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 Posted: Fri Jun 07, 2013 11:47 pm
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Posted: Sat Jun 08, 2013 12:13 am
The moon was full and bright, and the night was cool but still as if every living thing was eager to experience it's beauty without disturbing it. Night-songs were just beginning to tentatively emerge. It was a perfect night to go for a swim.
There was a pool of still water just outside of the grove that the mares had been frequenting for the past several months. Water lilies floated along the edges of the water and the reeds were tall but sparse enough that they created a nice border of the shore without suffocating it or any visitors. In fact, if one were to stand right in the center of the pool on such a night, there would be a shower of moonlight as even the tree branches had mostly set apart so that the night sky could be seen far far above. And that very center spot was directly where Chanterelle rushed to when the two mares broke the water's edge.
Excitement sped up Chanterelle's pulse and with a warm heart she turned when she got to that spotlight and looked back at Aella. "Didn't I tell you this was the most beautiful place in the world, on a full-moon?" Her smile opened easily and she was at peace. She stood chest-deep in the middle of the pool with the moonlight highlighting her contours and making not only her gems shine ever brighter, but especially her pale blue eyes. Tonight, it was as if they were aglow with emotion. Her hair was bouncy and even mostly stayed out of her eyes and her coat shimmered from droplets of the clear water all around her.
Her eyes softened as she looked at Aella, and she silently beckoned her closer. She wanted to share this relaxation with her, but she would have to come away from the edge of the pool first.
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Nyx Queen of Darkness Crew
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Posted: Sat Jun 08, 2013 12:29 am
Aella was unused to all the water in the swamp, even after months. Her nature was more in tune with the desert. But her eyes followed Chanterelle and her fear of going into the water so deeply, blew away like leaves on the wind.
Her eyes held Chanterelle's as if she was riveted to her. She couldn't look away for anything in all the world. The way the water shimmered made her coat look like stars had fallen from heaven and dotted her coat. The twinkling fireflies floated around lazily as if they were lighting the scene for them, as if they knew how Aella felt--how she hoped Chanterelle felt.
Aella could feel her heart aching at the sight of the other mare. She'd stopped trying to question or analyze her feelings. How had she come to love again? How did she fall in love with a mare when she'd never been attracted to one before? How could she risk everything again?
But the pain of love was so much less than the wonder of it, it was worth the risk despite how much it hurt if it failed. She felt the water coming up to her, and all her questions fell away. There was one answer only, and it explained everything without explaining anything.
Because she loved her.
She loved Chanterelle.
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Posted: Sat Jun 08, 2013 12:48 am
As if her eyes were the very thing grounding Aella to reality, Chanterelle guided her closer, knowing that the mare was sometimes wary of the water. But as she had hoped, making this connection with her let her fears slip away.
It was only a few quick weeks after Aella had shared her goodbye for Chronos with her, but to her they had felt like a wonderful eternity. She had grown ever closer to her as if through, or perhaps because of, sharing that final goodbye she had allowed Chanterelle to truly see her. The kirin found herself unable to part from this mare, but she never stopped to think it through. It simply felt right to her, to be by her side. Perhaps fate or the stars had guided them together when Chanterelle had hit a low-spot in her life and had yearned for something outside of family.
Reassuringly Chanterelle purred, "That's right, just a little closer..." When Aella got close enough she stretched her neck forward so that she could nuzzle Aella's neck with her cheek. "From here you can see all the stars and the Lady Moon like you've never seen her before." At least, this was the clearest that she had ever been able to see the full moon here in the swamp.
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Nyx Queen of Darkness Crew
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Posted: Sat Jun 08, 2013 12:54 am
Aella breathed in her in like she was the air to her. Her body trembled where Chanterelle touched her. She felt an ache of longing. All of her plans to wait, to see if Chanterelle would give her some definitive sign...went out the window.
The moon shone down on them, and the stars twinkled like they were winking at her and urging her on. "Chanterelle," her voice was barely a whisper. "I need to say something," she paused.
She felt her chest heaving and her heart thundering, but she focused in on the sound of the other mare's heart, she could feel it in patch of skin where they touched.
"I didn't think this would happen. That it would ever happen. But Chanterelle...I love you. I love you like the moon loves the stars, like the flower loves the sun. Everything in me that had withered has come alive because of you. And maybe you don't feel it, or maybe you don't know. I know I dind't. I fought this, I did. And I'll wait forever for you, if you ask me to. But it all comes back to you. You pull me to you like gravity, and I love, I love, I love you."
She pressed her nose to Chanterelle's, her hair whipping around her. This moment might be all she had forever, and if it was it would carry her until the end of her days.
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Posted: Sat Jun 08, 2013 1:33 am
Just as Aella had been breathing her in, Chanterelle had been doing the same. Her hair spoke of far away wondrous places to Chanterelle's nose, and she felt she could forever listen to their stories. Amid that, she heard Aella say that she needed to say something, to which she merely nodded, or rather rubbed her cheek up and down Aella's neck warmly to encourage her to continue. Her eyes slid to a close and she inhaled deeply, her heart steady and calm. She loved to hear the other mare speak, so she listened, but what she heard was not anything she was expecting to hear.
'I love you like the moon loves the stars, like the flower loves the sun.'
It had taken her a moment to process what she heard when Chanterelle pulled her head back, breaking their physical bond to look at Aella. The other mare went on and it was as if Chanterelle were under a spell to stay silent. Her mind raced and her heart began to pump faster, no longer so steady or calm. Her head screamed and wanted to make her stop talking, to interject and try to make some sense of what she was saying, but her heart though beating fiercely now, held strong and kept her quiet. It was telling her to hush and listen, and she was powerless to do otherwise.
