken by the king and carried toward their waiting vessel. Pure Vanilla stays at her side, his orchid staff in one hand and another on her back. With all the tents down and packs set away the valley looks impossibly wide, and if she squints Lily could make out on the horizon where the crumbs of Dark Enchantress turn to nothing. Her staff is heavy in her hand, a welcome weight now that she feels steady enough to walk on her own.

The airship is beautiful and sleek, made from metals and wood and technology that White Lily couldn’t quite comprehend but she was enamored still with how excited Pure Vanilla is as he explains some of the mechanisms that they pass while boarding. In the cockpit he explains the panels and their buttons, a hand passing over the steering wheel and the censors beside it.

There aren't many rooms; a galley and enough room to dine, a several small cabins with beds and mattresses and the standard fare for mechanism maintenance and engineering. Hollyberry isn't far after them, carrying a sack with her. At the look of confusion she grins and pats it, looking proud.

"These are all treasures and things I got before and even after the battle - I figure they might be worth something once everything settles and it'll recoup some losses."

Lily did make attempts at helping load the luggage but both Pure Vanilla and Dark Cacao had forbade it, wanting to continue her rest. Even with a pout she’ll find a place to sit watching the technicians and her fellow Ancients as the last of the encampment is disassembled. Hollyberry winks at her in one of her rounds making her smile, holding her hands out as she walks toward the airship.

“I’ve finished all the loading they need me for!” Taking Lily’s hands, she’s bringing her deeper into the airship. “Lets pick out a room before Cacao decides he wants to assign cabins - c’mon-!”

In a small cabin room, two beds pushed into a corner, White Lily is put on her back - careful of the wings - Hollyberry peppering kisses along her jaw and to her neck. It’s quick and raw, dragging and rucking clothes, tugging up silk and skirts, Lily tugging and letting hair fall from their stately buns. A curtain of deep pink hair, curly and wild curtains them, and Lily can’t get enough of it.

"You smell like Cacao's shampoo," a small handful of hair, smiling up at Hollyberry who's face goes ruddy.

"He let me use some of his last night, since I ran out."

"Since you forgot to get yours when you spent the night?"

White Lily's giggling is cut off with a whine when the others kisses trail down her chest, turning to nips and bites. Fingers trail and draw the layers of a dress away, looking up to check in. Her hand pushing hair away to make eye contact and share a smile, Hollyberry dips her mouth to kiss soft skin. A whimper dampened by a hand as lips seal around a hardened bud, teasing tongue flat palm that finds its way between thighs.

"Hollyberry," her voice caught with need and emotion, unshed tears making fuchsia eyes shimmer. Lily's body aches, and the queen is happy to serve; allowing herself to be led and meeting the hand that drew down undergarments. Her lips smear against her thigh, regarding her prize with such hunger. "Please, my dear I- I don't know if i could handle anymore teasing-" How could one not deny such a plea?

Her fingers part and her mouth goes to the source of her, lapping the deeply floral slick and pushing her tongue in. Lily's nails scrape Holly's scalp, urging the queen's movements and teasing higher and flicking at her clit. Every touch is too much yet not enough, more than her fingers were giving her but the tongue dipping into her cunt had her bucking into the woman's mouth. Holly gripped her hips and held firm, sucking and teasing, focused only on giving Lily pleasure as her lips sealed around the woman’s clit, circling with the tip of her tongue and flat pressure that made Lily cry out. The pleasure built too quickly - she cums across Hollyberry's mouth and tongue with a moan of the woman's name as her thighs trembled, whole body taught before going lax on the bed.

Hollyberry sits back, Lily's calves against her back as she looks down. The smaller cookies chest is heaving, flushed down to her chest and eyes deep with need. Lily tugs on her hair, bringing her up into a kiss, tongue sweeping the taste of herself out of Holly's mouth. Passionate and heady, turning their bodies mid kiss so they don't fall off once she comes up for air, Lily now leaning over Hollyberry. They both pant, the smaller of the cookies tugging on the maroon skirt and pulling it up.

"Please?"

It's easy to slip the dress away, laces undone and push the material until she's in the same state of undress as White Lily. Pale hands cup and smooth, touching all she can in a reverence that catches Hollyberry's breath - how long had she forgotten the soft touches and beauty. They lay together wrapped in one another, kissing and touching as Lily's hands pass over the curves of Holly's stomach, turning her face against Lily's neck to muffle her sounds.

"You've gotten quite wet, Hollyberry," still breathless, stroking soaked coarse curls and fingers just brushing along her folds. It makes Hollyberry squirm just how quickly her arousal spikes with White Lily at the helm, twitching as her fingers finally press and spread her open. Fearing moving too quickly could jostle, she's trying to hold still but Lily's so gentle, not enough for her hunger.

