I was unsure of how she would receive me after being away for so long, after just leaving with no explanation what so ever. It is as if they world stands still as I inch closer to her, both of us fearing what might happen, what the other was thinking or going to do. If she turned away from me now, I don't know what I would do. If she told me to leave and never come back, I would. I would do anything she told me to, even if she told me to jump off a cliff. I expected her to be angry with me, for just leaving her when she needed me most. What I was not expecting, was what happened when we touched.
It was like magic, like a spark ignited between us, almost like the day we met for the first time. Its like a can breathe again, without wait or worry. I can hear her exhale and then she nuzzles back into me and it is pure bliss. I am filled with so much happiness at the fact that she is not angry with me, that she does not hate me. As I gently lick her cheek, she sighs, her sigh filling the silence of the den. I notice a single tear fall down her cheek and I am quick to gentle lick it from her cheek, for tears do not suit her, she is too strong to cry, even tears of happiness.
When I gently pull away, I hear her whimper and it breaks my heart. Her muzzle follows mine as I pull mine away, not wanting to give up the close proximity we had just shared. She stares at me for a moment as I lay my paw atop hers and offer her a sad smile, yet I can see the fear in her eyes, the fear that I am about to tell her something bad or that I am going to leave her again. And then, with my apology, she relaxes once more and offers me a gentle smile, one that makes my heart beat that much faster. As my silent words finish, her tail begins to swish back and forth with a ferocity and then she pushed herself into me, her muzzle buried into my chest. She nuzzles and licks me, and I cannot help but wrap my head around her in a wolfish sort of hug.
"I have missed you so much." she says, and the words make me feel like I could just fly to the sky and touch the clouds. You are back that is all that matters." she says, grinning and pulling away from the embrace. She stares at me like I have never seen her look at me before: with adoration. All of my features immediately soften under her beautiful eyes and I just look back at her with so much love, a soft smile played across my lips. I love her with all my heart, and I would continue to love her long into the future, and even after I one day die. It is a love that will never be stopped, not by Ifrit and not by anything else.
Her stare was broken by the sound of soft snoring coming from behind her. I peered over her form to spy four tiny puppies sound asleep, all cuddled up and dreaming. "Do you see them?.." she asks, looking at me almost hesitant at how I will react to them, being that they were partially Ifrit's. I nod, keeping a gentle gaze as I take them in quietly. "I almost died for them.." she continues, this I already knew, I had felt it. I had experience all the pain she had, I could feel how faint her soul's presence had gotten within me. It had sent me into a panic and I had begun racing back that day.
"Vladimir is the red giant, Panzer my white son, Semele my lovely little flower, and Camilla my silent shadow." she says, and my eyes follow each with a name she presents me. I can see her looking at me with such hesitance, thinking that I may reject them, but there is no way I could ever reject them. They had a part of my soul in them by being Everlyse's, and even without that I would love them like they were my own. I look back at her with the biggest, brightest smile on my face, my tail swishing back and forth and my paws doing a little tappy thing in happiness.
I reach forward and nuzzle into her, pulling away for a moment so she can see my lips. 'They are beautiful, especially little Camillia,' I say with a little playful wink. It was a joke, they were all equally special, I was just playing off the fact that Camilla looked a lot like me. I looked at her again, wanting to reaffirm my acceptance of them. 'You don't have to worry, I would never reject them. They are yours and therefore I will love them as much as I love you,' I mouth ever so slowly, giving her the biggest, loving grin. If she asked me to, I would raise them like they were my own, actually I would do that without her asking. Puppies were to be cherished, loved, and celebrated.
7 years/ Throwing my faith away for/ Fighting for Everlyse/ Asteraia
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