Jason inhaled sharply as the ground crumbled away beneath him, and he immediately felt the effect of gravity as he fell from the ledge.

"Jason!" Tempest shouted as he fell.

Right before all of their eyes, Jason dropped and passed their ledge, leaving only Mike and Tempest with a visual as he fell from the rest of the group's line of sight. Thoughts raced through his head as he plummeted, rocks falling past his face and skipping off the rock wall beside him the whole while. Far below, crooked rock formations and jagged walls littered the mountainside, and with each passing millisecond of free fall, Jason couldn't help but wonder.

So this is how it ends? Just... falling off a ledge?

He could make out the individual cracks trailing up the side of the mountain and the veins of ice slowly forming over them, indicating a millennia of erosion on the ancient rock-face. Each rock that sailed past his body as he fell in what felt like slow motion, his body merely holding its place while the rest of the world flew by, spun and danced in the air, almost making him dizzy. His eyes darted to the ground below once more to find that he was barely any closer than he was before, and even a quick blink didn't seem to change that.

With his world slowing to a crawl around him, Jason's mind took the time to flash his entire life before him, and memories of his first day in boot camp quickly surfaced to the forefront of his subconscious. Days of being screamed at to run faster, or crawl faster, or shoot better, shuttered through his eyes like a film, and before he knew it, he could see his first mission. The way the light reflected off the ocean waves as he flew past them in a V-45, weapons at the ready, brought a small feeling of lightness to his chest. As quickly as it appeared, it was gone, replaced by a terrible memory of that same mission, on that same day, and he could see through the sights on his rifle as he placed the cross-hairs on a lone soldier, and pulled the trigger.

The blinding flash of light that immediately followed gave way to a new image, one of his last mission, and the missiles as they soared through the air toward his position. White hot trails of smoke followed the projectiles as they made their way overhead, and he quickly saw himself jumping into the passenger door of a nearby truck as the world around him turned to Armageddon. Fire erupted around him and he witnessed the true power of human hatred as the surrounding city was turned to ash and waste around him.

Just when he thought he could take no more, Jason's mind flashed back to the present, and the rock-face that was now infinitely closer than before. He gasped for one last breath before closing his eyes and exhaling for the last time.

Tempest watched in horror as Jason reached the bottom of the ravine, and even though a sick feeling of twisted guts reeled in her barrel, she could not look away. Neither could she speak, having found that the air in her lungs had long since exited from her screaming as he fell. Her eyes watered as the wind battered them and the rest of her body with its unrelenting force, making her vision blurry and distorted.

However, it was in that distorted, blurry mess that she saw a light. A yellow-white arc of pure light that screeched past her vision so fast that she couldn't tell if it was real or not, but just as fast as it entered her field of view, it was gone, leaving only a gasping group of humans and ponies on the edge, alone.

All of a sudden, Jason was gone, and there was no sign of a body on the mountainside. Tempest glanced back and forth in vain to see if there was even a chance that he'd survived, but much like everyone else, she came up with nothing.

"Where is he!?" Eddie shouted.

"Jason!" Midnight cried.

"Sarge!" Mike followed.

All around her, voices spoke out yet she could not speak. Her lungs burned for air but she could not satiate them. The sick twisting knife in her gut twisted further, and her throat, long since dried of any moisture, burned before she collapsed to her knees.

"No..." She croaked, just barely above a whisper. A whisper that was lost against the howling wind.

"Did you see that light!?" Rebecca shouted.

"What the fuck!?" Eddie screamed, throwing a rock out into the abyss.

He placed his hands on his head and paced, panting for breath all the while.

"No, no, no, no, no, no... What the fuck, where are you, Jay!?" He cried, falling to his knees as well.

"He... he can't be... no..." Midnight whispered, her eyes falling to the floor.

"Sarge!" Mike shouted against the wind, as if his voice alone would drown out the will of nature itself.

"Where is he!? He didn't hit the ground!" Rebecca cried, glancing back and forth across the landscape below.

"I don't... I don't know where... Fuck..." Eddie breathed, tears forcing their way out of his eyes.

He clenched them shut as tightly as he could, but the liquid pain poured out anyways, dripping into the rocks and staining them with his misery.

"Fuck!" Eddie cried, dropping to his elbows and slamming his forehead against the rocks in anger, "FUUUUUUUUUUUCK!!!!!!"

