you're the pulse that I've always needed (any)

[Lea]

“I … I died?!”

It’s hard to believe. After all, here she is, pressed up against him, feeling his heart beat beneath his dark coat. But that tone in his voice, that pain. She knows it’s true. “How?” She asks but she can guess. She can still remember that green-tinged stallion approaching her, the sinister look on his face …

She leans in deeper to his embrace, shaking off the memory and trying in some way to wash away the pain she can sense in him. “I’ve missed you too.” She has, though for her it seems like only days since she saw him last. How long has it been for him?

And then he drops the bomb. “Twelve?!” She staggers back a step, staring. Twelve years? Twelve?! “But …” She can’t even find the words. Twelve years is such a long time!

She composes herself, breathing in deeply. There’s nothing she can do about it. What’s done is done. She’s here now. “Tell me everything.” She has to know what’s happened in her absence. “What of our children?” Anxious Fracta, quiet Abigael, fiery Lyric, willful Laiken, naive Linnaea, youthful Aena and Ianto, energetic Carys … how have they fared in the last twelve years? “And what of the Dale?” She can’t get much of a picture of the kingdom from this isolated spot. The place could be in ruins for all she knows. Hopefully Lionel hasn’t run it into the ground … though twelve years later, is he even king any more?

Then finally, but perhaps more importantly. “If you couldn’t save me then, why am I here now?”

lea

you're the pulse that I've always needed