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To say Tally was tired was an understatement. She never thought she could get more exhausted than she was while on the run and fighting the Camarilla at the same time, but her return to War College was proving to be a challenge. The amount of studying she had to do, and the countless exams, somehow seemed worse than fighting a whole army, now that she was back.
So it wasn't that much of a surprise when a sigh of relief escaped her as soon as she spotted the door to her dorm after walking back from dinner with her sister, the weight lifting off of her tired shoulders at the thought of sleeping until she was needed the next morning for breakfast. Tally's tired mind vaguely thought about sneaking away to spend the night curled up with her general and she smiled, entertaining the idea for about three seconds before she was interrupted.
"Craven!" Her name echoed through the corridor she was currently in and Tally flinched, looking back at M. She had been so close to her room. "The General wants to see you," they said, stopping the redhead in her tracks. Tally, regardless of her previous thoughts, suddenly felt her exhaustion slipping away just to be replaced by anxiety.
Sarah wanted to see her, somewhat after hours, and without any previous notice. They didn't have a meeting scheduled for today, nor any other plans Tally could recall, and that sent her mind into a spiral of all the things that could've been wrong. The general usually sent word for her, due to her tight schedule and unexpected meetings. She wasn't used to being summoned like that so yes, Tally was worried. Was it something personal? Did Sarah have a change of heart? Was it about her grades? Her performance? She had slacked a little in Mothertongue but she was doing her best under the circumstances.
"Thank you, I'll be right there," the Cadet choked out.
"What did you do now?" Abigail asked after M walked away, looking at her sister with an arched eyebrow and a questioning look.
"I... nothing. I haven't done anything," Tally stuttered, trying not to panic while she threw a half smile their way and walked off to the Administration's building, trying to calm her rapidly beating heart with every step she took.
She knew she shouldn't jump to conclusions so quickly, but her mind wasn't cooperating. Things between her and Sarah were fine, more than fine really, but the nagging voice at the back of her head was telling her that this was it, this was the end. Tally tried not to think about all of their sweet moments together and kept walking confidently, her head held high. She would not allow herself to get emotional until she found out exactly why Sarah wanted to see her.
When she finally stood in front of Sarah's office, Tally took a deep breath, smoothing her hands over her uniform to make sure everything was in the right place, and knocked. She heard the clear voice calling out the order to come in and the redhead was sure her heart stopped altogether when she saw her commanding officer looking down at some papers on her desk, her jawline clenched and a frown between her eyes.
"General," she tried, glad that her voice didn't betray her. "You wanted to see me?"
"Yes, cadet, I-" Sarah looked up from her papers then and stopped, studying Tally intently and only making her nerves grow. "Tally, are you feeling alright?" She asked, because the girl in front of her seemed all about ready to pass out and she didn't know if it was because of fatigue or another reason entirely.
But Tally couldn't hear anything else other than her name slipping from her general's lips. Not Craven, but Tally. And that meant Sarah wasn't mad at her. That, for whatever reason she was summoned, Sarah wasn't putting an end to this thing they had that Tally was too afraid to name. She was not the General right now. And, for the second time that day, Tally felt the relief washing over her.
"Darling?" Sarah asked again when Tally stayed silent.
"What? Yeah, I'm- I'm fine," she smiles, feeling her heart speed up for an entirely different reason now, and melting out of her ramrod straight posture when Sarah returns her smile.
"You look tired," the general says gently, dropping her pen and leaning back on her chair.
"Just, you know, classes and exams and... Major Verger can not stop testing my abilities, which would be fine if she didn't come up with the strangest things. Didn't I prove myself through a literal war? You'd think she'd know by now what I can do. And I haven't been slep-," Tally started to ramble until she saw the smirk tugging at the corner of Sarah's lips. "Sorry," she whispered, eyes casting down to prevent the blush coming up her neck.
Sarah thought it was endearing the way that, even after all this time, Tally still felt self conscious around her. Even after being reassured countless times that she didn't have to.
"Come here," Alder said gently and Tally looked up, pausing for a split second until she saw the open expression on the other woman's face. She let her feet carry her towards those blue eyes staring so intently at her and suddenly nothing else mattered.
