How utterly bewildering it all was, the way that life could change in one pivotal moment. To say that it was almost enough to have the blue-eyed blonde trying to figuratively catch her breath was a vast understatement the more that she allowed herself to think about it. Then again, how was she supposed to not think about it? Everything seemed to change for her in the span of a single night and it was more than she was used to, so much faster that she'd ever imagined possible. For three long and tear-filled years, the fae woman had done nothing but try to survive each day and night that passed her by. Back at her parents' home in Willowhaven, the one place that had always been a sanctuary for her since she'd been a child, time seemed to be some strange force that both slowed down and sped by in the same swift moment. Those sleepless nights would feel as though they'd last an eternity. Those eyes of clear summer skies blurred by heartache and despair would stare hopelessly, helplessly, up at the silent moon and her glittering companions. How she remembers pleading with that ever-silent night sky for some semblance of peace, asking that they steal away the heaviness settled so heavily upon her very soul that she might be spared just a moment of weightlessness, free of the memories that would find her unbidden when she only wanted to forget everything... On those nights, it felt like endless darkness, the ghosts of her past like whispered shadows stalking the outskirts of her consciousness, lying in wait for her to slip into a broken and fleeting slumber. The days would seem to last just as long, one seeming like three as time very nearly seemed to toy with the fae woman as she desperately tried to move on from the life she'd had and lost. Even when there wasn't the smallest wisp of cumulus to hide the sun's shining face, she could hardly feel any warmth upon her fair skin like she once did before she'd become what she was now. Her world had slowed down, left her seemingly stuck in limbo, caught between existing and not. For so long, it felt as though for every step forward she would take, she would stumble back by two or three. Just when she'd think that she would finally begin to start moving forward with the life she now had to lead, she would see those predatory hazel eyes in the back of her mind, hear that achingly familiar voice smooth as black velvet echo from the deepest parts of her soul she'd tried time and time again to bury so far down within herself with futile hope that they couldn't find her again...

In those moments, another crack in those walls she'd built around her heart would appear, and she would feel the trickle of everything she was running from slowly seeping back into her. No matter how hard she would try to forget everything, forget him it would start pooling around her all over again.

Now, after that one night, here she was... that sense of time seemingly restored to the fae woman after so many years living in a place where that shift so often unnoticed by the world. Those endless days and nights felt so far away, further than they ever had since the day she'd lost her mortality, since everything changed and the world she once lived in shattered completely around her feet. For the first time in so long, she doesn't feel as though her demons were lurking in every alleyway or crevice of her innermost thoughts. And, although she was still wary of the world, unsure of the unfamiliar faces that might linger nearby too long or the feeling of some unknown gaze set upon her for more than she'd like, there was a subtle certainty in her steps that hadn't been there since she'd perished and been reborn. To think that she'd needed only to open up the very parts of herself that she'd been trying to vanquish and free herself from for the rest of her immortal life... Had she known before where her fate would lead her to, perhaps she might have allowed herself to fall into those emotions she'd once considered locked away and the key lost so far within that there had be no hope of retrieving it. Maybe she wouldn't have fought so desperately for what now - and even then - felt like nothing, spent so much time trying in vain to run from the one thing she'd unknowingly needed. In the days following that night she'd spent with Andras, she'd had time to reflect on all this, and while she was truthfully still trying to adjust to everything, from the past and now the present as well, it still felt as though she was finally beginning to remember what it felt like to be, well, happy. She'd nearly forgotten the feeling, really. Not all her days before returning to the city had been dark and hopeless, that much she most definitely had Ellie to thank for. The honey-blonde huntress had been there to see the fae woman through those darkest moments, helped Lani to keep her head above those raging waters which had so often threatened to drown the blue-eyed. Her best friend had been nothing short of a savior, a shining and radiant light in what had been a bleak world of black and white. And yet, even those days where Ellie had kept Lani from falling apart completely, the fae woman hadn't felt so... hopeful for what was to come. Only about a week and a half ago, Lani had been taking it one day at a time, all for fear that she would find herself as lost and stumbling for something steady under her feet as she'd been before deciding to return to Sacrosanct with the honey-blonde woman with eyes of early morning frost. She'd been metaphorically holding her breath, looking anxiously around each and every corner, just waiting for something to go horribly wrong and send her back down that spiral she had always been just one fragile moment away from falling uncontrollably into. Still, she finds herself asking if this was real, worried that she might wake up to find that it had all been some cruel dream. Had the sun ever truly felt this warm? Was there really a time before her change that the air had tasted this sweet? Were the colors surrounding her now always this vibrant and she simply hadn't been able to see until just recently?

Walking through the cobblestone streets of the northern district, echoing within the soft beating of her heart, there's a voice that tells her this wasn't just a dream, that this was how life had once been for her and could be again. The fae woman smiles softly to herself then, and this time, it was real.

The weather today was pleasant, and it was because of this that Lani had decided to leave the comforts of her home and wander the city streets. Having chosen one of her favorite pairs of blue jeans, a white long-sleeve shirt peeking out from beneath her unzipped brown leather jacket, the plaid scarf Ellie had given her, and brown boots, she was dressed just warmly enough for this overcast afternoon. Every now and again, the sun would break through the clouds, sunlight dancing in elegantly curled golden blonde hair and warming fair-skinned cheeks as she walks past the rows of name brand clothing stores and boutiques. She wonders for a moment if perhaps she should buy herself something nice, an outfit that Andras wouldn't know about until the next time he saw her. The fae man had provided her an entire wardrobe upon giving her the job of curator at the museum she hadn't known him to be the owner of. Then again, three years had in fact passed since Lani was last here in the city. So many things could change in that amount of time, that much was no less true despite how little had changed between the him and the fae woman...'Maybe I should look into a new suit for work'... That would be the practical thing, right? She'd been distracted with her thoughts, walking past yet another boutique filled with designer ensembles, that Lani hadn't noticed the other person until she'd very nearly collided into him. She turns her head just in time to see the man, jolting to a halt, dark lashes blinking over baby blue eyes glittering with startled surprise as they meet his warm, chocolate gaze and charming smile."Oh my gosh! I'm s-so sorry, I didn't see you there", she stammers softly, her voice like silver bells in a summer breeze. She can feel warmth flush over her cheeks in sheepish embarrassment as she studies his strong physique. She takes note of how well-groomed he seemed, a rather distinguishing amount of facial hair complimenting his chiseled jawline. There was a kindness within his gaze, a gentleness that she couldn't say she'd had the privilege of seeing in many others in Sacrosanct, so many entirely consumed in their own agendas or absorbed wholly by their tasks at hand that they only seemed to walk about with a cold sense of purpose or disinterest. He was well dressed, fitting almost perfectly into the upper-class crowd that frequented this part of Sacrosanct, but what surprises her most in that moment was the delicate point of his ears and the scent that wrapped around his masculine build. Another fae!? Despite the supposed scarcity of their race, it seemed that even before she'd been turned, the blue-eyed blonde somehow found them more than any other being. Gently lifting a slender hand to brush away a stray strand of blonde hair that had tumbled over her face when she'd had to nearly take a step back to keep from bumping into the perfect stranger before her, she lingers there. Should she just step aside, apologize once more, and go about her wandering? Would he be upset with her lack of attentiveness? Only this stranger knew the answer to the second question that brushes against the fae woman's thoughts as she looks shyly up to him, waiting and uncertain of what she should say or do now.