|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2015 4:11 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2015 4:26 pm
Zahvah stood a fair distance away from her daughter, watching as the young mare spoke with her friend, Duga. Zahavah already knew what they were saying. When Duga approached her and explained that she wanted to leave, Zahavah had insisted that Duga be the one to tell Nova. The two mares had grown exceptionally close during Duga's brief time with the family. Zahavah was only really watching to make sure Nova didn't get too upset... which seemed like might be the case, if the expression on her child's face was any indication...
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2015 4:28 pm
"I'm leaving," Duga informed Nova. She had agonized over how she was going to put this, ever since Zahavah made it clear she couldn't just leave quietly in the middle of the night. Not that she was the type to slink off in darkness like that, but still... Ultimately, she decided to go with short, simple, and straight to the point. Though, feeling the need to elaborate, she did add, "I'm starting to go stir crazy. I need to go..."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2015 8:28 am
For a moment, Nova simply stared at Duga, stunned into silence. She couldn’t have possibly heard Duga right. Oh, Nova had realized, logically, that Duga had never promised to stick around. The other mare had never made any plans or even any indications that she was thinking of settling down. But in the short time Duga had been there, Nova had come to care about her. She began to forget what life had been like before Duga had shown up. And now, with no apparent warning, Duga was going to take off? “Why?” Nova asked, softly, when she could find her voice again. She shook her head a bit, realizing the question was selfish. “Nevermind. You’ve always been free to go… you don’t owe me an explanation. I… thank you for letting me know…” She could feel the tears pricking at her eyes and, in that moment, hated herself for acting like a spoiled little child. She was neither a child nor spoiled, and she refused to guilt Duga into staying when the mare clearly didn’t want to.
“Hey, hey,” Duga cooed, moving closer to Nova. The very guilt that Nova didn’t want her to feel was clawing away at her. “Don’t cry… please, Nova, don’t cry. I DO owe you an explanation. If it wasn’t for you, I’d still be stuck in the caves. I’d probably be dead. The very least I owe you is an explanation. Please, just… don’t cry!”
Nova tried to choke back the tears. She ducked her head and forced herself to hold completely still. She didn’t say anything, for fear that a single word would open the floodgates. But she listened to Duga, to what her friend had to say. She didn’t agree that Duga owed her anything. The colorful mare had provided her with so much joy during her time with the herd. She hadn’t realized, until she met Duga, how lonely she had been since Wolfgang had taken off to pursue his own adventures. And now Duga was leaving her, too… No, not leaving her. Just… leaving. There was a difference, Nova told herself. Even if it didn’t feel like it, there was a difference.
Seeing that Nova was trying to contain her motions, Duga sighed. Moments had come and gone, during her time with the herd, that she had felt decades older than Nova, though she was only a few years older. Experience probably accounted for that. This was one of those moments that Nova seemed so young and innocent to Duga, and rather than feeling wiser, Duga just felt like a bully. For a second, she considered taking back her decision to leave. She discarded that notion, however. If she stayed, she’d only drive herself crazy and unconsciously destroy the relationship with Nova she cared so much about. This was better. She just had to get Nova to see that as well. “Nova,” she started, keeping her voice as gentle as possible, “I have to go. If I stay, I’ll… I don’t know what I’ll do. I’ll probably find some way to make you hate me, and I don’t want that. I don’t want to leave you, but I need to leave…” A sudden idea hit her and she sucked in a hopeful breath. “You could come with me.”
Nova’s head shot up at that invitation and she stared at the other mare. “I… I could… what?” she gasped out, convinced she must have misheard.
