Feeling a lil nostalgic

Well, that was easier then he'd anticipated.

I'm still yours.

The raw edge of his anger was mellowed by her words, replaced instead by a profound longing. Gods, how he'd missed her. Time had changed her, softening her once-pristine youth with the marks of motherhood and survival. The sight of her - changed yet so familiar - stirred a deep yearning within him. Az fought the urge to close the shrinking gap between them, to reacquaint himself with her body and to trace each new mark with his nose. His tail flicked, and he swallowed.

To accept Hanako's words meant drawing her into his uncertain future - a life devoid of the security and structure the Armada provided. Az wasn't just a loner; he was a target, a former alpha, one who had more enemies then he had scars. The danger he represented to her was not lost on him. Yet, the thought of pushing her away... of denying the bond that had always been his anchor... it was equally unbearable. Azure's eyes, usually so hard and unyielding, betrayed a flicker of vulnerability.

"Are you?" He murmured, looking down his muzzle at her. "Is that by choice, or because you've run out of other options?" Azure had heard about Sparrow, how the pirate King was King no longer. How she'd run off in search of a lover's murderer. Clearly she'd got over Hana easily enough.. or maybe Hana had gotten over her first, no longer interested when the woman no longer wore a crown. Would she abandon him with just as much ease, once she learned that Az had also been dethroned?