i am a leaf on the wind

When he pulls away, there’s a strange emptiness where his nose had been only moments before. The heat of their contact lingers though, a pleasant sensation that doesn’t entirely make sense. Except that the disappointment in her chest as he pulls away is clear, and she’s tempted to cross the distance and reach out for him again. But she doesn’t, because that wouldn’t be polite, and it would definitely be presumptious, and she’s still struggling to think that anyone can actually make her feel so okay. No,not just okay. Good. Whole.

Whole.
 
That was an idea she couldn’t even fathom. And perhaps, not entirely whole. It wasn’t possible to replace her parents or Corbin, and she would always miss them. How could she not? But it was possible to move on. It was possible, particularly with Zola and Apollo so close, to believe that this place might hold something for her. That not all was lost.
 
His response to her life in the Edge so far is even more encouraging, more genuine than she could have ever expected. She’s happy, certainly, but it’s her life. And yet here was this stallion that, in truth, she hardly knew, who was just as happy for her as she was for herself. Or else he was a terribly good actor, but she didn’t believe that was it. No, she believed he meant it.
 
She can’t help the smile that lights her teal eyes and softens the curve of her lips when he mentions crossing paths with a dear friend. “I’m glad to hear you’ve been well,” she says. He’s been well, and he’s perhaps as pleased to see her as she is to see him. Not that she could ever tell him she’s been keeping an eye out, wondering if she’d ever run into him again. Not looking, necessarily, just always wondering if his familiar form would cross her line of sight.
 
His eyes drift down to the ruby that glimmers on her neck, and her grin grows a little sheepish. It’s one of those moments that she’s glad she can’t blush, because she might be bright red at this point. She laughs at the compliment though, a sound that is both well practiced at batting away compliments but one that is also, genuinely, happy. “Of course I did,” she adds, entirely serious now. “You have no idea what it means to me,” she admits, not entirely sure why she’s admitting this at all. But it’s already out there now.
 
“Other than the in Threshold, you were the first horse I met in Helovia. I’d been forced from my home, had my entire family taken from me, and here was this stranger showing me more kindness than I could have imagined. I know it’s a small thing, but it was the first bit of hope I’d been given in a very long time. So yes, I kept it.”
 
And there it is. No details, because she can’t go into those so easily, but still. The truth of her life, laid bare for someone she’s met only once. But she finds that it’s not hard to tell him. That she’s actually glad she told him. She doesn’t have anything else to offer him but the truth. 

watch how i soar.

lyanna