When Tally was close enough, Sarah rested her hands on the younger woman's waist and pulled gently until Tally was straddling her lap, relishing at the gasp that echoed through her office and at how her tense body suddenly relaxed. The general faintly heard one of the biddies chuckle in her head at the effect Tally had on her, but it was quickly dismissed.
"Hi," Sarah planted a quick kiss on the woman's lips, smiling when Tally sank into her.
"Hi," Tally whispered back, feeling the general's arms wrap around her waist. "Where are the biddies?" she asked, finally looking around now that her nerves had dissipated and finding the office empty of its elderly occupants.
"I sent them to bed after dinner. Figured they deserved the rest, instead of hanging around while I do boring paperwork," Sarah said, her heart filling with affection for the other woman like every time it did when Tally took time to consider her biddies.
"I'm sure they appreciated that."
"You haven't been sleeping? Why?" The general asks and Tally sighs, resting her head on her shoulder. Sarah, distractedly, lifts one of her hands, fingers combing through red tresses while she gives the younger woman some time. "You're not having any more dreams, are you?" She says without having to clarify and Tally smiles at the concert creeping through her voice. A concern that is entirely unnecessary for the question because Tally hasn't had those kinds of dream in years now and Sarah knows it.
"No, it's just... nightmares," The redhead whisperers, knows that Sarah will understand because she, too, is plagued by the memories of every war she has ever fought.
"I'm sorry," Sarah whispers back, planting a soft kiss on Tally's forehead while her arm tightens protectively around the girl's waist for a few seconds. She feels the guilt tugging at her and swallows it down, closing her eyes while breathing Tally in.
She often wonders, in the dead of night, if things could've been different. That, maybe, if she had made another decision, took another path, then Tally wouldn't have needed to go to war without even having graduated from War College. Maybe, if she had just done something different in her lengthily past, Tally could've lived in a better world and she knows, knows that she doesn't make a habit of questioning her decisions, but Tally. Tally is different. Tally is special. Tally makes her question everything and it's scary. She's scared of what she would do to protect the younger woman (not that she'd admit it to anyone) and she's afraid she'll lose the control she so carefully built in the last 300 years.
By the time she clears her head, Tally's eyes are closed and her breathing is even and Sarah smiles, overwhelmed by the knowledge that this girl feels safe enough to fall asleep in her arms even after everything she has witnessed coming from the infamous General.
Sarah tried to go back to her paperwork after that, trying to let her cadet sleep in the meantime, but her mind just wouldn't let her focus on the words long enough. She gave up on trying after reading the same sentence four times and let her mind wander once again. And, really, she shouldn't have been so surprised when her thoughts went right back to the sleeping girl nestled under her chin.
But some part of the general would always be surprised by how quickly Tally invaded her heart and mind without even asking for permission.
Sarah admitted that it had taken her a while to notice the effects Tally had on her, attributing most of it to their biddy bond. It was impossible, however, to blame the bond for how her heart stopped, then quickly doubled its rhythm, after she found out Tally was on the run. After she realized that she couldn't do anything to protect the younger woman.
Even after that day, it had taken a ridiculous amount of coaching and encouragement from the biddies to get her to admit that, yes, maybe she was a little too fond of the redhead knower. And maybe she missed her sunny presence and her radiant smile. And that, maybe, she spent half of her time worrying Nicte would leave and the Bellweather unit would come face to face with something they didn't know how to handle. But that was it. And if she heard the biddies' disapproval at her half-asset conclusion, she didn't show it.
Sarah had also ignored the almost uncontrollable urge to hug Tally as soon as they saw each other again, telling herself that her reaction was because the girl had been injured ("Which is not as convincing as you think", one of the biddies had told her) and quietly letting the relief wash through her. Tally was alive.
They had fought the Camarilla side by side after that and it dawned on Sarah, not for the first time, how safe she felt next to Tally. The general was secretly grateful that she didn't have a spare second to figure out the depths of that one single thought.
