Lilac and gooseberries.

There was a chill in the air, a certain sharpness meant to remind all creatures of Winter's approach. He felt it as he lingered for a time, looking out over the vast, snowy flatlands to the North and the silver towers that rose beyond. Dread had crept into his bones to remind himself that the snowflower would soon depart, and the thought of how empty and lonely his den would feel.

The druid gathered, the mountain breeze tousling the tufted alabaster furs of his neck as he veered aside, intent on returning to Reiko and making the most of what time he might have left to share with her.

He hovered at the mouth of the cave and emitted a soft chuff to announce his return, and awaited acknowledgement from her before he stepped carefully within. To the dove his gaze went immediately, and he offered a gentle sway of his feathered tail.


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As strength was returning to her over the past few days, she too was reminded that time to leave to return home would soon bring an end to this little getaway. Every now and then she would sit just outside the Druid's den and watch the peaks and change in scenery, smelling the approach of winter and seeing the change in the leaves announce its approach. Quicksilver would be away every now and then, she would assume it was to tend to his pack duties among other things.

Every now and then as she sat and watched the world around her fade in and out. She'd take short naps between Quicksilver's visits and the thought of staying and leaving Shiroshika with her daughter to stay in Vanderfell did cross her mind... Ira was a much more capable leader than Reiko could ever dream of - but who would take over while she and her family left? Would they ever forgive her for abandoning them to seek the companionship of a boy?

No, she would have to return eventually. It was a pleasant thought, but that was all it was. There was no telling of Quicksilver would have appreciated such a thing either.

As Quicksilver returned she would be back in the den. Attentive to his approach as she twisted to greet him with a smile and a wave of her own plush tail. She'd miss this, the companionship and his presence lighting up the dark den - but just as the seasons did, this too would have to pass in time. Her gaze would linger on him, wondering what he had in mind.

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She shifted to look up at him, and his heart soared at the sight of her smile. With each day the snowflower's fatigue lessened and the colour returned to her cheeks, but it was her spark that Quicksilver looked for. Each time he saw Reiko since the fateful day that he'd tried to unbind himself from the soul-tie he'd been so certain had linked them, on the eve of the Vanderfell royal wedding, he felt as though she'd lost that.

And he hated that the blame for that lay solely with his decision.

The silverwhite let silence linger for a time, and he looked upon the dove with fondness. He drew in a breath, outwardly unbothered by what he'd finally come to recognise as the alluring scent of a receptive female. Quicksilver bit back each thought as they sprung to mind over the days since he brought her home to his chamber: let go of the hurt, forget about what happened, tell her how much I love her, be who she wants me to be. But he wasn't some instinct-driven brute whose loins overruled his brain - no, he was quietly respectful of her most sacred time, and she had not made attempt to convince him otherwise.

“It's a beautiful night. I was wondering,” he cupped a silver ear forward, “if you might like to watch the sunset with me?”


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Since her rescue from the treacherous waters, Reiko had completely forgotten about her heat. How she should have remained as far as possible from everyone in fear of rousing any aggression or desires rooted by instinct. The one man she wanted to avoid the most during this time was not only near, but they shared a den all the while during her season and she was none the wiser as he had hidden those thoughts so well that even she couldn't tell.

The bar for that was very low mind you. As she is oblivious to most things.

His presence made her feel warm but it didn't hint to her that perhaps it was more a more basic desire than just her love for the man. It seemed they were one and the same and not separated by instincts. What had begun as a lonely adventure to wait it out, had become something comforting.

Her own ears drew forward to catch his words, the invitation to watch the sun set over the mountains with him. It made her heart sing at every syllable uttered. “I would love to.” Taking a moment to get up and meet him at the entrance, ready to go when he was. She would refrain from affectionately brushing against him in greeting. Already she had infiltrated his personal space enough as is, perhaps that would be a step too far.

“Do you have a place in mind?”

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A pair of tufted white ears sprung forward, intent, at his suggestion. Heat crept onto Quicksilver's cheeks and he blushed beneath Winter-white furs, enough that he shyly ducked his muzzle. He blinked up at the dove, bashful all of a sudden at the idea of something that many would consider romantic, and spending it alone with her.

