Lex didn’t feel the tears that were streaming down her face as she gazed up at the unicorn, Fledge. Something like a dam had burst inside her, a childhood memory bittersweet and gut wrenching, as she reached out her hand filled with a melancholy hope. When Fledge nuzzled against her palm she felt a warmth radiate inside, healing something in her soul she had forgotten was broken in the first place. 

Standing next to her, Aydin watched, his mischievous grin gone and replaced with sympathy that bordered on sadness. Unconsciously he reached out and wiped a tear from her cheek only to have Lex turn to him and collapse in his arms sobbing uncontrollably. Surprise was quickly replaced with empathy and he held her, patting her back until she composed herself with a hiccup and an unladylike blow of her nose into a handkerchief she pulled from her pocket. 

“Sorry,” Lex mumbled, “I just-I…well I never thought…” 

Aydin shrugged as he reached out to pat Fledge. “Unicorns are a rare sight I suppose, but I didn’t realize it would have that much of an impact.” 

“We don’t have them, where I-where I come from. We have stories. They’re symbolic and you have to be worthy…” 

Shushing her, Aydin grabbed Lex by the arm and tossed her up on the back of the unicorn before pulling himself up to sit behind her. “Fledge here has pretty low standards,” he said. “Afterall, he hangs out with the likes of me.” 

With a snort and a toss of his head, Fledge set off down the forest path, back the way he had come from. Lex fiddled with a bit of the unicorn’s mane, braiding it, as she tried to keep from crying again. Aydin held onto her waist loosely and soon Lex began to turn her attention from the unicorn to his warm presence and the rhythm of their movement. Cautiously she reached a hand up to overlap his, feeling his grip tighten on her waist as she did. Aydin pulled himself closer to her, bringing his head down to rest on her shoulder. 

“Thank you,” she said without turning around. 

Aydin didn’t reply and the quiet of the forest settled around them with the gentle rhythm of Fledge’s hooves. After a few minutes the trees began to thin and patches of grass grew up in the open clearing that led to a rocky pool that was so deep you couldn’t see the bottom despite the clear water. Nearby a stag and an ox grazed quietly, paying no mind to the visitors that Fledge had brought with him. 

Lex and Aydin jumped down from the unicorn and approached the pool as the water bubbled and three forms rose up and stepped out. Lex noted that their appearances were quite drastic from one another before the three nymphs quickly surrounded her, shaking her hand delightedly, patting her cheeks, and playing with her hair. Their bubbly voices introduced themselves in turn as Aydin’s “cousins,” Hyacinth, Aster, and Hosta.