Years in the Heart

Three weeks later...

After three weeks of talking, healing, and rest. Fluttershy decided she was ready to give walking a try.

"Ollwight, gud, guod..." Willow helped Fluttershy balance herself as she attempted to walk. Her legs shakes only a little as she put her body to the test. She was content with doing this. Fluttershy knew that her friends must have been worried sick about her. But for some reason though, she wasn't as worried about her friends' concerns as she should have been. Step. She looked at Willow who watched in case she were to fall. Steps. He decided to take a risk and allow Fluttershy walk by herself. Stepping. She let her strength continue to grow as she exercised her newly returned legs.

"It's so wonderful to be able to walk again!" Her voice cheerfully sang as she began to trot. "Oh Willow I'm feel like I co- ahh!" She marched over an edge. Her hopeless body was thrown into a tumble down a slope. She felt her head spinning. Fluttershy dared not spread her wings to fly since they were still not in any shape to do so…

"Gotchya!" The spinning stopped. Fluttershy looked up and tried to focus her eyes on her savior. Willow's big brown eyes stared back at her. Face to face, as he held her. He flapped his wings faster to adjust for the weight change. "Yoo shud be moor cayrful neks tyme." His voice, it was absent of anger, or scowl. It was relief. Sweet sweet relief. Both his tone and her thoughts. Relief. His stutter seemed to never go away in her head. Yes, it translated, but its tempo and illiteracy remained the same. It was beautiful imperfection. Some distant memory of a lesson she had learned from her friend Discord. Nothing is perfect, so relish in the beauty of imperfection. It was his voice. Just his voice was imperfect, and that was all. He was kind, but afraid, maybe, he was afraid that he would be judged for his speech. She didn't care about that. Fluttershy had just noticed his grasp around her. She felt safe, and he, Willow, was her protector.

"Thank you." She gave him a light peck on the cheek. To her amusement, Willow's face had turned into a cherry ready to burst. A certain look overcame him then. His eyes lost their happiness. He flew back up the slope and carefully set Fluttershy down on the grass. "Willow?" He began to walk back to the little house that was a short distance away. "Will?!" He stopped. "Willow, what's wrong?" Sniffles echoed in whispers across her ears. "Will..." Her voice trailed off as she regained her wobbly feet and walked over to him. "Please." Fluttershy raised her wing and stretched it across his back. Finally he unveiled his face, ablaze with burning tears. Not literally on fire, but they might as well have been. His old brown eyes were bloodshot and shaky.

"Yoo gotta go nou," he cried, "yoo shud go bak too ya frens." He whimpered. He turned was about to run until Fluttershy threw her wait on top of him to stop him.

"Willow, wait. We can still see each other… I can visit you, and you can visit me." Why, she thought, was he over reacting?

"No." His voice turned bitter. "I cant leev, an yoo cant stay." What did he mean? "It no fare!!!" He cried again. He can't go, and she can't stay. What did all this mean? She wanted to be able to see him. Willow was her new friend, maybe more, so why wasn't she allowed to come back if she left?

"Willow? What are you saying?" Before she could continue, another voice came towering over the both of him.

"HE WILL DIE IF HE LEAVES, AND YOU WERE NEVER WELCOME HERE." A tall white timberwolf with glowing violet eyes stood behind them. Willow stared up and was met by a gentler response. "Go inside your house, son." Nodding his head, Willow obeyed and solemnly walked back inside his little home. The white timberwolf redirected its attention to Fluttershy. Tears trailed down its alabaster wooded cheeks. "You, have doomed my son."

"W-what" Fluttershy felt her heart sink into her chest.

"I acted as his mother, when he was alone. I raised him as if he were one of my own pups, but now, he is sure to die." The she wolf shook her head. "I guess it was my fault as well. It was my sons that chased you here in the first place." Silence was all…

Silence...for the damned. But, who was the damned.

"I'm sorry." Fluttershy nervously walked up to the white mother who was so distraught. To her surprise, she felt a wooden paw bring her into an embrace.

"I suppose I owe you an explanation." She wiped away her sappy tears.

"Why did you say Will was going to die?" Fluttershy looked briefly to see that Willow peek through one of the windows of his home, then he turned away.

The white timberwolf sighed. "Perhaps I should introduce myself first. I am mother Elm. I am the mother of the timberwolves in this part of Equestria. Yes, there are more like me, but they aren't as kind. The timberwolves that chased you, those were my sons. Sweet little pups they were, but like all of their brothers before them their natural instincts began to kick in. Fortunately Willow was able to save you. You are lucky you had gotten that far into the forest. If you hadn't well...

"This place is very special. Before the Everfree forest grew over the area, it was the resident area of a unicorn, Starswirl. A genius, he was, but also a fool. He just didn't know how to let go... His wife, a pegasus, even though she was a barren peasant, ridiculed by society, Starswirl loved her. And, when she was dying of a rare disease, he had it in his mind to save her. He cast a spell and enchanted this place. A protective force of magic covers all this, even you now. This place can heal anything, but the disease only stayed away if his wife remained inside the force. Why do you think your wounds healed so fast? Anyway. Starswirl kept his wife in the bubble. An added effect, his wife never aged. The fool, his spell was flawed. His wife, could only cease to age while she was in the bubble. One day she wandered too far out of the circle... It was horrible... All her years, all at once...returned. Starswirl only found her gold wedding band on top of a pile of dust, ash, and clothes. And Willow..."

Tears, made of sap, soiled the white grains of her face.

Fluttershy gasped, water came to relieve her eyes of a dreadful pain. "How long has Willow been here?"

