A New Beginning

[Soul]

Taj, unable to reign in the feelings of joy and euphoric bliss, rolled onto his back, kicking his legs in the air until the energy was gone from him. He rolled onto his side, grinning, his ear twitching.

[Boshia]

The weather slowed to a slight patter, the thunder seeming to disappear after an hour. Xena stood, stretching. Trotting outside, she peered in Taj's cave. He was on his side, with a smile on his face. "The weather's slowed down, you can come out now!", she called out to him. From the way he laid down, she could tell he was restless. She was too, and she sort of jumped around in place.

[Soul]

Taj jumped up at the speed of light, and dashed out to her side, smiling still. "Hey," he said, trying to act like he wasn't totally psyched.

[Boshia]

Xena laughed at his eagerness. It was apparent in every bound he took, every blink in his eye. "Hey you.", she laughed. She was completely calm around him now, which astounded her.

[Soul]

He smiled at her, his eyes sparkling like they always did when he was excited. He looked up; it was sometime around 7, he figured, and the stars were starting to show up in the sky, though the sun wasn't down yet. The sky was alight with reds, oranges and pinks that shimmered like flames, and in the farthest corner of the sky, some navy was starting to dominate.
He stared at the sky for a long moment. Then his eyes fell back down to Xena. "Pretty, isn't it?" he asked, tilting his head toward the gradually darkening sky. "I love the sky after a storm. It's so pretty, so... alive." He sighed, smiling a little.

[Boshia]

Xena sat down next to him, wagging her tail slowly. "I see what you mean. I guess I haven't noticed it before.", she said softly. The beauty of the sky was everything that Taj described, and more. It was shot with pink, and the color trailed off into orange, then became red. Seeing what he meant, Xena smiled softly, their eyes glittering in the coming darkness.

[Soul]

"Yeah," Taj agreed, "I didn't fully appreciate it for a long time, either. But.... I looked up one night, and suddenly, all these colors were right there, so beautiful that it made my heart ache." He sighed again. He'd left out an important part of the memory, but it was also an unneccessary part of it. That night was the first night he'd stayed with his mate in his old pack.
He let the thoughts run out of his head, like watercolors off of paper; most of the colors wash away but some stains of it remain, forever burdening the paper. Thoughts of his old life never really left his mind, he simply masked them with other thoughts. But, if he really thought about it, he was doing much better now than he had done the first week.
Again, he pushed the thoughts away, moving on to a much happier topic. "So... are you planning on staying?"

[Boshia]

Xena smiled hesitantly up at him, unsure. "Would you really want me around here, with the thought that my former pack might, might come after me?"She asked, her eyes wide. Xena didn't want Taj to get hurt, and she didn't want to force herself on him as a burden, either. Her black fur was shining lightly in the evening sky, her golden eyes with fear burning in them.

[Soul]

He rolled his eyes at the thought of danger. "Don't worry, I can take care of myself, and you." His smile became soft. "And of course I'd want you around," he said quietly, blushing a little.

[Boshia]

Xena laughed a little, though the sound was lost in her throat, which was tight. "Thank you.", she said softly, a faint blush creeping up.

[Soul]

He smiled back, a bit unsure of what to say or do next. He wasn't particularly good with this sort of thing; he was never a romantic. He sighed, sitting and putting his head back, letting out a howl of random boredness.

[Boshia]

Xena laughed, wondering how he was when he was a pup. "Were you always this serious? How were you in your childhood?", She asked, just trying to find a topic of interest.

[Soul]

"Well," he said, working to call back the memories of his childhood, "my parents were nice wolves, together, and they were Beta's of a small little pack. My two brothers and I would always play, and I think I was the goofiest of them all. But, a few months ago, a flood... A flood came and took them from me." He sighed, shuddering against the dark memories. "I think that's why I'm so serious, now." He looked up at her, working to put a genuine smile on his face. "But I'm working on being a bit happier. I can't wallow in loss forever, can I?"

[Boshia]

That's horrible!, she thought, but, seeing his attempt at acting happy, she smiled too. "No, I guess you can't. We can work on that together.", She replied.

[Soul]

Taj smiled back at her, the one on his face just a bit more authentic now that she was smiling, too. "Deal, if you'll promise to stick around for a while," he said, trying to convince her to stay with him.