An impossible existence.

She is leading him through through the city. Since they started walking, she has not said a word; all he can do is match his footsteps to hers, as they wind their way through the back alleys and empty streets. They pass under a low archway, and suddenly, he is in a part of town he is not familiar with.

She slows her pace.

She cuts a diminutive figure in the dim light of the street lamps as she moves on ahead of him. Her strides are slow, but purposeful. She is an enigma to him, though he prides himself on the ability to read people that he has cultivated over the years.

His mind is filled with questions. There will be time for that, she had assured him.

Can he trust her?

But he no longer has any other choice. The vow of a prince cannot be so easily broken.

He finds himself momentarily blinded by a sudden brightness. Belatedly, he notices that they have come to a stop.

As his eyes adjust to the glare, he finds he is standing in a tiny garden. The low walls are lined with lanterns, lit by flames that do not flicker.

Realization dawns.

'Human,' he mutters, studying the the unflinching glow of the nearest lantern, 'magic, is this not?'

Slowly, she turns to face him. The night wind has dislodged her hood enough so that wisps of her hair have crept out to frame her small face. The tendrils are a striking blue color, echoing the color of her eyes. As she steps towards him, he thinks to himself, that something has changed in those eyes, something is different from what he remembers.

The lantern illuminates her visage, and he realizes that he is staring back into a gaze that is now luminous, glittering. Sky blue and rose pink swirl together in the depths of her irises. Those eyes, they recall the hues of a pastel sunrise.

He has never seen eyes like that on a human.

'Those eyes...' he murmurs, trailing off.

Those are the eyes of his people. But she is not one of them.

'You are human, are you not?'

She nods, her mouth curling up into a wry smile.

The next question is already forming in his mind, but he finds himself unable to continue. But the words he cannot give voice to, she already knows.

'Your wife, she is a half-blood. I am not.'

This girl, she is is all human then.  A human, with features that a human could not possibly have. A human who is able to use magic. She should be an impossible existence, but she is here, standing before him.

He understands now, the bitterness that tinged her smile.

'Nobody can know.' There is such loneliness written on that young face. The nature of her own existence is a great burden, and it has taken a toll on her.

He dips his head in acquiescence. He will keep her secret.

Suddenly, he is at a loss for words.

She extends a hand towards him.

'Come.'

His arm is moving of it's own accord.

And as her small fingers wrap around his, he finds himself surprised by how warm they are.

...

A meeting not of chance.

(A month ago.)

He sits at the counter alone, glass in one hand, absently swirling the drink. His other hand is tangled in an unruly mane of blonde hair. His eyes are closed. The noises of the bar reverberate around him, but he does not make a sound. His is the quiet on the verge of a sigh, the silence of what cannot be said.

'You won't find what you are looking for here.'

The words had drift into him from somewhere distant, expanding inside his chest, making it hard to breathe. The fog in his mind clears in an instant.

He puts down his glass and turns towards their source.

In the dim light, he can make out a female face peeking out at him from beneath the brown hood. The eyes that regard him are large and blue like the summer sky, and the naked disappointment in their depths unsettles him greatly.

Leave me alone, he mutters.

She doesn't seem to hear, or if she does, she pays no mind, for she strays closer. He can just barely feel her breath on his ear, but he does not miss what she whispers next.

'At the bottom of those countless glasses, you will find neither the person nor the solace you are seeking.'

His entire body tenses, a cocktail of rage and hurt flooding his veins.

What would you know, he thinks.

He is on the 'other side', there shouldn't be anyone here who knows.

'You have found no oblivion here. This...' she continues with a gesture of hand, 'is but a temporary crutch. It will never be enough.'

He takes a mouthful of drink, and tries not to listen.

'Have you managed to forget?'

The words jar him. She has hit too close. He feels as though something inside him has caught alight. He is burning. He cannot bear to hear another word.

He pushes past her and stumbles out of  the bar into the night.

And keeps on walking.

He doesn't care where he is headed, as long as he can get away.

His mind is echoing.

How can I forget?

How can I forget?

He throws back his head and howls those words into the endless starry sky. They echo over empty streets.

Then all of a sudden, he is not alone anymore.

Two soft hands cradle his face, and he finds himself looking back down into the blue gaze he has been trying to escape. She is but a young lass, he realizes belatedly. But on her child-like face is etched such understanding... that he knows that she must know. His past, his reasons for coming here - everything.

He wants so much to ask her how she had come by that knowledge, but as she holds his gaze, he finds he cannot speak.

He cannot pull away.

They stand like that for several moments.

'Your Royal Highness, Prince Halcyon Fairweather of the Aori.' Her gaze never wavers from his as she speaks.

A human, addressing him by his full title. He should not be surprised, but he is.

'I did not intend to cause you alarm,' she says. So quietly, that if the streets were not then bathed in silence, he may have missed it.  'I have come with a proposition for you.'

Taken aback, he eyes her warily.

Nothing could have prepared him for what she utters next.

'Would you like me to take you to her?'

His heart constricts. The trail he'd been following had gone cold months ago, and though he searched long and hard, there had been no new leads.

Who is this young girl? How can she possibly know?

There are so many question he wants to voice. Inside him, disbelief and desperation battle for dominance.

What will she demand of him in return?

As if she had read that thought, her reply slips gently into the space where it belongs.

'All you have to do is take me there.'

This is his last hope.

Please.

His plea is hoarse with anguish.

...

You are here again.

"There you are.

Fading into the setting sun at the end of the path.

And here I am.

My heart still rooted to the spot where we first met."

...

Just the other day she asked him why he always wrote her letters every day he was away. His mind had scrambled for something to say, but all he could think was 'Don't you know?'

Don't you know?

How little I can bear to be parted from you.

She looks up at him as he stoops to enter her chambers. You are here again, she says. Perhaps it is irritation that he spies in the knit of her brows. She sets aside the letter she has been reading; it is not one of his, he notes.

She is propped up in bed. She has put aside her finery for a plain white nightdress, her only adornment the lazy coil of tresses that she has let down, the ends fanning out over the pillows. She is most beautiful this way, he thinks.

Her child stirs beside her. She looks so much like her mother, he thinks. The child is the reason she has given him, for not sharing his bed, even though they have been husband and wife nearly a year now.

It's late, she murmurs.

If he could, he would spend every moment with her.

'I just came to bid you a good night, my lady.' With that, he takes one last look at her, and bowing, leaves the room.

...a

The same but different.

So, these two were meant to be twins, but they ended up with completely different face-ups, both of which I love, and therefore I am loathe to get either one redone.

Anyhow, they are still going to be twins, I just tweaked their background story a bit to suit their differences. Our new arrival, the SWD Nana has a name now. She is going to be called Yuuko, written with the characters for "evening" and "child", which is the exact opposite of Asako's "morning child".

Yuuko (left) and Asako (right). Their names mean "Evening Child" and "Morning Child". They are twins, but different in almost every way. Their mother is a half human-half divine, and while one twin inherited all their mother's divinity, the other ended up human in every way. Despite that, they have that connection between them that only twins have, and adore each other very much.

I come bearing gifts!

Dollfete Loot Round-up

2 Pairs 18mm Mirror Eyes
2 Yo-sd Dresses
2 Pairs of Yo-sd Shoes
1 Pair of SD Boy Shoes
1 Rabbit Neck Accessory
1 Yo-sd Wig
1 SD Boy Sweater