Silence chained up the poor mother who now was faced with the terrible curse that time cast on her adopted son. "Nearly seven hundred years." She closed her eyes and shook her head. "He was just a colt when I found him. He did grow, to maturity, at least. But no cutie mark." Fluttershy turned and faced the house. "He's been alone for so long, and I think you know. After being mostly alone for seven hundred years...he loves you. Just for the brief company. He loves you. And, I am glad you are the last person he will ever see while he's alive."

"Why?" Yes, Fluttershy thought, why?

"Because, I think in your heart, you love him too." Elm smiled.

"But-," she stopped. Her heart ached and fought against what she was about to say. "I do, but why? I've only known for few weeks, but, it feels like..." She trailed off. Fluttershy was baffled. How long...

"Time is different here. It's been longer than you thought." A vain smile dared touch Elm's wooden cheeks. "Three weeks...three years actually.”

Fluttershy almost died in heart. Three years… Taken. Lost. “But, I-I-”

“You haven’t lost those years though. You just forget how to remember them. It’s like at the end of a day, you can’t recall all of the events that happened, but they did.” Elm shook her head. “I’ve been watching you and Willow.”

“Why do I love him?” Fluttershy begged at last. The burning in her heart was dying to get out. A long lost sensation that she had almost forgotten about, but what was that? Who am I? Who is he? Why doesn’t anything make sense? Pain, why pain?! Why now? What is happening? She clasped her head as she tried to stop the red hot knives from digging deeper into her mind.

“Stop.” At the raise of Elm’s paw, all of Fluttershy’s pain had vanished. “You must focus.” Fluttershy took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “Good. Now, try to remember a good feeling.” Fluttershy listened to Elm and channeled her thoughts toward the first thing that came to mind, warmth. “Imagine the feeling as a door, open it.” Fluttershy stepped through the door.

She saw past the door into a room.

Willow’s living room?

Snow, outside the window...winter. Wait this all was familiar.

“Will!!!”

Was that her? She watched as her forgotten memory returned.

“Jyes...I heerre.” Willow came running in with a blanket which he wrapped around both himself and Fluttershy as they sat in front of the burning bonzire tree.

The way he said that word, “Jyes.”

It was so cute…

“I’m sorry i’m such a burden. You probably have more important things to deal with than me.” Fluttershy buried her face in her legs trying to warm them up.

“Wut cud be moor i’portant then an angelz?” Willow pulled her closer; he wrapped her up in his wing.

“You’re so nice…” Fluttershy blushed.

Why was he so nice? As they cuddled up under the blankets,

Fluttershy got to thinking, she wanted to be there…

“Fluthersigh?” Willow asked.

“Yes?” Her muffled voice came from between her fore legs.

“Dere iz sumtin, I wonna tel yoo.” His voice, so calming.

Tell the truth, please…

Fluttershy shuffled a bit next to Willow, trying to get warmer. “Go on.”

“I jus wonnded ta say,” he breathed, deep, “I wreally like yoo.”

Oh Willow…

Really?

Fluttershy was lost in the moment as she watched herself nuzzle into Willow’s neck.

She wanted him back...the real him. She wanted him now.

Why was it so cold?

“But where there is life, there is also-” Elm stopped. “I think you know.” Elm raised her paw to wipe away Fluttershy’s cascading tears. “The magic in this place is almost gone. Your presence here used it up.” Elm looked to the sky. Its light was fading in more ways than one. “But, I suppose, this would have happened eventually with Willow by himself. The time would just be longer.” Fluttershy looked up at Elm. “Well, at least this way...he won’t be alone.” With that, Elm turned away and left Fluttershy alone with the fading sky.

Sky, why? Why do you let the light fade? Why did you let this happen? Why does Tragedy take life today? Why did this happen? Why was Willow doomed to die when she had just met him, when she had just learned she loved him? Run…

Fluttershy ran back to the house. Before she could even make it to the door, it burst open. Willow put his wings to the test as he sped towards Fluttershy. The light faded all around. It was fading fast. The vibrant green grass was becoming dull. Flowers died. Old flowers, that had lived for so long were dead. Willow saw but kept going, flying, his words, clear but choked by tears. “Before Ah die…” He grabbed a hold of Fluttershy. “I love you.” His wings lifted both of them into the air. Fluttershy cried into his shoulder as the rest of the magical oasis died. Even Willow’s home, collapsed.

“Will, I-I-” She had to tell him. The years were stolen, but by Faust she had to tell what truth was left. “I love-” She stopped. Here he was. It was wrong but right. Closer. He was going to die, but this would be his last moment. Eyes. Fluttershy stared up into his shimmering eyes. There it was again, hope.

“Evwythin will be owright.” Willow said. “I cant fly fowevor.” That is right. And as soon as he touched the ground, all his years would return, and his body would give up the ghost. “Can Ah at leest hav uh kiss goobye?” His words, sunlight. Tears. Why Tragedy, why?

“If it’s alright with you…” She couldn’t beat that habit, permission. Fluttershy cursed at herself. Permission be damned right now!

“Jyes.” Leaning in…

How sweet it was. Never, had anything felt like this. Passion. Purely blind passion. It felt amazing. Freedom. To just live for this moment, and forget about what happens when they touch the ground again, it was a moment all crave, but rarely find. Blind passion. She felt like it was weeks, but knew, Fluttershy knew she had known Willow for years… Nothing in common, what kind of love is that? Then again… How did the studious Princess Twilight fall in love with the simple minded guard known as Flash Sentry? How was Princess Celestia,the element of harmony, able to find love in Discord, the spirit of chaos, how? Nothing’s perfect. But this moment… It would last beyond death.

Fluttershy screamed with inflamed tears of anguish as she felt herself slipping out of Willow’s arms, back towards the ground.