"Please Lily, Witches, I desperately need more, I need-"

Two fingers thrust, the curl of them downright sinful - Hollyberry isn't able to muffle her cry. White Lily continues to thrust her fingers, sitting up enough to let her wings have the room to shift and flutter and for one of Hollyberry's arms to wrap around her and hold her tighter, hips pushing into the hand. Her palm grinds against Passion's mound, each time it makes slick contact with her clit she sees stars.

"Falling apart so quickly against me," Lily feels deep satisfaction as she whispers into Hollyberry's ear and feels her tightening around her fingers. "Did you miss when I did this to you? I missed your mouth, your beautiful hands." Her hand shifts as Hollyberry draws up, able to push her fingers flush and add a third. Another cry, this one swallowed by White Lily's neck but the Dawnbringer keeps talking.

"You feel so good like this, perfect below me. I want to taste you, so you need to cum on my hand so I can drink my fill."

That sends her over, the last push of a slick palm on her clit snapping the wire on her teetering orgasm. As she comes down Lily's fingers slow but don't yet stop, bordering overstimulation as she's moving and putting herself before the Queen. Hollyberry isn't able to protest as now a tongue presses against her cunt, moving in tandem with fingers still fucking into her. The fingers finally draw out but it's replaced with an eager tongue, Hollyberry throwing her head back with a swear, pushing her hips up into her mouth.

White Lily's laughter against her makes her groan, biting her fist and gathering the sheets below. Pleasure is building again already, quick and hot with debaucherous noises below as that tongue pushes inside again.

"Witches, Lily-"

Vibrations pulsate against Hollyberry's cunt and make her jump, a peek of white hair and dark fuschia eyes finding hers. Instead of speaking she's back down again, redoubling her efforts and making the ancient lose her breath. The second orgasm is just as good, thighs trembling as the waves coax drowsy pleasure. She's able to pull Lily up against her, lazy slotting of their mouths as the heights of their pleasure ebbs to embers, warm and heavy.

"We should meet the others," Lily’s attempt to sit up is denied by a warm arm and blanket conjured from the end of the bed draped over the both of them.

"There's still a bit of time, we can rest."

----

By the grace of logistics and the chaos of regrouping, Hollyberry and White Lily are able to rejoin the other Ancients by the time the final call comes and the last of the airships take off. White Lily's legs were still quite unsteady on their trek, thankful for Hollyberry's arm and her staff to lean on.

Pure Vanilla smiles at them both, standing beside Lily as Cacao shouts orders and salutes his Watchers. As they return the gesture they look to the other Ancients and bow their heads before turning toward the lower holding bay.

"They're coming too?" Lily watches Cacao follow them down and disappear behind a heavy door. Golden Cheese crosses her arms as her wings flex and rouse but never fully settle, watching the closed door.

"We have precious cargo below deck, and it needs a twenty-four hour watch. Those Beasts must not escape their containment."

Lily's eyes widen and she takes a few steps toward the door but there's a hand on her arm, Hollyberry holding her back and Golden Cheese shaking her head.

"It isn't advisable to go down," at the face Lily makes at this, Golden sighs. "They are sealed using some magic that I don't even understand. Pure Vanilla-?"

The healer perks up as he explains to the best of his ability; using a concentration of elemental magic, Sugar Swan’s aid and Silents Salt Silver Forks they were once again able to create a temporary seal, this time focusing on the containment of their magic and powers rather than their whole bodies. White Lily turns the thoughts in her head, already several little diagrams she pushes away to focus on Pure Vanilla.

"They are rendered mortal by the magics.” Pure Vanilla claps his hands, the orchid staff wiggling and its bloom glaring down at its user. “Incapacitated and bound, they will face judgement before the council and kingdom once we arrive and everyone is settled."

White Lily frowns, but she's led into the cockpit. The Beasts, those who had done so much against them and their own kind, but themselves having been turned on by cookie kind- thoughts cut by a warmth on her arm. Golden Cheese hasn’t let her go, hand slipping into her own and lacing their fingers together. Such a simple thing that warms her, leaning slightly on her as Pure Vanilla checks through systems.

Takeoff is easy which eases some of the tension, watching them rise off the ground. Seeing the wreckage from the battle however makes her uneasy; craters and scorched flesh, shards of iron and the broken oven - someone had said it had blown open when Dark Enchantress emerged from it, unholy and new. She swayed from the windows, turning her head away in hopes to stem the nausea. How could she have done it? Remaking herself again in hopes of achieving, what? What kind of creation was she hoping for?

How curiosity soured freedom into something so-

"Lily-?!"

Arms wrap around her, a palm caressing her and another pushing hair from her face. She simply sinks into it. Hollyberry, her steady presence helping ease the trembling. Lily hadn't felt the arm below her until she was being pressed into the other's chest, scrambling for purchase and wings knocking into Golden Cheese at her side.

