"Hello, my dear," the god said with a kind smile, and I swallowed hard, my eyes flicking nervously to Thor. I could tell that the god was trying his best not to scare me, but it's very difficult not to feel some manner of awe when one is before such a powerful creature. Almost without realizing it, I step closer to Thor, wanting the comfort that I knew he would provide. I hadn't given as much thought as I should to out relationship, but my actions were proving my unconscious need for him. He would protect me, he would help me - had he not already proven himself to me? Had he not already done more for me than anyone in my life?

I had grown much closer now to Thor, and I had caught the question that dangled from the god's lips. Peering from behind Thor shyly, I cursed myself for my shy, fearful nature. I must have looked as silly as a newborn filly, hiding in my mate's shadow! The thought pulled me up short - my mate? The title had sprung easily to my mind, and I turned it over for a moment, savoring it. My gaze found Thor's again, and though he seemed to radiate a very strong emotion - happiness? love? - he also seemed almost nervous. He called me the one and only, and although I had woken in a foul mood, my heart seemed to soar at the words. I smiled at him, and though it was still shy, I am sure that it showed the depth of my emotion.

Mirage appeared, and she nodded to me - I returned the nod, offering a small smile in her direction, though she seemed interested only is listening. And then I remembered the conversation. "You can... heal me?" I asked, my voice soft, my chocolate gaze flickering between the two stallions before me. I almost didn't believe it, almost didn't want to believe it for the fear of being let down. Well, Thor had promised to help me - but I had never expected him to invoke the gods for me! Surely I was not so important as all that! Suddenly overwhelmed by emotion, I turned my head, buried my face in his banner. I didn't know what to think, didn't know how to feel.

He had promised, and he had come through, or so it would seem. No one had ever done anything even marginally like this for me before. I have, for all my life, felt like an outsider, never accepted, always chased away. And yet I had found Thor, who had calmed both my affliction and my fears, and then after my arrival in the Edge, I had found Mirage, who had offered me a home. Home, I thought, and for the first time, I truly realized just what that meant. My thoughts gathered, I lifted my head again. "Can you really, sir?" I asked again, a radiant smile jumping to my maw.

"talk"

If love is surrender, then whose war is it anyway?