It was only when the fighting was over and they were back at Fort Salem that Sarah allowed herself to feel, to think about everything that was nagging at her for almost a year now. She let her thoughts drift to her young cadet and how much she had grown over the years; from a wide eyed, eager girl to one of the finest soldiers she had ever seen, and Sarah's heart swelled with pride. She thought about how kind and generous Tally was, even after everything she had gone through, how she had become a speck of brightness in her life, and the older woman couldn't deny that her feelings went deeper than simple fondness. Sarah drank the rest of the whiskey left in her cup in one big gulp and decided she wouldn't do anything about this new realization. It would be unprofessional, after all.
Sarah remembers that they hadn't seen each other for a few weeks after they got back on base and she was fine with that. Tally had her life, her sisters, her coven, and she was allowed to go celebrate life after battle with them. The, now painfully familiar, way the general's heart sped up when her assistant announced that Tally had set up a meeting with her was purely coincidental.
They kind of set into a routine after that first meeting. Tally had walked shyly into her office, apologizing for not coming to see her sooner and by the end, Sarah was agreeing to meet with the girl once a week, her biddies fondly teasing her through the link.
She let Tally talk for most of those evenings, content to just sit and listen to the younger woman telling her stories of her childhood and how it was to grow up in a matrifocal compound. Sarah started opening up too, at some point, offering Tally one of her stories in return when it would add to the topic and it was surprisingly easy to share these conversations with her cadet. The general tucked that in the back of her mind, too.
When Tally kissed her for the first time, she was caught completely by surprise. Sarah, now that she thought back to that night, found it amusing, how oblivious she had been. How she had been so intent on suppressing her feelings for the cadet that she completely failed to notice the other woman was feeling the same things. They had been standing in the middle of her office, alone, while Tally was getting ready to leave, and then she suddenly paused, looking intently at Sarah as if contemplating something. The general had been too lost in her own thoughts to notice the steps Tally took to close the gap between them but when their mouths met, everything else disappeared.
Sarah wouldn't admit it to anyone, but it took her a few seconds until she got herself together enough to reciprocate the kiss, panic bringing her back to the moment when she felt Tally pulling away. She would never forgive herself if her cadet went back to her dorm thinking she had made a terrible mistake and fuck, she knew she was screwed the second Tally opened her mouth and wrapped her arms around her shoulders. She wasn't sure she would be able to keep the girl away after she knew what Tally tasted like (the "you still have other things to taste" that followed through the link was blissfully ignored).
But the general was still, well, The General, and she sent word for Tally the next week telling her that they wouldn't be able to meet at their usual time, or any other time Tally seemed to suggest. Sarah had drunk a whole bottle of whiskey that night, trying in vain not to picture Tally's disappointed face or her heartbreak as the days went by. When Sarah saw the evidence of that as she watched the young woman walk alone to her dorm, she felt like her heart was being squeezed tightly by some invisible force, but she still told herself it was the right thing to do.
Tally had jumped in her arms on the last note of the reel because of course she had, The Goddess seemed to have a sense of humor (or she was really tired of them avoiding each other). So there wasn't anything else Sarah could do other than sneak away with Tally to her quarters, and, if she was being honest, she didn't want to do anything else; not when it was Tally and not when she was looking like that. They had spent the whole night together, thunder crashing in the sky when Tally had curled her fingers up at the right spot.
Sarah didn't have the heart to push Tally away again after that night, and now she was finding out that she didn't regret it one bit as she looked at the sleeping girl. In all of her years in this life, Sarah had never felt so much for one person. She had never fallen so deeply, irrevocably, in love with someone else and she wanted to laugh at how easy it was to fall for Tally. Something this complex, this scary, shouldn't have been so easy. But, again, Tally was special.
Sarah was suddenly dragged out of her thoughts by two quick knocks on her door and she snapped her face up to see her foster daughter coming to view. "Gener-" Anacostia starts and whatever she was about to say gets stuck in her throat
"Ana, what can I do for you?" Alder says calmly, meeting Anacostia's unyielding stare.