Eddie shouted until his breath was gone and his throat was dry and raspy. All around him, the group descended into similar states of misery. Mike sat down and gasped for breath while his hands shook violently from the pain. Rebecca leaned against the wall and held her head low, while Midnight sat on her haunches beside her, tears streaking out into the short fur of her cheeks.

As she sat the furthest from the group, Tempest only felt an emptiness well in her heart, an emptiness that drowned out the pain and sorrow, and instead replaced them with apathy. Her eyes lost their color, and she gazed down at the landscape below as if it held nothing more than rocks and sand. Even the tears that now stained her cheeks faded from her knowledge, and all she could do was sit upright, her heart hollow, and her withers sagging with the weight of the world crushing down on her once more.

Yet just as the pain finally began to settle in for good, a faint sound rang out through the wind, a sound of wings cutting through the air and finding their way back to the group. A sound of wings that belonged to a particular crimson pegasus as he flew in with precious cargo in his forelegs.

They almost didn't react when Sky flew onto the ledge, their eyes still glued to the rocks and valley below, but as he came to a hover behind them, a new sound caught their ears. Two boots striking the ground, as if dropped from a few feet above, followed immediately by four hooves clopping onto the rocks behind.

Tempest felt something shift, whether it was the air, or her ears flicking back toward the noise, she felt compelled to look away from the drop, and slowly, her eyes traversed toward Sky as he walked over to her. She froze upon seeing Jason right behind him.

"You guys... owe me... big time..." Sky panted, stepping toward the group with a stagger.

"Jason?" Tempest asked, almost refusing to believe that her eyes were telling her the truth.

Immediately, everyone looked up toward the three of them, and a collective gasp filled the air as they all saw Jason with their own eyes.

"Jay!" Eddie shouted, getting to his feet and running over to him.

The rest of the group followed quickly behind, and Jason was tackled to the ground by both Mike and Eddie as they both simultaneously bear hugged him.

"Gah!" Jason managed as he was slammed to the ground.

"You're okay!" Rebecca exclaimed, joining in on the dog pile.

"What happened!?" Midnight asked, also taking up a spot behind him and squeezing Jason's head to her chest.

Jason struggled to respond for a few seconds until they all released their hold on him somewhat.

"You... you can thank Sky for saving me." Jason managed after finding his breath.

All eyes darted to the crimson pegasus in question, who still seemed to be panting, yet blushed slightly at the acknowledgment anyways.

"Well... I mean..." Sky started before Rebecca tackled him to the ground and wrapped him in a tight huh, "Ugh..." He groaned as he was squeezed.

Midnight quickly made her way over to him and hugged him tightly while Mike and Eddie followed behind her.

"Miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiid... you're supposed... to get me... out of... death hugs... not join them..." Sky managed between being crushed by two vice like embraces.

"I know... I just love you so much, big guy!" Midnight replied, fresh tears breaking free from her eyes.

As Sky was assaulted with affection, Tempest took a hesitant step toward Jason. She was still certain that her eyes were deceiving her, and the tall man in front of her was merely a hallucination of her shattered psyche. Jason quickly noticed her approaching, and turned to give her a compassionate look.

"Tempest..." He said.

"You're... Are you... really here?" She asked, taking yet another step toward him, bringing her just a mere foot away.

Jason slowly reached out and cupped her cheek with his hand, parting the soft fur on her face and making her melt into the affection. She leaned forward, resting her head on his hand, and took another step forward until she was nearly standing on his lap. Her eyes screwed shut while tears threatened to claw their way out again, and she quickly wrapped her hooves around his back, pulling him into a tight hug while she moved her cheek to his neck. Her shaky breathes quickly turned into barely more than a whimper, and Jason quickly wrapped his arms around her, feeling his heart ache all the while.

"I... I thought I lost you..." She whispered, tears once more dripping from her cheeks and falling to Jason's chest.

"I'm sorry..." Jason responded, feeling the tears well up in his eyes as well.

"Please... Don't do that ever again... I can't lose you..." Tempest croaked, her sniffles barely choking back the tidal wave of tears she was holding.

"I promise. I won't leave you." Jason whispered, finding himself surprised at how easy the words came out.

"Thank you..." Tempest managed before leaning further into the hug and simply resting there, in his embrace.

"How did you do it!? Where did you come from!?" Eddie asked, taking his turn giving Sky a bear hug.

"I... can't... answer that... with you people... squishing me..." Sky grunted, slowly feeling the life being strangled out of him by tight hugs.

