Solar Reign

X X V

IT WAS as if Andorra was looking at him for the first time. They both stood in front of the cabin in Icewood, and despite the fact that she was freezing, Andorra couldn't stop looking at him.

She started at his eyes. Perhaps her favorite part about his physical appearance, because no matter how hard he tried to disguise his emotions, his eyes gave him away every single time. They were bright right now, not quite white, not quite blue. He wasn't hiding from her right now, though. His dark eyebrows tilted down, concern clear in his gaze.

She then looked higher up at his hair. His dark, thick hair that was usually tamed into something clean cut and controlled. But right then, it was a mess. Clearly he had been running his hands through his hair before he had found her at the Prophet's home. And then, of course, it was longer than it had been when they first met. It was nearly falling into his eyes, that was how long it was now.

She coasted down to his sharp nose, his soft mouth, his pale skin. His strong jaw, his strong shoulders, his long limbs. Andorra ate him up greedily, noting everything she loved about him. He kept his hands to himself, not daring to reach out as Andorra stared at him. Her soulmate. The love of her life, the love of all of her lives.

She let her eyes roam to his strong hands, the ones that had been on her face nearly ten minutes prior. She caught sight of his tapered waist and his strong, long legs. And once she was done taking him in, she met his eyes again.

There was quite possibly nothing she didn't love about Nohx.

She flashed back to that very first meeting. At the pond behind her house, where he had been sitting on the rock. He had smiled at her, had told her that he had been looking for her.

I've found you. You're not very self preserving, are you?

His eyes had been white then, too. So very happy to have found her. Andorra hated that at that very moment, Nohx had been so in love with her that he had risked everything with his father just to bring her home, while she had no recollection of who he was.

"Andorra," Nohx nearly choked out. The Nohx in front of her, not the one in her memories. "We should get you inside."

He was right. She was freezing to the point of shaking like a leaf. She wanted so many things, too many things, and they all started with being in his arms.

Icewood was her home, but he was right; she wasn't fit to stand in the frozen woods while wearing very little clothes. Her summer attire wasn't cutting it. She gave him a nod, reaching out to him with her hand.

When he took it, Andorra had to stop herself from yanking him closer to give him a kiss. Instead, she let Nohx lead her into the cabin, his free hand shooting out to light the fireplace with his blue flames. Like with Nohx, Andorra took in the cabin as if she were looking at it for the first time.

Her home. She didn't care that it was in the Snow Clan. She didn't care that it being carved from ice made it not quite suited for a Summer fae. She would forever belong in the Snow Clan.

"Sunshine, you're scaring me. Say something, please." Nohx took a step back after dropping her hand. The space between them felt so large that Andorra took a step to close the gap. She knew why he did it, why he held her at a distance.

She slid her hands up to hold his face. "Noah, we're soulmates." Her voice held a note of awe. Her chest was tight, nearly exploding from the love she felt. She let out a sad little laugh, her eyes nearly burning now with tears. "The other night, when I ran from you, it wasn't anything you did. It was because I got the sudden, terrifying idea that you had a soulmate somewhere, and you would fall in love with them. It scared me so much, I ran from you, and I'm sorry. I've been thinking about what my life would be like without you in it, and it has been freaking me out."