He followed her snowy footprints to the slumbering orchard, pausing when he saw her standing beneath the bare white trees. The snow falling around her, the wind lifting her hair in gentle waves, and the light from the stars created a vision Taran would never forget; looking at her then, he knew no one could doubt the ancient power lurking in her bloodline. And yet, somehow, she looked small next to the cold grandeur of the bare trees and he felt the need to wrap her in his arms to keep the cold from her body. But that desire is what got him in this predicament to begin with. She was so cold that night, he couldn't leave her to shiver alone in that drafty loft, shrouded in the chill of night. And this was her thanks.

The boy frowned and called Eilonwy's name as he strode to where she stood, his hands clenched into fists.

"Oh, Taran, leave me alone!" She flipped her hair and turned from him, her back rigid and her strong shoulders thrown back. "I don't want to speak to you anymore."

"It's a shame then because I have something to say to you." He took her arm and spun her to face him. She yanked her arm from his loose grip but Taran seemed to not even notice.

"Eilonwy, you can't be angry at me when I've done nothing wrong! I didn't mean to fall asleep that night and I have been trying to behave as though nothing happened ever since, and yet you seem very well determined to make sure everyone and everything around knows something happened. I don't understand."

"Of course you don't." She sniffled, staring past him over his shoulder. Her blue eyes sparkled in the starlight and he realized she was holding back tears. His stomach lurched as it always does when he sees her cry but he dug his heels in. I'm not making her cry , he told himself. She's the one who made this mess, not I . Still, he thought it best to take the path of pleading rather than demanding.

"Tell me then, please. I am tired of this silliness." His voice was a little calmer as he tried to reason with her. "Eilonwy what have I done?"

She finally met his eyes. Her lips quivered slightly and her breath came out in a frozen fog. "You slighted me-and I know that sounds silly," She rushed to continue. "But Taran you're all I have to talk to. What, could I talk to Coll about magic or the sea, or Dallben? Can you imagine?"

"Eilonwy-"

"I'm not finished. I was lonely without badgering me. I'd spent so much of my life alone, Taran, until I found you and came to live at Caer Dallben with all of you; you know this. When you avoided me it felt like I was back at Spiral Castle again, wandering the tunnels for a prisoner to speak to."

"Oh." Taran, for what seemed like the hundredth time that week, felt like a fool.

She averted her gaze and looked down at their feet, her golden hair shielding one side of her face. A tear slipped from her eye, falling through the winter night like a diamond droplet. He opened and closed his mouth a few times but no words would come, the air around them hollow and still. How did he always get into these absurd fights with her that left them both feeling worse than they were before?

He saw another tear forming and as it tumbled down her cheek he reached out impulsively and caught it on his finger; the tear was warm but her face felt like ice against his skin. Instinctively he cupped her face in his hands, his thumbs brushing away the stray tears. She stared up at him in silence, clouds of breath escaping from her parted lips. Taran felt as though he was falling forward, or perhaps the world was melting away, as he became lost in the depth of her shining eyes. He thought that maybe that's what it was like to fall into the sea.

He took a step closer, the toes of their boots touching. The falling snow had already begun to cover them in a layer of white. Snowflakes glittered in Eilonwy's hair and eyelashes. It was like the stars had fallen from the sky and came to rest on her.

"Taran…" She said his name so quietly that he wondered if she truly said anything at all or if it had been the wind.

Still, words would not come to him and with a sigh of resolve, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her to him, burying his cold face into her hair. After a moment he felt her arms slide around his waist as she held him back. His stomach turned over itself deep inside of him and he felt as though he had accidentally opened a locked door in his heart. But perhaps that was something to examine another time.

Slowly, with great resolve, he peeled his body away from her. His arms lowered to his sides as her hands grazed his hips as she, too, released him.

"Let's get back inside, Eilonwy." He motioned his head toward the main cottage. "It is far too cold out for an evening stroll."

His miserable attempt at a joke was rewarded with a small smile from the princess and he finally felt as though he did something right.

Eilonwy, for her part, was speechless for the first time in her life as they walked back, the snow falling silently around them.