Welcome to Gaia! ::

Aelin's mouth was so dry it hurt to swallow. She needed to think, she needed to talk to her. Why was it so damned hard to talk to her? With her eyes that blazed like soft candlelight, Aelin had found it hard to speak much at all. They'd really done a whole lot of not talking.

They knew things about each others, they'd talk of that and the past. But the future was a mystery intagible and frightening all at once. Way would laugh sending a thrill up Aelin's spine, making her unable to say the words-to begin the discussion of what this was between them.

The coming foals deserved that, to know what their mothers would be in their life. No messy ways of not deciding, it could go one way or another--though not necessarily forever.

But at this moment, they would have to decide whether they intended to stay together or not, at least for now.,

Way's blue hair was limned with gold as the sun began to rise. Aelin's throat caught; She wasn't normally this sappy or this conflicted. She was use to things being cut and dried or at least that her decisions no matter how seemingly hard had been easy.

But looking at Way glow like soft candlight as a new day dawned made her unsure of herself in a way she had never been before. Her voice was barely more than a whisper when she spoke, "Way..."

The soft candlelight in Way's eyes anchored her. "You're right," she swallowed. "We should." She thought about what to say words sticking in her mouth like honey. There were words that she wanted to say, but she choked with how sweet they were-how much they revealed of a heart laid bare.

She averted her eyes, trying ot take a different tactic. "I want to be there for them. I know you do, too." The unspoken words were so heavy between them. What about us? What will we be to each other?

"I don't want to leave...." The unspoken you hung in the air for a moment before she hurried on. "We should, I mean, they'll need us both right? In the beginning, at least?"

Her feelings were too tender and raw for her to just say stay. But she was giving Wayward Wind an out if she wanted to do it. She could contradict her, tell her that they could do it alone. That others did it all the time That it be better if they raised the foals together-apart.

For now though, she could offer this. A chance to stay, a chance to really truly see what all this meant. That if the spirit's blessed them with children, might not they be blessing them with love?

Aelin felt a swooping sensation in her stomach at Wayward Wind's words. She had asked her to stay. Maybe not exactly how she wanted to hear the words, but the emotion was there. The quiet longing in a voice she'd come to care for.

"No obligations. No promises. I can do that." She stepped closer to the other mare as they looked out at their baskets. Her voice was soft, low as she spoke. "We'll see what happens." There was a wealth of promise and desire in those words, if only Way would meet her half way. And for the first time Aelin thought that Way might be wanting to choose her, but also wanting to do the right thing. No one had ever chosen Aelin before, not even a fleeting question like this.

Aelin pushed her face against Way's neck and breathed into her neck as she looked at their children. Her voice was husky and low against the other mare's neck. "So you want me to stay?" She teased.

Aelin laughed as Way stiffened in abject horror. "I heard their like tiny little pirates. They just rule your life andare little terrors." Then her face glowed as she looked at the baskets lying dormant under the rising sun. "And I also heard, they are the most precious things in the world. That it's like....watching your heart walk around outside your body.. Wonderful and terrible at once."

Oh gods, se was scaring herself. The sheer enormity of it. They were going to be parents. Someone was shoving three absolute strangers into their hooves and saying, these are yours! Have fun! It was disorienting. Aelin let off a strangled giggle. "I don't know anything about them either. Never been around one for more than five minutes.

For a few moments, Aelin grew very quiet and introspective trudging up a memory she had not reached for in awhile. "I asked my mother how she learned to take care of me. Do you know what she said?" Her eyes twinkled. "It was trial and error, eventually you get it right." She laughed again, this time far softer. "She told me she never knew what she was doing, and half the time she was scared out of her mind about being a parent. She was a really good mom, so I guess she was doing something right. I think I turned out okay," her voice turned wistful.

"What if we're scared together? That way we won't be alone in this." She nuzzled her face into Ways hair sighing in the deep scent of vanilla. "I think everything will be fine, ifI can be scared with you." She closed her eyes, too afraid to wait for the look on Way's face.