She doesn't bother to acknowledge their current situation, to insult Ana's intelligence with a feeble excuse as to why Tally Craven, her cadet, was sleeping peacefully on her lap and tucked gently into her neck. She doesn't bother to say anything and briefly wonders if Anacostia will have the nerve to.
The captain stares at them both, wondering if she should say something, but the softness in Sarah's expression, which she failed to hide, gives her pause. Anacostia knew how tired Sarah was, not just now but in general, and she believed with her whole heart that her mother deserved to be happy more than anyone else in the world. She would have to ask the woman what was going on between her and Tally, but that could wait. Right now the general's unguarded expression and the way she was protectively hugging the younger woman were enough for her.
"It was nothing, we can discuss it in the morning," Ana says, her eyes softening and Sarah is grateful for the brief reprieve her daughter was offering her, even if there's a spark of mischief dancing in those dark eyes. "Goodnight, General."
Sarah leaned her head back on her chair as soon as she heard the door click shut and closed her eyes. Fuck. She wasn't planning to keep her relationship with Tally a secret forever, she didn't even know if she could at this point, but that certainly wasn't how she wanted her foster daughter to find out. And just thinking about the interrogation Ana would bestow on her and all of the teasing, if the mischief in her eyes was anything to go by, made her tired.
Maybe my decision making skills are not as sharp as they used to be, Sarah thought, looking down at the woman she pulled into her lap while still in her office. She couldn't help the smile forming at the corner of her lips and decided that maybe she didn't mind so much, her judgment getting so compromised.
"Tally, wake up," The general called gently, running her fingers through the girl's hair once again. "Wake up, my love, let's go to bed."
Tally stirs up at that, planting a kiss on Sarah's neck. "Bed? I like the sound of that," she says suggestively and the older woman laughs at a half awake Tally.
"Yes, bed, where you can sleep more comfortably."
"But I'm comfortable here." Sarah feels more than sees Tally's pout and her heart flutters, a fond smile returning to her lips. "And what if I don't want to go to bed to sleep?" The cadet asks, now sounding more awake as she kisses Sarah's jawline this time.
"Then," the general started, leaning forward until her mouth was next to Tally's ear. "your wish is my command," she whispered, relishing in the shiver that ran through her cadet's body. Sarah never thought she'd put herself at someone else's mercy like that, willing to follow the orders of a cadet, but she felt safe with Tally. Ever since that first meeting after the war, the younger woman had always created a safe space for her, taking in Sarah's every word and gesture as the most precious gift she could ever receive. The general, for the first time in a long time, was more than happy to let her guard down and see Tally as her equal.
The knower was fully awake now, both of her hands on her general's neck while they kissed languidly, just enjoying each other's presence after a long day. When Sarah felt Tally's hips, almost unconsciously, grind forward though, she palmed the girl under the thighs and stood up, fondness blooming in her chest at Tally's breathless laugh.
They kept kissing while Sarah led them to her private quarters, feeling the younger woman's fingers undoing her braid and running them through dark locks until they were falling around the general's shoulders. Sarah sighed as she felt the tension on her scalp ease and bit Tally's lowered lip, earning her a soft moan in return.
When they got to her room, Sarah gently lowered Tally down on the bed and took her time undressing her, admiring every inch of new skin that was displayed for her. They had gone to bed together a considerable amount of times at this point, but the general quickly realized that Tally would never fail to take her breath away.
After she was done with the cadet's uniform, she quickly got rid of her own clothes (smiling at the pout thrown her way) and laid down next to the woman, enjoying the feeling of their naked bodies pressed together before Tally leaned forward to kiss her once again. The knower proceeded to throw one of her legs over Sarah's waist, straddling her, and the general smirked into the kiss. Tally's cry of surprise when she flipped their position was music to her ears.
Sarah kissed Tally's lips, trailing down to her jaw, her neck, and her collarbone, until she reached her breasts, capturing one of her nipples into her mouth as she felt one of Tally's hands grip at the back of her neck. The general sucked at the hard peak, smoothing it with her tongue while she massaged the neglected breast with her palm, feeling the younger woman arch up into her. After she had given the same attention to both of Tally's breasts, she started to lower her kisses, a clear target in mind, but she was stopped as soon as her lips met a firm stomach.
