Although Ryatah gives no indication of how much Agetta’s words stung, nor the hurt that they dredged up, there is still that melancholy smile. Even Ryatah’s words, though light, do not bring happy tidings and they cause Agetta’s midnight blue eyes to soften.
It makes her grateful for Plume’s return and the life that he breathed back into her, and then right after that she feels ashamed for being glad her story did not play out the same as her companion’s. “I’m sorry.” She offers quietly with a sad smile over her own. Like every time she apologizes lately, that one word covers so much that she cannot find the words to explain fully. She is truly sorry that Ryatah’s venture into the afterlife did not end happily. Sorry that the one she met (who Agetta quickly decides she does not like) had a history of leaving without her. She feels guilty that she has found joy and wishes she could spread it, but love does not work like that. And though she cares for the angelic mare near her very much - she understands that she cannot make up for things lost.
When Ryatah mentions aloud that Agetta seems happy, she dips her head in embarrassment, but the smile comes easily. It always does, when she thinks of him.
“I don’t know if you knew or met Plume before?” She watches Ryatah curiously, wondering if they could have crossed paths before he had died, before all of this had happened. “We were…” Her thoughts fumble for the right word. “Together before we both died the first time. He came back and yes, I suppose I am happy. Though it feels strange… I had forgotten what it felt like.”
This is a strange thing to admit outloud, a thought she had never shared. Agetta had always sought to be kind and just but happiness had always been elusive, ever since she was a filly. It was not something she could gain on her crusade for peace, nor find except in small doses with her beloved children - too many failures darkening her thoughts for that. She hadn’t even had many friends until very recently. Plume had brought her to life but the other faces she had met since returning, including the one before her now, had already started giving her the roots she had been missing.
@[Ryatah]