[PRP] Emotions Unearthed ((Alyna & Karma))

[Katjive]

Alyna was frightened.

This had happened before, she knew what was going on this time. She was pregnant, and she didn't know how Karma would take the news. They had rekindled their friendship, but she knew that she felt more than just friendship for the blue stallion. Even though there were foals growing in her belly, she still didn't know if he had feelings for her as well or not.

The father of her last batch of foals didn't stay around, and she was terrified that Karma would do the same. She couldn't bear the thought of having to raise the foals on her own...the first time around had taught her how difficult that was.

Of course, she knew that Karma probably wouldn't do that. He cared for her, as a friend if nothing more, and would stay by her side to raise the children.

Alyna shook her mane out of her eyes. Children...it still hadn't sunk in that she was going to have more foals. She knew she would have to tell Karma, and tell him soon.

She began walking down a path she knew well, knowing that Karma was somewhere nearby. Maybe she would run into him somewhere down it's winding trail?

 

[Revolutionary Roniel]

Though Karma's mind was not exactly on foals at the moment, his thoughts still circled around Alyna. The spotted mare had come into his life the first time unexpectedly and briefly. This second time was just as unexpected but not so brief. They had been spending time together, time that Karma found that he cherished. There was something in Alyna's company that brought a lightness to his spirit when he was near her.

Today Karma was not far from the herd of his family, Padmapani. It was a comfort to be surrounded by one's family but sometimes he desired solitude. His personality was not as suited for constant togetherness than it could be. He longed for quiet in the middle of crowds. Sometimes he wondered vaguely if he was the only one in his family to do so.

His wings shifted on his back as he walked down the familiar path. Should he go flying instead? Even though Karma had wings he often remained on the ground. There were so many things that one could miss when one was high above them.

There were so many, so obvious things that one could miss if one kept themselves distant.

It was then that he heard hoofbeats. He stopped where he was, ears perking inquisitively. He saw familiar brown spots through the foliage and relaxed. It was Alyna. When she emerged, however, his relaxation gave way to confusion. "Alyna?" He looked at her belly, eyes acknowledging but mind not quite comprehending the meaning of it.  

[Katjive]

"Thank the sky above!" Alyna exclaimed when she saw him. "I'm so glad you're here." She noticed the question in his eyes when he said her name, heard the uncertainty in his voice. She wondered what he would think when he told her. She shivered a little, hoping he would take the news well.

"Karma...I'm pregnant." She peered up at him, her blue eyes filled with uncertainty. More little lives growing within her, more futures yet to unfold...children were a blessing, and she loved the little ones already. But she couldn't bear the thought of bringing them up without a father. Which meant she needed Karma, needed him to stay. But more-so than that, she wanted him to stay.

She had been a ceaseless wanderer, roaming wherever the land took her. The father of her last foals had left, it was true, but she would have left if he had not. She couldn't conceive of staying in one place with him forever. But Karma...

She felt as if she could stay by his side. He captivated her, with his quiet strength, how she knew that whatever he did or said was well thought out. How she trusted him like she had trusted no other. She could stay with Karma. But she didn't know if he could stay with her.

They had never talked about it. She hadn't thought to talk about it until now. She had been too busy reconnecting with her old friend to realize that, unless things changed, there would be another goodbye at some point.

Everything left unsaid conglomerated into the silence as Alyna waited for Karma's next words. Her breath caught in nervousness, and her hooves trembled slightly. She had told him. Two futures hung in the balance.

If ever there were such a thing as Fate...I wish it would look kindly on me now.  

[Revolutionary Roniel]

Alyna's next words sent Karma made Karma remember the first time he truly flew. He remembered the world he knew dwindling beneath him... the terrifying and yet exhilarating sensation of being suspended so precariously over such a vast abyss beneath him. He remembered how it felt, to have only his wings holding him away from a plummeting death. Such a small pair of wings to be the only thing holding him up so far away from the ground.

He felt that now. What was familiar dropped sharply away from him and he was suddenly caught with only the smallest of supports.

Pregnant. She was pregnant. It did not have the slow awareness awakening as Articuno's pregnancy had. It was sudden and swift. It was jarring. It was shocking. It was a vast piece of knowledge that he could barely comprehend.

