Closer and closer Amaranth drew, fluid and serpentine in her movements. Valeska could never hope to mimic such grace, awkward and clumsy as she was, and she still wondered what it was that the golden wraith saw in her that kept her here. How long ago the converging of their paths seemed, her delicate form draped over a pile of bones bleached by the sun, and even then the High Priestess knew their meeting important - ordained.

Friends, at first.

With every understanding between them still and none at all, the bond between them had grown and bloomed into something so much more than either could have ever guessed. From acquaintances, to friends, to lovers, to mates, to mothers. Back then they had seen each another as in a mirror dimly, but now, face to face; back then, they had known only in part; now they knew fully.

The sensation of Amaranth's heat against her shoulder was like fire. Valeska took a sharp inhale, inadvertently sucking in a lungful of the treacherous pink smoke, and suddenly her vision began to blur. No longer could she smell the sweetness of the flame; now her senses were flooded with liquid gold and the heady scent of lavender and dark earth, and all she could see was Amaranth.

Her Amaranth.

Everything Valeska had ever done, she had done with her at the forefront of her mind. It was well enough to call the Respite a haven for the lost, the wayward, but really, if she looked deep enough - it was for her. For them. A future bathed in golden light and rolling fields of green, a sparkling lake of crystalline water and mountains as high as the sky itself ringed around them like an embrace. Children's voices filled the air, the laughter of their friends, and together they would forever revel in the treasures they had found and created in the name of love.

Valeska shattered, and she leaned into Amaranth's embrace as she wept.

And you are the reason for everything else, she said nonsensically, but meaning every word of it.

Only you. It has only ever been you.

Wet tears stained the Augur's fur as she pressed her face into her neck. The two of them stayed like this for a little while, only the sound of the crackling flame disturbing the heavy silence between them as the snow began to collect along their backs.

Finally she withdrew.

I am sorry. I was not - I was not angry with you. I was angry because I felt it was not what I deserved, she said, the words tumbling over themselves. But now I see that maybe... maybe this was Houtu's will. That you were meant to save me, and I was blind.

Valeska sagged.

Oh. I am so tired, Amara.