Falls

A heavy weight bore down on him—the passage of time, the burdens of regret, and the pain he had caused others. In that moment, he thought he had chosen wisely, but it was only when the consequences of his decisions began to overwhelm him that he realized his error. He witnessed the suffering he had inflicted—the heartache and the shattered lives. It took years of hard-won insight for him to grasp the gravity of his missteps. It was only through reflecting on the damage he had done that he finally stopped to reconsider. Now, as he faced the end of his days, preparing for his final journey to Valhalla, he felt a profound remorse enveloping him.

He directed his icy gaze at her, noting the confusion that flickered across her finely sculpted features; he sensed that she was bracing for him to strike back, to retaliate against her venomous insults. Yet he was weary. Weary of the fight. Exhausted by the pain that twisted around his heart and soul. He had grown tired of it all. Raising his frosty gaze to meet her smoldering, dark eyes, he watched as the fire within her dimmed, replaced by an emotion he couldn't quite discern.

She had made her point. He had forsaken everything he once cherished. A passionate love had blossomed between them in their youth, a time filled with ambition as they yearned to change the world. He longed for every part of her, from the curve of her soft muzzle to her supple hips—every inch was a territory he wished to explore. She was electric beneath his touch, and together they had forged an unbreakable bond.

There was Siobhan. Tigerlily. They had shared in this connection, a different kind of bond that ignited his very soul. He had loved them all; they were part of him. His gaze remained fixed on her as she struggled to articulate her thoughts. It surprised him to see that the silver-haired woman, usually quick with insults and fiery retorts, now hesitated. “I…,” she began, “I wanted what I have always wanted…” The weight of her words lingered heavily in the air between them. “You.”

He felt foolish. Taking a deep breath that ruffled the whiskers on his lips, he reflected on the tumult of their shared history—every argument, every heartbreak. Turning his gaze away from her, his heart quaked with the realization. He did not know what had transpired in his absence; the once fiery young filly from Paradise had morphed into a cold, calculating queen, feared by all the islands. Unintentionally, he had shaped her into this formidable figure. And now he faced her—completely and irrevocably.

Her words emerged as a whisper, revealing her deepest, darkest secrets in the narrow space that separated them. A sadness laced her voice, tugging at his frigid heart, and he could not ignore it, much like he couldn’t ignore the glimmer of tears in her eyes. “But you were never mine to possess.” Just as her vulnerability shone through, it vanished as she restored her hardened facade. The distance between them closed up, her warm breath once more tickled his coat, and her tear streaked cheek pressed into his own. He fought the urge to melt into her, to wrap her in an embrace and feel once more her heart thrum against his own. I free you of me…. But… please…” her words were hot against his skin ”Please… love me as you once did…one last time.”

“Nya,” he rasped, the cherished nickname slipping from his lips for the first time in years. It was a name he had whispered while tracing the contour of her back, along her aching nape. He closed his icy gaze and inhaled her sweet perfume, enveloped in the memory of what once was. “You are as much a part of me as the frigid mountain ice coursing through my veins,” he paused beneath the weight of his words, acknowledging the truth, "Our destinies have always been intertwined and will continue to cross, as the gods have willed. It has simply taken me this long to recognize the path they have laid out before us."

With newfound resolve, he stepped closer until the muscle of his chest pressed against her delicate frame. He felt the rhythm of her heartbeat against him, felt the warmth of her russet skin against his cool blue hide. His lips brushed gently against her withers, grazing the strands of her disheveled silver mane. "I can to forgive you for what you’ve done to Sio, to Lily, but can you forgive me for abandoning you after the promises I made?" he breathed softly across her back, his warm breath lingering against her skin.