Her expression remained as blank as ever, but her eyes searched Aella's and she finally realized what they had been saying. What she said now aloud was what they had been trying to convey to her all along. Her eyes had told of her feelings before even Aella had sorted them out herself, and Chanterelle had been too deaf to hear them. What was now clear as day to her had been foggy as a stormy night on a new moon. How had she not understood before? How had she been so blind to not see... but that was just it.
Love.
What was it? Where did it come from? How did it happen? Did she know where to find it? Did she already possess it? If it could be possessed? A hundred thousand questions milled about inside of her confused mind, all screaming for attention but before any could make themselves heard Aella stilled them with the simplest of gestures.
Her nose pressed against Aella's, Chanterelle's eyes naturally slid to a close once more and her heart pounded almost painfully. The world simply fell away all around them as if the only thing in existence was right here, right now. This moonlit kiss serenaded by the night-bug symphony was everything. Her skin burned and her legs tingled, hoping that this moment would never end. But as with everything, even this kiss, the eternal moment drew to a close.
Exhaling softly, Chanterelle drew back gently. She yearned for that feeling to go on forever, but she had so many confusing thoughts, and their stun was wearing off now, threatening to make her head explode if she didn't at least let some of them out.
Very tentatively the younger mare glanced up at Aella without raising her head --something she very very rarely did. The mare who normally stood tall with her head held high was speaking timidly with a tremble shaking her voice. "Aella..." What was she supposed to say?! She dropped her gaze and her tail hung limp as her mind searched for the right words, hell, for any words! Trying to meet her gaze again, Chanterelle was terrified of seeing pain in Aella's eyes. She opened her mouth... and closed it. Damn it! Why weren't there words for such a situation?! One more time... and she finally managed to say something. "Can you hold me?" The words spilled out as if she were a filly who had scraped her knees for the first time and was asking her daddy to hold her so that she could be strong in front of him, so that he wouldn't have to see her tears should she be unable to stop them.
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Nyx Queen of Darkness Crew
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Posted: Sat Jun 08, 2013 1:44 am
Aella felt the passion of the kiss burn on thought their lips had parted. Her eyes fluttered open and she saw the shock and confusion on Chanterelle's face. It hurt her a little that look, it said I'm not sure or I'm confused or maybe even I hate this. But Aella pushed it away as Chanterelle tried to speak to her.
The mare's voice faltered and so did her eyes. She couldn't seem to get the words out, but she didn't seem angry--only confused. A beacon of hope shined like a light in her soul. There was hope, even if there wasn't much of one.
The mares words had tumbled out, the broken voice and the longing. And Aella was powerless to resist, even if Chanterelle had crushed her heart into a thousand tiny shards it would not change the fact that she would be there for her.
She wrapped her neck around Chanterelle, "Of course," she nestled her face in the other mare's mane. "Always," she said even quieter as the bugs kept on their serenade as though nothing had happened. All was stillness, except the beating of hearts.
The perfect, beautiful rhythm thrummed in her ears as she wrapped herself tighter. She wanted to tell her, she would wait for her--forever if that was what it took.
This kiss could last a lifetime.
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Posted: Sat Jun 08, 2013 2:14 am
All those damned bugs were still singing as if they wouldn't let up anytime soon, and Chanterelle wished they would just shut up. But amid all her other milling thoughts, it wasn't strong enough to pierce into the outside world.
The embrace didn't come soon enough, and Chanterelle returned it immediately somewhat roughly. She pressed her chest against Aella's and craned her head downward so that she could press her face into Aella's side. All she wanted was to listen to the mare's heartbeat, to have something that would drown out all her thoughts. This must have been what Aella had felt like when Chanterelle found her and held her close for the first time. Here they were again, in the water, but their roles were reversed. Chanterelle was the one that was lost this time.
Chanterelle needed to still her thoughts so that she could go through them one at a time and answer them each in turn. She needed time and clarity of mind, but even walking seemed like an ordeal to her at that moment. Did she love her back? She couldn't answer that until she sorted out what love was. Was she going to be able to figure that out? No, the thought of not being able to was unacceptable. She couldn't tell Aella that she didn't know what it was. How silly would that sound? She couldn't tell Aella what she wanted to hear, much less that she didn't know what to say at all. But she needed to say something more.
Tears streamed down Chanterelle's blue cheeks as she listened to Aella's heartbeat, willing it to be her strength now when she needed it, and hoping that it would accept the difficult ordeal. Selfishly, Chanterelle said aloud the most vivid thought. Almost a whisper, she choked up the words, "I don't want to lose you, Aella. I don't think I could."
A few impassioned words of truth, and they had brought her to this heap of mismanaged emotions. And she wasn't even the one that had confessed her love to another mare. But emotions were a strong thing: confusion, empathy, anger at herself, guilt, among others. She had too many milling about to do more than nothing about any of them. And she cried against the mare's warm side, unable to make her brain function to any purpose. This embrace was the only thing that kept her standing. She was truly lost, and she needed Aella to be strong for her, at least until she could sort her mind out again.
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Nyx Queen of Darkness Crew
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Posted: Sat Jun 08, 2013 2:19 am
Aella heard the steady beat, and the words that echoed like a soft refrain. She was confused, and she wanted her in some way--that much she knew. Time was the answer, she could be patient. But her heart beat impatiently despite her thoughts.
"Shhh, shhh...It's okay," she cooed to Chanterelle. "No matter what, I'll never leave you. I promise."
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