“Not far,” he answered simply, veering to the side to let the pallid Empress collect herself without him gawking her way, “North of here. A place where we can see your mountain.” The druid made a prompt exit, and lingered outside his chamber to wait for her to join him. It would be a good opportunity to test how quickly Reiko tired, and a chance to flex her muscles which had surely stiffened from disuse.

A chance to breathe fresh air.


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The way he acted reminded her of the time before all of this mess. A flickering hope that perhaps they could leave the heartache behind and go back to a time that was simpler. It was small, but there was still hope and she would cling to it with all her might. Even if she didn't have much hope for them to be together as more than friends, she would take the latter over nothing at all any day.

North of here he says, where they could see her mountains. An idea that lit up her eyes with wonder, they could see Tsukiishi from here? Granted they weren't that far, yet still, it was a fantastical idea that hadn't crossed her mind before. “We can see it from here?” She'd follow after Quicksilver exited, taking a quick moment to stretch her legs and back before exiting into the dying light of the day.

Her eyes adjusted quickly as she sat outside the den every now and then already, letting them roam as this time she prepared to wander further now that there was a companion to escort her. Magnetically her eyes landed on the tall druid once more, letting both her eyes and lips smile at him. “Shall we?” She wouldn't walk too close to him, nor too far. Things were better than before, but not quite without some awkwardness still lingering. The desire for more made the Empress more uncomfortable than anything, fighting the greedy need to close that gap.

Instead, she would let him take the lead, leaving enough space between them for someone else. Trying to distract herself with the autumn leaves, she couldn't help but let her gaze wander to the druid every now and then and feeling that same warmth in her cheeks at the mere sight.

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Reiko stepped out into the dimming evening light, and he observed her stride. She moved carefully, but with the grace of all successful mountain-dwelling wolves - elegant, sure-footed. Quicksilver smile again, faintly, and only when he realised he'd been staring for too long did he turn to point his muzzle in the direction he intended to lead her.

“Oh, uhm,” the druid pressed on, slowly, “just along here.”

She trailed him, at some distance. The silverwhite would ease his pace here and there, believing that perhaps he'd quickened without realising, but still Reiko maintained the space. Quicksilver acknowledged it, finally, her desire to keep a body's length between them, and as much as he disliked it he understood completely. He had denied her, after all - he'd turned tail on her expectation that he choose someone, and refused to carry on hurting those he cared for.

The trip toward the plateau he'd selected was mostly quiet, though he initiated small talk here and there to keep things from becoming too awkward. When at last they arrived, the sun had dipped low in the sky and bathed their land in warm hues; Tsukiishi reached for the heavens in the distance, its frozen spires gleaming. “There you have it,” the medic said, “your silver towers.”


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Her gaze was fleeting during their walk. From the trees to him, to the rocks and terrain that was nothing like the spires from home - and back to him. Never long enough to risk getting caught, even if Quicksilver was easily the best thing about this place.

Though the trip was a little awkward, it wasn't terribly so. The oddness between them was natural after all that occurred and she had long accepted that fact. It would take time and effort on both their ends to move on and see if their wounds would heal with no permanent damage. Quicksilver would try to keep a general chatter going to ease the awkward air, for which she was thankful.

After being bound to a den for the past few days, she was fatigued quicker than usual. Her legs cried for rest, while her breath huffed uncomfortably with the thinning air of the mountain, as well as the strain being placed. No complaints would be heard as she simply pushed through, trying to keep up with Quicksilver's longer strides than hers.

However, the view would be worth it. A large breath would be taken to fill her lungs once more, sighing with the longer exhale before her eyes caught sight of the wintery spires in the distance. At the sight she'd light up. Eyes bright and a matching smile as she stepped closer to the ledge overlooking what she called home. Where the others surely waited for her return. “Ah!” She'd breathe, still catching her breath from the walk. “I never knew.” Caught up in the moment, she'd gently take a seat where she stood and kept her eyes on the horizon. Pale ears only turning to catch where Quicksilver may be - no matter how caught up in the view she may be, Reiko wouldn't forget about him.

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Her expression was bittersweet, for to see the way she looked out across the tundra at her home and lit up was a reminder of how she could not remain and make her home with him. Quicksilver watched quietly as the pale-furred Empress stepped forward with blue eyes brighter than before, her posture straightened and her smile vivid. All he could think of, in those moments while her attention was elsewhere, was how he would miss moments like this one.

