When hearts meet

Chapter 2 ~ Reunited

Fiona, the little girl he still held in his arms as he landed, the sand in the garden rising up, started smiling immediately. She clearly knew the female in front of him. He carefully placed her on the ground, folding his massive wings tightly against his broad back. "She told me she was lost," he said to the beauty standing a few feet away.
Her eyes met his, and his heart stopped for just a second. "Ciana?"

It couldn't be her. No, it just wasn't possible. But yet, the woman in front of him felt so safely familiar. He recognized that scent even in his dreams. Lilies and bonfires.

"Great cauldron, it is you!"
A smile spread across his face, as he recognized his friend. "Gods above, it's been ten years!" She stared at him, her head tilted to the right, more animal than fae. She was quiet, utterly quiet. Then she spoke, words laced in doubt and surprise. "Brion, is that you?"

~

She didn't know where to look. To Fiona, the girl who had mysteriously ended up in Velaris, or to her old and best friend she had ever had, and then lost.
He had changed so much over the years, that she almost hadn't recognized him. All her thoughts left her mind, her body acted on its own, as she threw her arms around him.

Within seconds, her soft body was pressed against his. Her nose nestled in his neck, her arms around his waist. "God, I missed you," she whispered. "Same here," he replied. He pulled back a little, staring her in the eye. "You grew up to be a true beauty, Ana." She tensed a little. She was about to say something, when a sharp cough was heard from behind them.

Rowan had watched them from a distance, had recognized the male the moment he appeared through the portal. Rhysand and Feyre's son.
He had let them, until they had become too close.
"What's going on here," he said sharply, his pine green eyes focusing on the winged male, his broad arms crossed.

"Dad, it's Brion! He has returned!"
The happiness in his daughter's voice warmed his heart, calmed him down a little. "Good to see you again Brion. It's been a while. What are you doing here?"

Oh, Ciana knew that look in her father's eyes. But she was too consumed with emotions to react or care. She almost jumped up and down, and had to contain herself. She wouldn't want to make a damned fool out of herself, just yet.

Ciana's turquoise eyes shot towards the deep midnight voice she had pushed behind a door she didn't know she had created over the past ten years.

"This little girl here," Brion said, as he caressed Fiona's cheek. "She sat in front of a bakery in Velaris, totally lost. She told me she was from here, so I decided to bring her home."

"That's very kind of you."

Aelin smiled bright, walked towards her savior's son and pulled him into a hug. "You've been away for way too long." "I agree," he said smiling, looking at Ciana. She blushed in the moonlight and Aelin held back a laugh. "Why don't you two go inside, catch up. Rowan and I shall see to it, that this little portal traveller finds her way back to her worried parents."

Ciana saw how her father wanted to interfere, probably to say he was gonna stay with her, to keep an eye on Brion But her mother, thank the gods above, pulled him with her. She smiled at her mom, as Aelin shot a quick glance behind and winked at her.

"Walk with me," Ciana said to the winged male. Brion immediately fell into place beside her, his frame towering over her. He had definitely grown a lot.
They walked through the royal gardens, towards the castle. It was a chilly night, autumn being so close.