The early rays of the sun were entering her window, reflected brightly off of the snow on the ground outside. She could not think of anything left to do to put this off, and she would simply have to take the leap and hope that everything worked out. Nervously, she left her room and went down the hall to the room that smelled heavily of her Commander, hesitating just outside it. It was early, and she did not want to wake anyone with her trivial problems, but she did not want to break her nerve now, not when she was so close. It wasn't really that early, either, and she did not expect Savina would mind terribly. Lifting her hand, Princess knocked very quietly, whispering as she did so, "Savina? It's Princess..." That way, if Savina was not awake already, she probably would not hear the noise and would not be disturbed.

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###The warm morning sun filtered in through the tiny window that illuminated Savina and Kansas' room. Her pale mate was not present, but Savina had moved from their bed to bathe in the bright rays, her sable fur absorbing the heat despite the cool temperatures. Her eyes were closed, but she was not really asleep, simply in a state of happy contentment. Not only did the sun feel wonderful, but there was life growing once more inside her womb. It had been a surprise, for they had not necessarily planned on having children again so soon, but Savina could not be anything but overjoyed. They had told Cambria, Gotham, and Amata not long ago that they had younger siblings on the way. Their children, who were quickly nearing a year in age, had appeared to take the news well but she couldn't help but be concerned that they felt unwanted or like they would be replaced. Of course nothing could be further than the truth. The parents' love for each of them would remain as strong as ever, there would only be more pups to love. Hopefully, if any of her children did feel that way, once the new litter was born they would see that nothing really changed. That it was only an addition to the family and not a subtraction of them.



###The Commander's body, that was only beginning to show a slight bulge, was sprawled out on the floor of the room; her head lay peacefully between her two front paws. The knock on the door was so quiet that she almost thought that it hadn't been anything, just a trick of her ears. But then a soft voice also filtered into them and lazily her emerald orbs opened and her head rose slightly from the ground. Her ears perked forward, remaining silent for a moment or two just to process that she had indeed heard what she thought she had heard. "Yes Princess? You may come in," she called out pleasantly. Savina arched her neck and stretched her limbs to shake herself into wakefulness so she wouldn't appear to have just woken up. Rising up into a seated position her bushy tail curled around her paws as she looked to the door for the entrance of the Chance girl.

     It seemed strange to be invited inside, since Savina held much seniority and rank over her, even though Princess knew that was not the way that the pack worked. It was different here, with the other Dreamers, than it had been when she had been with her mother in Dahlia de Mai. She almost felt a twinge of guilt at what she had come to ask, even though she knew how important it was that she did this. “I’m sorry it’s so early,” she said, taking in the sight of her Commander and the very slight bulge around her abdomen. It was so strange to see her on four legs; had she ever been in this form around Princess before? She was not sure, but she did know that Savina had the same respectable air about her in this form. “But I was really hoping I could talk to you about something... I talked to Anu a few days ago about it, but I really wanted to talk to you about it, as well. Are you busy?” It wouldn’t take long, but she did not want to take up Savina’s time if she was doing something else.

###It was lucky that she had actually been awake this early or she might not have heard Princess knocking or calling for her. The woman could be a heavy sleeper and usually didn't get up quite this early. Perhaps the fates had foreseen that this meeting would occur and made her wake earlier than was her habit. Whatever had caused it though she was glad because she wouldn't have wanted Princess to think that she was ignoring her in any way. Savina wanted her pack members to be able to come and speak with her whenever they wished, that was the job of a good leader. It had been a while since she had spoken with the Chance girl one-on-one and this would be a good opportunity to check in with her and make sure that things were going alright. She hadn't seen Ares around lately, but she hadn't come to the conclusion that he was gone. She couldn't keep track of everyone and assumed she had simply missed sight of him recently.



###Nearly as soon as the girl entered the room she could tell that she was nervous about something. The Commander's brows knit together in a concerned fashion and she hoped that whatever it was it wasn't too serious. Had something happened in regards to the war that raged to the north? Hopefully nothing had befallen Princess or anyone else. They had been lucky to avoid any adverse affects thus far, but she knew that could change at any moment. Had that moment come? "Don't be sorry, it's no problem. You didn't wake me or anything," she said reassuringly. Even if Princess had woke her she wouldn't have been upset at all. Her ears took in the words that the younger wolf had to say and she shook her head. "No, I'm not busy at all. Make yourself comfortable." Savina wasn't sure what it could be that had the girl so tense, but of course she would soon find out.

