It was like a dagger to the queen’s heart as Res pulled her head away, creating distance where Kahlua had tried to reduce it. The queen was not sure what had caused such a rift in their relationship, but she prayed to the gods (except, perhaps not the Lady Moon) that it could be fixed. The Sunshower had many friends, many good friends even, but few that she thought of with as high regard as she did Resplendence. Right from the moment they had met, Kahlua had known they would be good friends. The pink woman had been gentle and patient, even as the queen had fumbled through the underbrush trying to pick the (apparently) wrong plants from the ground. Whatever this was, the queen was not willing to let it ruin the bond they had forged.

And whatever it was, it was clear she was about to find out-

As Resplendence’s words bite through the air, Kahlua withdrew sharply and her eyes widened. There had only been one other occasion when she had heard Res sound like this. That was when… Aurelia. It didn’t matter, the queen’s ears turned sideways in confusion, but her blue eyes never left the pink princess as she went on her tirade. Of course, the queen was not content to just sit there and listen. Reactionary as she was, she felt her heart begin to beat faster and her eyes begin to moisten with tears. She hated fighting, but she also didn’t want to stand and let Res berate her for reasons that she found to be unjust.

“Well just hold on a minute,” she started when Res had finally finished, her tone taking on a hurt and snappish quality. “Who ever said we weren’t friends?” She had done her best to keep her work and personal lives separate, but clearly in this moment they had melded together. “It wasn’t must me that demoted you, and I looked for you. I couldn’t find you anywhere! And you know what? Things got a little busy.” Resplendence had stepped backwards, but Kahlua moved forwards towards her, not willing to let this little fight tear them apart.

“You’re not the only one with problems, you know. Have you bothered to ask me how I’m doing? Have you thought that maybe I’m having a bad time too? Helovia is plagued by some murderer running around and killing everybody. I’ve got to keep them safe. Everybody looks to me, everybody wants me to make sure that nothing happens to them. That’s a lot of stress on my shoulders.” Snorting, she narrowed her eyes slightly. “And then! You know what then? Then I find out the murderer was being controlled by the MOON goddess herself. Our goddess, Res. And they banished her to our forest. And I’m just supposed to deal with that? WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?”

As she worked herself into a frenzy, tears began to fall from her eyes. She hated fighting. She hated being mad at Resplendence, and that Res was mad at her. “We wanted you to be Moon Doctor again,” she started, her sniffling voice all but a whisper this time. “I was coming to find you, to ask you.” Slowly, she reached forward again, her hoof lingering in the air as she tried to decide if she should move closer again. “I don’t want to fight Res,” she said, almost defeated. “Don’t hate me. I’m sorry. I can’t change what happened, but I’m here now. Talk to me… tell me how you’ve been feeling.”

Fluffing his feathers upon her back, Khan waited with bated breath, his body still as a statue. Would the pink woman accept the apology? For his bonded’s sake, he hoped so.