Moiraine and Suian, newly Accepted.

"Moiraine? Moiraine!" I bounded into the bare room, the room that had been Moiraine's for the last three years, the room which she was now preparing to leave behind as she graduated to Accepted. Scrubbed wooden floors and a bed with an idle shift thrown across it, and her. Moiraine sat poised on the edge of the narrow bed; it looked as if she'd been waiting for me. As I bounded in, she smiled.

We'd been three years as novices, and now we were going to be Accepted together. I could barely contain my excitement, and it showed. I knew I was breathing heavily and red in the face – I had just run all the way from the other side of the Tower: most untoward behaviour for a novice who was about to become Accepted. Moiraine had entered the ter'angreal yesterday, and had come out every bit as successful as I now was – and she certainly hadn't bounced around like some Domani learning the ways of seduction for the first time; no, the ever-tranquil Moiraine had kept her Cairheinin calm about her, as always. Well, that wasn't entirely correct – I had certainly seen her Cairheinin calm desert her from time to time – it seemed I was the only one who could break that stony exterior and reduce her to tenderness and passion.

"Moiraine, I passed! Light, but it was frightening, what I saw in that ter'angreal, but I did it! Oh, Moiraine, it's like a dream – I can't help but think it's right that we both became Accepted at the same time." I wasn't usually so jubilant or highly-strung; in fact usually I was somewhat cynical and wry, but this just too much to contain. My euphoria was interrupted as memories of what I'd seen inside the ter'angreal flashed through my mind – I shuddered slightly.

Moiraine appeared somewhat rattled. She'd looked unsurprised yet pleased when I had bounded in, but now concern flitted across her porcelain-like face. "What's wrong, Siuan?" She straightened slightly, her perfection merely increasing as she squared her shoulders, her banded dress shifting over her body.

"It's just ... Light, I shouldn't talk of such things, Moiraine. It's just, the things I saw in that ter'angreal frightened me. I didn't know if I could come back through the doorway, because the thought of losing what I saw in there was just too much."

"Oh Siuan, I nearly didn't come back too. I'm sorry it upset you so. Come here, Siuan." Moiraine reached out with one perfect hand, inviting me to join her on the bed. I knew if anyone could make me feel better, Moiraine could. Light, but she was beautiful. I loved her, more than I could say. She had made me whole when I was lacking, over two years ago now. I had known her before that, of course; we'd been friends for three years now, ever since we both entered the Tower, but of course that deeper bond took some time to develop. I could never lose her; she was my moon and my stars.

I stepped over and gently sat down next to her. I turned my head and drank in the sight of her face. Our hands were clasped tightly, our bodies pressed up against each other. She leaned in and put her head on my shoulder, and stroked my cheek with one small, delicate finger. My pulse, already racing from my run, tripled in tempo; my heart soared. I felt tears well up in my eyes, although I couldn't explain it. "Moiraine..."

"Shush, Siuan." And then she kissed me. Her scent and her tongue and her lips addled my senses as I parted my lips and let the kiss deepen. Moiraine's finger moved from my cheek to my hair, her fingers became lost in my locks. My hand drifted down over her thigh, and I pushed up her rough-hewn dress. Light, I'd done this a thousand times before and it still gave me goosebumps.

She sighed into my lips softly as my fingers found her warm, wet folds. Still kissing, I rubbed in just the way I knew she liked, and she moaned slightly. Her lips left mine and travelled downwards as she helped me remove my white novice dress. Hers came off soon after, and we were one – two women expressing our love in a way that felt so natural to us.

Afterwards, we lay there on the narrow bed – two novices who were now Accepted. "Siuan," she whispered, "what did you see in the ter'angreal?"

"Why, Moiraine, I saw you. I saw us, living together on a little farm in Andor. It was so hard for me to leave, Moiraine. There was only one thing that brought me back through that doorway."

"What was that?"

"The thought of the real you waiting for me on the other side."