WE ARE ALL JUST FRAGILE THINGS /
SOFT AND SMALL /
BUT ALL THE BROKEN CAN FIND /
HOPE IN THE MOST UNEXPECTED PLACES /
It's such a jarring sensation to have the two scents of her past and her present mingled together.
Broch is there against her skin (though not in the way one might assume; Lilliana has moved past some things, but she still harbors a fear of somebody taking what they need and then leaving her to patch up the missing pieces of herself). And then there is Leilan, much larger than she remembered, looming beside her. His shape had been hazy a moment before - something that looked more like a shadow struggling to materialize against the shining rays of the sun - but there is no denying who the scaled roan is when he comes into view.
Lilliana smiles, clearly pleased to see him.
"Leilan," she murmurs, and takes a small step back from the river's edge. How long has it been since she last saw him? Her mind thinks back in months, back to the Eclipse, but the chestnut knows that is wrong. Another wanderer had told her it had been years since the sun had returned, and what little she had heard of the North had been that it was ruled by her son, Nashua, alongside two of his brothers, Yanhua and Reave. (Had Lilliana knew there was trouble in Taiga, she would have returned sooner. She would have gone there first.)
But her days have been spent searching for Neverwhere, a companion from her first life and the one who journeyed with her from the Afterlife, and learning about the life that the former leader of Culloden had led. And telling him about the things that he once spoke of for them - the herd, the babies, the leading - things that Lilliana had once upon a time hadn't been sure that she wanted, had happened anyway. Had happened without him.
It brought along the more melancholy thoughts about what it might have been like to have those things with somebody who wanted to share them with her. But as she glances up to the former Freyr, Lilliana reminds herself that she hasn't always been completely alone. She and Leilan had come together the best they knew how - the best that two cautious hearts could - to raise their children and unite the North. And that is something she will always be grateful to him for.
"And who would you be looking for?" she asks, the soft smile tugging into something much brighter for the draconic stallion.
fragile things (reprise) - megan hilty
image credit to footybandit
but it's all in the past, love
it's all gone with the wind