she hadn’t expected his reaction and so she can only watch, one curved ear flicking back nervously, as he digests her words. his reaction is visible, palpable almost, and when he speaks again he seems to be dazed. she nods, her femininely chiseled head dipping in affirmation. orhan, who she had met maybe once or twice, in the first few days of infanthood. she stiffens warily as he takes a step closer, quivering with something she cannot understand until the next words fall from his lips.

the whole world seems to collide with the next moment, exploding into shrapnel that hangs in the air as time ceases to exist. son of orhan. she is not alone. her eyes widen impossibly, and her jaw opens mirroring his own reaction just seconds ago. she takes a step back, processing this miracle, her body so overloaded by emotion that she nearly staggers.

her dark eyes fill with tears and she does not hear him ask her if she is real… she is caught in a flashback, remembering the first time she had walked into the desert, her birthplace, after all those years… she had smelled the faint trace of what she believed to be her sister’s scent stale on the wind. she had hoped to find out what happened there..where her family had gone then but never found her. and then she had left, devastated and ruined. why had arcana taken her away all those years ago? when she returned this time she had given up all hope, determined to make a home for herself and not fixate on the loss of her history. her family. her home. her heart. but this twist of fate was a gift she could not fathom.

her lips speak dumbly, curved ears fixed on him as if he might disappear into thin air. son of orhan. you are my brother. you are my brother. she wants to crumple to the floor of the dunes and sob with the joy of it but she finds the strength to refrain, just barely. she finally processes his question moments later and stifles something between laughter and a sob.

i am the youngest daughter of arcana. sister of evren. sister of indira. daughter of orhan. my mother left the desert soon after i was born. and short months later we.. we were separated. i had lost everything…

she murmurs an explanation, still stunned at this turn of events… she searches her memory for anything she can find of her father, orhan. his eyes, gentle and keen, his quiet bearing and stately manner. is this the familiarity she had first sensed within this stranger? had her heart known all along? she closes her eyes with the sweetness of it all and lifts her head to the stars, tears streaming down her cheeks. she offers a silent prayer to the heavens and feels as if she has been born again with the happiness that sings in her veins.