Atonement

There were many apologies between them. They created a huge rift between them, one that Indigo hadn’t expected to ever mend. He’d lost her. He had been stupid and blind, and he’d made this horrible mess he was living through. Everything was broken, nothing was right… except for this moment. He had Aslatiel back in his arms, she was a flicker of light in a life that had turned to dark. She looked up at him, looking very much like he felt: apologetic and regretful. She spoke again, taking back everything she had said as she explained herself and her actions.

She was jealous. The band had him and she didn’t, it all stemmed from her deeper feelings. Indigo never meant to make her feel like that. He was doing what had been best for him, and to cope with her being so far away he had created a substitute. Nothing could take her place though, and as she told him he was the only one she had ever loved like this he couldn’t disagree. From the womb he had been in love with her, and though he’d been forced to ignore the feeling just to live it returned. Brighter and more intense he was scared. Indigo couldn’t lose her again. "I know.” He’d done things to cover the yearning, blinding himself was the most severe. He’d been so naive…

He tried to let the memories of the past fade because the present was almost too sweet to enjoy. Indigo couldn’t help but wonder if he had died or was trapped in a dream he was so desperate to live. She soothed his worries as best she could, she no longer belonged to their father’s pack and he was free to join her as were the rest of the band. The words were genuine, and she hadn’t been deceitful when she said she hadn’t meant the words that had hurt so much.

Aslatiel chuckled softly with her next words as she leaned back into his thick violet fur. The two of them leading a train of wolves they called lovers through the lands. It brought a smile to his features as he tried not to think how far his little family had come from the relationships they had held before everything. He wrapped his arms back around her, finally able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. He saw hope and he saw future. "A most glorious sight.” He agreed despite the warring thoughts in his mind. "But not as much as the sight of you just being here.” He added as he buried his muzzle into her soft faun fur.

"Speech"