Tarrant had to keep himself from grinning at the comments that passed between the two young horses. If he knew Sokka better he might have bumped his muzzle to his shoulder and told him out of the side of his mouth that you never – ever – tell a lady that she’s heavy. But alas, the lad was going to have to learn the hard way if the young filly took offense to the comment. “I imagine this is pretty warm for you,” he said lightly after clearing his throat. “When I came to Atlantis from Tinuvel I was just a yearling and I still remember how unbearable I thought it was.”

Atlantis wasn’t without its weather nightmares – the sudden rainstorms or hurricane season – but compared to other islands it was, well… paradise. Tarrant had lived on three of the five islands (well, two of the remaining four, he supposed) and felt where cold was concerned Tinuvel was definitely the extreme. Though for heat, he’d put his guess on Salem, which is probably why he’d never lived there.

“So, your dad was born on Atlantis, eh?” Tarrant found that intriguing and wondered if this filly shared the same father with Harlequin. “You’re not going to see much standing here, come on.” A small, encouraging smile was given to them both as he turned in the soft, scratchy sand and began to carve a path up the shoreline to the jungle, where he always felt the true heart of Atlantis rested. Among its bright green plants of unique nature there were intriguing flowers, an explosion of colors, birds of rainbow and even strange furry creatures he’d once been told were called monkeys. This island was as different from Tinuvel as Stardust could have found.

For a moment it struck him as amusing that her father had been born on Atlantis and found his way to the Bay, where Tarrant had been born in the Bay and found his way to Atlantis. Sometimes there was just no telling where the heart would decide it was home.