Eddie released his death grip on the crimson pegasus and gave him room to breath.

"Alright, thank you... Okay, as for your questions, I was flying back to tell you guys about a spot I found but you weren't were I left you. You guys just left without saying anything so I've been flying all over the mountainside for the past ten minutes looking for you. I was starting to get really worried when the wind picked up, but then I heard you guys yelling-" Sky explained, after catching his breath.

"Yeah, things... went south pretty quick." Rebecca admitted.

"Right, and just when I was making my way over here along that side of the mountain," Sky continued pointing toward the direction the group had traveled from earlier, "I heard some rocks falling, and when I looked up, I saw the ledge give way. I wasn't sure at first, but when I heard you all start screaming at the same time, I was sure I saw someone falling. Then I just... well, I just put all my power into my wings and flew in as fast as I could."

"So... that flash of light was... you?" Mike asked in disbelief.

"Hehe, you know what, I think it was! I didn't break the sound barrier or anything, but I think I finally figured out what this mark means!" Sky excitedly exclaimed, glancing down at his cutiemark. A bit of static jumped out of the lightning bolt adorning his flank, almost as if to prove his point.

"Oh my gosh, Sky! That's amazing!" Midnight cheered, throwing her hooves around him once more before wincing, "Ouch."

"What's wrong?" Sky immediately asked, having noticed her flinch.

"It's nothing, big guy, just a bit of rope burn." Midnight dismissed.

"Rope burn?" Sky questioned, turning his head to look at her barrel, "Holy shit! What the fuck happened?!" He exclaimed protectively holding onto her and eyeing the burns.

"We had no time and I... kinda got scared. The only option was to tie the rope around me and Mike and just jump for it." Midnight explained.

"You just jumped off the cliff!?" Sky exclaimed.

"We were out of time!" Midnight defended.

"Jesus Christ! You could've fallen to your death! The rope could have snapped, it could have seriously broke some of your ribs, you could have seriously gotten hurt or worse!" Sky continued, frantically searching the severity of Midnight's burns.

"Sky," Midnight said, grabbing him by the muzzle and redirecting his gaze into her eyes, "I'm okay. Trust me, we had no other options. Thank you for caring about me and trying to protect me, but I'm really okay. Honestly." She said, softly stroking her hoof through his mane all the while.

"I just... I promised I wouldn't let you get hurt." Sky dejectedly admitted, his eyes falling to the ground once more.

"Hey..." Midnight whispered, pulling him into a hug, "I'm fine. You did good today... You saved Jason, and you're still taking care of me. Don't you worry about this. I'm a big girl, I've been through worse." She comforted.

"Yeah, you're a hero , dude. You saved my best friend." Eddie added, giving him a friendly pat on the back.

"Thanks..." Sky replied, cheering up slightly.

"We should treat those burns now while we can though." Rebecca chimed in.

"Does anyone have anything for Mid's burn? Like, bandages and stuff?" Sky asked.

"Here, I have some biofoam. This'll help heal the wound and prevent infection." Mike spoke up, pulling a small canister from his pack.

He quickly opened the cap and brought the tip to Midnight's barrel. White foam poured out from the nozzle as Mike went over her barrel, and quick enough, the entirety of the rope burn was covered in a layer of white foam. Next, Mike pulled out a long bandage and wrapped it around Midnight's barrel, forming an "X" pattern on her chest. Once the bandages were all tied off and set, Mike took a step back and smiled.

"Well, you might have a tiny scar after this, but otherwise, you're gonna be fine." He said.

"Oh wow... it... feels really nice," Midnight replied, eyeing the bandage, "Like, it feels warm... but in a good way."

"Yeah, that's probably the painkillers kicking in. You should feel really good for the rest of the night. Biofoam is good shit." Mike shrugged.

"Thanks." Midnight replied, relaxing her head against Sky's neck.

"Looks like we won't we making any more progress up the mountain tonight. The sun's about to set. We should try to make camp here for the night." Mike announced, looking out to the horizon.

"What do you think, Jay?" Eddie asked, looking back to Jason and the mulberry unicorn seated on his lap.

"We'll make camp here for the night. No more climbing today. One close call was enough." Jason replied.

Their decision made, the group quickly moved to assemble their tents and sleeping arrangements. While the sun slowly crawled down it's last stretch on the horizon, the group set up a fire just like the previous night, and soon found themselves sitting around the fire once more and tearing into their MRE's.

