In the silence that followed her words, the spotted mare’s doubts took wing again, scattering the warmth and certainty she’d felt only moments before. Perhaps she should not have reminded Adelheid of the bumpy road that had led them to this treasured moment. Perhaps she should have focused on the present, and left the past buried. But Iris had glimpsed the joy that softened the harsh lines of the dark Vulcan’s face when she was with her children— a happiness that she herself had never managed to invoke in the mare. And in the face of such undeniable evidence that Adelheid could be happy, she was left to fear the worst. She was left to wonder whether there was someone else out there who might be capable of giving her companion the contentment and love that she deserved.

Someone who wasn’t her.

As close as they were standing, Iris could not help but to feel the twitch of Adelheid’s skin or the subtle movement of her body. And glancing sideways at the Codebreaker, Iris thought for a moment that she saw her uncertainty reflected in the other woman’s eyes. The relief that she felt at this was enough to release the breath she’d been holding in a soundless exhale. Turning to follow the line of her companion’s distant gaze, the seal brown mare suddenly realized that this was new to both of them. New and terrifying in the possibilities that it offered— in the potential for heartbreak beyond what she had already suffered. But a fractured heart was no excuse to abandon the complicated tangle of emotions that existed between them and run away.

If anything, it gave her all the more reason to fight for whatever happiness that she might find— fleeting or otherwise.

Will you come with me to the Falls tomorrow morning? Adelheid’s voice was unexpected but welcome; a flush of warmth to stave off the chill of her doubts. The downward pull of her lips eased, and they began to curve up into a gentle smile as she considered the offer. Iris couldn’t have explained why it pleased her so much to be invited somewhere by the reticent Vulcan. But the same flutter that had filled her at the invitation to be the mare’s Companion returned, brushing against the inside of her belly like the wings of countless butterflies. “Of course,” she agreed readily, voice husky with emotion. And then, because she couldn’t bear the thought of waiting for that sunrise alone with only her thoughts, she asked a question of her own.

“But will you— will you stay with me tonight, Adelheid?”

It was all that she could do to wait patiently for a response; for the refusal or acceptance that would answer so much more. And if— no, when, she had to believe when— the yes that her heart sang for came, she would spend the darkest hours cradled against the single glow of light that existed in her life.