Since she had left Nocturne, Aly had been thinking about how to try to get back. She left so much of herself there; making a new life here in Helovia did not seem possible. That was not to say that she did not adore World’s Edge and Kahlua was so marvellous – but they were substitutes for something she had somewhere else.

Oh she had dreamed about waking up to find that they were all here, that her new and old friends could meet one another and life would be wonderful. Always the optimist but the realistic (though smaller) part of her did not really believe it was possible.

And then.

Her breath caught as soon as she sees the black figure. It had done so often, whenever she saw someone from a distance that could be him, but in another second it was always released because she just knew it wasn’t. But this time, could it really be?

She had come here on a whim. After getting settled in and accustomed to World’s Edge she decided to explore. Finding the shore, she followed it to the north. She had never seen a true tundra before – Elysium had occasionally disguised itself as such but it was not the same.

“Have I stumbled into a dream?” The question to herself came with a laugh – both at how ridiculously poetic she was being and the situation in general. Could it really be him? She knew him, knew him so well. Knew him well enough to be able to recognize him from his brother.

Identical, they almost even smelled the same. But Alysanne knew. Oh she knew him. And oh her heart would break if this were some trick. There was magic here, she knew. She had seen it performed by Kahlua upon their arrival in World’s Edge – the product a glass chain headband encircling her ears, with a small heart dangling down beneath her forelock. She had even heard that there were Gods though she did not yet know what to do with such knowledge. Were there Gods? Were they similar to the angels and demons of her former home?

At that thought, there was a prickle of a memory concerning those demons but it did not stick. Everything off topic was slipping from her mind as she approached, the dawn light washing over her pale body. With every step the fear that it was someone else faded and her pace quickened – stopping only when she was close enough to touch him. “Oh Aleksandr, are you real?” She asked even though she knew.

No caution (had he left first or had she?) as she bridged the gap between them with her nose, moving to brush against his neck in an affectionate greeting. Also to confirm that he was not a trick of this land.

She was different – less adorned with flowers than she had been in Nocturne – but they were the same emerald eyes that were bright with all the love she still had not confessed. She cannot even think of what to say or what to ask. How was he here? Where was Kostya? His twin was undoubtedly close but she couldn’t bring herself to check – just in case Aleksandr disappeared when she looked away.

The full weight of how much she had missed him was slamming into her now as tears began to cloud her vision.