"I think it's time for some actual rest, Lily. It looked like you were going to faint just then." Hollyberry nods to the Cheese cookie but Lily isn't able to see the other's expression as Hollyberry turns. "I'll be back in a moment!"

The walk already feels familiar but her disorientation lingers. Inside their shared cabin, Hollyberry lays Lily on the cleaner of the two beds.

"I should be out there with everyone," the bemoaned Lily pleads, but a kiss to her forehead is able to quell her. A few more kisses are peppered down to her jaw with one last chaste kiss to the lips.

"You are still recovering in more ways than one, White Lily Cookie. With current wind speeds Pure Vanilla said it may take about a week or so to reach the Vanilla Kingdom. We'll have plenty of time to get sick of eachother." That makes Lily laugh and Hollyberry smiles at it, foreheads pressed together.

"Really though. Rest. I'll make sure someone gets you for the evening meal. But, if you need anyone, use this button." She shows on the table next to a lamp a small box with a speaker and a few buttons. "These lead to speakers in certain areas, all labeled. One of us will always come when you ask. But you have to ask for it."

After a few more kisses she's left alone, sleep claiming her after tugging the blanket from the sullied bed over and wrapping herself in it, if anything to smell Hollyberry as she drifts off.

----

White Lily Cookie is thankful since her resurrection - her return? Re-embodiment – she isn't sure anymore - she rarely dreams. When she does there are bare snippets that are more feeling than memory. Lately the affections of her fellow Ancients have tinged her dreams with warmth and need, waking with one hand balled against her chest and the other curled between her thighs. She hadn't been touching herself but her arousal was a wicked thing, twisting and pulling her skirts up her thighs --

Knocking startled her, the drowsy arousal gone as quick as she could bring the blankets up to her chin. The door hasn't opened which is a blessing, willing her blush down as the cookie on the other end speaks.

"White Lily-" Pure Vanilla, blessedly calm, "dinner will be served soon. Would you like to accompany me, or shall I bring a plate to you?" She calls for him to enter, managing to sit up with blankets at her waist as the door opens. His orchid staff offers a questioning glance just inside as she slowly puts herself together.

"I am glad you were able to find some rest, Dark Cacao feared the rocking of the ship would persist in your nausea," filling the quiet space as White Lily stretches and wipes the sleep from her eyes.

"Hollyberry was a help she-" Vanilla's quirk of a smooth brow makes that flush return and she covers her face. "I meant to say it was a busy few days! My body is not used to such excitement, not yet." To which he gives a hum, thoughtful if not teasing. Standing now less sleepy and taking the offered arm, Pure Vanilla smiles at her.

"Yes, well, we will have plenty of time for rest before we are once again thrown into chaos. Oh and Lily," she turns as she speaks, seeing something more smug. "Hollyberry did nothing to conceal the marks you left."

Mercifully nothing else is said in the cabin nor the dining hall, allowing White Lily to have a quiet meal. Most talk is banal and drowned out between the machinery and the winds that push against the ship. Each of the Ancients excuse themselves in time, leaving White Lily with Pure Vanilla taking her empty plate when offered.

"Would you like to join me in the cockpit? If you aren't otherwise engaged."

She follows close behind, watching the engineers bow their heads or greet them both with warmth. No hesitation, no trepidation.

The cockpit isn't a large room, though the walls feel high with sensors and machinery. It's new to Lily, how long she's slumbered in the Faerie Kingdom, with how much has changed. Pure Vanilla explains as much of it to her as she’ll allow, and while the information is cataloged for later, she's focused on his enthusiasm and the animation. He'll place her in the main seat before the wheel, letting her rest her hands on it, ensuring nothing will happen as it's locked to cruise at its current altitude. .

"Thankfully it's a near straight shot with our trajectory. We just need to make sure we have the right altitude and enough fuel, which we stocked up on before leaving."

He finally glances down at her, the realization of his rambling catching on when she breaks into soft laughter.

"Sorry White Lily I knew how you liked- you like to know things and-"

She pulls him by the front of his robes, thankful the room was empty of others so she could kiss him. He melts into it - as he's always done in the past - tense shoulders unwinding as he kisses back. They go back and forth until Pure Vanilla draws away, nuzzling against her cheek. He conjures a second chair just to sit beside her, watching the horizon curtain itself with the coming night.

"Will you ever tell me what happened? After Dark Enchantress fell, I remember a few things but... there are other things I can't yet place."

The light of the moon ghosts over them, pale silver with shadows that make Pure Lily uneasy. Remembrance of something she can't quite place when Pure Vanilla takes her hand. His quiet is unsettling, but she watches as he turns her palm up to his.

"I want to, I do. But there is a part of me that does not quite believe what happened that night. When the time is right, I promise it."

