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"I will return as quickly as I am able," Miri murmurs against his chest. Gale's arms tighten a fraction more around her.
"Take the time that you need, my love," Gale reassures her softly, speaking into her hair.
In truth, he's not eager to let her go - to be gone for who knows how long. This is the first they'll have been apart since the start of their travels towards Baldur's Gate.
Miri is returning to the High Forest to reconnect with her pack. Temporarily, of course. But she has to make the journey and locate her family within the rather large expanse that is the forest. She's promised Gale that will be the easy part of the journey, but he's not entirely convinced. The Savage Frontier is named that for a reason - the forest stretches across hundreds of miles...
"I am not eager to leave," she mumbles, nuzzling her face against him.
Gale returns the gesture, breathing in her scent as he feels the soft strands of her hair against his cheek. (Honey, pine, and a sweet, earthy, floral musk he adores.) As if he can memorize every part of her with just a moment longer.
"Nor am I for you to go," Gale returns softly, squeezing her ever closer. Hardly a breath of space between them, yet never close enough. "Though I know it's something you must do."
His hand soothes up and down her back. He can feel some of the rougher, raised ridges of her scars through the soft fabric of her tunic and it makes his stomach clench.
He's been dreading this trip for weeks. But with the weather finally growing clear again, there's no better time for her to take the journey.
The hard part for Miri will be winning re-acceptance. She's been in exile for years - and while she doesn't expect to ever be reintegrated into the pack, she is hoping to at least win an honorable exile. If she does, she'll be able to maintain contact with her siblings and packmates.
And they'll be able to visit every now and then if she succeeds. Miri is most eager to take Gale to the High Forest (and he, of course, is eager to visit). To see ruins, and mountains, fey creatures and the land where she grew up. Truly wonders unimaginable to those from the outside.
The silence lingers between them as they stay locked in the safety of this embrace. Listening to one another's heartbeats, synchronized with the traces of anxiety that tugs at them.
Miri won't say much about what it entails to win such a title. But Gale already knows it will be difficult and bloody, given what little he knows of the culture of her pack.
"I have the sending stones," Miri assures him (or her, perhaps). "And Corvus will make the journey with letters when the path is short enough."
Miri tucks ever closer against him, her arms banding around his waist. She's long since memorized his scent - and it will lead her home again. But being away from his side is a hardship she'd never anticipated when they talked all those months ago about her returning to her pack.
They're both looking forward to the reunion already.
And this hug could never be long enough.