Like a sweet, exotic flower, Phaedra was both beautiful and alluring in every sense. Her scent, her voice, her body. Every part of her sang out to him, drew him in. Even when she had been cursed and aged, destroyed by the magic of the Moon Goddess, Tolio had loved her more than he had thought was physically possible for a soul to give. In that moment, he baffled at himself. Why had he kept pushing her away? Perhaps because of the complications, but still. All Tolio ever wanted was Phaedra. She deserved to be made a queen, not for her looks and flirtatious behavior, nor her abilities in gathering intelligence. Deep down he believed her to be far more beautiful inside than out. How many others had been able to look past her stunning looks to see the soul he knew more intimately than anything else? Rage flushed through him like a fever at the thought that any other male could have seen the beauty that belonged rightfully to him. It was wrong for him to think of her as his possession, for she was not, but he loved her so fiercely he would likely be thrown into a rage should he discover any other stallion had seen that delicate flower folded secretively beneath the brilliant outside petals that made the mask she hid behind. Her beauty.

Anger could not last in her presence. As she crooned like the sweetest dove right back to him, he wished he had wings with which to wrap her in like a precious parcel, like she had done so many times to him. Instead he spread kisses and caresses along her flank, her spine, the curve of her rump, the muscles that curved into her wings. Lightly nibbling, grooming in any other fashion but meant more as an intimate gesture of love. Without the few worries and insecurities in his heart, the borders he had put up before coming, his love had no wall with which to stop his love. It poured out of him, desiring only to lay in the stitching of her skin, to leave her permanently with a new perfume. One made of his own passion, his own devotion and adoration. Phaedra was his queen, his exception. The one mare who had ever enticed, infuriated, seduced, confused, hurt, loved, hated him. Made him feel so many emotions he'd never even imagined. She had taken the life he thought he had fully lived, and shown him that there was so much more. That so many more feeling lived within him that had yet to be unleashed. She had taken him, and she had burned him in the most delicious way. Set fire to his very marrow and in it, he reveled in the spectrum she had painted for the both of them. Now, he wanted to burn with her forever.

Would she even be willing to accept him at this point? After all the trials they had weathered? But her words soothed any worry he had, and as he traced the feathers of her wings lovingly he knew he could never love another. Phaedra had taken his heart and given him love to hold its place until the day she withered away. Even then his heart would be lost with her to the world beyond, for he could hardly bear the thought of marring her memory by taking another. Their endearments passed like rose petals from sugar-kissed lips, sweetening the very land with love so powerful Tolio could hardly contain it. Her clear excitement told him that this was important, and so he paused in his worship of the temple of her body and turned to face her once more. Diamonds glittered softly, happily, in sea-foam eyes he would never forget. His own broad smile could not be contained, beaming out to join hers. Happiness swelled so large in his chest he feared he'd simply burst, but it never happened.

It struck him then that he could have this. He could stay here with Phaedra, with his twin baby girls. The Basin did not suit him any longer, and facing Zikar-Sin was nearly unbearable now. Mauja was the only hesitance that flickered beneath her alluring magic. Could he abandon his King? Even if only to Outcast himself? If he was an Outcast, he could serve Mauja individually despite the former being in a herdland, and he could see Phaedra constantly. And why not?! Why not join the Grey? He could serve Mauja from another herdland, be at his call in an instant! Joy like butterflies, sparrows, and every beautiful thing in the world thundered, exploded, grew in his body until he too had tears of happiness flickering and shining in silver irises. Again he embraced her, neck flung over her shoulders and hugging her close as he laughed almost deliriously, the sound echoing like golden bubbles of amazement and joy over the hills of greenery. Everything seemed to at last be falling into place. What did he have left to fear? "We can do this, Phaedra!" he cried, eyes moist with the ferocity of his own emotions.

In a sudden bout of energy with all this nectar in his soul, he circled Phaedra and as he came upon her side, facing the same way, he ducked beneath her wing and draped his head once more over her shoulders so that she may press her face to his chest if she wished. "I can join you here, or belong to no herd, and we can raise the girls and-!" such emotion took over him that he pressed her tighter, the noise that vibrated in his throat one of wordless joy. "Phae, we can be together. We can finally do this! I can wake up by your side every day and wake you, telling you how beautiful you are. We can watch our daughters play, and we can...we can finally be whole, Phaedra." Voice dropped to an intimate, heartfelt whisper here. Tilting his crown skyward he lifted his muzzle to nibble and press gently behind her right ear, overwhelmed with his own happiness. "I love you, Phaedra. I love you, I love you, I love you," he swore again and again, as if to print the very words into her flesh and the tone of his voice into her mind. "Nothing will make me leave you now, I will always return to your side. I love you more than anything else in the world, my dearest." Similar utterances were breathed reverently directly into her ear, praising her and showering her with the love he had been unable to give her for so long. Separation seemed unbearable at that moment, and he merely desired to give her the love she deserved as much as he could in that instant.

She had finally taken his heart and made it whole, and despite the new scars that littered the poor thing, she had healed him in every other way. Tolio would rather die than leave this moment with her, where they were so happy and beautiful together. All he wanted was to love her for the rest of eternity, and to watch their children grow before their eyes.

Nothing seemed impossible anymore.

::ooc- the end starts sucking because that's where I started falling asleep on my laptop lol