And there she was.

Şahin blinked and focused not on the sand at his feet or the waves whose cool spray pitted his shoulder with tiny points of damp, but on the vibrant filly —young mare— who came galloping across the beach to meet him. “Mera!” he cried when he saw his daughter, and trotted a few steps forward to meet her. He mirrored her half-rear, energized by her own excitement, and reached out to tug on her forelock affectionately. “I’ve missed you,” he said, and the words were simple but his voice held an echo of loneliness.

He drew back and shook his head, and as his forelock settled over his long, pale face he gave her a wry grin. “Look at you. Not quite so leggy as you used to be. Still as wet, though,” Şahin laughed and nosed at her ocean-soaked coat, snorting small droplets from the end of his dark muzzle when he pulled away to emphasize his point. The space between them was small but the stallion still endeavored to examine her for any major injuries, and upon finding none his eyes returned to her face. “What have you been up to, eh? Dia’s dropped a foal since I last saw you, as did our newest herd member, Sylvia. You’ve got two younger brothers to make a good impression on now.” Or tease, he wanted to say, but privately wondered if Sokka and Elliot would grow up knowing Mera personally or if she would be an infrequent visitor to her childhood home.