     Nervously, Princess knelt on the floor by Savina, unsure of where to position herself. This was different than the time that she had spoken to Cercelee about leaving Dahlia de Mai for good. Then, she had not thought of Dahlia as her home as much as she had considered it her mother's home. Princess had wanted to leave her mother's home. Similarly, she had never known Cercelee, and the former Rosea had not done as much for her as Savina had. It had been less personal when asking the former Rosea to grant her leave, even if she had been asking such a huge favor. "Do you know Haven Aatte?" she asked, the words surprising even her. The answer seemed so obvious, for a variety of reasons. Savina was friends with Anu and they led the pack together. Haven had been a member of Crimson Dreams, at one point, and his sister was still present. More than likely, she would receive confirmation in the answer to the question. "I think I love him, and Anu says he feels the same way about me, more or less," she added, as if this could possibly change Savina's answer to her question. "And I talked to Anu and I think... I think I want to try to be with him. In his pack, I mean. But leaving Crimson Dreams seems so... Difficult. And I don't want you to hate me, either, especially after everything you've done for me," she finished, wanting to be open with Savina upfront.

###The Commander watched carefully a Princess settled herself on the floow awkwardly, the girl's nerves permeating the air of the room. Savina didn't think she'd ever seen the Chance female in such a state before, and she had been nervous when she had first asked if she could come here and also when she had heard her brother had hit Amata. This seemed to be a different kind of nervousness, though not entirely dissimilar either. But, there was no need to fret over it because she knew that within moments Princess would begin to explain what was going on and then she would know what this was attributed to, or at least she figured as much. Savina nodded her head at the question. "I do," she confirmed. It had been many moons since she had seen him, but know him she did. From there she listened attentively to the girl's words and explanations and found the reason for her anxiety. Though from Savina's standpoint, she really had no cause for such worry.



###Once Princess finished there was only a warm smile on the Marino's face, her countenance not having changed an inch. "Love is a wonderful and mysterious thing. It seems to come to us when we least expect it to," she prefaced, though certainly she had already discovered this for herself firsthand. "If you love him, and he loves you, then you should be together. It can be a hard thing to find and once you do you shouldn't let it go." Savina believed in love like she believed in little else. "As for your fear of my reaction, you have no need to believe I'll hate you Princess. What I did for you, I did out of kindness and not out of the expectation you would stay here forever. I will be sad to see you leave these lands, of course, but you won't be going far. Besides, I would be a monster if I were angry at you for doing what any person who has felt love would do. I would go to the ends of the Earth to be with Kansas." No matter what sadness the girl's departure might cause for her, the joy at knowing two such lovely people had found such happiness in one another would far outweigh it.

     Her fears that Savina, Anu, and the rest of the members of Crimson Dreams had been irrational, she knew. Princess had always been very back and forth about whether or not she cared what others thought of her, but when it was all boiled down, the Chance female knew that she did. It was very important, especially, that those such as Savina thought very highly of her. It was something she strived for and would continue to do, wherever she ended up. "Thank you," she murmured softly, the relief at Savina's words washing over her pretty young face. "Could I... come visit sometime, maybe?" Princess did not want to be pushed out of Crimson Dreams completely by this decision; she wanted to know that she would still be welcome here. Even if she was not particularly close to anyone in the pack now that Ares was gone, she still cared about its members. She also wanted the option of at least talking to her brother, if and when he ever came back, but that was all she wanted: to talk. By leaving her in such a cowardly manner, he had broken what had been between the pair.