Their knees knock awkwardly together as he turns to them, whispering apologies as he tries meeting her gaze. She searches his eyes for something - a lie, a misgiving but her Light of Truth shone as always. Their foreheads come together and they stay for a while, simply willing the time away tangled in one another.

-----

"Have you thought about flying?"

White Lily jumps at the voice, a finger to mark the place in her book. The thrum of the airship had become a nothingness in the back of her mind, leaving the cookie restless as the clouds eclipsed every horizon. Sleep refused to take her, perhaps all the rest she had while healing and - as if she was not still - or the closeness of everything within the airship. Being contained had frayed the remade cookie of Freedom.

"It has been a thought, I know I was able to fly, before." Appearing out of the portal, wielding her staff moments before plunging it into her own twisted heart--

"We could try again, the winds aren't bad now that we're at cruising speed."

Glancing outside, a small break in the clouds showing just how high they were as inky darkness swallowed everything below the clouds. The avian stood beside her, letting Lily lean as she continued speaking.

"We can start slow, let your wings feel the air and have you glide. Pitaya is out there too, and it could catch you before I can." The dragon had in fact been at their side at takeoff, a silent reminder of another failure for White Lily that she tampered down. "You and I are both bored and itching for something to do. Come, even for just a moment."

Twilight split the sky in two, the orange streak of the sun peeking above the clouds could not dampen the depths of night still clinging. White Lily could have fallen right into it, the depths of darkness devoid of stars, steadied only by a familiar hand at her back leading to the center of the deck. Wind whips over them, she has to close her eyes and send a quiet thought to not fly right off-

"I've got you."

A press of lips on Lily's ear, a body against hers. Golden Cheese rests her hands on her hips, wind at her back. She can blame her flush on the cold winds, managing to open her eyes. The goddess is watching, that amused smirk softened as their noses bump and vision blurs.

"Go on," a mouth ghosting over hers, the sound Lily makes lost to the wind as what little distance closes. Their wings unfurl in the wind almost lifting them there but the cheese cookie has hold of a rope to keep them on level ground. It's an exhilarating feeling, the way her wings extend and search for the right current on its own. Her mouth opens as her feet lift just a touch, a glide caught for a second as an eager tongue licks into her mouth. She takes the purchase with one hand in the abundance of golden hair whipping around her and the sash at the cookie's waist.

They watch the sun crest over the clouded horizon and banish the last of the night in shared kisses, Golden carefully extracting herself from Lily to watch her glide in a windfall that curls over the airship. Lily still keeps a firm hand to her goddess, her fear of falling always present but the other cookie never mentions it. She only holds her hand a little tighter, making sure there is always a connection between them and back to the ship. That she would never let go again.

A powerful gust of air causes both of Lily’s feet to leave the ground, a surprised laugh bubbles out from the Dawnbringer - with concentration she turns her wings into the oncoming wind to maintain the bit of height, looking to Golden Cheese. Her goddess is encapsulated by the rising sun, glowing, yet she's being looked on with the same adoration and awe. She touches down once the wind passes, tugging herself closer to claim the light of Abundance, her lips windchapped and sweet.

-----

The wall of the airship is cold against her belly, feeling the body of another ancient press against her wings tucked against her back. Lily knows who it is by the growl in her ear - although she knows it is in part of where she's found herself in.

"I thought you were told to not come down here, White Lily." Dark Cacao keeps firm hands on her, keeping her in place enough she can't turn her body in full but she's able to pout at him. Even after so long apart he's still broad, overwhelmingly strong with that bitter scent that drives her wild.

"I know, I know I simply wanted to see-"

A growl in her ear makes a stop, toes curling in her slippers and she curses herself for finding the tightening grip and the authoritative air of the king arousing. Body pressed so close, she swears she could feel-

"There is nothing to see down here. Storage and prisoners. If there is something you need, all you need is to ask, and it will be brought to you." But he pulls away then, apologizing quietly in the same breath. Turning to him now, she takes the Cacao king in; his formal attire simplified down to fit for the tight confines of the airship. But his aura still radiates that quiet confidence that controls a room, sends traitors to their doom and leaves needy cookies such as herself wanting.

"And if I wanted you, Dark Cacao?" She can't take it back now, biting her lip and watching the way he shifts. His face grows warm, a huff of air from his nose as finally he looks at her. Such heat and desire reflected back, matching her own. "If I asked for the ruler of the Cacao Kingdom to kneel before me and take what he so desperately wants yet never ask for himself? What would he say."

His jaw works in consideration of her words, but before she's able to leave the king crowds her again up against the wall. But then he drops to his knees before her, eyes widening as he's pushing up her skirts. She grabs a fistful of hair and tugs, making him look up with a confused knit of his brow.

"Is this not what you want? I am going to make you forget about whatever it is you want below deck."

She tries for words, quickly caught by the glide of chapped lips against her inner thigh.

