[SRP] A Surprise Reunion (See Inside) fin

[tefla]

Gaston almost backpedaled in sudden fear. His thoughts raced as the name of the mare who spoke his name came to mind. Oh gods no. Why now of all times had his past come back to haunt him? Gaston stood stock still as the mare's voice washed over him. How had she come to be here? Why had she come to be here? The blindfold that covered his eyes felt even more constricting against his damaged eyes but he did not need to see the one that spoke to remember what she looked like.

In his mind a picture emerged of the last time that he had seen this particular mare. She had stood before him: a pale brown coat with a soft white stripe down her nose and expressive brown eyes that always seemed to see right through him. The moment had been when she'd turned down his offer to attend that disastrous beach party that had been his undoing.

It was almost a silent whisper as his lips moved to form her name. It came out soft like a breeze that would ruffle one's mane.

"B'Elanna."

It was then that he registered the clattering of rocks that came from before him. He could feel a body standing before him and he visibly swallowed nervously before his ears pricked forward. It was at times like this that his sense of hearing worked in overdrive to compensate the loss of his sight.  

[tefla]

This couldn't be happening, could it? He could not be standing right in front of her. B'Elanna almost believed these thoughts as her eyes clenched shut tightly to block out the sight of the burly stallion that she had spent so long searching for. Of course that illusion was shattered when Gaston's voice spoke her name. Her hooves had carried her to stand just before the stallion and B'Elanna noted the strange scrap of fabric that covered his eyes.

It was so absurd that she should literally run into Gaston when she was last expecting it. The mare almost backed away from what she could not decide was either a nightmare or a dream. How long had she spent traveling for just this moment to occur?

Slowly, and watching Gaston's every minute muscle twitch, Belle was uncertain on what her next action should be. Her eyes narrowed once again on the scrap of fabric that covered his eyes. Why would he consent to wear such a thing? Why would he hide his brilliant green eyes? Her gaze picked out other marks that had not been present before Gaston had left. Slowly and very tentatively Belle spoke, her voice barely a whisper.

"Gaston what happened to you?"
 

[tefla]

Seeing that there was some sort of history between B'Elanna and Gaston did Lyrical Sky wisely take a step back before ushering Comet away from the scene playing out as well. Her hooves struck a loose rock and she awkwardly cleared her throat when both B'Elanna and Gaston craned their necks around to glance at her. It was fair to say that only one of the duo actually saw her but the uni sighed before speaking loudly enough for both of the Soquili to hear her.

"I'm nearby if you need anything. Gaston, you should be careful with things. B'Elanna, I know that we've only just met, but I'll politely ask that you don't stress my patient too much."

Whether or not it was right to say that or not, Lyrical wasn't concerned. However she was not going to reveal what ailment of the burly stallion that she was treating if he so did not wish her to. Clearly it was a given that he wanted to keep his condition from being discovered.  

[tefla]

The fact that he could still sense B'Elanna's presence gnawed at Gaston. He wanted nothing more than to either chase the mare away or run away himself. How could fate have been so cruel to as to have led her here, to this place, this time. Why couldn't she had found him before the grievous injustice had been done to his beautiful face? Maybe he would have never crossed Kumiho's path if he had already been reunited with Belle. Upon hearing the rocks clatter in the distance and Lyrical's advice to both him and Belle did Gaston lower his head in a mild form of agreement to the uni's words before swinging his unseeing gaze back to where he believed B'Elanna was standing. The faint breeze that came from another horse's breathing had Gaston correcting his slight error before grimacing.

His brain worked fast to try to come up with a suitable answer to the query that B'Elanna had posed of him before shaking his head. He sounded bitter as he spat out a response to the mare, "what hasn't happened to me? I've not been nearly buried alive in a cave, nor not nearly been pricked to smithereens by roses ... nor not nearly frozen and left for dead because this place is so much more colder than back home. Is that what you want to hear Belle?"