“Come with me,” Duga repeated, watching the other mare carefully. Now that she’d had it, the idea seemed perfect. If Nova went with her, she wouldn’t be alone. She wouldn’t have to leave Nova behind. It would be like… like taking the peace of this little valley on the road with her. “Come see the world. You’ve said you’ve never left this valley. There’s so much more out there, Nova. Songs and sights that would bring tears to your eyes, they’re so beautiful. Come with me, let me show you it all…”
“I…” Nova shook her head slightly, trying to process that offer. It was true she had never left the place she had been born. Her sisters and brother had, but she had never possessed the desire to go see the world. She loved the valley, loved her parents. It was her home, and she had never wanted to leave. Oh, she had certainly enjoyed the stories that Duga had told her about her travels, but enjoying the stories weren’t the same as actually wanting to live them. Some of those tales had been scary, about near misses. Stars! The very way she and Duga had met could be blamed on Duga’s desire to travel, and the colorful mare had admitted herself that she had only escaped the caves thanks to the luck of meeting Nova. Had Nova decided that the caves were too dangerous to explore, who knew what would have happened to Duga… Nova had never been tempted to travel… but now, with Duga offering, she was. She didn’t want to leave her valley, but at the same time she didn’t want Duga to leave her…
Duga could hear the discordant indecision in Nova’s song as easily as she could see the torment on her face. Immediately, she regretted the offer. She wanted Nova with her, that much she did not regret. But she hadn’t meant to cause her dear friend such pain. She had never wanted to put such an expression on Nova’s lovely face. It was on the tip of her tongue to take the offer back… but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. She was too selfish to make that decision for Nova. Not when there was a chance that Nova would go with her. “Think about it,” Duga told her, quietly. “Just… think about it. You don’t have to. I… I won’t leave until the morning. Or later, if you want time to prepare. Just… Just let me know by the morning?”
Nova nodded a bit. “I’ll…. I just need to think… it’s a big decision,” Nova murmured. She stepped away from Duga and walked away, feeling as though she was in a cloud. She couldn’t look at Duga while she thought about this. With the colorful mare right there, she would want to toss caution to the wind. That was a recipe for a bad decision, and it wasn’t in Nova to do anything without carefully thinking it through first. She needed a clear head… she just wasn’t certain how she was going to achieve that.
Duga watched her go, feeling as though her own heart was breaking. This was for the best, though, she told herself. Nova would make her own decision, and Duga would respect it. Somehow, she’d respect it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2015 9:30 am
Zahavah watched her daughter walk away. She had expected tears, maybe even anger. She hadn’t expected the tormented expression Nova was wearing now. Her protective instincts reared its head, demanding that she stalk over to Duga and demand that the mare make this right. She stamped them down, though. She hadn’t heard the conversation. For all she knew, this was one of those things Nova had to learn how to deal with on her own. Zahavah had never been the type of mother who tried to soften live for her children. They’d get banged up and they’d learn from it. The trick was making sure they didn’t get so hurt that they couldn’t continue on. It was possible that was what was happening here… Nova seemed like she needed time… Zahavah made her way over to Duga. “Well?” she asked, simply.
Duga looked up at the orange mare and winced. “I… She was upset,” Duga murmured, looking down again. She had never felt so bad about leaving a place before. “I knew she would be, but I wasn’t expecting…” she wasn’t expecting it to hurt so much. She sighed and shook her head. She met Zahavah’s gaze when she admitted to the one thing she was certain Nova’s mother wouldn’t like. “I asked her to go with me.”
“You…” Zahavah trailed off, startled. That, she hadn’t seen coming. She was conflicted. On the one hoof, she didn’t like the idea of her little Nova going out into the big world. On the other, she had always worried that staying home would stunt Nova somehow. That her youngest daughter wouldn’t travel out of pure fear of the unknown. If she went out there with someone she knew and trusted, perhaps it would help Nova leave the nest. But that was only if Nova wanted to leave. There was always the possibility that Nova was already happy where she was. Though… Nova hadn’t exactly looked happy when she walked away. “You really want her to go with you?” Zahavah asked the mare in front of her. She would talk to Nova later, after her daughter had a chance to think. For now, she’d deal with Duga.
“I do,” Duga answered, without hesitation. She frowned when she realized how quickly and certainly she had answered. “I’ve never minded traveling alone before… I’ve had temporary companions but never… I didn’t like seeing her upset like that. The idea just came and… I do want her to go with me. But not if it will make her unhappy.”
Zahavah softened a bit as she recognized the expression and tone Duga wore. “You care a lot about her,” she murmured, thoughtfully. “Duga... You haven’t known Nova for very long. Traveling with someone brings out aspects of their personality that you don’t notice when you’re both at home. And Nova especially is very young and inexperienced.”