###She could understand the reason behind the Chance girl's nerves, but there was no reason for them to be there. It would be a truly horrible leader that would wish to bar two people that loved each other from being together. Savina would never be that type of an alpha. Of course she wanted Crimson Dreams to be strong and to be filled with trustworthy and loyal wolves, but if there was any good reason for leaving a pack for another, this was certainly it. Anu had done something similar when she had come here from Phoenix Valley all that time ago. If Kansas had been in a pack other than this one, Savina would have left her home to be with him in a heartbeat. Even though she had never been in such a position, it wasn't hard for her to imagine what it must feel like and she knew that she would be making the very same choice as Princess was.



###The Commander watched as the tension left the younger woman and she was glad to have proven those nerves and fears to be false. Even if Princess wanted to depart for another reason she no doubt would have been perfectly okay with it. It was not her job to force people to stay here, but to make them feel at home and that this was the place for them. If it wasn't the place for them any longer, who was she to be mad at their decision? The Marino wasn't pompous enough to believe that Crimson Dreams was perfect or was the perfect place for everyone and anyone. Princess, as far as she could tell, had been happy here, but now her heart was pulling her in a new and different direction. There was absolutely no shame in that. "You don't have to thank me. I thank you for speaking with me about it. Too many people seem to leave without a word." It meant a great deal to her that the one before her had taken the time and courage to come to her. "Of course! You'll always be welcome here whenever you wish to come. I hope you do." It was true that they didn't know one another extremely well, but she had always liked Princess and she didn't want to lose their connection.

     Princess hoped that Cour des Miracles, if she was to be accepted, would be her permanent home from now on. She wanted everything to work out with Haven, and nearly as much as that, she was tired of moving from pack to pack. What she wanted was to find somewhere to settle completely; she had never been one to have an itch for wandering. It was simply the fact that she had not found that place for herself that she still seemed to be bouncing from place to place, staying for a few months and then leaving for one reason or another. The majority of those reasons (if not all of them) had been good ones, but it did not change the fact that she was growing wary of living this way. Now that the conversation with Savina had seemed to dwindle to its end, she did not know what else to say, other than to promise, "I will be back to visit, I promise. I love Crimson Dreams. I'll miss it." She had said the same to Anu, and those some time had passed, it remained true. She certainly would miss this home.

###Though Princess didn't say it, Savina could imagine the girl was tired of picking up and leaving so much. She had come here from Dahlia de Mai and it seemed fairly obvious that the flower pack wasn't the only place she had lived before she came here. Moving around so much couldn't be that good for a person. Some people had no problem moving from place to place, some even seemed to like it that way, but Princess didn't seem to be of that ilk. Throughout her life she had only lived in three packs. First Monti Sabini, then Twilight Vale, and now Crimson Dreams. Twilight Vale and Crimson Dreams really weren't much different, and she didn't even count her incredibly brief stay in the Italian pack whose members had disappeared right after her arrival. She, too, hoped that Cour des Miracles could be the Chance female's final home.



###"Good. We'll miss you too, but it's most important that you're happy." Her slender neck leaned forward and she gently nudged Princess' arm. "Go to him, and start your new chapter," she said warmly, smiling at her the whole time.

     Princess withdrew quickly, slightly embarrassed by her physical outburst. She smoothed out the skirt of her dress over her knees, smiling at Savina sheepishly. "I will... Thank you," she said again, standing and turning for the door. "I'll see you again, Savina," she promised with a smile, exitting the Commander's room much less quietly than she had entered.

###The hug was sudden, and unexpected, and for a moment there was a look of mild surprise on the Commander's face, but that soon melted back into a warm smile. She lifted one paw to gently rest upon Princess' side, the best way she could reciprocate the motion in her current form and state. It made her feel good, to know that even if they hadn't talked all the time, she meant something to the younger female. Clearly she had helped her, and that had been her goal the whole time. Hopefully the alphas over in Cour des Miracles would help her too. In fact she might have to sneak over there to talk to one of them, just to make sure the Chance girl would be welcomed and well taken care of.



###When the embrace broke Princess looked a little self conscious, but there was no judgement or negative emotion coming from the Marino. The only thing displayed on her face was happiness. Then she rose to leave, but there was no sorrow in the parting. Savina knew this would not be the last time she saw her. "Good luck Princess. May health and happiness go with you." The small blessing was all she could offer, but Savina hoped that it would help, even if only a little.