"We could be found by anyone--"

"The doors are securely locked, only opened by the one who has the key, and perhaps a sly fae who likes to press her luck-"

Lily can't find anything to rebut with when his mouth seals over her panties, hot breath sending jolts up her spine as he inhales her scent. Her back arches, another grab of hair and her own skirts as he sets to work teasing and nosing at her dripping cunt through the garment.

"Please, Lily," murmured against her skin, blunt fingers brushing the hem of fabric. "I wish to taste you, to take you. To make you remember who serves you better." The words strike a terrible cord within her, a memory of Silent Salt just like this, on his knees to serve her. She pulls at his hair, forcing the memory away and gasps his name.

"I am yours, Cacao."

He tugs the garment down just enough to reach her, mouthing at her folds and sliding the flat of his tongue across her slit. Lily throws her head back and pushes into the feeling, thighs trembling until she's lifted - squeaking as Cacao gets one leg up on his shoulder, then the other. She tries lifting her hips only to cry out as his tongue delves deeper, curling and so deep.

Lily closes her eyes, following the sensation of the others hands and mouth, tugging his hair as if it could bring him closer. His ministrations draw up to her clit making her gasp and buck, trembling and unstable as her shoulders and wings drag up the wall, struggling for balance.

"Cacao, please-" A sharp tug pulls him up from her cunt, jaw slick and glistening in the low light. "I need more."

With reverence he brings her down from his shoulders, instead resting her knees at his thighs. She's able to see her effect on him plain as day, the way his robes tent until he opens the layers and draws himself free. Her mouth waters, reaching and wrapping her pale hand around his length. She relishes in the hiss as she gives a tentative stroke.

"I've forgotten how big you were. Will you even fit?" She smirks when he growls, bucking into the hand while precum dribbles down and aids in the ease of her strokes. "How many times I've thought of you, how full you made me-" Florals and bitter cacao pushed onto her tongue as the king silences her in a kiss. Lily lets him take her, easing his cock against her slit. He drinks her mewls and whines as she's impaled on him inch by inch sinking down. It's too much - the drag and push and fullness making her shake and tumble right over her first orgasm as he bottoms out inside her.

Dark Cacao holds her through it, letting her shake and tremble as it floods her senses. She comes down wrapped in him, arms careful to not nudge her lazy wings and nose at her neck murmuring soft things he could never say aloud. He's still buried inside, hard and twitching, sending little sparks of overstimulation at the edge of her coherence. After a few breaths her head tilts, mouth to his ear he goes completely still.

"Take what is yours, my king."

The drag of his cock is tortrous, lifting and dropping her hips just before the tip could slip out. Lily's voice is punched out with moans and sweet noises, losing them when he comes to claim her mouth again. His pace is punctured by his own movement, twitching forward and making her see stars. Cacao groans into her mouth, wild and sweet as he falters, closer and closer to his own orgasm. With what strength she has left she brings her chest to his, arms around his neck to bring them flush. His cockhead edges something deep within White Lily, eyes rolling back as she involuntarily clenches down hard with a cry.

"My Lily, my Lily-" Begging into her skin, bruising grip at her waist. "In or out, tell me-"

"In-" Unthinking as tears flow and pleasure too quickly, too much at once and a third crest of pleasure hits as Cacao meets her. He holds her down, ensuring he's buried deep as he fills her tremendous form. Lily's nails have dug into his back, partially torn fabric and even a few dribbles of jam but neither seem caring, reveling in the pleasure.

After several minutes of breathing, careful massage helps ease the tension in their bodies and coming down from the high, Cacao bows his head to the floor while White Lily cleans herself with an offered cloth.

"I was not thinking, acting on impulse witches, forgive me-" a slippered foot nudges his head making him look up. She's haloed by the lamplight, skirts still held in such a salacious way and Cacao watches a trail of his cum dribble down her thigh.

"I wanted it too, Cacao. Next time though, perhaps a bed."

-----

A wreath of restlessness has woven itself around White Lily.

Flying lessons were a good distraction but the books were either nothing that illuminated her or were straight smut - courtesy of Hollyberry who said they needed entertaining. There had been meetings and daily reports but it was all monotonous and she was going to lose her mind. It led her to pacing, making a circuit of all communal rooms of the airship.

On her third loop between rows of cabins she's stopped by loud laughter, a familiar crow of her golden goddess. She finds Golden Cheese, Hollyberry and Pure Vanilla in a fierce card game. There are snacks and a bottle of berry juice shared between them and out of the three it's the Vanillian flushed and smeared with lipstick.

"Its just Rummy, but Goldie wants to make it competitive-"

"You said to yourself you were bored-!"

"-So every round the winner gets to kiss whoever they wish."

In a moment of boredom, maybe madness, White Lily is between Golden Cheese and Hollyberry.

"Deal me in."