“The best way to get experience is to do something,” Duga argued. “And wouldn’t it be better for her to gain that experience with someone who HAS her own experience? I could teach her, help her. She wouldn’t be alone. I’ve traveled nearly my entire life. I can protect her…”
“Please don’t misunderstand,” Zahavah quickly interrupted what seemed to be turning into a defensive rant. “I’m not trying to argue you out of taking her. If it’s what Nova wants, Pav and I will both see you off. We’ll expect her to come back and visit us, like her sisters and brother do, but we’re not keeping her here. She’s here because she wants to be. I’m just trying to make sure you realize what you’re getting yourself into. Nova’s probably thinking about all these things right now. That girl has always thought things through, thoroughly.” A little too thoroughly in Zahavah’s opinion, but Nova got that trait from her father.
Duga tried to check her temper. She considered what Zahavah was saying and had to acknowledge that Nova had always seemed happy in the valley. In fact, the younger mare had taken great pride in showing Duga around her home. Duga had recognized the traits at the time, but in her eagerness to convince Nova to leave she had forgotten. Nova showed all the signs of what Duga often referred to as a Rooter. Nova was the type of mare to settle in one place and live out her life there. Have children and grandchildren. She put down roots and she stayed there, like a great tree. It was true Nova had never traveled before, so there was no telling if she would take to it or not, but she was definitely not going to be a lifetime traveler like Duga was. “She’s not going to go with me, is she?” Duga asked, feeling her head drop as depression descended.
“Maybe, maybe not,” Zahavah shrugged. “I honestly don’t know. Nova’s always been more like her father. I don’t always understand either one of them. What will you do if she asks you to stay?”
Duga shook her head. That answer she knew. “I can’t. I’ve got to move. When I was down in the caves, I thought maybe… maybe it was time for me to settle down. I even thought this would be a good place to try and put down roots… But for the past couple days, I’ve been itching to move. If I stay…” she shrugged helplessly.
“You’ll end up miserable,” Zahavah nodded her understanding. She got it. When she was younger, she had picked fights, enjoying the thrill of battle and victory. She rarely went a week without seeking out some kind of brawl. She hadn’t really felt the need to prove how tough she was, she just needed that rush that came with the heat of the moment. Since meeting Pavlov, however, she’d found an outlet for that desire through battling his demons. It was far more exhilarating and challenging to kill a foe she couldn’t see or predict… and the satisfaction of seeing the relief on her mate’s face outweighed the thrill of victory. “There’s another option neither one of you seems to have considered.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2015 11:28 am
Duga looked at Zahavah in confusion. There were only three options that she could see. Option one, she stayed and became miserable, ultimately making Nova miserable. Option two, Nova went with her and possibly became miserable because she didn’t have the same wandering spirit Duga did. Or option three, Duga left and Nova stayed… and that option, while most practical, promised to be more miserable than the first two. What was option number four?
“Duga,” Zahavah began, speaking slowly to ensure that the mare would understand her, “just because you leave doesn’t mean you can never come back.”
Duga stared at Zahavah, her jaw slowly falling to meet the ground. Come… back… but… “But what’s the point of leaving if I’m just going to come back?” she asked, though the argument was half hearted.
“To scratch the itch, obviously,” Zahavah answered with a roll of her eyes. Really, sometimes younglings could be so stupid. “You want to travel, fine. Go out there, travel, then when you’re ready to, come back here. We’ll always welcome you. Nova adores you, and you’re a breath of fresh air for the rest of us. Besides, it would be nice to get some information about the outside world occasionally. Nova’s sisters and brother don’t live here anymore. They’ve gone off and have found their own little nitches, but they always come home eventually, even if it’s just to visit.” Of course, her kids knew she’d hunt them down if she didn’t hear from them every so often. She liked to know her children are at the very least still alive, even if they were getting into trouble. “You could come back here to visit us, visit Nova, any time you like. Or, if you like, we can keep a spot warm for you. Whenever you’re ready to rest or relax, you can return here and stay as long as you like. When the itch hits you again, you take off for a bit. Having a home means having somewhere safe to rest. It doesn’t mean you have to be there alllll the time.”
Duga rocked back a bit as she processed that. Whenever she heard people talk of homes in the past, it had always been in reference to a place or person that the speaker felt they couldn’t live without. Though now that she thought about it, she didn’t recall any of the speakers acting as though they couldn’t leave their home… just that they needed it somehow. If she could come back… As the idea sank in, she felt a weight lifting off her shoulders. It was oddly easier to breathe, though she hadn’t realized that she was even having trouble with that. She could come back and see Nova. She could travel for maybe a couple weeks and then return… But… “What if she doesn’t want me to?” Duga asked, wincing. “What if Nova hates me for leaving?”