Eddie greedily ate his chili mac paste and tried some of the honey Fluttershy had gifted him, while Mike and Rebecca traded their food. Sky and Midnight laid side by side just like the previous night, only the crimson pegasus seemed to somehow be even closer to his wife, and had one wing protectively wrapped around her barrel while he nuzzled her neck and occasionally kissed her cheek. Jason and Tempest sat together at the far side of the fire, and ate their meals in silence, although, from his position, Eddie could easily make out Jason's hand holding onto Tempest's hoof through the entire meal.

"So... we're a bit behind now, aren't we, Sarge?" Mike spoke up after a while of eating in silence.

"Yeah. We were supposed to at least get to the cave today, but I'm not risking any more falls again. At this rate... we'll still make it with almost a month to spare... assuming we all have six months before we die." Jason replied, chewing his cheek in thought.

"We'll get to the island with plenty of time to spare. Don't you worry about a thing." Midnight cheerfully chimed in.

"Heh, here's hoping you're right." Jason shrugged.

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm gonna turn in early. I'm tired." Rebecca suddenly announced, before standing up and making her way over to her tent.

"We should probably get some sleep too." Sky said, glancing back at Midnight.

"Alright, big guy. Let's go to bed." She replied.

Mike yawned, "Ah, you know what, climbing a mountain does kinda take a lot out of you. Sleep sounds pretty good right about now."

"I'm with ya," Eddie said, "Jay, you going to bed soon?"

"I probably will in a bit." Jason replied.

"Still want someone up for the night?"

"With how far up the mountain we are... nah, I think we can all get some sleep tonight. Besides, those lizard dudes would probably freeze to death up here anyways." Jason shrugged.

"Alright. Night." Eddie replied.

"Night."

Mike and Eddie left to their respective tents, leaving just Tempest and Jason alone with the firelight to keep them company on the cold mountainside. For a few minutes, they both just stared into the fire in silence, and absorbed it's warmth. However, eventually, Tempest turned to Jason and bit her lip.

"Hey... Jason?" She asked.

"Yeah?" Jason replied, looking at her.

"When... when this is all over... and you're all safe and sound... are... are you going to leave?" She asked, clearly having difficulty saying the words.

Jason looked at her for some time before looking down into the fire and biting his tongue.

"That's a hell of a question... I mean... I don't even know if we can-"

"Assuming Eddie fixes the radios and you can... would you?" Tempest cut him off.

Jason looked over at the mulberry unicorn sat beside him. His eyes slowly found themselves trailing down to her foreleg and his hand still gently gripping the appendage. It was strange, the feeling of her fur against his gloved hand. It was just enough of a feeling that he could tell what she felt like, but not enough to truly tell for sure. Albeit with some hesitation, he released his grip on her foreleg and grabbed the ends of the glove with his other hand. He pulled the glove off and immediately felt the cold world against his skin. With Tempest watching him the whole time, he brought his ungloved hand over to her cheek and gently brushed his digits through the short, soft fur of her face. The feeling was akin to velvet, and he couldn't help but quietly sigh to himself as his hand parted her fur just enough to slip underneath and touch the silky skin underneath.

Even with the fur... she barely feels different from any human...

Tempest leaned into his touch, finding the gentle stoking motions of his fingers to be enough of an answer to her question, before he spoke, and her ears flicked toward him on instinct.

"If you want me to stay... I think... I'd be okay with that..." He said, taking his time with his words.

Tempest eyed him for a second with complete scrutiny, however, after several seconds of watching him, she could see no signs of deception. His words appeared to be completely genuine. Still, she stared at him for so long that he turned to eye her curiously.

"What? I mean, this planet is beautiful. Earth was just kinda... depressing to be on. Parents were killed by Horizon V terrorists way back, so I've got nothing to go back to anyways. Eddie, Mike, and... well... you... are all I've really got anymore." Jason said, giving a small shrug.

"You really mean that?" Tempest pressed.

Jason looked away from her for a second.

"I do..." He turned back to face her, "If you want me to stay... then I think I'd be oka-" He tried, but he was cut off by the mulberry unicorn pressing her lips against his.

For the second time that day, time seemed to stand still, and Jason's eyes widened in surprise. He was so lost in shock, that for almost an entire second, he sat motionless, however, once he registered the soft feeling of lips against his, he returned the kiss, and placed a hand on the back of her neck to hold her close. He screwed his eyes shut and just focused on the feeling of her lips against his.

