The Prince Of Egypt {[ Let You T R Y ]} +For The Animated Comment Fic-A-Thon+
Title: Let You Try
Fandom: The Prince of Egypt
Pairing: Moses/Tzipporah
Prompt: "You could handle half of me"
For: viorica8957
Warnings: None
Notes: My first time writing for The Prince of Egypt. Since I've recently picked up Moses in an RP, I thought I'd start to dig deeper into his characterization, which led to me responding to this prompt. I hope I did okay. Enjoy!
“Would you want to?”
He sat there, starting at her expectantly, as if the question he had just asked wasn’t the most absurd thing she’d ever heard.
His eyes were focused, unwavering, as they always were. He never showed anxiety, or anger - at the very most, he sighed. A soft, regretful action hiding God knows what behind it. Others didn’t ask - they thought that the sea was settled within him. But she, only she, could recognize these emotions behind his patient mask in a matter of seconds. The quiet storm, she sometimes called him in her mind.
But there was more behind his fixated eyes this time than she had ever seen in them before. Worry, restlessness - but something else. Something softer. She caught it time to time when he looked at her, when he thought she didn’t notice. That hint of an upturn grin and that indescribable glint in his eye. It wasn’t peaceful, as others suspected it to be - he was never truly at peace, this she knew - but it was light. It was indescribably happy, with something else mixed in that was completely foreign to her.
She wondered sometimes if he saw the exact same look in her eyes when she looked at him, when she thought he wasn’t looking. A matching pair of looks, made for each other, just waiting to connect and break through their guises.
She wondered if he could see her as well as she could see him. And what he saw there. Did he see that strange, new emotion that grew within her as their time together flew by? She wondered what he made of it. She could hardly say what she thought of it herself.
Pensive thinking was never her strongest suit. She was someone who acted. She did things quickly and she did them well. She hoped that she did what was right, most of the time. But she was fiery, short-temped, and impossible to approach. Every sensible man’s nightmare. And yet, he approached. Him, with his wise demeanor and quiet nature, was attracted to a woman like her. She wasn’t really surprised - many men saw her as an amusing way to spend their wild romantic fancies, if only for the night (she never entertained their notions, of course). Men are drawn to the fire, but they run away before they can get burned. As far as she knew (or willed herself to believe, for she couldn’t deny she saw something unique - something good - in him when he first let her escape from Egypt), Moses was just another plain, lustful man.
What did surprise her was that she was drawn to him, too. Not initially - not so much that she admitted as much to even herself. But as their days together wore on, she started to hope more and more that maybe she would pass him in the fields that day, or maybe he would dare to sit next to her at the next banquet. These small hopes became longings, until they developed into something different entirely. It was a strange, new idea for her - that she wanted this man to stay. And the even more miraculous thing - he did. He wasn’t afraid of her. And she knew that was part of why she liked - was that the word? - him so much.
But know she feared that he had taken a step too far.
“You want to marry me?” Tzipporah said incredulously, leaping to her feet. She nearly yelled in her astonishment, and she had no doubt that at least half the village heard her words, but at the moment she didn’t care. A rush of emotions was flooding through her, and she didn’t even know where to begin with sorting them out. So she started with the one she knew best: defensive anger.
“How dare you?” she seethed, glaring down at Moses, who didn’t even try to get up when she did. “To presume that I, w-would want -“
“It seemed like a reasonable notion, considering” he said with a shrug, his voice even and not betraying the nervousness that she could see fresh behind his eyes.
“’Considering?’ Considering what? Why would you think that a ‘reasonable notion’, Moses? You don’t even know -“
“Because I love you.”
He stood up as she froze, finally shocked into silence. If this were any other argument, Moses probably would have chucked and thanked God aloud for such a miracle. But this time, there is nothing flippant in his demeanor. The affection in his eyes, in his voice - it was real. He stepped forward, his robes flowing on floor behind him, reached out and took her hand. She didn’t pull away.
“I love you more than life itself, Tzipporah,” he whispered, leaning in close. Their faces were mere inches away, and yet she didn’t look him in the eye. She was scared to. She loathed that betrayer of emotions, fear. She always did, ever since her mother died. But maybe, she thought to herself, maybe the time has come to stop being afraid of fear itself.
She finally looked at him. Her eyes grew soft, an open book she finally allowed another human being to read. And what a human he was. She reached up, uncharacteristically tender with her movements, and began to stroke the side of his face. He started to smile, really smile, for the first time all day. Something within both of them, she knew, began to unwind. But pleasantly so, like a ball of thread unraveling and freely rolling where it wishes, or where the wind wills it to go.
She chuckled, breaking their silent contentment. “Moses”, she said, shaking her head. “You couldn’t handle half of me as a woman. I’m maddening, you know that well. What makes you think you can handle me as a wife?”
He wrapped one of his arms around her waist, pulling her close and breaking what little distance was left between them. “Maybe that’s what I like. Maybe I don’t want you handled.” He whispered, “All I wish is…that maybe...you’ll let me try - ”
She cut him off and grabbed him by his robes, pulling him in for a long, passionate kiss. The best kiss she’d ever had in her life. And after just one second of their lips touching, their hands intertwined, she knew what her answer would be.
“Yes. Yes, Moses, I’ll let you try.”