“Another thing Nova took from her father is her kindness,” Zahavah advised Duga with a small smile. “Neither one of them could hate another soul. I’ve seen the way Nova is with you. She cares about you a great deal.” Maybe she and Pavlov should have raised their children in a herd or at least near one, where the kids could have had friends growing up. As it was, all they had had was each other. Akis, Addy and Wolf had taken off the moment they were old enough to travel on their own, and each of them had found friends of their own. But little Nova had stayed in their isolated little valley… Maybe that was why Nova had latched on to Duga’s friendship the way she had. Then again, Nova had been the one to first meet Midagi, and she had decreed the stallion a friend even when she was very little. She didn’t take to Midagi the way she had to Duga. So maybe there was a bit more to the two mares’ relationship than that. Zahavah put that thought aside for later examination.
“I need to talk to her about this,” Duga decided. “I don’t want to return if it will just upset her…” Though maybe it would make letting Duga leave easier on Nova. Then again, there was always the slim chance that Nova would choose to go with her. Duga hoped for that, but she knew better than to expect it. Nova’s home was here, and Duga couldn’t pull her away from it unless that was well and truly what Nova wanted.
“Think about it some more, first,” Zahavah advised. “Don’t make Nova any promises you can’t keep. You might think that you’ll want to come back, now, but when you’re out there traveling again, you might not remember why you wanted to return. If that happens, if you never come back, then I promise you, you WILL hurt Nova a great deal. And then I’ll have to be the one to deal with you and it’ll be a great big mess. So be certain before you suggest it to Nova.”
How was she supposed to be certain without actually leaving and seeing what happened? Still, Duga nodded a bit to show that she understood the order and the threat. She also understood how protective Zahavah was. “At the very least, I’ll be sure to return once,” Duga promised. “Even if it’s just to say that I won’t be returning anymore. Would that be acceptable?”
“That would be acceptable,” Zahavah agreed. “If you keep your promise.” As long as Duga owned up to her choices and faced the task of telling Nova in person, Zahavah was willing to deal with any emotional fallout it might cause her daughter. She simply refused to allow anyone to break one of her babies’ hearts and then take off without even a good bye. She was a strong believer in letting her children scratch their knees and make their mistakes, but there were some lines that she simply had to draw. That was one of them. “I’ll go check on Nova. You might want to let her come to you.”
Duga nodded a bit and sighed before she went to check on a few final preparations for her travels. Hopefully she would be taking some extra time so Nova could prepare as well, but just in case... she wanted a quick escape in case Zahavah was wrong and Nova didn't take the suggestions well.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2015 3:27 pm
Zahavah found her daughter near the river. She approached, studying Nova for a moment before she settled down next to the younger mare. She watched the water trickle by as she waited for Nova to acknowledge her existence. Or maybe Nova already realized she was there and was just waiting for her to leave. Either way, Zahavah didn’t intend to push Nova into talking until she was good and ready.
It took Nova several long minutes before she found the right words. “Duga’s leaving,” she told her mother, softly. No doubt Zahavah already knew that. Nova’s mother had a way of knowing pretty much everything. “She asked me to go with her.” Maybe Zahavah didn’t know that bit. One thing that Nova had considered was that her mother wouldn’t want to let her go, but she hadn’t held on to that thought for long. If Zahavah was the type of mother to want to keep her children close to her, then she wouldn’t have been happy to see her other three children leave. While Zahavah hadn’t exactly been thrilled to see Nova’s sisters and brother leave, she had seen them off with her blessing.
“I know,” Zahavah murmured. “I spoke with Duga before coming to see you… Do you want to go with her?” She would leave it to Duga to explain to Nova the compromise they had worked up. While Duga had seemed, at the time, to be comfortable with the idea, Zahavah knew that things always seemed different after one had a chance to think about it. She didn’t want to give Nova any sort of false hope. This was, ultimately, something the two young mares needed to work out between them.
“I don’t know,” Nova admitted. “I don’t want her to go. I… I knew she was going to. She never said anything about staying permanently. I guess I just… hoped. But… she asked me to go with her. She wouldn’t have done that unless she cared about me, right? Unless she wanted me to be with her…”
“She cares about you,” Zahavah agreed.
