( Alchemy)<br/><br/>As Marrok detailed the history of the valley, Ylva did her best to listen intently with Avonevah quietly asleep in her arms. She could not place why, but she almost felt as if she had done this sort of thing with him many times before. His presence was one of the first comforts she had experienced in weeks, since her life had been turned upside down by the actions of Kathar and those with him. Survivor's guilt tried to press at her mind a few times, but she forced it back down. If anything, the last few months had taught her that the good things in life could be fleeting and she had to enjoy them while she could.<br/><br/>The mess of his home did not bother her, she assumed he had better things to do, and Avonevah still seemed well loved, even if her father's cleaning habits needed some improvement.<br/><br/>"...The stone door?" Ylva whispered, mostly to herself, after he mentioned it. The words seemed to jog a memory in her mind, though at first she could not place. Once they were within his home, she nodded to his directions and began to head toward the steps. Her eyes caught on the painting over the fire, and based on the resemblance to Avonevah, Ylva knew it was Marrok's lost mate. For a moment, she felt as if she were intruding on this she-wolf's house and family, but something else struck her a moment later. Relief. The packs in this valley had accepted her and begun to care for Ylva, and she felt certain that Avonlea would want someone to care for her family as well, despite her loss.<br/><br/>"I'll be right back," she said with a soft smile, then she headed up the stairs and carefully played the young girl in her bed. Avonevah did not stir, she actually smiled in her sleep and then quietly rolled over as Ylva drew the blanket up over her.<br/><br/>She came down back down the stairs, but still spoke in a quiet voice, as not to wake the slumbering child in the room above them. "Since a drink is out of the question, I still might enjoy the company, for a little while. I'm still rather awake after all of the excitement." For a moment, Ylva wondered if there would be implications if she stayed in his home longer than a few minutes, but she assumed if rumors were going to start, many people had seen them walking to his home together. It likely didn't matter if she stayed a little while longer.<br/><br/>She settled onto a rather comfy looking chair and her thoughts floated back to his story of the settling of the valley. Now, a memory came to the surface of her mind, fully formed. Her expression was suddenly pensive and thoughtful, as she tried to remember the pieces of the memory.<br/><br/>"Moon Flowers and lilacs..." Ylva muttered, to no one in particular, and then she lifted her eyes to Marrok.<br/><br/>"I do remember something about that scent. When I was a child, there was an oracle in my pack, and she used to call me the "daughter of the moon" and "lady lilac," I just hadn't thought of her in so many years...She died before I reached adulthood, but she always seemed so fond of me. I'm only remembering her now because of something else you mentioned...The stone door." Ylva said. Her mind went back to the memory.<br/><br/>"I was hungry and it was late in the evening. My parents shared a rather large home, one that the allowed others to live in. I went into the kitchen, but the door to the larder was locked. After a few moments of tugging, Diana appeared next to me, and she chuckled softly at my predicament. She patted my head, as adults do to children, and remarked on how funny it was that this door kept me locked out, while I was the one meant to open any door...." At the time, Ylva had just chalked the behavior up to the woman's strange disposition. Diana often sprouted strange words and odd implications, and she had thought this instance no different. But now, here with him, it was as if he had some insight into her past, and he did not even realize it.<br/><br/>"She mentioned something, a few days later, about what had happened. She also mentioned a stone door, and that I would be able to open it, when no one else could. That is why I mention it, because the things you have told me, the scent you get off of me, they all feel like pieces of a unique puzzle, don't they?"<br/><br/>Ylva lifted her gaze and peered at him. For some reason, speaking the words aloud caused the air around them to feel even more full than it had moments before, full of magic and mystery, but something else also. She looked to him and the weight of destiny seemed to heft upon her. The peculiar feelings they had felt for each other, the budding attraction, it all felt meant to be. Those sensations were not anything she intended to speak aloud, for fear he may not feel them as she did, but for now, she waited to see what his reaction was to her memory.