Spruce and Pine left shortly before I reached the place they said I'd find Cloud. I walked along the water alone, further down the river than the path that branched back toward the cave. I wasn't sure if I could trust their promise to go home, but I knew that there was at least nothing else they could do to interfere.

As I neared the end of our territory, a small tributary split from the main body of water, and I followed the slow moving current to where it pooled to form a wide, curved lake with a thousand ripples glinting in the afternoon sun. The light bounced off the blue surface, the glowing form of Sol hovering in the middle and stretching outward with paws made of fire. I had to squint to see across to the other side, where a lone, white form sat looking at the water.

Her attention was too focused on the lake to notice me approaching, not even as I grew close enough to see her lips moving, talking to the empty air––or perhaps her reflection. There was a bundle of wilted green behind her, what was once a muzzle-full of colorful flowers. A gift she'd brought on an earlier occasion, placed on a mound of raised grass she had her back to.

I never knew about this place, not until Pine told me on the way, but I guessed a wolf grave-site wasn't something the pack was too eager to speak about.

Stepping closer, I kept each paw light. I didn't want to scare her away again, nor was I sure just how to approach. Where did I begin? It was the whole reason I'd asked Pine for advice anyway, so that she could convince me this was a good idea and help me get the words out without desperately fumbling. Because every time I felt myself getting closer to her, physically and the bond that pulled us together over these last couple months, it happened. My heart felt as if it would explode, and my tongue weaved itself into a bird's nest.

Even now, my pulse pounded in my ears. Her soft voice tickled them, and I could make out her voice. It was as if she were talking to someone.

"I miss you, Sky."

I stopped. Part of me knew it was wrong to listen, remembering the last cruel sting eavesdropping had led to, but the other part didn't care. I didn't want to interrupt her grieving. Perhaps it was better to leave.

No. I had to tell her. I'd just give her a second to finish up. But she kept speaking.

"You don't know what it was like when you left." A small sniffle followed her words, and I could almost hear her tears falling like a tiny patter of rain. "It shattered me.

"I didn't think I'd make it without you. I felt alone, like I'd lost everything. I know that seems selfish, when you were so much to all of us." Cloud exhaled a deep breath, her chest falling with the weight of her sorrows.

"I know I'm lucky to still have the pack. I know that they're there for me, that they're my family. I know that." She echoed the word with extra emphasis, convincing herself it was true. "But it's still so hard. And I have to put on a brave face and pretend I'm okay through it all because I don't want them to worry about me."

The words, the feelings––they were enough to bring tears to my own eyes, but I stayed strong. She thought that no one understood. That she couldn't be sad. It wasn't true. I knew what it was like. Every wolf in this pack knew of the burden she carried, even if they didn't say it. They bore it too.

"The void you left, I felt it every day. That is, until there was something else to fill it. Someone."

I held my breath. I felt even worse about listening, but now I really had to hear what she would say.

"It's more than that... he helped me fill it. He's helping me heal," she said, looking up in the empty air. Cloud spoke as if her brother were right in front of her, listening to every word. "He's amazing. You would love him, Sky. And when I'm around him, I only feel joy. He works harder than any of us to help this pack." Her voice fell flat, and she tilted her muzzle back toward the water. "But I don't deserve his affection.

"Even with the moments of closeness we've shared, I can't get the words out." Cloud sighed. "Instead of telling him that it was me—that I was the one who was too afraid to be closer, I just ran. I broke his heart, but it's not because I don't want to be more. It was tearing me apart to not know if he felt the same.

"I can't let him in." Her voice grew soft, teary and broken. "I can't let him get any closer. I can't let anyone get any closer. Because I won't be able to handle them leaving me too."

Every word tore at my heart. There were still so many things I didn't know about her, fears that I had yet to uncover. I only wished I did, so that I could help her through them. I wanted to tell her that, to make her understand. Then I realized...

I could.

"I'm not going to leave you, Cloud."

She flinched at my voice, but didn't turn her head. I sat at her side, and she continued to stare at the ground. Her eyes were shut tightly, refusing to look at me.

Cloud opened her muzzle, but only a whimper came out. Of embarrassment, shame, and fear.

"It's okay. I'll do the talking." I put my nose under her chin and lifted her muzzle to face mine. Her face was scrunched in a sob, while tears hung in the corners of her eyes.

"You're the strongest, bravest wolf I know, Cloud," I told her. "I know that you would make it through anything. But you don't have to worry about it, because you won't be facing it alone." It felt impossible to put all I had to say into words, and as much as I tried to sound strong and convincing, my voice still broke.

Staring into her silver eyes, some of the worry drifted away. The current calmed, and the storm in my mind eased. I took a deep breath, steadying my voice and focusing on Cloud. I could do this.

"I promise I won't leave you, because we never really leave." I tilted her nose even higher, to the lights that twinkled in the darkening expanse above. Gray clouds framed the horizon, but still they shone through the veil. "Like your brother. He lives on as a star. Not just with Luna, but in your heart. He lives through the things you say and do because of him."

I nuzzled my head beneath her chin, relishing the warmth of her fur, hearing the blood thrum through her chest somewhere below.

"You're not the only one with fears," I muttered, staying close and wrapping my neck around hers. Somehow, not seeing, just feeling, it made it even easier. "I couldn't tell you how much I cared about you because I was scared I wasn't good enough." I waved my footless leg a little to make my point. Cloud's quiet huff of amusement slipped out from beside my ear.

"I've had feelings for you since the day I set eyes on you, Cloud. I just didn't know it. When I realized I did, I was too nervous that you held the same doubts about me. But you're the reason I strive to be better, to do what I can to protect you, no matter what. I'd give my everything for you. My life."

Finally, the warm tears I'd been blinking back slipped out. And before I knew the words were there, bubbling up in my chest, they too slipped from my muzzle. "I love you, Cloud." It rang in my ears, quivered in my jaw. I knew there was a chance that I was moving too fast, pouring out my feelings faster than she could take them in, but the wave of passion wasn't over yet. I had one more question, a much farther reach than all the rest. "You're the wolf I want to spend forever with..." I paused, pulling back to stare into her eyes and weighing it on my tongue. "Will you be my mate?"

Something cool dripped on my muzzle. Not a tear, but a raindrop. They fell around us, soft at first, then growing louder. As loud as the silence as Cloud stood still, muzzle shut, only blinking. As loud as my pulse pounding in my ears as I wondered if I made a mistake. If I was wrong after all––

"I love you, too." Cloud's muzzle met my shoulder, digging her nose deep into the fur of my neck. It was cold and damp, her pelt now full of water, but the heat of her skin beneath it is what chilled me to the bone. I'd never felt this before––scared and full of joy, freezing but set aflame––I was sure.

Her head shifted up and down in my fur. "I'll be your mate," she whispered, flattening her ears beneath my chin. The two of us sat, one shared body of scent, feeling, and warmth while Sol continued to pour out his anguish. His tears fell down onto our backs, mourning his own, lost love. As he slipped below the horizon, he cast his last rays of envy on a love as pure as what he once had.

Neither of us twitched a muscle, wrapping our necks tightly around each other. My nostrils were flooded with the sweet scent of rain and sunshine that Cloud held in her fur. I breathed in and held it in my lungs until I couldn't any longer.

I didn't want to breathe it out. I never expected to get this far—to ever feel this way. I never wanted to let her go.

A/N

Hiya, folks! I have another lovely piece of art to share with you! ToWolfKin made this wonderful work of beauty out of the kindness of her heart, inspired by this chapter! Thank you so much.