Neighboring Lands

So I Really Did That, Huh?

"Who did?" Wind questions while peeking over my shoulder. His eyes scan the unfamiliar group of people on the glossy paper; ears just the same as my own.

A small sniffle leaves me as I try to quail the burning in my throat, a shaky breath after a thick swallow to quell the fire on my throat; fluttering lashes try to disperse the gathering tears. My voice is thick with sorrow as I take in their smiling faces. "Damian. This is his family," a shaky finger traces their faces as I speak. "This is Damian, I met him as a child when he became the knight assigned to keep me safe....he was my first friend, and my first family." His deep gray eyes look up at me, his black hair tousled in the breeze that must have been there when the picture was taken. A wide smile spread across his inviting lips revealing pearly white teeth and complimenting his attractive features; 'did I really just think that?' I muse to myself as my finger brushes over his features once more.

"Stop caressing his face like that, it's weird." Wind gags out.

Letting out a thick chuckle, I move my eyes to his mother, pointing at her. "This was Damian's mother," I point to the woman with mint-colored hair, eyes the same shade. "Her name was Zalena. This here," I point to his older sister who was the spitting image of her mother; "is Aurora. The baby in her arms is Rorum, their youngest sister." The baby had her mother's soft mint hair, yet her father and brother's dark gray eyes. "And finally," I hum, "this is Alocara, his brother; and Tokala, his father." I point to the two others, a man with subtle stubble, and a teenage boy; both looked remarkably like Damian.

"I sort of remember him, mostly because of what I remember about you," Wild hums. "You two were funny. You got me to laugh a few times when we first met."

I giggle thickly and nod, "Yeah, we were two of a kind. Shared a brain and only one of us was allowed to use it at a time."

Warrior snickers, "I take it that he still has the brain."

I laugh, "Yeah. He was buried with it."

Sky raises a brow at me, "That was quite...depressing." I shrug at his response, and that causes him to worry more. "Are you okay?"

"Comedy is my coping mechanism," I state matter-of-factly as I flip to a new picture. This one is simply the flowering tree part of the garden, purple and blue wisteria trees creating a beautiful waterfall of color above the cobblestone walking path. Flowers of all colors dot the lush green grass next to the path. "This was my favorite area of the gardens on my palace grounds."

Hyrule carefully grasps the picture and plucks it from my hold. "I have never seen trees like these before; they're quite beautiful."

I nod, a bright smile on my face, "they're called Wisteria and smell wonderful. Further into this area, there are also pink and white Wisteria dotted in with the purple and blue."

I pick up the next picture, it's a large clearing with a beautiful clear pond. Surrounding it is a gathering of Red Spider lilies stretching as far as the eye can see. "Oh! My mom and dad!" I gleefully showed the picture to all of them. The excitement that was on their faces, besides the confused face that Wild wore; fell to match the look Wild held a moment ago. Wild lets out a snicker once he sees the photograph.

"I was wondering what you meant by that," Wild smirks.

"Please explain," Sky begs.

Twilight raises both of his brows, leaning in slightly to study the picture. "Yeah, I see no one in this picture."

I laugh joyfully, "I'm born from the spider lilies. Technically, from the lilies and the water. A gathering will appear in the water one day, and not long after that a little baby me will be resting on the bed of them, floating in the center of the pond." I wiggle my brows at the group, "feel honored, because those details are technically a royal secret."