[Taken from an RP between Honeyfur and myself: a short scene of Seed and Sage's reunion after quite some time.]

A green stag sat under the willow at the mouth of the river, watching the flow of the water. As always, he was pretty much caught in his own head – he didn’t even notice the arrival of a bright scarlet doe until she was almost upon him and snapped a twig underhoof.
Seed turned to see Sage as she emerged from the opposite side of the willow tree. His golden eyes brightened; his heart fluttered, caught on a million different feelings with iridescent wings. It had been perhaps half a year since he had seen her last. Maybe more. And the sight of her was still enough to drive any other thoughts from his head.

"My goodness! It's...Really wonderful to see you again." There was a smile on his face, slightly brittle and nervous – but at least the words that leave his mouth then are warm and sincere.

"And you," she said, the brightest of smiles pulling up the corners of her mouth. "I must apologize for leaving on such a whim, and without a word.." Her voice trailed off slightly, feeling guilty for any worry she might have bestowed upon him. However, she scooted closer, closing any small gaps that were between them. "I missed you, Seed."

His face collapsed into a big, unrestrained smile, completely without the forethought to give it grace. He couldn’t help it, even as his thoughts turned to the weighty matters he left unsaid.
"I missed you, too. I...More than you know." He took a deep breath and squared his shoulders, his expression serious. "I thought of you often...And...I realized, and thought it too late, that there was something very important I wished to speak with you about. May we?"

Her heart fluttered at his statement, smile growing slightly in size. As she gazed out toward the pond, her ears remained trained on the sound of his smooth voice, perfectly content to just hear that soothing sound. She drank in every word he spoke, and at his question, she stood her ears up in a more erect position, and turned her gaze back to him. With a small nod, and her warm smile still evident underneath her skeletal mask, she said, "Of course."

"...After all this time, this may be worthless." A rueful smile played on his face. The arboreal stag added, more to himself than to her, "That's alright, though. I'm prepared for that.” At last, he began – tentatively at first, like a new butterfly fanning its wings.

“I... At the time, I was content to let this pass by unsaid. It was enough to sit beside you like this. It was enough to wander with you and watch the flight of birds. It was enough to be greeted by your smiles and moved by your words. Being in your world was blessed and riskless and gutless as I was, and I was contented by it." His voice rose in tempo and volume, until it seemed like Seed, serious and pained by the weight of his words, was just being swept along by them like a wave.

"I was a coward, and I was wrong. I realized that only after you left -- only after I realized that I could not have those things, not...Not ever again." Seed leaned toward her, his expression haunted, backed by the remembrance of all the friendships cut short…And the love lost. They were always like ghosts inside his head, but now, it surged near the surface.
" And I still hadn't said it. And you -- somewhere out there, beyond my reach -- would never know what was really in my heart. That you'd never have that knowledge to carry with you, whatever you'd do with it, and that I'd never be faithful to myself... That for all my claims of pretty words, would leave these most precious ones, trapped to rot like a dream deferred, forever."

The scarlet doe listened in raptured silence, her only movements being the rise and fall of her sides as she breathed, and the slow blinking of her eyes every so often. Her soft gaze was never torn away from his. As her heart slowly started to pick up speed, her mind was an array of thoughts and emotions. What did he mean? What is it he is trying to imply? Could he mean...? She didn't move away when he leaned in close, she wouldn't dream of it. The expression on his face fixed her to the spot, and suddenly, it was getting more and more difficult to take a steady breath.

"..What is it you are saying, Seed? What precious words of yours are wishing for release?" After everything else he has said already, she had a feeling that she already knew what his next words might be. Her smile had faded as he had been talking, but that only meant how captured she was by his dialogue, and the inner need to hear what he had to say next.

He took another deep breath. That he had been given this chance was, he was certain: it was a miracle. It was something that never should have happened. That, when it came to love, never happened. Not for him. He looked into her eyes, his own tight at the lids, almost wet with tears, a shy and grateful smile on his lips.
As he began to speak, he thanked the gods.

"...I love you. And I always will."

Thank you. Thank you. For bringing her home. For bringing the one I love home to me, for just one moment... Thank you, for this miracle.

An intake of breath, a blink from a pair of liquid blue eyes, and the slow rise of another smile forming upon her muzzle. A moment like this would only happen within her dreams, and nothing more. And besides that, her whole life she never concentrated on finding a relationship. It had never crossed her mind that perhaps some day, she would find a mate of her own. The forest had always been her one soul mate, her protector, her teacher, her home. But the stag in front of her, only a breath's length away, had suddenly become all of that. Not only did he share those aspects, but his appearance alone also proved that he is one with the forest around them. He is everything that she has ever known, and called home.

"..I love you too, Seed..now, and forever."

Seed was busy barreling on, not having quite caught up with her own words. "I know this is sudden, so please, don't feel like you need to respond or spare my fee --" His eyes opened wide as his brain politely informed him of what she had actually said, as opposed to whatever was playing out inside his own mind.

Hadn't she always said she'd never given thought to love? Never felt it, even in the slightest? Hadn't that been, in part, the basis of his caution, his shyness, this whole mess. An incredulous little laugh left him like a sudden flight of birds, sounding happier and more whole than he could have believed he would sound after confessing all of that.
"R-really?"

Her expression had brightened considerably now, her blue gaze soft and loving.
"Really," she said simply, and she leaned her upper body up against his, gently resting her head on his neck. "The gods have smiled upon this day...they led me back to you."

He adjusted his seat slightly, leaning his own head against the top of hers, wrapping her in something like an embrace.
"They must have, for such a miracle... But the gods couldn't have smiled as hard as I am right now."

His smile broadened and softened like the overflowing blooming of his flowers. The petals tumbled around them, mixing with the willow fronds and fell onto the surface of the pond, reflecting the image of the lovers.