And just like that, it was over.

His fangs grazed against one of the last remaining wraiths, and for a heartbeat, the world held still - then the distant sound of wolfsong began to rise, threading through the frozen air. It swelled into a chorus as more and more voices joined the cry, echoing across the mountains, far beyond the woodlands, until the sky itself suddenly split and fractured with the sound. Alder looked up in wonder as the dark clouds parted at last, blinking in the first rays of sunlight.

Beneath him, the snow rippled and began to dissolve, collapsing into ever-widening rivulets that caught the dawn's first rays like glitter. Golden light spilled over the horizon in a slow, unstoppable tide, and with it came a surge of green - he looked all around as tender buds sprouted and matured before his very eyes, grass unfurled by the acre, as life itself flooded every inch of the earth in a single, breathless instant.

He stood beneath the Great Tree, chest heaving, as winter gave way all at once.

He looked down at Sølvi.

... I guess... that's it.

---

Some time later...

Alder found himself shuffling at the outskirts of Dawnbreak. Somehow, he was always shuffling at the outskirts of Dawnbreak. He winced as the bite-wounds in his left shoulder suddenly twinged, a reminder of his battle against the wraiths, but he tried to ignore the pain as he awkwardly called out to Solvi to - to say goodbye, he supposed. See if she needed anything on his way back to Northfall.

The sunstone hung heavily around his neck.

Dusk had already begun to settle in like a soft shroud, the last vestiges of light fading below the mountains of the western horizon. Alder looked up to see the first twinkling lights appear overhead; how long had it been since he had seen the stars? He smiled in spite of himself. The world had been restored, the fissures had closed, and life could continue on as it was meant to - but somewhere deep within, selfishly and secretly, he almost regretted it. There was a sense of urgency, an almost necessary closeness that drew souls together during the end of the world.

And now it wasn't ending anymore.

Alder sighed.

Like a ray of sunlight piercing the clouds, Solvi dashed through the underbrush without care or yielding. For a fraction of a moment he also thought they might collide, but where this Mother thought she was doing him a favor in stopping the little wood-sprite, he only lamented their distance.

She stood in front of him, out of breath and slightly disheveled, but no less radiant.

If I stayed perfectly safe, how else could I get an appointment? he teased with an ever-broadening grin, tail wagging gently in spite of his best efforts. How effortlessly she lit up the world around her, he thought as a dull ache bloomed in his chest - and how stark the contrast felt when she was gone.

She stepped forward as Alder's heart leapt into his throat.

... The tree? he asked dumbly. OH! Oh. Yeah, the tree. It's nothing, though, healing just fine on its own.

Wait.

Fuck.

But I mean, if you - wanted to look. To make sure.

He half-knelt to allow her a better field for inspection, kicking himself internally for almost missing another chance to breathe in Solvi's scent at such close proximity. Who knew when he'd be able to visit her again? It had to count. He had to drink in as much of her as he could hold, carry it back with him to Northfall and sleep with the warm light of her gaze always before his mind's eye -

Alder noticed the small glowing orbs rotating slowly around her form.

That was new, he thought.

Feigning thorough chastisement, Alder looked away as she set to her inspection. His gaze just happened to fall upon Solvi's delicate paws below and he wondered idly how she managed to get anything done with them.

More than that, it was a miracle she had survived whatever forces had dumped her in the middle of Northfall's greatest blizzard to date, skin and bones that she'd been - even now she still struggled to recover, slowly earning back the vital weight shed during her plight and looking dangerously close to blowing away at the next strong breeze.

Alder had always taken up so much space by comparison. For a long time he'd hated it; hated the attention it drew, hated the crimson of his fur, always feeling like a big red blob standing starkly on the horizon. Clumsy and foolish and forever fucking up.

But for whatever reason... Solvi didn't seem to mind it. In fact, if he thought quite hard about it, she often looked... happy in his presence.

And he didn't even need an appointment.

His mind also drifted back toward a foggy memory, a distant vision of pink flames and sweet-smelling smoke, but the details escaped him in much the same way they did Solvi. He could remember - he could remember warmth. Warmth and her. What had she been doing there? Or had he simply dreamed it?

