#sereneshymn

A single word, and yet one that carries so much weight with it - especially for the two of them, each having spent twenty long years believing that he would never get a chance to utter it again.

Rafiel comes closer after calling out to Reyson, smiling gently, yet brightly. "I've missed you so much. How wonderful it is to see you again! I hope you have been well."

There is so much that he wants to say, all at once - how is the monastery treating you, have you been safe, have you been healthy, has everything been good with Lord Tibarn and Lord Naesala, have you seen Leanne - and it almost overwhelms him. And so he doesn't, instead merely holding out his arms in greeting.

it had been hard leaving home, even if it was for personal betterment. a large part of that difficulty hung in the knowledge that he and his remaining siblings had already missed so much time together and yet: the urge to stretch his wings was always there, especially after so much time with hawks.

still, it was difficult to leave rafiel behind, to go without the presence of his elder brother. this makes their reunion all the brighter. his smile is bright, and he has no desire to hide his feelings ( on his face or in his heart ) in this moment.

"rafiel...!" he cries, his wings flapping instinctively, just for a moment, before falling back against his back as he moves forward and immediately moves to hug him.

he has his own torrent of questions and does nothing to hold them back.

[ Garden ] Though the ball is both beautiful and fascinating, it does not take long for Rafiel to feel the need to take a pause from the sometimes quite loud music and the lively chatter surrounding him from all sides. Luckily, he is soon directed to a door leading to large gardens that provide both a chance for repose and a much needed dose of fresh air. For a moment he walks slowly with his eyes closed, taking in the atmosphere; the silence feels even more calming than usually, shortly after walking out of noise. Until it causes him to zone out to the point where his wing smacks someone he passes by without looking, startling him awake and back to the here and now. "Ah!— I'm so sorry. How careless of me," he says quickly, taking a step back. Of course, he is aware that the chance of him hurting anyone with his wings is slim at best, but still - that was very clumsy and he could give the person in question an unpleasant surprise. The person in question, this time, being a young lady with long, platinum blonde hair and a beautiful dress. "I got lost in the fresh air of the evening and closed my eyes... I apologize for disturbing your walk." He smiles apologetically, shifting a little nervously. A thought crosses his mind, and he holds out the small bell. "May I offer this as an apology?"

She hits soft, feathery down with a muffled mmph, stumbling backwards with a start. It hadn't hurt-- arguably, it had been rather comfortable-- but Corrin didn't exactly walk into giant birds very often.

Or, well, giant bird-men. Though he isn't all that giant when she really looks. Flustered, the princess ducks into an apologetic curtsey.

"Please, there's no need to apologize. I should have been paying more attention myself."

Had he not accepted the blame so willingly, she would have been more than willing to take it all herself. It's too beautiful a night, the gardens so still in the moon's light. All the more perfect a place to let ones mind drift away from the world in front of them.

And Corrin is good at nothing if not forgetting herself

"Oh!" The jingle of his offering steals her attention, a sheepish smile warming her expression to mirror his own. Deft fingers undo another from her little arrangement of them, quiet laughter joining their chimes.

The tiny, glowing bugs are not an unfamiliar sight to Rafiel, not by a long shot - but seeing them during the colder months of the year is, admittedly, unusual. Still, perhaps in a way that makes them even more beautiful, their lights dancing across the sky and amidst the flora of the garden. The Heron smiles gently as one lands on the palm of his hand, still alight.

"They're cute, aren't they?" he says to the pink-haired girl beside him, lowering his hand a little to let her see the tiny guest resting on it. "I wonder how they are able to thrive in this temperature, though. Is this a special species, or perhaps under some sort of protection..."

A curiosity that will likely not be satisfied, so he lets it go, his expression softening further as the firefly departs to rejoin its kin. Rafiel watches its flight for a moment, thoughtful, his wings fluttering ever so faintly, before he shakes his head with a sigh.

But when he looks to Sakura, he is still smiling. From his pocket he produces a small bell he had been given for the ball, and offers it to her.

"Here, please take this. As a commemoration of this night."

As she observed the tiny creatures hovering around them, she felt a strange feeling relaxation and peace, as if the surroundings were slowly disappearing and leaving an idyllic scenery where the two of them were catapulted inside; each light was pulsating in a different way and each tiny creature was moving towards a different direction, but all together formed a beautiful and harmonious group.

“They are the cutest bugs I’ve ever seen!” she chirped to Rafiel, while taking a closer look to the one landed on the palm of the heron prince: close up they did seem a bit ugly – they were bugs, after all! – but overall, they definitely were cute and mysterious. She wasn’t an expert, but according to what was said by Rafiel, they shouldn’t be present in this particular moment of the year –it was pretty unusual.

“Maybe they are protected by some kind of magic!” she pondered, observing the little guy flying aways from Rafiel’s hand, now turning her eyes at the night sky. Lost in the thoughts of those little creatures, she distractedly noticed the small bell gifted by Rafiel, his brooch and a sign of the splendid moment they had just spent together while experiencing the amaze of nature.

Even amidst the music, chatter and laughter, the ancient tongue rings clear through it all, as Rafiel's eyes finally manage to locate the first pair of snow-white wings that he has been looking for in the glistening crowd.

However, even a brother longing for a reunion should not intrude. As such, he waits until he sees that she is unoccupied for a moment, and then he approaches her, a warm smile on his lips, his hands reaching out for hers.

"It has been a while, my dear sister. Such a delight to see you again! How have you been?"

It is something like instinct, probably — for even though Leanne had been so young, had so little awareness of those around her before her memory had been awash, first in flames, then in the soothing slumber with blackened branches her only companions, she would always feel that connection, always be most at home among her family.

And so the voice immediately draws her, and the younger heron is already beaming as she turns towards her eldest brother. "Rafiel!!" With a joyful exclamation, she reaches out to take her brother's hands, pulling closer and basking in the warmth that his heart exudes, the mutual joy from their reunion.

"I've been good," she says brightly, "And I'm so happy that you're here too! Did you also get here by the beorc ship, Rafiel? It feels so different from traveling by land, right??" Beorc inventions are all so funny and interesting, aren't they?