Dreams could be a touchy subject for Imogen. She often entered them feeling tense and uncertain. This one was different, however. Right away she could feel herself at ease. It didn’t feel like her usual dreams. They always felt real, as did this one, but in a slightly different way.
Thankfully there was no red storm, her mother wasn’t calling for her to run. It was just beautiful and peaceful. The sky was bright blue with fat, puffy clouds drifting aimlessly. She was standing in the middle of a field of wildflowers, and a herd of horses grazed off in the distance. Imogen smiled and relaxed her shoulders. “This is nice,” she said softly. Only one thing would make it better. With another small smile, she closed her eyes and conjured up an image of her best friend. She didn’t know why, but she felt that if she tried hard enough, Laudna could be here with her.
It wasn’t a comical pop, so much as Laudna found herself suddenly walking through the veil between two worlds. Her own dream, which was darkness that she likely wouldn’t remember when she woke up, to Imogen’s field of flowers. It wasn’t the first time she’d dreamed of Imogen, but this felt different, more real somehow.
Maybe it was the fact that they’d gone to sleep with their hands linked together? But they did that often and it had never culminated with Laudna joining Imogen, though she wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. “Imogen,” Laudna’s sing-song voice called out across the field as she rushed forward. She stopped short, liking that swoop of Imogen’s shoulders as she looked peaceful, a rarity as of late. “What’s this? This is nice.”
She didn’t even have to open her eyes to know that Laudna was there with her. The musical quality of her thoughts reached out and wrapped Imogen up in a mental hug. She felt a surge of delight as she opened her eyes to see her friend rushing toward her.
Laudna may have stopped short, but Imogen wouldn’t have that. She closed the distance between them and gave her a good squeeze.
“It is nice, isn’t it?” Her words even more lilted from her accent combined with her relaxed state. “I’m not…well, I’m not really sure. But I like it. Especially now that you’re here.” Her gaze fixed on Laudna’s. “You’re really here! I don’t know how, but I just knew I could bring you here with me. I just thought about you, and here you are.”
Laudna wasted no time in reaching down to grab Imogen’s hand to hold it reassuringly. “I’m really here. I don’t quite know how myself, but I believe you can do anything you put your mind to.” Imogen had shown her so much in the last few years, so much that she was thankful for, and so much that constantly surprised her.
“One moment I was asleep, and the next--” Poof, here. She briefly wondered if the same could work for the rest of Bells Hells, as they all slept nearby, but selfishly, a small part of her liked it just being them for this brief moment. She was quiet and soft as she cradled Imogen’s hand, “Is this all familiar to you? Is it home?”
A swell of warmth rushed through Imogen as Laudna took her hand. Or maybe it was the compliment. She didn’t get many of those before she and Laudna crossed paths. She still struggled believing them sometimes.
“It’s not home, but it does feel sort of familiar, even if I can’t place exactly why that is.. Like we’re meant to be here? Does that make any sense?”
“Hm,” Laudna looked across the field and felt that same sense, that this place was more for them than it was for anyone else. It made her feel warm inside, comforted in a way that only Imogen had ever been able to accomplish. “I think it does, yes. I like the feeling of the sun.”
She tilted her pale face up to it, enjoying how real it felt and nice in comparison to the heat of Jrusar. “So what should we do? Just enjoy the quiet? Explore?”
The sun did feel wonderful here. Warm and inviting. She could feel it soaking into her skin and lifting her mood without ever being overbearing. Just the sun, and the breeze, and the blissful quiet in her head.
Imogen looked down to the flowers around them and located a lovely yellow one. She plucked it and took a moment to tuck it into Laudna’s dark hair. “I think we can do all of the above and more. Where should we start?”
Laudna took a moment to show off her flower and bat her eyelashes and stare at Imogen in ways she didn’t quite realize she was staring, but it really wasn’t any different than her usual looks. “Is it my color?” She was teasing, playful, the flowers were bringing it out of her as she swirled around in them.
She took Imogen’s hand and started in one direction, unsure of where they were going but not caring. “Explore. I see a nice field over there, maybe we can find you some lavender flowers.”
Imogen’s laughter filled the meadow as Laudna showed off. The flower suited her very much, or at least Imogen thought so. Then again, she knew she saw Laudna through very different eyes than most.
As the two of them began to explore, Imogen would stop and bend down from time to time to gather more flowers. They eventually grew into an entire bouquet that she held loosely in her left hand. She didn’t really think it was possible, but a part of her hoped that perhaps she could somehow bring them back with her after this dream had ended. A nice reminder of this happy respite.