"No," Tally said, grabbing the hairs at the back of her neck and pulling Sarah up gently. "Stay here, please." And she was staring at the general so intently that there wasn't any way that Sarah would deny her request.
So she kissed her again, sensually, while her hand trailed the path of her previous kisses until it was resting on top of Tally's mound. Sarah ran her finger light from Tally's entrance to her clit, delighted at the wetness she found there. The younger woman gasped, her hips lifting off the bed slightly on a plea while she tried to breathe and kiss her general at the same time.
Sarah didn't make her wait for long, circling Tally's clit with two fingers before pushing them into her entrance. She felt the girl moan into her mouth and when she pressed her thumb up in time with her thrusts, she pulled away from her mouth to resume kissing Tally's neck, giving her a chance to steady her breathing.
Tally was sure she was in heaven (which was what she thought every time she and Sarah had sex, but still) and she tried, really tried, to hold on for as long as possible, but the combination of Sarah's deep thrusts, the stimulation on her clit, and the mouth sucking her breast had her coming undone quicker than she would've liked. She came to terms with it a few seconds later, when a powerful orgasm crashed through her body and she clutched at Sarah, feeling the general kiss her temple while she rode the aftershocks.
"Okay?" Sarah asked after a moment of silence, a smirk on her face.
"More than okay," Tally smiled up at her, capturing the general's lips in a kiss.
Tally made the same familiar path down Sarah's body, massaging her breasts with her hands and taking pleasure in every little moan that escaped parted lips.
"What happened to 'stay here'?" Sarah asked when she realized where the other woman was going. Her voice was raspy in a way that only did when she was consumed by pleasure and a shiver ran down Tally's spine.
"I changed my mind," Tally said mischievously, going up again to whisper in Sarah's year. "Now I want to taste you, General." She was beaming when she went back down, her red hair disappearing between Sarah's open thighs, and the general mentality cursed her for being so damn sexy; her title shouldn't turn her on so much coming from someone else's lips.
The knower eagerly went to work as soon as she was settled, licking into Sarah and wrapping her lips around her clit, sucking gently. She felt her wetness growing once again at the woman's taste and had to stop herself from grinding down, this was about Sarah now. Tally quickly found a pace that her general enjoyed, if her low moans were any indication, and kept it going, occasionally changing the movement of her fingers.
Excitement rushed through Tally when she felt Sarah's walls clench around her and she looked up, replacing her mouth with her thumb at the general's clit; she'd be dammed if she missed the sight that was Sarah reaching her peak.
Tally watched as Sarah tipped her head back, exposing her long neck, and her back arched. The knower was hypnotized for a few seconds, her fingers moving without any conscious thought while she started at the general. It was always a treat to see Sarah like this, bare in front of her in every sense of the world.
She was pulled back to the present by a lust filled "Tally" and Sarah's inner walls gripping her fingers tightly for a few seconds. Tally guided her through her orgasm until Sarah laid back down on the bed, sweaty and spent and with a content smile on her lips. She had never been more beautiful.
"Hi," Tally whispered, grinning when she was face to face with the general again.
"Hi," Sarah laughed, bringing her hand up to swipe a stray lock of red hair to the back of Tally's ear. She let her hand linger for a bit, caressing her soft cheek and her heart thrummed against her chest. The general felt tears prickling up at the corner of her eyes when Tally sighed contently and she kissed the younger woman, willing her emotions to stay at bay.
When they parted, Tally laid back down on her shoulder, snuggling into Sarah's side and the general swore she never felt so at peace in her life. Sarah knew that it was selfish of her, but she secretly hoped Tally would never get tired of this, of her, because she wasn't sure if she'd be able to cope with that. More than three hundred years of life and countless tragedies witnessed, and this is what had the power to be her downfall; Sarah chuckled to herself at that thought.