"Alyna..." He said her name, looked at her, took the entirety of her form into his mind. "Alyna..." As he repeated her name he drew closer. "Alyna." Now he was touching her, face nuzzling into her neck. "Alyna... I... you are..." His words failed him and he was filled to the brim with ache... with such a sweet and poignant ache unlike anything he had ever felt in his life. Overcome with emotion, Karma pressed his body against Alyna's. He hoped that gesture could say what he couldn't seem to find words for.  

[Katjive]

At his touch, a soft sigh escaped her lips. She snuggled close to him, breathing in the smell of his skin. He would stay. He didn't have to say anything more...because the tenderness of his voice, and the light caress of his touch told her everything she needed to know.

She remembered all the memories of him. She remembered the flash of his green mane against the sky, the way his face brightened when he saw her. The way his eyes had looked just moments ago, filled with an emotion she had never seen on his face before. He was everything she was not, calm, thoughtful, a pool of tranquility...but somehow he fit into her heart like the other half of her soul, falling into place like the last piece of a puzzle.

And now he would stay with her, be by her side to raise their children. But something still felt amiss. A vague memory resurfaced in her mind. Her parents loved each other. Love between parents...did she love the father of her foals? She hadn't loved Israfel. However, Karma invoked emotions in her that she didn't understand well enough to name. But was it love?

"Karma..." she began, pulling away slightly to look into his eyes, "I..." The emotions she couldn't name swirled in her heart, cutting off her speech. She smiled softly, realizing that she couldn't finish her sentence either. She nuzzled him gently, tucking her head demurely underneath his chin. The nagging question assaulted her again.

Was this love?  

[Revolutionary Roniel]

Much like with Alyna, Karma hadn't loved the mother of his first foals. He had cared for her, certainly. It had been a deep and profound emotion, but not one that he would have called love then or now. It was... awe. A deep sense of awe at the beautiful angeni. It had been an awe that filled him to the brim. He could remember that emotion clearly now. He could even feel it lingering within his consciousness.

But whatever that emotion was... the one he was feeling now far eclipsed it. If that emotion had filled him to the brim, now he was overflowing.

"Alyna, I love you." Unlike his partner, the words came easily. In an instant he recognized the emotion and an instant later he had expressed it. It was so blessedly simple, such a small sentence to describe all of the emotions that had been swirling around in his mind like a tempest. He loved her, and she was going to be the mother of his second, beautiful batch of children.

He held his head over hers and shut his eyes. He was as still as he ever had been, but it was a stillness he had never felt before. "This is... the entirety of our lives coming together." He murmured into her ear, voice barely rising above a whisper. "This is why we met as children. This is why we met again as adults." After a lifetime of not knowing exactly how to connect to others, finally the words were coming easily.  

[Katjive]

Alyna's heart skipped a few beats at his next words. He voiced the emotions she was feeling, giving them a name that changed them into something almost tangible. He loved her. It was such a simple, yet profound statement, encompassing their entire lives in it's short breadth.

Yes...he was right. This was why they had met as foals, this was why they had met again after they were grown. "This is...Fate." Her voice soft, she was awed by the interconnections of their lives, the events that had led to this outcome.


But still....did she love him in return? Their time together flashed through her memory. She had never felt anything so powerful as the emotions she felt for Karma. In him, she knew she had an aly, a lover, and a best friend. And she knew, in the deepest part of her heart, that she truly cared about him, more so than anyone she'd ever met.

"Karma, I...I love you too." Her voice was quiet, but steady and certain. She knew little about love, but she knew that what she felt for him could be nothing else. It was all-encompassing, permeating every fiber of her being. She smiled, pressing herself against Karma, against the stallion she had come to love and trust. They loved each other, and this time, her foals would be brought into the world with parents that stayed together...they would be a proper family, filled with love. Just like her childhood.

Alyna closed her eyes. Her happiness was complete. "Fate must have guided our steps...I've never been happier. For one without wings, I almost feel as if I could fly." She laughed softly, with no trace of the fear that had eclipsed her face earlier. What was there to fear? Karma loved her, she loved him in return, and she was bearing his foals. All was well.