He grit his teeth together, "luckily Lyrical Sky found me and has been treating my various injuries and nursing me back to health," and here he paused before he revealed the worst injury he had sustained before a crease appeared in his expression, "What are you doing here Belle? I thought you made your intentions clear back in the land we once called home. Why did you come here?"  

[tefla]

Hearing Lyrical's words about how Gaston was a patient was unnerving. What treatment would he have been receiving for his ailments? She merely looked back at the unicorn mare before nodding to show that she understood what was being asked of her. Once Lyrical Sky was out of sight B'Elanna had taken to carefully watching Gaston's movements. He was just as she remembered from before but it seemed as if something had mellowed out his behavior. Although as he turned to face her, a little nagging worry sparked to life inside as she made note of the minor correction he made so it appeared as if he were gazing directly at her.

The moment of concern faded though as he began to rail back his response to the question that she had asked only moments later and she visibly shrank back to each supposed injustice he had had to face since coming here. It was not exactly a lot of injustices but there was a small part of her that actually pitied Gaston's bad run of luck since he had arrived here. She gave a nervous swallow as he suddenly seemed to deflate before he posed a question that she thought she had been ready to answer. Instead B'Elanna turned her head away from him, almost ashamed with herself.

Plucking up what was left of the diminishing amount of courage she was beginning to sputter out a response before she blurted out, "I came here because I missed you," she lowered her head so that she was speaking to the ground instead of directly to Gaston's face, "is that what you wanted to hear? That I missed you so much that I had to follow you. That I felt so bad after hearing what happened to you at that beach party. Is that what you want to hear? Gaston, I can't begin to fathom what sort of emotions went through me that night that you ran ... but ... I maybe waited a few weeks and when you didn't return... I began to worry about you. I waited one week after that before I left our home to track you down. And here you are."

B'Elanna felt a stirring of relief that she had finally achieved the one goal that she had set out to accomplish but the other idea she had been thinking of flew out the window as she took in the battered form that was the childhood stallion friend of old. Deep in her heart, she already knew that he would refuse to return home with her ... but she could not help but ask, "Gaston, if I asked it of you, would you come back home? With me? For me?"
 

[tefla]

Oh, and there was the crux of the whole reason that it seemed Belle had tracked him down. She wanted to take him back to their home. He snorted angrily before muscles gathered in his haunches and he made to rear up before he quelled the motion. It would do possibly more harm to him to rear and attempt to drive off Belle for just those last few words that she had spoken to him.

"You waited ... three weeks before coming after me," his voice was incredulous. "Why did you bother to then come after me at all?"

He had been stung that it took Belle that length of time to begin to worry about his well being. At the last words that she had spoken though, as soft as endearing as they were Gaston merely shook his head.

"I can't go back. There's nothing back there for me. Besides until Lyrical Sky stops treating me, I should remain here for continued accessibility. I'm sorry Belle, but you've come all this way it seems for nothing."  

[tefla]

The anger ... it was back in Gaston's voice as he responded to her. B'Elanna bit back the retort that she had been forming on her lips before she heard what it was that Gaston was telling her in response to the last questions that she had asked of him. The abject feeling that something was deeply wrong with Gaston had her frame tremble for a moment before she merely dipped her head in response to his words.

"I guess I understand why you need to stay," and then an idea sprang to her mind before she quickly turned away from the stallion. Her voice, firm and full of absolute conviction, rose to encircle the stallion that she had come to find, "I won't go home. Not if it is without you. You were the reason I left and now that I found you, there's no reason to return. My home will forever be where you are."

B'Elanna let the meaning of her words enter Gaston's mind before she nodded, this time more to herself than anything, before adding, "I'm leaving you for today but understand I'm going to keep coming back. You may not understand why, but if you think about it, the answer may occur to you, in time. So for now Gaston, farewell."

With that B'Elanna spun around and went to go look for the unicorn mare that had brought her here. She had a request to make of Lyrical Sky and it would do well for her to give Gaston time to pick apart what it was that she had been silently trying to tell him.