In The Darkness, You Are The Light I Need

The mist swirls, its thick tendrils obscuring her vison and forcing the lavender girl to squint against the darkness in the hopes of seeing anything. Suddenly, her heart lifts as the mist lightens until it pulls away to reveal the gray form of the woman she had met on the plains. A large, loving smile blooms across dark purple lips as the woman says her name and she moves without hesitation, closing the gap to where Zuriel stands. Andy’s tail wags happily at the fact that she gets to see the sweet mother who had held her on the plains when her heart was breaking.

As sweet Zuriel nuzzles against her check, Andy gives the ghost a gentle, loving lick, not noticing that it feels off. While it feels like a long-lost memory of what the touch should feel like the young Andromeda pays it no mind. To her, the nuzzle feels just like the night they were in the plains when she swore the ghost was as real as she was. Zuriel folds her haunches and sits, lifting a foreleg and Andy immediately moves to press herself into the woman’s chest. A content sigh rolls past her lips and she closes her eyes, lifting her slender legs to snake underneath her arms and wrap around the gray woman.

For a long moment, she doesn’t say anything, happy to stay pressed into the woman while imagining the warmth that the hug offers. Humming a sigh of contentment, she opens her pale blue eyes and shifts backward slightly so she can look up into the dead woman’s eyes. A warm, loving smile pulls at her lips but, at her question about her family, Andy’s smile falters a moment. Another, sad sigh is exhaled as emotions war behind her eyes and the girl softly begins, “I am doing well Zuriel. Oh, I met this really nice lady named Isa! She gave a pillow and we are becoming great friends.”

At the talk of the older blue wolf, the smile grows, the love she has for Isa evident in her tone and features. There is so much good and happiness entering her life and yet… “Dad is… dad. He is still struggling with the loss of mom and I know he thinks I am trying to replace her with Isa but I’m not! I… I… don’t know how to explain it but I swear I’m not replacing her. I swear.” As she speaks, the distress that the situation is causing her leaks into her tone, raising her voice and causing her to gaze imploring at the gray woman. Surely, Zuriel will understand since she was alive for a long time and saw a lot… right?


"Andromeda Fatalis"