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LILLIANA
It was Nashua who was her boisterous boy. It was the striped pegasus who came tumbling into the world with his small wings flared and wide, like he was already daring the sky above them. It was Nashua who never encountered strangers; it was her eldest son that the ability to make friends wherever he landed and was able to thaw out the iciest of personalities with his springtime smile.
It was @[Yanhua] who was her quiet boy. It was the horned colt who was quicker to stand than his elder brother, taking the time and having the patience to learn how to untangle his limbs while his brother had been born ready to leap headlong into their existence. It was Yan who had been the more reserved of the pair and the more cautious, holding back where Nashua was always rushing forward. It was the star-marked child that kept company with the quiet. It was the younger twin that shared her familial blue eyes: a trait passed from Carwen to Valerio to Lilliana and then finally, Yanhua.
Maybe it was because she sometimes caught glimpses of herself - of her father - peering out from behind Yan's azure-blue gaze that made her worry so much for him.
That worry lingers in the back of her mind along with others: for Nashua who would shelter the whole world beneath his wings if he could. For Aela, who was where? For Oren and Roselin, in trying to keep pace with every question the bay roan plied her with and in trying to teach her youngest only daughter to find bravery in her steps.
She worries for Neverwhere and Leilan; she worries for Warden. And when she thinks of Brazen, her blue eyes flick towards her youngest, newly-orphaned Reave. It's with him that she reminds Oren and Rosey to be, "Gentle."
The yearlings love to play with their new sibling. Rosey is humming to herself, looking over her shoulder as she and Oren create the newest game for the flaxen colt. The morning sun glinted off Oren's spikes and his gold-blazed face shone like the sun. His silver-black sister was shaking her head at whatever he was proposing with a small frown. Suddenly, she stopped and turned her head to stare out through the forest. Snorting softly when nothing revealed itself, Roselin looked back to her mother before glancing adoringly at Reave again.
Whatever it had been, Lilliana had felt it as well. She hated to leave them - especially as Reave folded his long legs and tucked himself neatly into a bed of meadowgrass for a nap - but the echo came clear across her mind, tugging on her heart as the moon must pull upon the tides. Yanhua. Hesitantly, she tells the pair: "Stay nearby and watch your brother." Knowing it would be difficult for them to stay behind, she offers: "And we'll take a trip to Tephra when I return."
Thankfully, it doesn't take her long to find the little family. Her blue eyes widen momentarily - trying to absorb the shock that she was now a grandmother - and then she smiles.
"Two?" she says softly, looking between their parents. (And some part of her aches but she keeps the memories of Brazen's death locked away; the balance of Magic sways and releases a few of Nash and Yan when they had been small, of how Kagerus had dreamed them, of bejeweled @[Amarine] nestled alongside dappled and determined Neverwhere, before - )
No. She forces (steels) herself to think and wills the waves to come crashing back, not allowing herself to travel down a path that never leads her anywhere but to anguish.
Lilliana lifts her head and exhales. She takes in the quartet and her gaze drops to her grandchildren, already enamored with them. She can hardly keep her eyes off them, even as she murmurs, "Any other surprises?"
but it's all in the past, love
it's all gone with the wind