Not happy, but way less sad

The love in Artorias' eyes and the feeling of him kissing her back with his paw on her cheek was the first taste that everything was going to be okay. It was the first relief she had felt since that night and it made her feel like she might topple over from the weight of it all suddenly being pulled from her shoulders. But sitting here with her paws on his chest, she continued her apology, needing him to know how much guilt was on her heart over the mess she caused. She needed him to know that she didn't expect to just be given his forgiveness and that she knew it was a lot for her to ask to have his love in return. But she wanted it to bad. She wanted her Blue Boy, her Art. She wanted him to be hers. He was supposed to be hers. Even when she was trying to push him away to be with someone else, the thought of seeing someone else at his side ripped her apart. She thought she would be willing to bear that to let him be free without her weighing him down, but she understood now that love was more important.

A little smile pulled at her lips as she watched the absolute stunned silence that came over him at her declaration, but as the seconds ticked by she felt like she couldn't breathe, waiting for his reaction and his answer, feeling his heart beating under her paw. There was that lingering fear that he'd turn her away, refuse her apology, tell her that the damage had been done and all of this made him realize he really didn't want to be with her. If that was the reality it would most certainly break her, but she couldn't blame him for it either. But he didn't do any of those things. Instead he held her cheek, pulled her muzzle to his, and gave her a loving kiss, so gentle and tender. She melted into that affection with a relief and a love that was indescribable while her core flared with that fiery desire that just made her want more. Her paws wrapped around the back of his neck as his forehead leaned into hers, a smile pulling at her lips while relieved, happy tears filled her eyes.

His voice, his familiar voice, saying those words to her in return made her heart feel like it might soar out of her chest, skipping so hard it made her gasp softly as her smile spread into an all out grin. He loved her too. He loved her. Whatever else came, that was the best and greatest gift that she could have asked for. Just to know that he loved her. She listened to his words, heard how she had made him feel, and it made her feel even more like a fool. Marigold had been right. Nothing else mattered besides the fact that she made him happy. The guilt twisted in her gut again at knowing that she made him feel like his opinion of her didn't matter, only emphasizing how selfish she had been in those whole thing. In her efforts to be selfless and push him toward what she felt were better things, she had done the opposite and just taken away what he really wanted. She returned his soft kiss and he continued to take her breath away with his sweet words and forgiveness that she didn't deserve, listening to his desires for their future and a simple request that was easy for her to agree to.

Briar wrapped herself around him as she hugged him tight, burying her face into his fur and pressing herself to him as if she needed to remind herself that he was really here, that this was really happening. He really loved her and she really loved him. "Your opinion is the only one that matters," she insisted softly against his scruff, her voice thick with emotion. Joy, love, guilt, desire... it all mixed together into an overwhelming storm, but he was her rock that she clung to, her grounding point that made everything right in the world. The other half that she didn't really understand that she needed until he was gone. "I thought giving you up was the only way that I could show how much I loved you... I thought I needed to save you from me. But I was wrong. I was so wrong." She squeezed him tighter, nuzzling into his fur as the tears finally spilled from her eyes. She had been willing to give up everything just to see him have the life he deserved, but she had been too blind to see that the only life he deserved was the one that made him happy. She understood that how he saw her was how she needed to see herself.

She leaned back from him after a while just enough to be able to see his warm amber eyes again, looking at him with all the love and happiness in the world, her paws combing through his scruff just to feel his fur slipping through her claws again. She was never going to let him go again. That was a mistake that she wouldn't repeat. With her guilt and heartache lifted away, the love and passion left behind felt hotter and stronger than she even remembered, each second that she sat with her muzzle just lightly brushing against his making that now familiar warm, tingling pressure and fire start to build higher and higher in her core and across her skin. "I made us dinner," she said as she nuzzled the side of her muzzle against his, the smell of cooking meat reminding her of the strips of rabbit laid out across the stones behind her. "The only problem is... that's not what I'm hungry for any more."

Briar Fatalis