She found out that she didn't mind that either, Tally possibly being her downfall. The thought was incredibly scary, yes, but her feelings for Tally had unlocked something in her she thought was long gone. She didn't mind because now, at least, she knew how it felt to be loved by the younger knower and love her in return. Sarah had forgotten how it felt like to live for something other than the army, and she'd always be grateful to Tally for making her feel alive again.
"I love you," Sarah whispered into the silence of the room. She didn't know if Tally was still awake, but she couldn't contain the urge to say those three little words anymore.
It turned out that Tally was awake, and the younger woman whipped her head back up to stare at the general, surprise written all over her features. Sarah wondered for a second if she had made a mistake, that maybe Tally didn't feel the same for her, but before the panic could set in the younger woman smiled at her. She felt the whole world stop at the twinkle in Tally's eyes and her bright smile. Sarah knew that those few seconds of panic were worth it.
Tally kissed her, pouring everything she was feeling into it and Sarah understood without her even having to say it back. But, Tally being Tally, had to say it nonetheless. "I love you, too," she beamed. "Goddess, I love you so much." Her delighted laugh was cut short by Sarah pressing their lips together.
When they finally collapsed against each other, ready to fall asleep, it was bordering on 3 in the morning, but neither of them seemed to care. They were too happy, and too exhausted, to actually think about anything else outside of their room.
Tally, surprisingly, was the one to wake up first the next morning and she smiled, feeling the warmth of Sarah's body engulfing her. She really liked spending the night with the general and every time she did, Tally found herself wishing that she could stay in Sarah's arms forever.
That train of thought led the younger woman to lift her head up slightly, glancing at the clock on Sarah's wall and she cursed. Loudly.
"What?" The general asked, still not entirely awake and immediately missing Tally after the woman abruptly moved away from her.
"I'm late," Tally announced, frantically looking for her discarded clothes. "I should be heading to breakfast with my unit, they'll know something's going on if I don't."
Sarah sat up then, the sheets around her sliding down to her waist and Tally promptly stopped what she was doing at the sight. Her general sat there, pale breasts in full view, messy, long dark hair, and blue eyes staring at her in amusement; she looked like the Goddess herself and Tally really considered skipping breakfast.
"Cadet?" Sarah's voice brought her back, one of her eyebrows arching questionably at her.
"Right, breakfast, yes," Tally said, hopping around to get her legs into her pants. When Sarah chuckled at her, Tally glared at the woman. "It's your fault for being so distracting."
"You sure you want to blame this on your superior officer?" Sarah questioned, and the smirk on her lips really shouldn't be so damn sexy.
"I'm sure she'll forgive me," Tally said sweetly while she finished lacing up her boots. "I really have to go now. I'll see you tonight?"
"If you must," The general teased, biting her lip when the younger woman rolled her eyes.
"I must," Tally pecker her on the lips and rushed to the door, grabbing her discarded jacket on the way. "Bye. Love you."
"I love you too, darling," Sarah said just before the door closed and she marveled at how easily those words seemed to flow out of her mouth when it was directed at Tally.
The general allowed herself a few more moments in bed before she felt her biddies getting impatient and decided to get up to start her day. A day that, she was sure, could not be tainted by anything.
Tally felt the exact same, she felt like she was floating on cloud nine all the way to the dining hall and she was sure that not even a fight between Rae and Abigail could ruin her day.
"Hello, good morning! How did you guys sleep?" Tally asked when she spotted her sisters outside. She knew she was too cheery, but she didn't care.
"Someone's happy. Where have you been? We thought you'd come back after your talk with Alder," Abigail asked knowingly.
"Uh... Tal?" Raelle asked, eyes darting between her and her jacket. "Unless you got them overnight, last time I checked you didn't have 9 medals."
Tally looked down, confused until she spotted Alder's medals pinned to her chest and the realization dawned on her. She had grabbed Sarah's jacket in her haste to get to breakfast.
"Oh, shit," she uttered, hurriedly taking the jacket off and folding it tightly under her arms. "I gotta go... do something. Don't wait for me!" Tally yelled over her shoulder while she ran back to the way she had come from.
Raelle and Abigail watched her go, a smirk on each of their lips. Tally was anything but subtle.