It'd been almost a year since Svenja arrived on Atlantis. Almost a year since she left Fell and her childhood home behind and fled to safer spaces and warmer climates. Kazimir still asked about his father occasionally, and when they were going to go visit. Svenja considered telling him that he was old enough to go on his own now if he wanted, but something stayed her tongue each time. She still hadn't quite figured out what it was.

Sometimes she wondered what became of Nuka. It still hurt to think about him, though she finds her mind wandering to him more often than she'd like. It'd been hard to swallow his reaction to seeing her that day in the Bay. He'd seemed happy to see her, had even said he'd been looking for her. But moments later he'd been so willing to turn his back on her. To assume she waws happy there simply because she was with another man. She could understand how it looked at first glance from the outside, but he hadn't even bothered to ask or let her explain. Not that Fell had allowed much time to do so, but it hurt to think that he could forget about her that easily. It mixed up a whole slew of emotions in her. They rise like silt from a river bottom and cloud her vision and her judgment, making up feel down and right feel wrong.

Sometimes she wondered if it would be best to forget about Nuka altogether. To embrace the simple, quiet life she has built here. She did have Drogon, after all. Although they'd never been romantically attached in any explicit way, had never even come close to saying I love you, she still felt a sense of affection and loyalty to the seal stallion. He'd showed her kindness when it felt like no one else had, and helped pry her from the iron grip of his own brother. If that didn't show some sort of devotion, she didn't know what would. But Drogon had never struck her as the romantic sort, and she didn't want him to feel beholden to her any more than he already did, what with the two children they shared.

One of those children was currently making her way up the beach towards where Svenja was situated by the mouth of the river where it met the sea at the north end of the island. She'd been happily soaking up the sun there for the past couple hours. A small flat object was pressed between her daughter's lips, she noted. Her crimson tail was flagged proudly behind her and her head was held high in the air. As she drew closer Svenja realized the item she carried was a dried urchin shell, its surface bleached by the sun. Iskra dropped the shell between them, dancing excitedly in place. What a lovely distraction she made from the melancholy in her mind.

"Hi, Ma." she greeted, pressing a kiss to her dam's cheek. "Look what I found! We can add it to our collection!" Which wasn't so much their collection as it was Iskra's collection. The red filly had managed to find an impressive array of seashells over the past few months, carefully stashing them away in the empty space between a twisted old palm tree. She'd become quite proud of it and took pleasure in combing the beach during low tide for new additions, sometimes hunting for hours on end. It was nice to see her daughter had a way of keeping herself from going mad with boredom, though Svenja was sure she'd grow out of it sooner or later.

"Thank you, Iskra. It's beautiful." Svenja replies, admiring the flower-like pattern on the top of the shell. She reaches out to muss Iskra's forelock in an affectionate gesture. "How are you doing today, love?"

"Good! The tide came in so I can't explore the pools anymore. I think I'm gonna go find dad and see if he wants to explore some caves with me! Wanna come?"

"Caves? You don't know what could be in those."

"Come on! Doesn't walking into a big, spooky cave sound like an adventure?" Iskra grinned from ear to ear, clearly loving the challenge of talking her mother into this dangerous excursion. She wasn't even sure if her father would join in, but it was worth a shot. "There could be shiny things inside, or creatures we haven't seen before!"

"How about no? You could slip and get hurt or get lost. There could be predators in there. I won't have you risking your life for a little exploring." Iskra pouted at her and Svenja shook her head, trying to impose just how against the idea she was on her daughter. "There's plenty of other places to explore, Iskra. It's a clear day - I bet if you hike up the ridge and squint real hard you can see the horses in the Meadow. Today could be the day." She grinned cheekily at her daughter. It'd becoming something of a joke between the pair. They knew it was impossible, but they always tried.

Iskra, on the other hand, rolled her eyes. "I don't think it's gonna change. But I'm gonna look anyway!" Without warning she darted off down the beach in search of the trail. Svenja chuckled to herself as she watched her daughter's figure retreat, disappearing around a bend in the beach.

Only minutes passed before movement from the opposite direction caught her attention. The sabino mare swiveled her head, expecting to see Drogon's dark form or Charybdis' painted figure headed towards her. Instead she laid eyes on a familiar spotted stallion. There was no mistaking that rich brown coat, those distinctive white markings, or those piercing blue eyes as anyone other than Nuka's.

"Oh," she breathed in disbelief, feeling like a swift kick had just been delivered to her ribs, forcing her breath from her lungs. "It's you."

How was it that she'd just been thinking of him, and now he was here? Had some divine being been reading her mind, or was this just incredible happenstance? Svenja felt disinclined to question it. She took a small step forward and began reaching toward him before stopping abruptly and pulling back. "What are you doing here, Nuka?" There was no hostility in her tone, but she couldn't bring herself to mask the exhaustion she felt at him flitting in and out of her life. She wasn't prepared for him to come and go again.

The sabino mare shook her head and averted her gaze from his face, dark lips curled into a frown. Did she even want to know why he was here? Would he even answer, or would he dodge the question? Maybe he'd turn away like last time, and that would be the end of that. Svenja made a point not to look at him as she waited for his answer, lest she crumble under the intensity of his icy gaze.