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Shortly after the pregnancy was discovered Ashara received a letter from Starfall ordering her to come home, that she had humiliated House Dayne enough. Elia's first instinct was to send a letter in response saying that Ashara was her lady-in-waiting and that she had not been relieved of her duties.
But upon second thought she remained silent, King's Landing wasn't the best place to be at the moment. The comfort that Ashara's presence brought her was valuable but not as valuable as knowing that she would be safe and away from that place.
Ashara was supposed to leave on a boat for Dorne earlier that day, but the sailors said there was a storm coming and that all travel would be postponed until the next day, perhaps even longer. That meant more time in King's Landing, more time in her company.
Storms were dangerous in that part of the kingdom and inevitably caused damage to the poorest population of King's Landing, but Elia decided to see it as a blessing, a few more hours in the presence of her favorite lady-in-waiting, her beloved friend. Ashara asked if she could spend that night in Elia's room so she probably saw the situation the same way.
They lay in bed listening to the sounds of the promised storm starting outside.
“I wonder if it’s raining in Dorne too,” Elia said.
“Maybe it has already rained, and this storm passed through there and came here.”
That would be good, in Dorne the rains are always a blessing.
After a few seconds of silence Ashara said:
“I wish I could stay.”
"You should not. I really envy you, Dorne is much safer than King’s Landing.”
And more than that, as much as she wished she could say the contrary, Dorne was her home in a way that King's Landing never would be.
“I would rather be in danger with you than safe and far away.”
“I know what you mean, but-”
"No, you do not know."
"What do you mean by that?"
Ashara kissed her in response.
“Oh”
“I'm sorry, but it's my last night and I thought if I didn't do this I would regret it for the rest of my life.”
“No need to apologize” Elia said touching her face.
"Really?"
"Yes."
And this time it was Elia who kissed her.
“If I can't stay then go to Dorne with me, let's take your children and run away, please?”
"I can't."
"Why not?"
“We would never be able to escape, and even if I did before I set foot on dry land, Aerys will have already declared war on Dorne and I can't have that. I'm not Rhaegar, I can kiss you but only here and only until the storm passes. I will not make the kingdom bleed because of my desires. Not for you, not for love.”
“Then kiss me now, and don’t stop until there’s sun in the sky.”
And Elia did, and as they kissed they both made the impossible wish that the water would never stop falling from the sky.