The broken watches with pride as his companion confronts her habits and reaches out to Aylin. He has never seen her so affectionate with anyone else, perhaps save for Loretta and her other sisters. But even then there is always something separating the black dog from the rest. When she was younger it was her magic, always malfunctioning, hurting herself or those she loved. Those were the days, he remembers, when his own magic had found its way to block her eyes from the terrifying sights she would set loose upon herself. He thinks now how much more peaceful she is, how much more in control they are. The evidences of their failures have long since left them in some way or another.

Knox and Manhattan are left with nothing but here and now, with Aylin and her own battles that she must face. Knox can only hope, hope that he might help her as she had him. His blue eyes watch her as she moves, taking in her slimmer figure as she moves closer. He does not feel he needs permission with her; with her so close, it is only a slight craning of his neck and then his own nose rests beside her hoof, brushing faintly the skin of her ankle. His own feathered hooves curl tightly against his chest as he shifts to relax.

He is glad to hear her say she will stay- for her and for himself. He does not want to be alone with his bonded, not quite yet. The guilt of their argument may have faded from her mind, but it still haunts him. If he looks deeper, he can find the guilt lurking, too, in the back of her mind. They will act as if all is well for a time, but at some point Knox knows their truths will have to come out.

He listens intently to every word falling from Aylin's lips, comparing their sounds to that of the rain. "My father tells me stories of your mother some days," he begins quietly, his words tentative. He is unsure, after all, where Evangeline is now, and the last thing he wishes to do is to hurt Aylin. "He told me she once brought apples to a monster in his castle, and that he gave in return a gift of nature's knowledge, the power to bend trees." It all sounds so strange to Knox, but he trusts his father's every word to be true. Does Aylin know the story? Perhaps not, if Evangeline was as modest as his father makes her out to be. He watches Aylin's face carefully with an upturned gaze and a heavy sigh, making sure to watch the patterns of emotions playing across her features. He reminds himself of many things, over and over again, drilling them into his mind, but it is this that he tells himself the most: he must be her light.