I love you (Do you still love me?)

The sound of footsteps and familiar wings have Edmund's heart in his throat. But the words, the nickname, they have it cracking open as tears begin to spill. "Mummy. You came." Relief, joy, fear. He doesn't know what to feel. It's too much but not enough. Too much distance in every sense of the word. Long strides take him until he's right in front of her. His arms coming up hesitantly, asking, begging, for a hug. For the privilege to curl up in her arms like he used to, for the home he had always had at her heart's side. Edmund doesn't know what he'll do if he's burned that bridge too. The thought is choking, as he waits for his judgment. Internally he begs for at least one last hug, one last reminder of what he'd had before she sends him away for good. Before his mum rejects him for the path he's chosen, and he's left stranded in a world too big to traverse alone. Edmund Reborn In Fire