There were very few times in his life Noah could truly remember feeling powerful, but this new shift brought the feeling in waves that warmed him to the core.

The great beast stalked across the tundra unafraid, ear rotating and nose twitching for any sign of the woman he loved. He looked for her every day -- from the fangs, to the Citadel, out to the sea, and back each day. It was a tiring task, but one he would not stop.

He made his way back to Snowcloak in the quiet of the night. Doors were closed too tightly for anyone to notice him, and he had shifted briefly before the guards at the gates to be let back in. He made his way down the street he and Delphine lived on in his human form, but stopped a close 100 yards off. He noticed how the light through the window flickered low and thought he needed to gather wood. Shifting back to his most powerful form, the bear lumbered towards the house.

Noah did not even think twice about how his appearance could have startled in. It was almost as if he forgot that he was a massive, thousand-pound polar bear charging a human. He met her as she opened the door and he leaped. His passive body changed mid-air and he came down upon her, tackling her and enveloping her in all he was in his human form. He wrapped his arms around her and twisted both of their bodies, bringing them crashing down but with his body taking most of the force from colliding with the cold, wooden floor. [say]"Del, oh Del, oh,"[/say] He pressed his face into her hair, planting kisses all of her face and her neck and her head, breathing all of her in as he kept her body close to his.

He scooted close to her and pulled her against him again. He breathed in her scent and let the comforting feeling of her warm body pressed against his fill his heart. He did not want to let her go, even as she mentioned the fire. [say]"I don't care about the fire. I only care about you."[/say] The hunter's eyes welled up as he held her, his arms tightening around her as he pressed his cheek into her golden hair.

In a fury of words and her own emotion, she asked him to marry her. He closed his mouth and reached for her hands, cupping both of them in his. He looked down at them, his calloused fingers running over her smooth skin. Even now, they were stained from paints and berries and gods knew what else. [say]"Delphine,"[/say] He sighed, [say]"I love you. I love you so much sometimes it hurts me. But, do you even feel that for me?"[/say] His question was honest, and raw, and vulnerable. He felt he already knew the answer -- the woman had disappeared from the tundra at the hands of a dragon and he searched and searched and searched and she...went for a vacation.

[say]"But I need you to love me, too, Delphine. You can say it,"[/say] Even though when he asked her and she replied, it was the first time he had heard it, [say]"but if you don't act it, I can't believe you. My world crumbled around me when I thought you were dead. But you--you didn't even care enough to send me a raven. You went on about like a tourist."[/say] His eyes welled up again and he stood up. He looked down at her for a moment before striding towards the fire. She was right, it was going out. He looked around, but there was no wood to replace it. That must have been why she was outside, he thought to himself.

[say]"If you can't love me, and love me right...then I cannot marry you."[/say] He said, leaning on his elbows above the hearth of the fire.

The floorboards creaked familiarly beneath her feet and Noah turned to face her. She was crying, but it did not make him yield. Her apology hit his ears and he softened, some. his arms fell limp at his side, fingers uncoiled. Before he might have stood there in anger, with his hands as iron fists. But now, he did not have the energy. He was depleted. He was tired. He hurt. [say]"I think we can fix this...but you have to try, too. You have to do work. I can't be the only one carrying the love, here."[/say] He sighed.

[say]"I'm not going to give you rules. I'm not your master."[/say] He hissed the word master. It left a horrid taste in his mouth. [say]"If that's what you're looking for, if that's what you need....then I can't be the person to give it to you."[/say] He sighed, heavily, the weight of his words falling like a judge's gavel against his own heart. [say]"I won't control you."[/say] He rested his head in his hands, elbows propped on his knees. He ran his fingers halfway through his hair, the tears finally breaking through the dam of his eyelashes. He tried to blink them away, but some hit the dusty floor beneath him.