Fill the spaces inside of my heart

Soleil

With Deepfrost fast approaching, Soleil strikes out to the Greenwing to revel in Halo's version of greenery before the late-blooming tundra flowers disappear for another season. Fighting with Talyson - and then Deimos - had worn out something inside her, something more than just muscles and ligaments. She is so tired. Luka has been tailing her like a vulture does an animal close to death, and she knows it's because she's so messed up in her head. Skyfall feels forever ago, but to her she's still stuck on that fateful night, far from home and with no way to get back any faster. Useless. Selfish.

She sits heavily on a downed log, burying her head in her hands. Diana bumps her nose up beneath her bicep, enough to lay her head on Soleil's lap in silent support. If Soleil hadn't left a note for her father asking him to meet her, she knows it's likely Diana would have traveled the hours it took to fetch him, because nobody can feel the last wall crumbling as clearly as her soul-sister. Whatever lies behind it is unknown to her. She just knows she can't keep this up much longer, and something has to give; forgiveness or condemnation. Her tears are bitter and quiet, but her shoulders shake as one hand drops to grip at Diana's scruff like it's a life preserver, holding on in the hopes it will bring her through this to the other side.

my head's in the sky but I'm falling backwards

Sah

Soleil's letter had been a surprise. Not that she'd sent one, but something indecipherable about it. The words, although benign, had made the hair on Sah's neck stand up, ice he was normally immune to filling his veins. Something was wrong. Very wrong.

That feeling persists as the Wild Thunder sprints to the Greenwing, Lilly and Pad close behind. Turning a bend, he spots his daughter, and the tears on her face. Letting out a wounded noise, Sah approaches and drops to his knees at her side. Being careful not to dislodge Diana, he reaches up and cups his daughter's face with his palms, "Oh, my little sun. Talk to me." A thumb gently swipes a tear as he looks up at Soleil's face, "I'm here, pup."

Lilly and Pad approach and sit on Soleil's other side, fully encasing her in the protected bubble of her pack.

To lead is to love,
To rule is to serve

Soleil

Diana alerts her of her dad's arrival with a gentle touch through their bond, refusing to move her head from where Soleil is embracing it. As he drops down at her side she is already blindly turning for him, closest arm releasing her companion to cling to his shirt as her tearstreaked face presses into his gentle hands.

She's never felt judged for wearing her heart on her sleeve before, and even if those rare people hated it it had never mattered, because she had never felt any measure of shame or embarrassment for anything; laughing, crying, goofing off. For the first time her chest aches with the weight of the disparaging thought that she's being a burden, that she doesn't deserve this kind of gentle handling, even from her dad.

"I-I don't know what to do," she stutters out, trying to catch her breath enough to speak clearly enough to make sense. Her tears catch against his palms, but she leans in closer despite that. "I'm so angry. At myself, at - at nothing -" she stresses, voice thin and reedy, "because I don't have anyone to be mad at for a freaking meteor destroying our home except myself. I wasn't here, dad." Her throat burns and the tightness of her throat is painful. This is the crux of it all, isn't it?

"I was off pretending to be an adventurer, doing nothing useful, and I was so far away I couldn't get home for days. Everyone helped fix things except me! And nobody is mad at me for it!" It bursts out louder than the rest, outraged by her own lack of consequences and punishment. Why? Why? Why? Her hand fists in his shirt and she sobs harshly, eyes scrunching tightly so she can't see the disappointment she's sure will surface on his face.

my head's in the sky but I'm falling backwards