There's something about the smile that lights up Lyanna's face that takes his breath away. It ignites a light behind her lovely teal eyes and her expression grows softer, more precious, looking at him as though he had done something great... But all Apollo had done was admit to her how he was. That look on her face, the look that she cared, was equal parts thrilling and terrifying.

They move on to the topic of the ruby chained closely to her heart, and Lyanna's next words leave the Merciful stallion completely gobsmacked. 'You have no idea what it means to me.' No.

No he didn't. He was scared to.

On the outside, Apollo's expression remained unchanging; gentle, curious, steadfast. On the inside, however, he was a mess of fears, anxieties, and insecurities. What if he messed up? Lyanna was, perhaps, the only friend he had left, if he could even be so bold as to call her a friend.

Once, he had many. Ktulu, Lakota, Phaedra, Archibald, Resplendence, Mesec, Midas... Now, he had none. None but Zola, and maybe, maybe Lyanna. If that wasn't terrifying, then Apollo didn't know what was. Terror was too pale of a word to describe how he was feeling.

She went on, however. Lyanna spoke, her words an admittance of long hidden pain, of long locked away emotions, and for perhaps the first time, Apollo sees her pain. He sees her suffering, her fears, her doubts, her past transgressions and the hopes she has for a brighter, more positive future.

Like him.

Her words register in her ears, speaking secrets from dark lips, and he gives her his full attention. She deserves that much, if not more. The Merciful was the first to meet her, to cross paths, since being thrown from the safety and familiarity of her home, left alone in the wild and abandoned lands of strangeness and mystery.

Like him. Oh Gods, like him.

What could he say? What could he do? He appreciated her honesty, and his expression shifted, morphed, not into one of pity, for Lyanna seemed like a gentle but proud creature and to offend her was the last thing that he wanted to do, but of understanding. Of camaraderie. Of love, because despite their brief knowledge of one another, he loved her dearly like a friend.

"Oh, Lyanna..." Her name escaped his lips unbidden, unplanned, but he did not regret it. Despite the sudden grasp of melancholy that held tight over his heart, he smiled, his expression wistful and yearning as he dared to reach out and brush his dark muzzle against her very own once again, hoping to soothe her worries with touch, blowing hot air from his nose into hers. The touch of reassurance, the intimate touch between two friends. He was humbled that she regarded him with such sincerity, with such importance, even though he felt anything but.

"What are we, if not for hope?" The question was rhetorical, but the Merciful stallion felt as though he must say something. "We must always hope for a better future, a better tomorrow, even if our days are bleak and uncertain. Even if we feel as though we cannot take another step. Hope drives us forward... Makes us whole, pushes us to fight against our challenges, our fears, our insecurities." Here, the overo stallion's expression shifted yet again, growing softer, more sincere, more gentle. "I... I'm honored, that you kept the stone." Because it was so much more than just a stone.

A promise. A promise of hope, for the future.

For their future.

Slowly the Merciful turned his kind head, motioning towards the shoreline of the powerful ocean. He would not go too close, the memory of the dangerous Kraken still fresh despite the years that had gone by, but he wanted nothing more than to walk the shoreline in the evening sun with Lyanna.

"... Would you accompany me, lady?" He asked, his tired face giving way to a warm, boyish smile. "For a walk along the beach and watch the sunset?"