Soleil
The chest against her is warm and the rough rumble is far more comforting to her than anything the Halenani girls have tried. Soleil melts closer into the embrace, and thinks nothing of the proper endearment that she hasn't heard in what feels like forever. A wet nose against her bare shin has the girl looking down, cloud of coiled hair already beginning to accumulate flecks of snow carried by the wind into the Fangs. Her eyes brighten and she gasps, staring down at the only familiar form she has seen since this whole nightmare started.
Before she can wriggle free and ask the wolf's name - because surely she can speak - the man holding her distracts her with an explanation. And, blessedly, warmth. Wrapped in a coat much larger than she is, Soleil goes still. Her human nose is weak, but as she turns her face into the warm collar, she finds the scent there is familiar. Like trying to remember a dream as you lay nestled in your bed, or the murmur of a voice saying words you cannot hear as you drift into sleep. Just out of reach, but familiar, and sorely wanted. Turning her head, Soleil stares up into the man's face, little fingers grabbing tight to the front of his shirt as something far stronger than her thoughts alone bids her to keep him close. She searches his unfamiliar features, different from the face she knew, but the eyes. They are the same. They're her eyes.
She's scared to hope, to ask the question she's asked of random strangers in the street, desperate for someone to see her and know her. But this time she thinks she has it right. Here in his arms she is safe, and there is no reason to fear being wrong. "Daddy?"
Before she can wriggle free and ask the wolf's name - because surely she can speak - the man holding her distracts her with an explanation. And, blessedly, warmth. Wrapped in a coat much larger than she is, Soleil goes still. Her human nose is weak, but as she turns her face into the warm collar, she finds the scent there is familiar. Like trying to remember a dream as you lay nestled in your bed, or the murmur of a voice saying words you cannot hear as you drift into sleep. Just out of reach, but familiar, and sorely wanted. Turning her head, Soleil stares up into the man's face, little fingers grabbing tight to the front of his shirt as something far stronger than her thoughts alone bids her to keep him close. She searches his unfamiliar features, different from the face she knew, but the eyes. They are the same. They're her eyes.
She's scared to hope, to ask the question she's asked of random strangers in the street, desperate for someone to see her and know her. But this time she thinks she has it right. Here in his arms she is safe, and there is no reason to fear being wrong. "Daddy?"
the day will be whatever you make it
so rise like the sun and shine
so rise like the sun and shine
