their eyes met. The hard, cold, intensity of Adelheid’s looking deep into the tear stained warm of Iris’. Ice seemed to melt from the dark blue pools as they peered through the windows to the soul. Adelheid felt her barriers start to crumble. Her body trembled with a feeling she still could not name. She saw the questions and the… hope…?... in Iris’ eyes. Her chest tightened, air caught in her throat.

Adelheid hung on every word as if they were all that connected her to existence. She was sure the words would lead to something common or trivial. Iris needed protection, needed a family, needed something... Perhaps the view of the island from the cliff’s face was too beautiful to leave so easily.

”You.”

The ground shook under her hooves. Iris’ ears flicked back, Adelheid’s pressed forward, her nose reaching out.

We…? Her voice stopped as Iris stepped forward. Adelheid held her breath, not daring to hope. How many times had she secretly dreamt of this? How many nights has she woken up in a cold sweat, her dreams haunting her with both desire and fear.

So slowly, so carefully, Iris brought her body closer to rest gently across Adelheid. The dark mare’s breath deepened, still not daring herself to believe. Her own body was stiff, fighting everything it knew and everything it wanted. Just as slowly as Iris had approached, Adelheid lowered her head and ran her lips along the other’s skin. The tingle of right flooded through her body with every press of her lips. She moved her lips up Iris’ neck.

Stay with me? As my Companion? Unseen, she blinked at surprise at herself. The thought had nestled in her mind seasons ago, poking and prodding at her consciousness. She had thought Iris would have left before she could speak her desire and the hope would die with the mare’s retreat. But now, with their bodies pressed together, Adelheid held onto that hope with the stubbornness she was famous for.