How he wished he could share in her joy.

He stepped up alongside her, daring to brush a silverwhite shoulder to the untouched alabaster of her own. Quicksilver considered commenting on how her family were sure to be missing her, but he decided to refrain for fear of dampening her spirit. The druid lowered to his haunches, “I come here often. It's breathtaking,” to remind him of how far he'd come, then of what he'd wished for, but more recently of what he'd lost, “and each time, I only ever think of you.”


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Never had she seen her new home in such a way. The way their odd spires stretched out to the skies. They looked so tall when she walked by them, but from here... they were so small in comparison. It was fitting. Shiroshika wasn't mean to be large and imposing but homey and warm despite the chill in the air. It brought joy to her seeing just how comfortable they seemed from a distance.

Completely unaware of what was going on within the Druid's mind, that it was similar to the thoughts she had earlier before their walk.

She could hear him approach and expected him to just sit wherever was most comfortable to him. There was no hiding the surprise and heat that rose in her cheeks as he chose to come near this time of his own volition. It nearly made her melt. She hummed in agreement to his sentiment at first, to be cut short soon after.

Frosty eyes tore away from the view and onto Quicksilver at her side, her maw hanging open ever so slightly, completely speechless. She had to say something this time, she couldn't leave him hanging again. Not again. Not to leave him wondering and second-guessing. Yet the beating in her chest made words difficult to think of.

Longingly she set her eyes onto him, whether he turned to return her gaze or no. “You know... I feel the same of the Lapis Lazuli as well. I have kept it close ever since.”

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She shifted her weight, turned her lovely face to seek his powder blue eyes with her own of wide, shimmering cobalt. Quicksilver's ears splayed backward on seeing her surprise, guilt creeping into his being at having caught her off guard again. The druid's lower jaw slackened as he prepared to apologise, to tell her to forget he'd said anything at all, but she beat him.

Ah, the Lapis Lazuli. A gift he'd trailed Northward just to place for her, one meant to last a lifetime. He hoped it would be one to lend her comfort and ease her heartache, his wrongdoing, and it warmed his heart as she confirmed that it had.

“Long may it serve you,” the medic crooned, and he mustered a soft smile. Even if they could not be together, let that little stone remind her of the affection he would always have for her. I love you, he thought fiercely, willed her to believe him even when he couldn't say it aloud.

No matter what we've been through, my sweet, please know that I love you.


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She saw the fear in his eyes and wished for it to fade. Without a second thought, she'd press her head against his shoulder as she spoke her bit, hoping to ease that anxiety that bubbled up within him. There was no mistaking it, she had seen that look in him before and wished for it to be gone just as quickly. Not to his blame, it haunted her. That look, that fear in his eyes. It was often followed by pain and she wished for it to return to the happiness he had just earlier.

A few heartbeats would rest between his words as they faded. Letting the silence linger, the rustling of drying autumn leaves all around and the scent of the tundrian cold on the wind. She pondered her words. Wondering if they should be said. If it would only hurt him again or show him how much she cared. Show there were no hard feelings and just how much he mattered.

The stone. She thought back to its meaning, and even if it was left in his quarters, she'd try to draw strength and courage from it. Taking in a deep breath before speaking softly, wanting him to hear but also not all at the same time. “I wish... I wish I could stay.” She'd breathe, knowing very well it was but a coveted thought.

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The press of her brow to his neck surprised him, jolted him - electricity coursed through his veins. He drew in a sharp breath and leaned into the gesture, into all it meant for him.

For how long had he craved connection? For something raw and something real. This was how he imagined that might feel: the undeniable flutter of butterfly wings in his belly; the shiver that began between narrow shoulder blades to trail the length of his spine; that spark, both terrifying and addictive all the same.

He yearned for more, but would not dare reach for it.

For the time being, until they could better figure out whatever great chaos they'd found themselves part of, Quicksilver fancied that this could be enough.

I wish I could stay, her breath, warm against his skin, and he sighed: “me too.”