“Too bad things can’t be like this all the time,” she mused.
“Oh, I don’t know,” Laudna turned back to Imogen, and she had to take a brief second to just look, that lavender hair waving in the breeze always distracted her from what she was about to say. “I don’t think things are too bad out there. So long as we have each other, right?”
She sighed wistfully, and ran her hand over the flowers they were standing over. “Though I know it’s not always quiet for you. Not like it is here. Maybe that’s something we can look into later.”
She smiled in response. It was so very Laudna to always see things so positively. Imogen loved that about her. It always seemed to put her at ease. She nodded, “no, you’re right. Things aren’t that bad at all. Long as we have each other.” She repeated Laudna’s words with a resolute little nod of her head.
“Sometimes I think I’d be nice, then other times I wonder if I’d miss it.” Her feelings regarding her abilities would never be simple. They were as mixed up and complex as she was.
She’d been about to say something else when a sense of familiarity washed through her. Imogen’s eyebrows shot straight up in surprise as she turned. A mare was now a short distance away from them, slowly picking her way through the flowers and headed directly for her. “Fl-Flora?”
Laudna’s gaze followed Imogen’s, and she perked up when she saw the horse trotting towards them. Animals didn’t always like her, given-- well, everything, and things that were spooked easily were no exception. It made her wait patiently, so Imogen wouldn’t lose this moment, but Laudna took it all in with a delighted expression on her face. “Is this really her?”
“I…I think?” Her voice was a little shaky. Bless her, Imogen was actually a little flustered. As the horse drew nearer, she knew she was right…it really was her favorite mare. Flora trotted up to them and nuzzled Imogen’s cheek affectionately, and the laughter that escaped her then was nothing less than pure delight. Imogen positively beamed as she pressed her forehead against Flora’s muzzle. “Hi, girl. Oh I have missed you.” She threw her arms around the horse to share a hug.
After a long moment, Imogen stepped back, but kept her hand on the horse’s neck. “Miss Flora, there’s someone very important I’d like you to meet. She’s real special to me, so your best manners.” She turned back to Laudna, her eyes bright. “This is my best friend, Laudna. Laudna, this is Flora.” The mare whinnied softly, but didn’t otherwise negatively react to Laudna in any way. Imogen smiled. “Would you like to come and pet her?”
Imogen’s good mood wore off on Laudna quickly, she felt it in her heart and in her soul and it made her smile right along with Imogen. It also made her more bold and with that, it didn’t take much to convince her to step up to Flora. Imogen going on about Laudna being her best friend certainly helped, it even brought a small flush to her otherwise pale face.
“I wouldn’t like to scare her,” Laudna kept her tone quiet and gentle, but didn’t shy away when given the chance to reach out to touch the horse’s muzzle. She stroked her hand from the forehead down. “Hello Flora. Imogen’s told me everything about you, I’m glad to finally meet you.”
Imogen was so happy she could practically burst. She was here in this beautiful, peaceful place with her two favorite girls. Why couldn’t more of her dreams be like this? Watching Laudna with Flora kept that impossibly bright smile on Imogen’s face, and soon enough her eyes lit up with an idea. “How would you like to go for a ride with me?”
“Really?” Laudna lit up in a similar way to Imogen’s, her darkness matching Imogen’s brightness with minimal effort. She kept her hand on Flora’s muzzle, but her head turned in surprise. “Oh-- well, yes, of course. I’d like that.”
There was no part of her that didn’t like the idea of being that close to Imogen on a place that felt safe to her.
“This is perfect.” Imogen continued to beam from Laudna to Flora and back again. She took a moment to tuck the bouquet of flowers she’d gathered into her belt, then cupped her hands to help give Laudna a boost onto the horse’s back. Flora stood still and patient, hardly reacting at all. Though Laudna was so thing, Imogen wondered how much she even weighed at all.
Once Laudna was settled, Imogen pulled herself up as well. It took a few moments of slightly awkward adjustment, but eventually the two of them were sitting together comfortably, with Laudna’s hands wrapped around Imogen’s waist. She smiled and pulled her lavender hair over her shoulder to keep it out of the way. “Here we go.” She nudged the heels of her boots gently into the mare’s sides and Flora took off at an easy canter.
As the three of them explored this gentle dream-world together, the sun began to set and darkness enveloped them. It was warm and easy, with stars beginning to twinkle above them. As the moons rose higher in the sky, Imogen began to feel something tugging her back toward wakefulness. She resisted, not wanting to leave, but ultimately it was inevitable. As she woke up back in her room, she had a smile and a bouquet of fresh wildflowers by her bed.