“I never wanted to leave the valley,” Nova went on, not quite acknowledging Zahavah had even spoken. “This is my home. But… I don’t think it’ll feel right without her. Akis and Addy and Wolf took off. Maybe I should have gone, too. But then if I left, I wouldn’t have met Duga. There had never seemed to be any reason to leave… Now I have a reason to leave, but no real reason to stay. Besides you and dad, of course.”
“If this is what you want, your father and I will support you, of course,” Zahavah assured her. “If this is what you want.
Nova knew that. She understood it, and appreciated it. Her parents had always been very supportive of whatever made their children happy. She just didn’t know, now, if this would even make her happy. As far as Nova knew, she was the only one in the family who hadn’t seen anything of the world. That had never bothered her before now. She was honest enough with herself to admit that the only reason it bothered her now was because of Duga. Every time she thought of going back to her life without the colorful mare around, she felt a pang in her heart. “What if I never see her again?”
Zahavah was sorely tempted to admit, then and there, that Duga had agreed to come back and visit. The knowledge might make things easier for the younger mare. Or it might make it harder if Duga ultimately decided she didn’t want to come back. “It could be good for you, to go for a bit,” Zahavah suggested, instead. “You could travel with her for a few days, see how you like it. If you don’t, you could come home secure in the knowledge that this is home. Or, if you find you enjoy it… you could be with her.”
“What if she wants an all or nothing?” Nova asked, uncertainly. “She asked me to go with her… she didn’t mention anything about a trial basis…”
Zahavah snorted. That was just ridiculous. “If she puts an ultimatum on you, then she’s not worth it, Nova. But I don’t think she will. She cares about you, and if she cares enough, then she’ll be happy with whatever you can give her.”
“You… make it sound like we’re… I don’t know… courting,” Nova mumbled, flushing a bit. That possibility hadn’t occurred to her, though now that she thought of her relationship with the colorful mare in more… romantic… terms, she realized that she was acting like a filly with her first crush. But was Duga treating her like a friend or a partner?
“Aren’t you?” Zahavah asked, connecting the dots at the same time. She was less surprised than Nova, and even a little pleased. Akis had found herself a fine young stallion. She was happy that Nova was experiencing love, even if it was of the infatuation variety. Duga certain acted like a young lover who was being forced away from the object of her affection… granted, it was Duga’s own compulsions doing it, but still.
“I don’t know,” Nova mumbled. “Maybe? She probably doesn’t even feel the same way. Does it make a difference?”
“Of course it does!” Zahavah chuckled. “We do things for those that we love that we wouldn’t do for those we merely care about.” It was a fine distinction, though she realized once the words were out that it was one Nova might not be able to see. And, from the look on Nova’s face, she didn’t understand the difference at all. “Friendships sometimes fade, but love and family are forever. You make those work.”
“So… what you’re saying is that I should figure out how I feel about her before I decide if I want to leave?” Nova asked, sighing. Why did this have to get even more complicated?
“It would help, I think,” Zahavah agreed.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2015 4:31 pm
Nova sighed heavily. “How do I know?” she asked, trying hard not to whine. “How do I know if I… care about her as more than just a friend?” She hated making decisions without all the facts. Guesswork always left her uncertain and doubting her choices. She looked at her mother. “How did you know you loved Dad?”
Zahavah blinked at the question then smiled a bit. “Ah… that… just sort of happened. Your father and I… I woke up one day and realized I didn’t want to live without him, and that was that. We started as friends, though. Perhaps you should start there.” Friends of a sort, but she didn’t see a whole lot of need to explain to Nova why she found Pavlov to be the perfect bully bait in the beginning. Her affections had grown from there.
“Then… I’m right back to where I started,” Nova complained. “Trying to figure out what to do…”
“It does seem pretty circular,” Zahavah agreed, apologetically. She nuzzled her daughter. “Try not to over think it. Sometimes you just need to go with your instincts.”
