that's the sound of falling rain; Maribel

[Romek]

fuck all your dreams; they're not all they seem.

He notices the absence of her usual colour-fluttering, and he figures that she must not have her color changing anymore, and what he is seeing here was her natural colour. Not a beautiful golden anymore, no, but a beautiful white-and-gold. And their children seem to have inherited their mother’s colouring, and their coats remind him of the night that he and Maribel had spent together, beneath the stars, with the stars, her own skin a canvas of sunset, moon and star. And here, even the little indigo girl had white spots up her neck… Similar to his own spots.

”Arete and Alivia.” he repeats, with a slight pang. He should’ve been at their birth, he knows, he wished he had been there. He missed the birth of their first children. But there was no helping that, and his lady wife had picked out their names well, and his approval was written across the stallion’s face in smiles.

And, although internally he was puffing up like a peacock at her praise, he simply says; ”I had to do right by my family. It is our own place. Free from other’s agendas. Here we can be safe, and raise our children, and have others be safe and raise their children here also.” he pauses, reflecting. ”There is a lot to talk about. It can wait.” he reiterates, because goddamnit there was a lot to talk about, but he just wanted this moment to be her and him, and them, all together.

His heart skips a beat as there is no response, but it is only momentary, and she exclaims his name and he breathes a sigh of relief, not realising he was holding his breath all this time. ”And I love you too, my sweet.” He paused, looked at their twins at their feet, and corrected himself. ”My sweets.” the only thing that would make this moment sweeter would be the addition of Espeon, Durotan and Lilitha – but it would seem they were off exploring, playing in the Taiga, discovering new places. And who could blame them? This place was expansive, different, and entirely new (despite what the thick carpet of shed needles on the floor may suggest). No equine had ever step foot here before.

”Let’s go explore, all of us, and let’s see what we can find.” he suggests with a grin and gleaming, happy eyes. They could talk later in the evening, when the children were asleep. Perhaps they could seek Demian out also but – he gets ahead of himself. He wanted to enjoy this moment with his family, and firmly put the worries (of Maribel’s father, and the Tundrans, and Demian, and leading, and what they would do now) out of his head. Now was a time for celebration and happiness, and not for worries.

Romek