Tempest's lips somehow felt even softer than her fur, and through the entirety of the kiss, Jason could only think of how gentle and loving it felt. With her muzzle as short as it was, and her tongue ever so gently teasing his lips, Tempest felt completely human, a thought that bounced around back and forth in Jason's mind, and practically forced him to lean into it further. Their lips parted, just for a split second, only for them to come together again, and the kiss continued once more. The cold world around them faded away as the warmth of their beating hearts quickly flooded them with enough heat to put a furnace to shame.

Jason's hand caressed through Tempest's mane, feeling each individual hair as the deceptively soft bristles danced through his fingers, while his free hand cupped her cheek and pulled her closer. The feeling drove his pulse up and filled his heart with a giddy feeling he couldn't remember ever feeling before.

Each time they pulled away from each other, they only made it an inch away before one of them darted back in to steal one more second of pleasure from the other. Tempest brought her hooves around Jason's neck and held him there while she kissed him over and over again, until the warm feeling in her chest turned to a raging inferno of desire and passion. However, just as soon as it appeared, it was forced to flicker out and die as Jason finally pulled away completely, leaving her with a small quiver to her lower lip, and a sudden fear forming in her soul.

"Sorry..." She whispered, her gaze drifting down to the floor.

"For what?" Jason asked, gently lifting her chin with his thumb and index finger.

"I... I shouldn't have done that." She admitted, glancing away from him.

"Tempest... Don't even think about apologizing for that... that was..." Jason sighed, "It's been a long time since I've felt anything like that." He whispered, a sincere smile on his face.

"But... why did you pull away?" Tempest tilted her head to the side.

"Well... if we're going to commit to this... I'd just like to slow down a little, you know?" Jason said.

"O-oh... I'm sorry, I just... I thought I pushed too hard..." Tempest replied, twiddling her hooves together.

Jason chuckled, "Tempest, I kissed you back. If I thought you were pushing too hard, I would've just pulled away from the beginning."

"Hehe, I guess you're right." Tempest returned the laugh.

"Trust me... Somehow... against everything I've ever known... Everything about that just felt... right... and that is a compliment." Jason pointed out, giving a friendly grin.

Tempest chuckled at his words for a few seconds before falling silent and gazing into the fire.

"So... now what?" She asked.

"Well... since we're both here... do you want to talk about Bellruse?" Jason replied, eyeing her curiously.

"Bellruse... but I thought you said you'd only talk about that if I was... ready..." She trailed off, her gaze once more falling to the floor.

"Yeah... So I'm asking if you're okay with talking about it. I mean... if... we are gonna be together... then I'd like to know more about you." Jason responded, squeezing her foreleg in an encouraging manner.

Tempest sighed before standing up to her full height and taking a few steps away.

"Tempest?" Jason asked, concern weeding into his voice.

"If... If you really want to know... I need to show you." She replied, before biting down on the zipper to her bodysuit and unzipping it fully.

She pulled the suit down with her forelegs, exposing a scar on her neck, just an inch from her jugular, then another on her wither, and another on her back. Once her upper half was free of the bodysuit, she shimmied out of the remaining half and showed her barrel for the first time, and the three massive scars lining the side. Once her hind legs were clear, she stepped out of the bodysuit, displaying the last and most gruesome scars covering her flanks. For a few quiet seconds, she stood by the firelight in front of Jason, her scars on full display.

"What happened?" Jason asked, a sad frown on his face as he took in each scar.

Tempest bit her tongue for a long few seconds before she found the courage to look up at Jason and speak.

"When I worked for the Storm King... I did more than just invade Equestria... I also attacked Mt. Aris..." As she spoke, her eyes watered, and the painful memories resurfaced once more, "I'm the reason the hippogriffs were forced into the sea... I burned their home to the ground and I... I... I killed one..." She finally admitted, her eyes glued to anywhere but Jason.

"You killed someone?" Jason asked, the clearly present pain on Tempest's face making his heart ache in sympathy.

"One of the hippogriffs ran away... We... I... gave the order to pursue... When we got close enough, I took him down myself... these scars are what he did to me before I... I... killed him..." Tempest finished, tears forming at the corners of her eyes.

Jason immediately walked over to her and pulled her into a hug, to which she desperately returned.

"I... I just wish I could take it back..." She whispered.

"I know... I know..." Jason responded, gently stroking her now exposed back.

