[open] your waves are pulling me under; any

[Eva]

your waves are pulling me under
i'm caught in your riptide

Her thoughts drift back to a time she left long ago. A place where she knew herself should never return to. So many times, she had told herself it would never come true, it was never possible. Aodhan would never stay. He was never meant to be anchored down and tethered to her only. It was his wild and free spirit that she loved, and filled her with childish fantasies, but it was not the world she could live in. She had to forget about her foolish dreams when her son had been born. Aeolus needed a mother. A mother who would care and love him in the present, not be trapped in a fantasy world and foolish desires. Even so, she knew she could not hold onto that any longer when she became the Dame of Ischia. The tropical island needed a leader that did not live with her head in the clouds, but with all four hooves firmly planted on the ground. It had to be put all behind her in the end. But now, one of her greatest desires, stands before her. He has stood near her so many times before. Wrapped together and embracing one another. Eva knew without a second thought a fire burned so hot and her heart ached for him so deeply. After everything, she feels uncomfortable. The purple nereid feels estranged from her own body and where she is standing now. She doesn’t feel like she is in Ischia, surrounded by the familiar pieces of her tropical home. Her world is so far away right now. The purple nereid remains with her gaze on Aodhan, glued to his white and gold spotted figure. She feels her heart in her throat, her mouth is going dry, and she cannot feel the air in her lungs anymore. Everything is beginning to feel heavy, but she doesn’t say anything. She only listens to him when he speaks and wondering why the hell she cannot get herself together. When she hears the name Carwyn roll off his tongue, she ingrains it deeply into her mind. It was a name she was familiar with—someone that lived on Ischia, but she had never spoken to the mare before. Carwyn had come to Aodhan for protection and along with a family of their own on the way. Ischia is where they would be, and now Aodhan wanted to come here—to come where she was. Eva glances away from Aodhan for a moment. Her golden eyes trail along the seashore and then to the outline of the green jungle. She imagines what it might be like to have him here, see him every day, hold him every sunrise and sunset, and be only his. But would it only be her? A few moments after his last words, she turns back to him. Eva meets his gaze, staring into the bright emerald eyes she fell so easily for the first time. Her expression is blank, but it does not distort the beauty of her purple colored features, as she considers her next words carefully. “You are always welcomed here, Aodhan. To see our kids or raise another family.” She says first and then falling silent. Velkan pops in the back of her mind, lingering like a dark memory. The purple nereid fumbles with her words now, lost and confused on what to even do or say now. It was unlike her to feel this way, to feel undecided was nothing she had felt before, but she needed to say something. Needed to say it now. Blinking once, and then twice, Eva licks her lips before continuing to speak. “But for us, what does that mean?” She pauses. “What do you want exactly for us?”

Eva

the dame of ischia

@[Aodhan]