belladonna, in italian a beautiful lady; in english a deadly poison.

No matter how angry she was, how hurt and distressed and confused, Lakota knew her mate. She could never hope to deny her, to not promise to at least listen to her, because it had caused them both pain in the past. Stubborn though they both were, they had made a promise to one another to try, and to hear the desperation in her beloved's voice gave Lakota pause if nothing else. It was followed by pleas and affirmations, ones that would have to be reinforced later but which she took at face value if only for the moment. "Okay," she murmured, because it was all she could manage at the moment. She couldn't claim to understand, but if Ktulu regretted what she had done...Lakota did not have the heart to purposefully try and make her feel worse. They could sort through how they both felt later, even if it killed them.

Aodaun brushed his nose against Eytan's thick neck, grunting his simultaneous hello and approval at how they both crowded against Lakota's pregnant belly. Finally his family was being mended, and he watched on, a careful guardian. Attentive. Eytan and Aodaun had always been integral in the relationship between the mares, it was only fitting they bore witness to the reunion of the two broken, weathered hearts once more.

Lakota had no trouble obeying Ktulu's desperate pleas, sinking into her mate's touch with a quiet groan. Her body was a tender fruit too often bruised in her pregnancy, and she'd gone full seasons without the touch of her beloved's skin. Even as her heart ached alongside her body, she pressed her muzzle to Ktulu's pulse and drank in the fact that she was there. Everything broken could be fixed so long as Ktulu was there beside her. The Poisoner shuffled closer, Ktulu's neck warm against her skin, chasing away the autumn chill. "Always," she whispered in return. Whatever you want, I will give it to you. Whatever you seek, I shall find it for you. Any harm that awaits you I shall shield you from it. Always. Asking to hold Lakota was so minor in comparison to the vows Lakota would have no qualms fulfilling, but she fell into her embrace with equal measures of desperation. It had been so long.

A croak came from her beloved, and Lakota turned her tired head to kiss away each tear she came across. If she could not physically bear the burden of her love's sorrow, she could offer her companionship and presence to anchor her to the world. Hototo. A name Lakota knew, a blurry face but one she was aware belonged in part to Ktulu. Wasn't Hototo her son? Affirmation came wrapped in a veil of splitting sorrow and loss. Lakota's heart seized in her chest, the mere notion of losing a child like a dagger to the throat. No matter how tired she was, Lakota shuffled further to her knees to drag Ktulu to her, squeezing her tight as if she could somehow keep together the broken pieces that was her beloved by stubborn touch alone.

"Oh Gods," she choked, feeling grief strangling her in sympathetic reaction to Ktulu's devastating loss. "Ktulu I..." how could she even word how she felt? It wasn't her place to feel the loss and yet she did, because her heart was intrinsically tied forever to Ktulu's. "I'm so sorry," she whispered, holding ever tighter as if that could somehow make the words hold more weight than she could give them verbally. There was nothing she could offer, nothing she could promise that could take away that kind of pain and suffering, that could mend the broken pieces Ktulu had become. "I don't know..." was all that verbally could be conveyed, signifying her loss of direction, her helplessness. "I'm sorry." Asking if she could do anything was useless, the only healing that could be done was bringing Hototo back, and that was not within Lakota's power.

"What happened?" it was quiet, tentative. "You don't have to say. But I don't know how to heal this, I don't know how to help you. Ktulu I love you, I'm so sorry, I wish -" there was something I could do. I wish I could bring him back for you.

Lakota