Ilaria wiggled between the arch of Cera's pale wings to his hindquarters as the siblings collided like exploding stars. They held each other as if trying to impress scent and shape into one another's skin, try and make up for the time and distance that had lain between them for so long. With her new vantage point her warm ocher eyes alighted on Gaucho's descending form. Gaucho is here, she whispered into Cera's mind, not wanting to disturb him from his emotional reunion with his sister. A measure of tension slipped from the paint's shoulders at the knowledge, his trust in Gaucho and his gratitude for his presence both too massive to be measured. Ranjiri's babbling ran over in his ears, and Cera ran his lips gently across the ebony expanse of her sun-warm skin, too tired to hold a grudge against his beloved sister. There would be time later for apologies and catching up. For now he simply drifted in the current of her love, remembering what it felt like to have solid earth beneath his feet instead of wandering aimlessly, purposeless and lonely. 

"It doesn't matter," Cera stated softly, as matter of fact as he could manage. The Prince withdrew to stare into her eyes, soft and crinkled at the corners with dissipating worry. "You're here now. That's all I care about." The how and where and why had no meaning or place if it had not left a permanent mark on his little sister. So long as she was whole and happy, returned to his side, Cera could not care less why she had left. Even if it prompted her to ask peculiar questions. 

Cera's cherubic face tilted to regard her, a slight frown pulling at his lips at the seemingly random question. "Of course I know that. And I love you, as well." It was simply a truth of the universe. The sun rose and fell, the tides danced to the tune of the moon, and Cera loved Ranjiri. It was a concrete rule, unchanging and immortal. Even in his darkest days and their roughest patches, Cera's love for his sister would never waver. No matter what she did. 

Cera stepped aside obligingly as Gaucho approached, a fond smile on his face as Ranjiri raced to Gaucho's breast, as he had known she would. But as his Sultan's face twisted into a confused, silent question, Cera could only frown in reply and shake his head. I don't know, he shrugged helplessly. As intimately as he knew his baby sister, he could not make heads or tails of why she was acting this way. Until she seemed to realize their confusion, and stumbled through her act of clarity. 

Every muscle in Cera's body went stiff with realization, long before Ranjiri revealed the decision she'd made. Cera, Ilaria spoke in a rush, reaching out for her bonded, scared for his reaction. Ranjiri had been born in the Falls, after all. She had not experienced being so far from family. Nor had she suffered through Midas abandoning the Throat to rule the Falls, when he had never done so for the sake of family before. And Cera had been left stranded on the shores of the Throat, because his heart was buried here in the clay and loam. There was nothing for him out there in the wilderness, and Ktulu's side of the family had never been his to claim. And here stood his sister, making the same decision Midas had, and Cera was helpless to stop her. Because he would never beg her to change her mind, would never cause her that kind of emotional turmoil just because his heart happened to be breaking. 

And on top of all of this...a little brother. And by all rights that should be his little brother too, but if it was Ktulu's child...though he and Ranjiri had been undeniably siblings regardless of blood, he could not claim this colt in the same fashion. Her little brother. But wasn't Cera her brother? What about him? 

Gaucho spared him trying to find his voice first, and as the Sultan spoke Cera swallowed silently past the agony and defeat in his throat. He summoned a small smile for his sister, careful not to let her see how he was feeling. Because Cera loved Ranjiri, and whatever made her happy, Cera would support. He would not allow his personal feelings to ruin a voyage already fraught with change and nerves. She deserved better than that. He owed her more than that as her older brother. 

Though Gaucho had said all that truly needed to be said, Cera could not simply let her leave without his own goodbyes. He could not be that little boy sobbing and begging his father to come back. Those days were long gone, and he was a stallion, not an emotional colt. He should be past this. 

"We are never far," he promised softly, verdant orbs sad but not overly so. Cera needed so badly for Ranjiri to believe the facade, and he had never worked harder to make one so believable. "You will be an amazing big sister. I taught you, after all," he remarked playfully, wanting one last smile to save in his memory before he had to let her go. Possibly forever, even with the promise of visits. Because a visit was impermanent. He may never get her back. "Go. Find your place. We will be here if you ever need us." And Cera gestured towards Gaucho, his hooves drawing him closer to the bay brute unconsciously, desperately needing the strength and support the Wildfire's presence offered. And with a parting touch to Ranjiri's muzzle, Cera smiled sadly. "Goodbye, little tike. I love you." Always. Even if she broke his heart over and over again.