[SpringsSong]

Ekal laughed.  He was expecting Aila to bring Menaphne into the conversation, as well as inquiring about how she was doing in her training in the main skill that she was interested in, but could never learn because she did not have the ability to cast them herself.

"She's been doing fair in her training with Shadows, Aila," he said, smiling as he watched her pull her hair back.  He almost hated to see her do that, because her hair was so beautiful when it was down, but he knew that she liked having it up off of her face.

"She said that you were having some troubles with being able to remember that one period of time in our lives," Ekal said softly.  "She said that she thought that it was because of the grief you experienced."

[2.6]

[SpringsSong]

"Oh, and your first clue to that little impediment in the restoration of my memories would have been what, Ekal?  The fact that I still wake up in the middle of the night, screaming out their names and cursing how I could not protect them…" Aila said, tears coming to her eyes as she said this.  She buried her head in Ekal's chest here, shaking slightly as she sobbed.

"Ekal… if only I'd been in Inailia with you that nine months… maybe Deraj would not have found out about them," she said softly, only loud enough for him to hear her.  "Maybe we would have been able to protect them together, rather than what happened… but the past is the past."

[2.8]

[SpringsSong]

"Well, that would be a clue to just about anything involving that nine months, Aila," Ekal said, frowning as he held her close.  He hated to see her so broken and sad, and the only thing that made it worse for him was knowing that he was the cause of this grief and the reason that she was even having to go through this.

"It's… not all lost, though, Aila dearest," he said, holding her that much closer.  "There's always a chance that Mariah and Hairam could be born again in this realm.  At least now, they'd have a chance to live full and complete lives… in fact, the first children we have together… we'll name them Mariah and Hairam."

Ekal knew that this would doubtless brighten her day, since they'd had this conversation before in the past, just minus the part about them already being dead—and the fact that twenty-five years had passed since then, which made being Gods and therefore immortal that much better.

[2.8]

[SpringsSong]

"Ekal…!"

Aila said this in a stunned voice, much like when they had first talked about having children.  Granted, at the time, they were but thirteen years old, and now, they were nearing their forties, though they looked little older than eighteen.  Tears began to stream down Aila's face again as she took a hold of both of his hands, clinging to them like she had the day that she learnt that he would be moving to Inailia.

"You realize it's been twenty-five years since we spoke about this?" she said, looking at their hands first, and then looking back up at him.  "You know I would love nothing more than to… to…"

Her voice faded here as she looked back to their hands, tears streaming down her face again.

[3.0]

[SpringsSong]

"I had considered that little fact, but that's when being a God really comes in handy, you know," he said, laughing.  "We should be turning… just a little too old to be having children, and yet, we don't look a day older than eighteen."

He could almost feel Jaem rolling his eyes at this comment, but he hardly cared what the little llama-spirit thought.  He took her hands gently as he brought her closer to him, kissing her passionately as he wrapped his arms around her tightly.

"Aila… I let you go once.  I'm not going to make that mistake ever again," he said once he broke the kiss.  "I've never forgiven myself for letting you go the way that I did back then, Aila… every day since you called me to tell me that you were pregnant, my words have haunted me."

[3.0]

[SpringsSong]

Aila let herself be taken by the kiss, remembering how she'd felt the first time he kissed her like that.  It was a feeling that she had never really forgotten; the knots in her stomach, the racing of her heart—there was one point in time where Ekal had asked her if he needed to call one of the other Gods that had healing powers because her heart was racing so fast that he thought that she was having a heart attack—and a feeling of wanting time to stand still, even when the kiss had long since ended.

"Ekal… do you remember when I told you that I wished that I could make time stop whenever we were together?" she asked, resting her head on his shoulder.  "Now, more than ever, I wish that I could make time stop whenever we were together.  It seems as though time flies by whenever we are together… we could talk for hours upon hours, and we would think that not all that much time had passed until we saw someone else who would ask where we had been the past several hours."

