Chapter 28

                                    

                                          
(Unedited)
Xaria was floating in a beautiful dream. 
"Zephyr!" a captivating voice called out, causing her to turn around at once, and Xaria felt her heart skipping a few beats when she found the most fetching woman she had ever seen walking up to her. 
Xaria's breath halted as she watched the goddess of a woman approach her; her light brown skin glowing beneath the sun, her deep brown eyes twinkling far more marvelously than any star ever could, and her soft, pillowy lips, lifted in a smile that could lay waste to a million armies. The woman wore peculiar clothes as if she belonged to a world away from all worlds, and Xaria's eager eyes shamelessly traveled across her bare arms, kissing every inch of exposed skin like a starved creature. When the woman came to a halt before her, something inside Xaria's brain glitched for she visualized her having golden eyes and hair, her heart plunging, and then that image vanished just as fast as she had conjured it, leaving her a breathless mess as she stayed still. 
A bizarre thing occurred then, leaving her discombobulated. 
"You are late," it was Xaria's lips that moved to speak but she sounded nothing like herself and she glanced down only for her eyes to widen in panic because she found herself in a different body. 
"Forgive me, my love. The children begged me to stay and you know I can never refuse them," the woman before her spoke in the most loving voice, causing Xaria to look up again and her hands moved on their own only to bring her closer. 
"It appears I will always be at war with those wretched children who keep my mate away from me," she replied lowly, the voice leaving her lips was deep and husky— manly —and the woman dissolved in her hold most perfectly. 
"Zephyr, my love, you need not worry. No one in this world, or all the others out there, could ever keep me from you," the woman's words were a melody that made Xaria's heart sing and dance and she leaned down only to press their foreheads together, feeling her chest throb. 
"They may try if they ever feel so emboldened but they will fail. For I will find you, my beloved Amaya, in this life and the next and all that may ever come. You are my home and I will always find you," as Zephyr whispered those words, so deeply and with conviction, Xaria knew in her heart that she felt the same and the woman in her arms, Amaya, became teary-eyed at her words. 
"Oh, my soul, must you always shed tears at my confessions of devotion?" Zephyr, the one whose body Xaria was possessing, mumbled unhappily as they wiped their mate's tears and Amaya shook her head with a sweet chuckle, making their heart swoon. 
"I am not to be blamed here, my love. It is you who is at fault," Amaya teased her mate then, pulling away with a mischievous smile on her luscious lips, and Xaria's chest ached as she watched her walk beneath a huge tree, only then realizing that they were on top of a hill. 
"Zephyr? Is something the matter, my heart?" Amaya called for her attention when she did not move, gazing at the scenery before her in awe, and Xaria shook her head before walking over to a small blanket where they were, apparently, having a picnic. 
"A-Amaya, I-I... How..." things shifted when Xaria realized she was in control of the body now and not Zephyr, and Amaya's eyes shimmered with worry as she quickly moved closer to her. 
"What is it, my love? Do you-- Do you sense it? Is it time already?" Amaya's soft hands cradled her face, making her forget about everything else, and Xaria felt her eyes brimming with tears, making her mate move onto her lap. 
"I am here, Zephyr. I am here, my love. You are not alone. We will be alright, I promise. I will never let anything harm you," Amaya said those words with such surety that even when Xaria knew not what she was talking about she believed her and it made her even more emotional.