//------------------------------//
// ...For Love 
// Story: The Long Road: Longing 
// by pabrony 
//------------------------------//

Twi sat in front of me - in silence - on the bed as I slowly worked the lotion into skin. I made sure to be gentle around the areas that she recently had casts removed from so as not to bring any discomfort to her back and shoulders.

"C'mon, babe," I said softly, my thumbs were circling the base of her neck, "the sooner you get this off your chest, the sooner we can start getting a peaceful night's sleep." 

She continued to sit there, staring straight ahead, until what could only be described as a soft sob escaped her mouth.

"Twi? What's wrong?" I asked as another sob followed behind it.

"I…" was all she could say before the short sobs became a steady cry.

I stopped massaging her and gently turned her and held her head against my chest as her body shook in rhythm with her crying. "Twi, talk to me. What has been bothering you? Is it the nightmares?" I asked softly.

She sniffed loudly and slowly nodded.

"Then will you please tell me about them," I pressed.

"Why? What's the point?" she asked, slightly muffled because of her face being pressed against my breasts. "If I tell you, you're just going to make sure they come true."

"Babe, I'm not going to make any of your nightmares come true," I said softly as I stroked her hair. "The only to get over this is to talk to someone about it. I'd like to be the one to help you if I can." I lifted her chin so that I could stare into the sad, violet eyes that I fell in love with two years prior. "Please?"

"Sunny...I…"

I leaned down and kissed her gently on the lips. "I promise nothing will happen," I said.

"I...guess so," whispered Twi.

"Whenever you're ready, babe."

"Well, they always start the same. You and I are always doing something together. Watching television, out on a date, making dinner; you know, mundane activities," she said as her voice started to waver slightly. "Then suddenly I will hear the sound of tires screeching and everything around us turns pitch black."

"How black is it?" I asked. "I mean, can we still see each other?"

"No. It's like we're trapped in a void. Kind of like if we were in space but there aren't any planets or stars," she clarified. "But I digress. A minute or two later - in dream time, not our time - a faint green light begins pulsing."

"A green light?"

"Mhmm. A beeping in the same rhythm as the pulse light will slowly fade in."

"A beeping?"

She nodded and said, "It turns out to be the sound of a heart monitor. The pulsing light eventually goes solid and that's when things start to get weird."

"How so?" I asked.

"I go from seeing out of my own eyes to - what would be the best way to put it - an out-of-body experience," she said slowly. "I see myself lying in the hospital bed and you're towering over me with your arms crossed."

I raised an eyebrow in both confusion and intrigue before urging her to continue. 

"You say a bunch of nasty things to me-"

"What kind of things?" I interrupted. 

"You accuse me of wrecking the car on purpose with the intention of killing myself. You also tell me that we're both better off with me this way...that I'm only loved by my parents and Shining Armor," she whimpered. "Then you tell me that you're going back to Equestria and will b-be destroying th-the mirror s-so that you wo-won't h-have to...p-put...put up w-with m-me an-anymore."

"I really say that in your nightmares?" I asked she began bawling.

Then she gave a slow nod of her head before continuing. "A-and then, you...you tell m-me that...that you a-appreciate me filling th-the gap in y-your heart...while...while…"

"While what, sweetheart?"

She reached around and clung to my body so tightly that I thought that she was ripping my purple nightgown. "Oh Sunny. Please, please don't leave me for Applejack," she cried into my chest.

"Applejack? What does she have to do with this?" I asked, rubbing her back.

"That's who...y-you said th-that you truly want...wanted to b-be with," she sobbed.

It took a few moments to register what she was talking about but once it did it was simple. Roughly two months ago, Rainbow and AJ had had a really nasty break-up. While we never found out what the cause of it was, it was bad enough that Applejack quit the Rainbooms and - to my knowledge - hasn't spoken to Rainbow since then.

"Oh, babe, as good of a friend that Applejack is, I'm not interested in her in a romantic sense," I assured. "You are the only one for me."

She pulled back slightly and allowed me to see a faint, weak smile. "Y-you really m-mean it?"

"Of course."

She leaned back into my bosom and we just sat there in silence. A few minutes later, her body began getting heavy and limp.

"Twi?"

"Hmmm?" she replied sleepily.

I kissed her on the crown of her head and asked, "Are feeling any better now?"

"A little," she said quietly. "But there are a couple of things still bothering me."

"What kind of things?"

I released her as she wiggled slightly. She stared at me with pleading eyes and asked, "If you're not leaving me, then what's with all the real estate magazines?"

It was then that I realized the cat was out of the bag, so to speak. Time to fess up. "Well, I was going to save this news for your birthday in a few weeks but I guess I'm breaking the news in the middle of the night," I said with a sly grin. "I have been looking to move out of here."

"Wh-what?!" she squeaked in shock.

"Calm down," I said. "Let me explain. The apartment is too small for me, you, and the wiggling alarm clock inside me."

The reference to Gleaming made Twilight giggle slightly as I continued to explain myself.

"I know how much you enjoy having your study and with us needing space for the baby, you won't be able to have it any longer if we stay here. So I've been looking into single-story, three bedroom houses with garages. That way you can have your study, the baby can have her bedroom and you won't have to worry about slipping and falling on your ass in the dead of winter," I explained. "I'm sorry for being so secretive about this but I didn't want to get your hopes up in case it didn't work out."

"So that…" she paused to let out a yawn, "...that's why you've been working like a fool."

"Yep. Is there anything else you need to ask me before I cuddle up with your half-naked ass?" I teased.

She reached up and nervously traced the scar on her face with her left hand while simultaneously tracing the scar on her abdomen with her right hand. "Do...do you still find me...attractive?" Twi asked, the volume of her voice decreasing with each word.

"Of course, I do," I replied softly. "Why would you think otherwise?"

"I have these," she said drawing attention to her scars. "And we haven't been intimate since before the accident. So I thought you might not find me attractive any longer."

I scooted back so that we could lie down. After we got comfortable - me on my right side and Twi on her back - I slowly ran my left hand down the length of her arm and took hold of her hand. "Babe, there are two reasons why I haven't been intimate with you," I said.

She took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "And th-those are?"

I reached up awkwardly with my right hand and tucked her hair behind her left ear. "The first reason is because of how traumatic the last month and a half have been." I ran my fingernail gently across the same spot that she had previously done only minutes earlier.

"What do y-you mean?"

I released her hand and glided my own across her stomach. "The obvious reason right here. While I know there's nothing I can do about it, I know that I'm a constant reminder of your condition." I felt a slight shudder come from her, although I wasn't sure it if it was from a chill or something else. "I figured that whenever you were ready to be intimate with each other again, you would let me know." I said before softly kissing her lips. "Twilight, I love you with all my heart and nothing will change that. Okay?"

I sat up and my gaze met hers. A wave of déjà vu flowed through me - remembering when I realized she was the one for me two years ago.

"Are you okay, Sunny?" she asked.

"Yes. Yes, I am," I replied as I traced a finger down her bare chest. "I have you. That's all that matters."

Her eyes began tearing up once more as I said that. "Really?"

I ran my right thumb along her jawline to her chin then booped her nose with my finger. "Yes, really."

She smiled at my playfulness and then asked, "If the first reason is because you didn't want to force it if I wasn't ready, then what is the second?"

"It's not so much a reason not be intimate, as it is a reason to find you attractive," I said as I straddled her legs.

"And that would be…?"

Finally! I thought as I leaned down and locked lips with her's. After a minute of sharing that passionate kiss, I released her lips and replied, "Chicks dig scars."

To be continued...