He lay down on that ledge, but not without shifting to draw the snowflower alongside him. There, if she would allow him, he'd trace his nose fondly along the soft arch of her cheek and nudge beneath her chin, seeking to prop his own atop her slim forelegs.


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With her head against him, all she could do was hear the shock that went through him. The air he quickly drew in and it made her fearfully push plush ears back. Worried that her actions had been wrong. Her limbs shuddered with the thought, afraid to pull away and see that look on his face once more.

Her words, her actions, they were all true. Though before honesty had proven to be just as damaging.

So when the feeling was returned, there was no stopping the tear that rolled out and down her cheek. The reason for it was unknown even to her. Was she grieving what couldn't be? Glad that she wasn't alone in that feeling? Both feelings danced and intertwined with one another that the differences were obscure.

There was no hesitation or defiance against his actions, he wished to draw her near and she would gladly do so. His light affections against her cheek and chin sent shivers down her spine, curling the tip of her tail with the same electrical sensation. As he rested, this time she would place her own chin against his crown. “I... meant what I said before.” She'd speak slowly, letting the words tumble from her heart and voice by her tongue.

“I love you.” A pause. “These past few days have been heavenly.” And she wasn't quite ready for it to be over.

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She let him settle against her, and he held her up. Pale silver-blue eyes fluttered closed and he tried to will the tension in his muscles away. He focused on the scent Reiko always seemed to carry - lavender, duller than how he remembered, but intoxicating all the same.

When she finally told him that she loved him, part of him wanted to tell her not to. He wanted to warn her that no force of nature could bring them together, that even if there were then she should not condemn herself to him.

But he did not.

Instead, the druid maintained his silence, though a twitch of a velvet lobe would assure the dove that he was listening. Wordless, he smiled sadly into her arms and nuzzled between them, peppered a kiss to the elbow closest to his snout. In situations like this, with Reiko, words always failed him before. Perhaps, this time, his actions would serve him better.

A setting sun bathed them in gilded rays, and the whole world ceased to exist. To Quicksilver, it was just them: he and his snowflower, forging a memory that neither would forget - no matter where life took them. He knew that it wasn't his choice to love Reiko, but it was his to leave.

And for as long as he'd live, he knew there would be no greater regret.


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Despite it all, her heart soared with the druid here. No close, light, innocent touching. It didn't matter the heartache that shoved a wedge between them, between all of them. The tears and dark days which seemingly stretched on forever. How she felt would never change, with his words even to this day whispering within her ears; “Love is the only thing that time cannot touch.”

They were bittersweet. Words that offered a slim chance of hope through all of this, but then... could it ever be? He didn't speak, he didn't have to. She would not hold him against it to force him to say words he would either regret or did not mean. The sweet kisses he gave instead made her heart flutter uncontrollably. She didn't know what it meant, what any of this meant, and she wouldn't dig into it wishing to make sense of it all. Instead, she wouldn't say anything further and just enjoy the moment they shared.

She would not regret or grow to detest this feeling he gave her. It was precious just as the stone gift was. With one last glance over the mountains, watching as the skies took on their warmer hues, she'd look out to Tsukiishi once more remembering that soon she would have to return. Scuttling a little closer to druid to glue herself against him, she would appreciate this moment for as long as it lasted.

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There nothing more for either of them to say. He, too fearful to speak and ruin a moment so dear, so precious, continued to lay quietly with his head atop the Empress' paws. Quicksilver did not dare even move to look upon her face, aglow with evening sunlight, for she was sure to see the pain reflect in the powder blue on his irises and, in turn, feel it herself.

The druid knew that they could not be together. Before, when his affection had been one-sided, he'd entertained the idea of joining her on Tsukiishi. Back then, it would've been easier to depart the fledgling Vanderfell with his bonds lacking any real strength. Things had changed, however: friendships had been forged, children had been promised. His place, he felt, was among them. They gave him purpose and reason to carry on.

There nothing for him with Shiroshika - not anymore.

In silence the pair lingered at the edge of the plateau until the moon rose to replace their proud sun, and twinkling stars smiled down on their companionship. They simply held one another close as though clutching to the tendrils of what they each knew could never be. They were from separate worlds, Reiko and Quicksilver, bound to snow and stone of different claims - bound by fate to find love in one another, but destined to be apart.


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