Hymn wasn't certain why Promise believed she had not grown up on Atlantis, but she imagined it had slipped her (and her writer's) mind. All of them - however strangely enough - had grown up in this verdant jungle. It was likely the girl's desire to belong to someone, somewhere that led her to forget that her mother also belonged here. Hymn smiled ruefully, but did not correct her daughter. She couldn't even remember if she'd told Sigurdr as much in the rare chances they'd been able to meet before he'd disappeared.

In the end, it didn't really matter. She wasn't sure any of them truly cared all that much. Or, at least, that is what she told herself to lessen the inevitable sting when they, too, left her.

But Promise was her sole focus in life these days, and her happiness and well being ranked far beyond what Hymn did or did not want for herself. Promise deserved to know her father, in so much as he wanted to be in her life, and so her discomfort at the juxtaposition of her possible futures, and recent pasts, mattered little. The filly beamed up at Sigurdr and then led the way inward, her dark tail held aloft as she pranced along the path toward her favorite waterfall and pond.

Her skin shuddered at Sigurdr's nearness, the reminder of what they'd shared and what she'd felt for him swimming so close to the surface it was almost dizzying. His prompt was neither direct question nor accusation, but she could see the query in his eyes, could feel it in the way he looked at her. She swallowed again. The truth was that yes, Sigurdr being here did make her uncomfortable. She wanted to rage at him for disappearing. Thank him for Promise. For protecting them from Lucifer. Blame him for every terrifying moment she'd faced alone. She wanted to scorn him as retribution for forgetting her twice now, and to scream at him that she could never trust him again.

But there was also a part of her that wanted to close the gap between them and release the breath she'd felt like she'd been holding ever since he left.

Hymn was not prone to lying, admitting her feelings, nor really to yelling, and so her only answer was a shake of her head and a glance away from his prying gaze. "It's fine...I just don't know if Annubis will take kindly to someone else in Paradise." Especially, she imagined, if Annubis knew Sigurdr was the one that had left them behind last time. Though Hymn believed that most of Annubis' displays were for show to appease Promise, he had been rather upset when she'd told him of why she was in the Commons and why she had fled from him.

And while Hymn could stomach a battle between the leaders, she had no desire to let Promise witness a battle between the two father figures in her life.

"It's up here!" Promise called, darting ahead and then coming back to them. She'd been there only moments before, when Lucifer's untimely arrival had scared them all. Of all the waterfalls in Paradise, it was a smaller one, it's edges nearly choked by plant life thriving in the almost still, fresh water. Lilies and various reeds gave the pool almost a secluded vibe, further amplified by the way trees crowded close, lending a sense of serenity and safety to the pool.

The filly dashed back to them and then - wholly unafraid now that she had been introduced to the strange man as her father - tried to bump her muzzle against his chest. "Last one in's a rotten bird-egg!" she shouted, pivoting on her hinds and taking a leap forward, only to hesitate before plowing onward as if to check that her new playmate was going to join her game too.