Bathed in his scent she is transported back in time. A filly once more she finds herself lost in the embrace of her birth home. The jungle around them hums with life, vibrant and green and humid. The air is thick with moisture, heavy in her lungs with every breath. Choking back sobs she finds the memory upon his skin as well.
Although a grown mare she feels but a small child as she leans upon the steady shoulder of her beloved father. The pain of their shared memories weighs upon them both in the heat of their reunion. It was odd to her. Before the world went dark both of her parents had surrendered to deaths untimely call. She had been utterly alone. Her siblings had spread out throughout Beqanna, some disappearing similarly to her. Everything she had known had seamlessly slipped through the cracks of reality.
But here, in this new version of her world, things were whole once more. Both her parents were alive, and the scent of her siblings was carried upon the breeze. She was no longer alone.
Hestoni’s apology is quick to fall and it reaches her ears unexpectedly. She pulled away from him, wishing so desperately that her eyes would grant her but a moment to look upon him one last time. Memories were deceitful and now, more than ever, she wanted the truth.
“Things were different back then,” she admitted with a heavy heart. With a sad smile her milky eyes found the spot where she assumed his would be. “But it would seem you and I have been granted another chance. The past is in the past and I think it is past time that I leave it behind.”
As her words faded from the soft of her lips a twinge of something deep stirred. The more her strength had returned to her the more she had come to recognize the fluttering kicks of another life inside of her. Fearful, though the realization had been, she knew that she could not avoid the truth much longer. She could not hide from the future.
“Father,” she begins tentatively. “I think I am pregnant.”
VI
lights will guide you home
@[Hestoni] We can leave this here if you want or we can continue. Either is fine with me.
