”I could… I could feel it, Kes.” Anara told her softly. ”When… what you thought, looking at Tresit, after he had… done what he had done… After you saw the proof of his actions.” She confessed. ”You couldn’t hide those feelings from me.”

”…I’m sorry.” Kes told her, caressing her cheek again and then bringing her hands to her wife’s shoulder.

”Please beloved, I could never seek to shame you… I only…” Anara trailed off, unable to find the words.

”You can tell me. Whatever it is, Anara, you can tell me.” Kes told her, kissing her just softly for a moment again. ”I promise, you can tell me anything and I will always love you just the same. My sacred oath, upon my blood and bones, forever.” She told her, using a Kazon pledge that basically meant that Anara had a right to… chop her to into very small pieces and feed those pieces to nearby animals if she went back on her word. It was kind of a grizzly thing to say, but Kes knew that Anara would be moved by a promise like that.

Anara smiled to her shyly, running a hand through her hair and making a small humming sound. ”My life for you, my… my soul for you…” Anara told her, devotion clear and bright in her words.

”…and mine for you…” Kes told her, kissing her again.

The kiss was long and sweet and much more a promise than a seduction; though it would always be that too, Kes knew.

The kiss broke, and they were both breathing just a little bit deeper. ”…Tell me.” Kes spoke softly.

”…Can you forgive him? Our… our son, I saw… I saw how you loved him before. How you loved them both without even having to try… it’s one of the reasons it was so easy to trust you and love you, one of the many reasons why I loved you without even having to try. Is it still the same? Do you… do you love him the same, or… do you… feel ashamed for him…? Has… has he lost honor in your eyes?” She asked.

Kes’s eyes had widened as her wife had asked those last questions. She closed her eyes then, and knew she had to give her an answer. She looked inside herself for one. ”I will always love him, Anara… he’s my son. If not by blood, then, in every other way he feels like he’s my child.” She opened her eyes and touched her hands to her wife’s cheeks. ”It was… hard for me to see what he’d done. But… I… I’ve nearly killed twice now. I would… I would kill – for you, or for them? If there was… no other way, then I know that I would if I were able to because I’d have to… but… I just, it’s true that I don’t see this the same way you do. I don’t… I don’t see honor in it, or… or something to be proud of. It just… makes me feel sad… like it’s tragedy, of whatever scale, or quality, or necessity, but still a tragedy. It’s… I wish it hadn’t happened, that it wasn’t like this… that your brother Tulk had been a better man, a better brother to you, in some way… There’s not an easy answer though, and I know that wishes like that are of no substance or reason, but my feelings are mine, and they’re for you, and for them… It might not be what you’d want of me, but it’s what I have, and I can… only hope that it’s enough?”