She closed her eyes and listened to the gentle beat of his heart, sighing happily as she leaned back against a tree.

[3.2]

[SpringsSong]

Ekal could not help but chuckle when Aila asked if he remembered how she had once said that she wished she could make time stop whenever they were together.  He did, indeed, remember when she had first said that, and he also wished that he could stop time for those exact reasons as well.  After all, if time were halted, then they could spend all of the time in the world together, plus that much more time in the long run.  He could only laugh as he ran a hand through her hair as he sat down against the tree that she had leaned back against, holding her close to him.

"Of course I remember that, Aila," he said, laughing.  "Now, do you remember when I asked you if I needed to call—was it Nyera or Sylira?  I think it was Sylira—because I thought you were having a heart attack because of how fast your heart was beating one of the times that I kissed you?" he asked.  That was one of the few times that the flightless Windgill Paragon had been concerned for his bride-to-be… who, after twenty-five years, he still had not proposed to.

"I thought I was going to lose you that day…" he said, frowning.

[3.2]

[SpringsSong]

"It was Sylira," Aila said, laughing as she moved closer to Ekal, resting her head on his shoulder and nothing short of snuggling up to him as she sighed happily.  "As I recall, my response was something along the lines of, 'Believe me, if I were having a heart attack, you'd know; I wouldn't be this calm.  Besides,  you know how Sylira feels about us,' and I trust you still remember her reaction to us whenever we'd be roaming around the school and just happen to end up behind her," Aila said, laughing.

Here, thought, she looked around warily.  Somewhere above her, she could have sworn she saw a Mooncheeka fly by, but that was probably just a trick of the mist messing with her eyes.  After a few moments, she turned her eyes back to Ekal and laughed.

"So, you dragged me out here.  Surely you had something in mind for exploring, other than the stories that people that come here never return?" she asked, a devious smirk on her face.

[3.4]

[SpringsSong]

Ekal could not help but laugh as he shook his head, and he could tell that his beloved was giving him a pointed glare as he laughed.

"Oh, Aila—I forgot that you only had the abilities to see into the future, the past, and travel across the realms.  I forgot that you cannot create or dispel illusions," he said, giving a slight wave of his hand as the trees of the Whisper Forest disappeared, replaced with the black sands of the Sa'fir Coast.  He knew that Aila would be stunned; she had never been to the Sa'fir Coast, though she had always wanted to.

"This is when I love being able to create and dispel illusions," he said, laughing as he waited to see her reaction, which would probably be her trying to refrain from using various terms that would make the Celestials blush in shame.

[3.4]

[SpringsSong]

Aila was indeed giving Ekal a very pointed glare as he caused the illusion of the Whisper Forests to fade and be replaced with the Sa'fir Coast.  In fact, she gave him a firm punch on the shoulder as she buried her toes in the black sand, laughing as she shook her head, her blue eyes glowing with her laughter.

"Oh, Ekal—you've gotten better at keeping secrets, you little devil, you," she said, sighing as she allowed a small pink fire to appear at her feet.  "Remember when you accidentally let it slip that you were going to be getting me flowers for Valentine's day, but then you tried to cover it up?  I still laugh at that to this very day."

Here, Aila smiled as she took her Paragon form, laying against the black sand and smiling as she placed her tail where both she and Ekal could benefit from it, smiling back at him as she gave a slight sigh.

"Would you believe that it's been twenty-five years, Ekal?" she asked.

[3.6]

[SpringsSong]

"Are you trying to make me feel as old as I should feel now, Aila?" Ekal laughed, taking his Windgill form and mixing his red tail-flames with her pink ones as he smiled, pressing his snout to hers as he smiled.  "Who would have thought that a beach would be the slightest bit chilly during the winter, dearest?" he asked, the bones of his wings clacking together as he folded them closer to his body.  Just being with his beloved made everything easier, but at the same time… he knew that she would want to fly sooner or later, and here he was—a breed of Paragon that loved flying, and yet was grounded.