Instincts? Nova wasn’t even certain she had any instincts. This was a huge decision. How could she possibly over think it? Nova shook her head slightly and sighed again. She fell into the same mental maze she had been in before her mother showed up, chasing her preverbal tail. She just didn’t know what to do…
Zahavah watched her daughter sink back into her thoughts and realized that she couldn’t do any more for Nova. She wished she could tell her daughter what to do, but the truth was she wasn’t certain what the right choice was for Nova. Zahavah wouldn’t have hesitated to jump head first into adventure, if she didn’t have a family. But Nova wasn’t Zahavah. She was more conservative, for one thing. Way more cautious. With one last nuzzle, she left her daughter to her thoughts. She had done what she could, for both mares. Now it was up to them to figure out what they wanted.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2015 5:01 pm
The next morning, Nova found Duga near the same area where they had last spoken. She had spent hours thinking about what she wanted to do, and even now she wasn’t certain if she was making a mistake. Still, she was committed. She had made her decision. She just hoped it wasn’t the wrong one. She approached the colorful mare, tentively. “Duga?” she called, uncertainly. What if Duga had changed her mind?
Duga perked up when she heard Nova’s voice. She looked at the mare hopefully. Like Nova, she had spent a lot of time thinking about her next few days. Zahavah’s suggestion of returning to visit still seemed like a good idea, but she held on to the thin hope that Nova would agree to leave with her. Seeing the expression on Nova’s face now, however, she realized that those hopes had been in vain. “You’re not coming,” she said, softly, trying hard to hide her disappointment.
“Did you not want me to?” Nova asked, trying not to sound hurt. Duga had changed her mind, hadn’t she? Nova had spent all that time agonizing over the decision, and Duga had changed her mind about traveling with an inexperienced nobody. It was hard not to be upset about that.
“No, I do,” Duga quickly assured her. “But… I thought… I mean… this is your home. I understand if you don’t want to leave it…”
“I don’t,” Nova admitted. She quickly rushed on before Duga could say anything else, “But… I’ve decided that maybe I should. Just for a little bit. Maybe just for a couple weeks, to see what it’s like out there. And… and to test if you and I can travel together. Without, you know, trying to kill one another…”
“You… you’re coming with me?” Duga repeated, trying to make sure that she understood what she was hearing correctly, that she wasn’t imagining it. “Really?”
“Just to try it,” Nova rushed to remind Duga. She didn’t want to be accused, later on, of making false promises. “I don’t know if I’ll like it. I might slow you down… I don’t want to ruin something you love so much… But… I want to try… for you,” she mumbled the last, flushing a bit.
Duga rushed forward and leaned against the other mare, nuzzling her happily. “You won’t regret this,” she promised. “Even if all it does is convince you that this is your home and you don’t want to travel ever again, I promise you won’t regret it! And… I talked to your mother, after you left yesterday. If this doesn’t work, you coming with me that is, then I’ll just have to come back to you. We’ll make it work!”
“Wait… what?” Nova leaned back a bit to stare at the other mare. “What do you mean, come back to me?”
“It was Zahavah’s idea,” Duga explained. “If you didn’t want to leave your home, she suggested that I come back. You know… to visit. Or make this my home and just… travel when I feel the urge. I thought about it and I decided that, if you didn’t want to leave, that’s what I would do. But you… wait… do you still want to leave?” Duga hesitated, realizing that she may have given the timid younger mare all the excuse she needed to take back her decision to travel with her. Duga would respect whatever Nova wished to do, but she sincerely hoped that Nova wouldn’t change her mind.
“No… I mean, yes, I still want to go with you,” Nova quickly assured Duga, trying to process this new development. “It’s just… you’d do that for me? You’d be willing to come back here?”
“You’re willing to leave for me,” Duga pointed out with a small smile. “It wouldn’t be fair of me to refuse to try something new for you. We’ll find a middle ground. We’ll make this work…”
“This…” Nova repeated, needing to hear the words from Duga. It had been a novel idea to her when Zahavah brought it up, but the more she had thought about it, the more she had realized that her mother had been right. She had FEELINGS for Duga. She needed to hear from the mare herself that Duga felt the same.
“Us,” Duga said, without hesitation. She studied Nova’s face for a moment before smiling, satisfied that she wasn’t alone in the way she felt. “We’ll make us work… somehow.”
Nova nodded slowly, smiling as well. “Then… the first thing I need to do is to tell my parents what I’m doing,” she decided, feeling as though a weight had been lifted. It wasn’t going to be an all or nothing type of thing. Maybe they’d have some rough patches ahead as they tried to figure it out, but she felt confident that Duga was right. They’d make this work.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