-----

It was easy to learn the game; holding onto runs of the same suit, discarding with the other players in mind and how one can hold a card over another. Easy. She's lost the first two rounds - although being tugged into a kiss by Golden Cheese had tampered her pouting and when Hollyberry made Pure Vanilla whine when she pulled him in, White Lily did not look away.

She glances at the fidgeting Pure Vanilla, his soft gaze focused on the cards but she knows he doesn't have the heart to play a ruthless strategy. Golden Cheese reaches over White Lily for the bottle of juice in Hollyberry's lap, sighing after a drink and leaning back with her cards flat to her chest.

"This reminds me of our traveling days. Relaxing around the fire and only needing to worry about what was in front of us."

Lily declines the offering so the bottle is passed to Pure Vanilla who carelessly licks along the rim before taking a swig. Lowering the bottle the flush in his face deepens with all eyes on him, looking down and around himself.

"Is there something wrong? Did I do something?" Confusion knits his brow and all Lily can do is laugh as she draws her final card.

"You could come here, as I believe I have won the game." Cards laid in their appropriate orders before discarding a trash card and going out.

Hollyberry groans while Golden tosses her hand in disgust, muttering about how smart cookies shouldn't play card games. Lily ignores the goddess in favor of reaching for Pure Vanilla, a shy smile that's dropped the moment their mouths come together. She's quite a fan of the berry juice clashing his vanilla taste but it's easily swept away and replaced with overpowering florals. A whimper against her mouth pulls something taut within her, dragging him a little closer until he's all but in her lap.

"I don't think we're getting another round are we," Hollyberry chuffs while shuffling the cards.

But both she and Golden Cheese watch the two as White Lily's mouth travels, tender brushes of her lips across his jaw and to her neck. Soft blooming marks are left in her wake, Pure Vanilla left breathless, useless with his legs eased further apart with one of Lily's knees. She shivers at the warmth radiating between his thighs as she presses her knee to his crotch, relishing in the new noise he makes. Before she can move her knee, Vanilla changes the angle of how he knees and grinds against her knee making both of them groan.

"Geeze, you two," Golden fans herself with her hand and truly, the warmth in the room has risen by a few degrees in the small room - yet neither gives her much grace as they rut and grind against one another. Lily finds his lips again, a little more frantic as now her hands are searching, pushing past linen and muslin to touch the tan scarred dough underneath.

Nights of lore, when things were wild and reckless they would hold one another in the night. How they counted freckles like boundless constellations and drew pleasure from each other like breathing. It had been centuries since then, since they had all been together like this - entwined in a way that felt too fragile to speak aloud. White Lily pinned Pure Vanilla to the bed, the spell shattered long enough for him to reach out and cup her face.

"You're crying, Lily."

Blinking a few times the wet blurs her vision, drawing back on her knees to wipe them away.

"Sorry I-" They don't stop, bigger and wetter splotches she struggles to dry. How many times had she thought to turn back in her quest, return to her friends and live in the joy she had. Regrets and fears she hadn't been able to tell in truth as the liar in her visage drove a wedge in their happiness. In their love.

Someone held her from behind, strong arms and a soft body that supported her with some of her first steps out of the healers tents. Hiccuping breaths soothed by the hand of the woman she was so terrified to approach after what she had learned what her other self had done. Then those beautiful heterochromic eyes, sun and moon in one, the Truth in her Freedom, carefully guiding his thumb under her eyes to wipe the tears away. Pure Vanilla cups her face, then realizes something.

"One moment, just one. Not everyone is here."

Only a single crackling call by the bedside table before he returns to the pile of Ancients. Pushed together, the beds barely held three but it was made easier by how small two of them were and how they were enclosed between. Lily kept her face tucked against Vanilla's neck, fists in his robes, shushed gently every time she tried apologizing or making moves to leave. He smooths her furrowed brow with gentle passes of his lips to it and a palm stroking along her side.

Four heads peek up at the opening of the cabin, Dark Cacao steps in with hair tamed by a ponytail though his work with the engineers had severely loosened it. Having foregone his robes he wears trousers and a loose shirt - both streaked with oil and dirt, he looks more like a commoner than a king though they all knew that Cacao was the type to put work in for the common good..

"I came as soon as I heard is--"

He blinks, left without words at chaos and a slowly leaking berry juice bottle that he rights on the bedside table before it all goes to waste. When he rises there's less of that serious set in his brow, toeing his shoes and pulling the ponytail loose and the curtain of hair falls about his waist.

"I see that I have found where my be- companions have gone." He tosses the shirt off after slipping out of it, ignoring the whistle from Golden Cheese. "Thankfully the ship is in working order, and I am able to take a moment to relax." With the grace of a king he picks both White Lily and Pure Vanilla up and curls into the spot they crafted with Hollyberry and Golden Cheese at the edges. He coaxes a kiss from each of them, lingering on White Lily.