"Is this how you felt when you were in your Slynx form, Aila?" he asked, looking back at his wing skeletons, sighing.  "Do you think that Atlantia meant to take my ability to fly when they had that meeting when I was tried for my actions towards you?" he asked, placing his head on top of hers as he sighed.  He knew that Aila could not see into the Seraphent's heart; after all, the closest she'd gotten to the Seraphent was something like a grandmother-granddaughter relationship, for Aila's teacher—the Goddess of Music before her—had been Atlantia's daughter.

[3.6]

[SpringsSong]

"Ekal, one way or another—we're not as young as we were when we first met and fell in love, whether we see it by our standard Re'klettan year or by the Evelonian year which is half the length of ours," Aila said, smiling as she placed one of her slender claws on his.  "Our saiken was formed fast; almost as fast as my Jewel adapted to my aura," she said, smiling as she turned her head to look at the sky.  She sighed here, though; she almost wished that she could not fly.

"This is how it felt in my Slynx form, Ekal—looking to the sky with longing, but knowing that there was no way that I could take to the skies, for I had no wings," she said, frowning as she looked back to him.  "I'm not sure I like being able to fly while you are stuck on the ground, Ekal; I know that your kind adore the skies and flying, and that they are often seen as the very embodiment of freedom.  And I do not know if Atlantia meant for you to lose your wings that day, Ekal; I honestly do not know…"

She sighed as she said this, looking to the skies again.

"I may not be able to give you wings, but I can let you feel that feeling again, Ekal—what would you say to that?" she asked, turning to face him.

[3.8]

[SpringsSong]

Ekal looked to Aila as she said this, slowly shrinking into his human form as she said this.  Aila had to know that he wanted nothing more than to fly again; to feel the wind racing past him, through his hair (or head-feathers, but he had a feeling that Aila could not carry him while he was a Paragon)… he could only stare at Aila in shock as he moved slightly closer to her, smiling as he placed a hand over her Mark.

"I would love nothing more than to be able to fly again, Aila," he said, smiling as he rubbed her shoulder gently.  "Though I would love to be able to fly on my own, but being able to fly with you is just as good as being able to fly on my own."

Ekal smiled as he wrapped his arms around her neck as far as he could.  After all, it was decidedly more difficult to wrap one's arms around a twenty-five foot-tall Paragon's neck as opposed to a five-foot-tall human female's waist or neck.

[3.8]

[SpringsSong]

Aila laughed as she gently pressed her snout to Ekal's shoulder, which to any passerby would doubtless look awkward.  After a few moments, she lowered her wings and stretched her neck out as she drew in a deep breath as she looked to the sky.

"Well, then, get on!" she said, laughing as she waved her tail patiently.  Anyone else who was near her tail would have run quickly from her, fearing that she could burn something or set something on fire with how wildly it was starting to wave around now.  "How long has it been since you and I took to the skies, my darling; how long has it been since we tasted the freedom that the skies have to offer for us?"

She waited just long enough for him to get a firm hold on her neck, and then, she took off as fast as she could, making sure that Ekal was still on her back from time to time.

[4.0]

[SpringsSong]

"It's been at least—!"

Before Ekal could answer her question, Aila had taken off from the beach, and quite frankly, he had not known that Aila could fly that fast.  Then again, the few times that they were in their dragon forms outside of the Veil were times when they were just trying to spend more time together before he had to move to Inailia, so they were being deliberate in how slow they flew.

Once Aila reached a more reasonable speed and Ekal knew that he wasn't going to fly off of her neck if he let go, he smiled as he clung to her neck, smiling.

"It's been far too long since we took to the skies, my love," he said, smiling.  "In fact, I think the last time that you and I took to the skies was the day before I was taken to Inailia to take up residence in the Inner City of Serenia," he said, looking to the skies with longing.

[4.0]