As the little doctor observed his shallow wounds, her chin casually grazed across the tips of his fur and a bright jolt of panic mixed with something else rippled down the length of his spine, causing his skin to convulse. He experienced a little disappointment when she (correctly) assessed his injuries to be minor, perhaps some secret part of him wanting a reason to stick around and -

Stay?

Wha -

Heat crept into his cheeks.

Do you - uh, do you mean that?

Very much in spite of himself, his tail began to wag.

Alder had been down this road of speculation before. To any intelligent wolf, the signs were all there - but he was not any intelligent wolf. He was Alder, with the fragile self-esteem of a waterlogged and wingless sparrow; yet as time marched on between them, he had tentatively begun to suspect that his attachment wasn't necessarily one-sided.

The sunstone she'd gifted him had never once been removed from his neck since the moment she placed it there.

... How long do you want me to stay? Alder asked, his tone suddenly a great deal more serious.

There was a sense that he wasn't talking about medicine anymore.

Whatever the severity of his shoulder injuries, Alder's heart now hammered so thunderously in his chest the wolf felt increasingly concerned he was about to suffer an actual medical event. Cruel irony that it was the doctor herself who would inflict such an ailment upon her patient! As the long pauses between them grew longer still, it felt more and more like the pair were engaged in some strange kind of dance only their minds could perceive.

Did she? Didn't she? Alder was by now quite certain regarding how he felt, but did she still see him as only a close friend? She was always so happy with everyone, even strangers, he thought...

... But the sunstone around his neck caught the last of the fading light, and a sudden warmth dared to bloom within his chest as Solvi slowly began to approach.

'A day.'

He froze; his ears were ringing. Did he need to lie down or vomit?

'A week;'

Fuck.

'a month.'

How flippantly she seemed to discard her words as she drew closer, scattering them all around like petals as the ringing in his ears had reached a crescendo.

Solvi's final statement hung in the air.

Alder looked as if he'd been struck down.

Forever, he blurted out.

The dam broke.

From the moment they'd met, he had always associated her with the sun. Warm and golden and bright, lighting up the world around her with her sweet innocence and cheerful disposition, Solvi had been the very opposite of Alder - and like a moth drawn to a flame he had forever after felt an increasingly desperate need to be around her, to bask in the light she shed.

The sky that day had stretched wide above them as a living canvas awash in brilliant, shifting hues, each color bleeding gloriously into the next - a rainbow as immense and endless as the love he held in his heart for her.

And he couldn't stop now if he tried.

I mean, if you're okay with forever. Although there's still Northfall and you're part of Dawnbreak, but I guess I could ask to leave or maybe they'd let me visit, or we could just figure it out as we go, he babbled, panic rising as the words spilled out in a torrent. Figure it out like, I mean, if you think, if we're - if -

She was there. She was right there. Her scent was intoxicating; her eyes limpid pools of forest green. What the hell was he even thinking?

Things usually turned out better when he didn't.

Alder swallowed nervously, leaned forward, and pressed his nose to hers as he closed his eyes and breathed a silent prayer. Moments passed and Solvi probably thought he'd either gotten stuck like that or passed out standing - but then he spoke in a very small voice, so soft she almost had to hold her breath to hear it.

I love you, Solvi, he rasped, voice cracking beneath the pressure he felt welling up inside.

When you were gone, I was terrified - fuck, I still am. I almost lost you once already, he continued, chest tightening, All my life I’ve fought to keep my distance, to feel less, to never let anyone matter this much, because they either end up leaving me or they die, and there's nothing I can do to prevent it!

Viscaria's corpse flashed across his mind and he struggled to shut it out.

But I don't care about - about not caring, Solvi! I don't care anymore, and I'm ready to spend eternity suffering for it if it means just one moment longer with you.

Alder's throat constricted and he barely managed to get the next words out as he very shyly and very abruptly buried his face in her neck. He couldn't bear to look at her expression for fear of what he might see.

Please; let me stay forever in your sunlight.