The soft fur on her body soon gave way to the three ghastly scars on her barrel, and Jason froze as his fingers felt the distinct lack of fur and scarred skin. He felt Tempest go rigid in his arms, before he gently pulled back far enough to see her face.

"Tempest... I don't think anything I can say will ever really make that hurt go away... but if nothing else, I do know what you're going through... You're not a bad pony... You've just been in some bad situations and had to do some bad things... I get that." Jason comforted, giving her a soft look of compassion.

"That... that's not all..." She whispered, drawing a worried look from Jason in the process.

"What else is there?" He asked, his voice a mix of gentleness and concern.

"W-when I returned to the Storm King... as a failure... He... he carved these scars into my flanks... said that's what they meant in his tongue... Failure... I... I'll never be normal..." Tempest continued, tears quickly streaming down her cheeks.

Jason pulled her back into a tight hug and held her tightly.

"Hey... you're not a freak or weird because of those scars..." Jason comforted, "You're one of the most amazing people I've ever met..."

"You... you don't understand... I'll never have a cutie mark... I... I can't fit in anymore... I'll always just be the evil, scarred, deformed, monster in Equestria." Tempest croaked, her tears now forming two distinct streaks on her cheeks.

"You are not a monster... you are not evil. Tempest, I don't really know much about 'cutie marks', but for all the time I've known you, you've shown that you're one of the most capable and smart people I've ever met... Whatever you believe about yourself because of your past... you don't have to anymore. I never got to know the old Tempest, but I do know you... and you're amazing." Jason replied, stroking his hand through her mane.

"How can you... be so sure about that? How can you look at... this," Tempest replied, gesturing to her scars, "And not be disgusted?" She questioned with a disbelieving tone of voice.

"Because I'm no better." Jason softly replied.

Tempest stopped in her tracks, "What?" She asked, looking at him with a mix of confusion and fear.

Jason replied by simply taking off his armor. He slid the forearm armor off before the shoulder and bicep armor, finishing with his chest piece. Once all the pieces except his lower half's armor was laid out in front by the fire, he unzipped the front of his bodysuit, exposing his muscular chest, abdomen, and the large scar running across. Tempest gawked at the sight of both his body and his scar, before his voice took her attention once more.

"When we were in Bellruse, on the way back from taking out the shield generators, my bird was shot down... A piece of steel ripped through the door and impaled me right here," He explained, pointing to the massive scar between his naval and his ribcage, "I was knocked out in the crash, but when I woke up, everyone around me was dead... I pried myself out of the ship and managed to pull the steel out... filled the hole with some biofoam and continued on mission. I hiked for six hours behind enemy lines, managing to stay out of sight, before I came to a tiny little town..."

Tempest felt her eyes growing misty as he told his story, and for a second, she was sure she heard a waiver to his voice.

"When I got into that town, I only had a few seconds to seek shelter before the bombing began... but I was spotted... Poor kid couldn't have been more than sixteen... just dragged into the war like everybody else... and I shot him... He screamed and I shot him dead, right there. Kid didn't even get a chance to shoot back..." Jason trailed off, his eyes downcast.

"Jason..." Tempest whispered.

"Next thing I knew, the entire world blew up around me... The bombing started, and all I had for cover was a little truck, so I jumped in there, and I curled up into the tightest little ball I could while they brought hell to Horizon... I don't think I've ever been so scared..." He trailed off again.

"Do you... ever have nightmares about it?" Tempest asked, cautiously.

"Almost every night... I still see his face... It'll probably haunt me until the day I die..."

Tempest grabbed him and hugged him as tightly as she could, much to his surprise.

"Tempest?" Jason asked with concern.

"I... heh, here I was thinking I was the only one who had it bad... I'm so sorry you had to do that..." She whispered, before burying her muzzle into his neck and nuzzling her cheek against him.

"Heh, I guess we've both just done some bad things in our lives, haven't we?" Jason asked, giving in to the hug and wrapping his arms around her barrel.

"I guess so... Still... are you sure you want to stick around a monster like me?" She asked, still squeezing him tightly.

"Only if you can stand being around a monster like me." He replied, once more stroking her back.

"I think I can do that." She whispered.

"Then so can I." He replied.

For some time after that, they simply held each other. The feelings of pain and regret slowly washed away, and instead, a new feeling took their place. A feeling blossomed in both of their hearts and warmed them against the cold mountain air. A feeling that neither one had truly felt before in their entire lives, yet somehow, at that exact moment, it was the only thing that they needed.

Author's Note

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdByRJLrvYQ