Aquila stopped still at the edge of the Green fields, the cobblestone path behind her as she took a step forwards once more onto the soft, lush green grass. To be out of hiding and able to stand in the open, feel the wind ruffle her hair that had been combed and washed, and the dress that she wore to billow around her. It was a freedom that she had not been allowed for what felt like an eternity. She turned her head and looked back at Lucian, but only for a moment did her gaze linger on him before she looked back at the green fields.

A smile swept across her face, radiant and true as she kicked off her heels and cartwheeled over. She grinned happily and sat down in the grass, leaning back against the softness. She missed this, feeling the sun wash over her skin and fill her with warmth. To not have that constant weight in her chest was brilliant too, but there was something else on her mind as the sun was hidden from view by a bank of dark, grey clouds.

She sat up suddenly and began to sob, knees tucked beneath her. Her baby Noah, she had missed all his big monuments. His first steps, his first crawl, his attempts at speaking, his first words even. She'd held him once, before her and Lucian had to fake their own death. And Pyxis, her sister, who knew nothing of her being alive. Aquila sobbed, for that bastard Hugo had taken away her baby and she'd lived in hiding for over a year, whilst the world went on believing she was dead. Bastard.

Lucian had not been outside in God knows how many years and it was something that he had been looking forward to ever since that bastard had forced them to hide, it had hurt Lucian in more ways than one, he would have stood to fight Hugo, but he knew that it was a case of pride, and that to do what was best, he had to hide.

Now he was walking in the open, the sun on his skin, and he wondered how he had been able to last this long without experiencing it, he hated the cold, and being away from his son, being away from everything he had found to love during his freedom before the incarceration he forced upon himself, had made him colder than anything else.

As soon as he saw Aquila beginning to cry, he sat down gently next to her and kissed her cheek gently;

"Don't cry Aquila, don't cry. We'll get him back, I'll make sure we get him back." he promised in a soft and hopefully reassuring voice.

Aquila was a mixture between absolutely furious, and desperately sad. Hugo, a name that she would hate for all eternity. She looked up and shook her hair out of her face as Lucian approached her, and he gently sat beside her. Her body shook violently as years of trying to be strong had finally brought her down and made her weak.

It was clear that Lucian knew exactly why she was crying. She sniffled and wiped at her cheeks, trying to regain that strength that had prevented her from crying even when all hope seemed lost. She turned and wrapped her arms around Lucian, burying her face against his shoulder.

Her voice was muffled as she spoke, and slightly croaky from the outburst of tears she had just suffered.

"I know we will, Lucian. It just makes me so angry that i've missed everything," she lifted her head. "My baby Noah," she sighed heavily.

Lucian was glad that Aquila was still responding to him in her grief, it made it much easier to console her if she was willing to be consoled, it was often the case with his sister that she tried to put a brave face on, even after she had let only half of her pain out. It often made things worse.

When she told him why she was so upset Lucian hung his head and frowned, he too had missed his son's whole beginning, his first son, the child that he didn't even know he would be able to conceive.

Stroking her shoulders lightly, Lucian smiled gently at Aquila; "I can't tell you that everything will be better when we get Noah back, we will never be a part of those initial beginnings, but we can be a part of other beginnings, we can see him ride his first bike, we can see him go off to school, we can buy him his first wand..." he hushed "Hope isn't lost."