For a while they lay there, the warmth of bodies and rumbling of the ship a cradle that could lull many a cookie into a doze but there are still needy members desperate to be stoked. Golden Cheese and Dark Cacao are catching up over the day, tugged so close to Vanilla, all White Lily needs is a shift of one their tangled legs to elicit a whimper. She feels the king beneath her still, easing Pure Vanilla into slow, lazy kisses.

"Isn't this a delightful show," Cacao's rumbling settles low in White Lily's body, breaking the kiss to smirk at him. "Yes, my Lily, you are a sight." He comes down and steals a kiss, his mix of bitter cacao sending a thrilling sensation along her spine.

Pure Vanilla, bless him, crawled up on her knee like before although the position wasn't advantageous - laying on his side with bodies shifting with him made for poor grinding space. His face was flushed, pushing into Cacao's chest as Lily pulled herself from the kiss to marvel at their Light, watching him whine and struggle until Cacao sat up. He broke the two of them apart with a frustrated noise.

"This isn't going to work- or be comfortable - with just three beds."

With help from less pleasure bound cookies - Cacao, Holly and Golden, managed to pilfer mattress pads from an empty room. By shoving the cheap frames into a corner were able to create something more fitting for all five of them. The heat had died down again between White Lily and Pure Vanilla, although she still had him nuzzled up in her lap. Watching for a long moment, White Lily took her leap.

"I want to be with you. All of you." She wouldn't dare look at any of their faces at the moment. "It is something we danced around many years ago, and one we began again but it-" A shaky exhale, swallowing. "I do not want to ignore what I felt back then, and what I feel now. Everything out in the open, no matter what others think."

For a moment there was silence, the trio of cookies at the edge of their nook stared at her.

"I accept this," Hollyberry was tugging the layers of her dress off with clumsy, excited hands. "I will not let go of those who know me best-" She joined in the pile and kissed both of them, her breasts pressing into Lily's back. Cacao was next, removing his trousers and kneeling onto the makeshift bed. He was more formal - which made Lily ache more knowing this meant he was serious.

"As I live and breathe, I will be at your sides when I am able, at your back for any battle and in your hand when you ask." He kisses their palms then their mouths, finding his place with his back to the wall.

Golden Cheese regarded the four with emotions so muddled she almost came off passive, amused. But her golden eyes betrayed her, swirling with the old anxiety and everything that had happened before. White Lily desperately wanted to reach for her but she knew she couldn’t, then the avian spoke.

“You are all my treasures,” Golden Cheese breathes, shaky, slowly undoing her collar and resting it at the table. She fumbles with the sashes skirts, but her excitement is evident by the tenting against her sash. “So much has changed - the world, who we are. But what we are to each other, even with our anger, our upset. That feeling has not changed.” The skirts fell, revealing her full form for her lovers, cock leaking at her thigh.”If you will have me, I will have you.”

White Lily did not have to reach for her as Pure Vanilla had, pulling her to them so both could bestow the goddess affection she so deserved. Their mouths met, fingers finding warm dough to touch and hold - beyond the scars and the pain of their pasts. Golden pulls from Lily, turning to catch Vanilla too close and bumping their noses together. They break into laughter, shaking as the last of their tension dissolves. He is the one to initiate their kissing this time, nudging their mouths together with slow reverence as White Lily's hands skim over them both.

A hand cupping her cheek breaks the moment before she's kissed by Hollyberry, the warm and sweet mouth joined by just as warm bands. Her eyes slip shut, letting herself give into the feeling of the bodies around her; the dip of Cacao joining them, his strong hands sliding over Pure Vanilla's chest, reverent in his recapping of their bodies. Golden Cheese whines when she's taken in hand, the Vanillian pressing her thumb under the head before smearing the bead of precum along its length.

Bodies shift and move, but White Lily is brought back to Pure Vanilla, once again pinned by pale dough he looks up flushed and kiss drunk. They've been helped out of their layers of clothes by excited and greedy hands, sitting between his legs. She can take him in like this, his beautifully tanned dough, scars and marks from their travels and the lives he led. Her hands glide from his shoulders to his chest, leaning down and kissing at his collarbone.

"I missed you," breathing the sweet cream of him, hearing the trembling breath. "How I missed all of you-" own breath hitching but she doesn't control the overflow of emotion, kissing the top of one of Vanilla's breasts as her tears flow. "How grateful I am for all of you."

Her lips go around a pert nipple, a gasp coming from above as she licks and sucks before doing the same to the other. Pure Vanilla squirms, trying to squeeze his thighs together and only bringing White Lily closer. She lowered her hands to his hips, holding without restricting his squirming. After a few more kisses she rises and sits back, throwing a leg up over his thigh.

It takes a few tries, desperate rocking from the both of them and just enough concentration. Lily could feel the heat radiating from Vanilla's core, clenching on nothing as finally their bodies met in slick and heat. They groaned in time, rutting in a reckless rhythm seeking pleasure they had denied themselves. She watches his flushed face twisting and presses harder so he moans, open and needy, fingers digging hard into the mattress.

"Witches," a breathless Golden Cheese, is at Pure Vanilla's side, petting his head and keeping that long blond hair from being pulled or tangled. Her cock rests heavy against her thigh, making Lily's mouth water. "He's so gorgeous like this, such a perfect thing." She kisses his temple, breathing him in.

"He will look good ah-- on speared upon you, my goddess," White Lily holds them together, slick and gushing and ignoring the way the healer whines at the lack of movement. "Would you like that, Pure Vanilla? For the goddess to take care of you too?" She watches him pant, those gorgeous blue and yellow eyes hazy with lust as he nods. Lily eases away, biting her lip at the loss of sensation and untangling herself, kissing Vanilla in apology before the goddess takes her place.

She looks at Hollyberry and Cacao, the queen currently sitting on the man's face and rocking her hips down against him. His fingers dig into the plush dough of her thighs, absolutely enjoying himself by his proud cock leaking on his belly. Lily straddles the king, taking his cock between her thighs to grind on as she watches Golden ease into Vanilla, pushing in. His back arches, an arm coming to cover his face that Golden pulls back.

"You have two beautiful women who wish to watch you come apart, my treasured healer. Let us enjoy you."

Pure Vanilla's flush becomes even darker but he nods, instead pulling the avian down for a kiss as she begins to move. Lily, so concentrated on watching them gasps when she feels a rough hand on her hip. The cock between her thighs throbs, twitches, slick and dark with aching need.

"I beg of you, please-"

She turns to see Hollyberry letting Cacao have a moment for air, giggling at the absolute state of the man. After a few ragged breaths the Hollyberrian bares down again, moaning as that silver tongue pushes into her again. Lily guides his cock to her entrance, deciding to spare a kindness and simply easing herself down without preamble. He still stretches her, Lily biting her lip as his cock drags along her walls, sitting so deep inside her.

The room devolves into the sounds of skin and muffled moans, seeking pleasure but not wanting the rest of the crew on the airship to be privy to their private affairs. Holly and Lily switched their places more than once, happy to tease their king until he spilled himself in Hollyberry with his tongue buried in Lily. But his cock hadn't softened, still firm as she pulled away and a wicked thought came.

Firm hands grasped Golden Cheese's rear mid thrust causing a squawk from broken concentration and surprise.

"Don't worry a single feather on your wings, my golden love. But I think our Cacao needs more than one hole tonight~"

Where Hollyberry had found a bottle of oil no one would ask, but her fingers were slicked and teasing as they pushed into Golden Cheese - both her and Pure Vanilla below her moaning. As Holly worked to stretch the avian Lily lay beside Vanilla, giving sloppy and sweet kisses as he tugged her closer.

"Please, White Lily, I-" breath hitching when Golden Cheese moved above them. "Touch me- let me touch you?" White Lily tilted her head until she felt his hand squeeze her thigh and she quickly understood. This time she straddled his thigh, easing her cunt over his palm. His fingers trembled against her folds but were quick to work, making Lily gasp into his mouth as her own hand slid between him and Golden who was losing herself as Cacao slid behind her.

The thrusting from above stopped as Hollyberry slid her fingers out, pouring some of the oil on the king's dark flushed cock. Cacao took hold of Golden's hips and pushed in - a cacophony of moans echoed in the cabin as he sunk in and quickly bottomed out inside the goddess. After a few minutes of adjusting, she was begging for him to move, caught between Pure Vanilla's tight cunt and the thick cock filling her.

There is no rhythm between the four - soon five cookies - beyond chasing pleasure. Hollyberry stole Pure Vanilla's other hand, happy to learn the ambidextrous nature of the healer. Dark Cacao pulles Golden Cheese flush to his chest to fuck her properly and allows both Hollyberry and White Lily to tease and touch Pure Vanilla as he edged on overstimulation.

They came in a domino effect starting with their golden goddess, overwhelmed by the sensations, then their healer. Already overstimulated, their king and queen let pleasure crash over them and lastly their freedom, her shaking breaths into Vanilla's mouth as she comes undone. Laying together in the aftermath felt healing in a hedonistic way, being able to relish in their mutual coupling and the way Pure Vanilla snuggles into her.

Much whining occurred when Cacao pulled out, kissing Golden's shoulder. He was not gone for long, tossing a few towels to clean themselves and a pitcher of water to be shared. White Lily kissed anyone who came close, chaste little kisses that she gave freely because she could, because she wanted to.

Because she was with the people she loved most. With them, she was no longer afraid of what would come next.