>"How long has it been, Anonymous?"
>You let the question hang in the air for a moment, savouring the way the Princess' dulcet voice falls on your ears almost as much as you savour the cool, perfumed evening air wafting through Canterlot's garden.
>In truth, you don't know how to answer.
>It had been too long since you'd spent time with the Princess, and the long count of days had turned to weeks, to months, and before you knew it, well over a year had gone by without spending time with her.
>At the same time, not a day had gone by that you hadn't held her in your thoughts.
>Not a night had gone by that you hadn't felt her in your dreams.
"I should have come back here long ago. I don't know why I didn't."
>The moon hung bright and low in the sky, swathed in dusty starlight.
>Out of the corner of your eye, you catch the swathe of stellar, silvery mane waver in an unseen breeze.
>Princess Luna is at your side, her withers warm beneath your touch and coat soft against your hand.
>She moves lightly against you, leaning comfortably into your arm as you stargaze together.
>"I understand."
>You turn to her, searching her eyes for that understanding, barely daring to hope that she would forgive you your absence from her life.
>You still weren't sure that you could forgive yourself for her absence from yours.
>Her gaze, ancient and wise, pierces the heavens as she continues her thoughtful stargazing.
>She meets your eyes for a moment and smiles, before returning her watch to the star-set sky.
>"When I was young, waiting for anything at all felt like an eternity. Before I'd walked Equestria for even a hundred moons, I could feel each passing phase go by with agonizing slowness."
>"Celestia always found that funny. The sun never changes - it's constant, keeping its course over eternity."
>She chuckles softly to herself.
>"She was always the patient one."
>"As the long years passed me by, I came to realize that some things, fixed firmly in the soul, never really leave us. They just change."
>"The stars may alter their course in the sky - you may travel far, look away from the heavens long, and realize they are completely different without you ever having taken notice. The moon changes form - sometimes full, sometimes a bare shadow, imperceptible even to those who look."
>She turns, now, to look at you directly, searching your soul with those piercing azure eyes.
>Though clouded with age, they still fix you with their keen intensity.
>"These things, though, never truly change. The stars, the moon - though our perception may change, they always remain where they are ordained to be."
"You knew I'd come back."
>"I never had any doubt. I've had a very long time to learn the lesson of patience."
>Keeping your hand resting on her withers, you move your other to caress her cheek.
>She leans into your touch, closing her eyes and sighing softly.
>"You could have come back sooner, though."
>You lean in closer to her, sharing breath for a moment as the space between you shrinks to nothing, lips parting in expectation as they meet.
>The kiss is soft, tender - the longing shared between you manifesting as the gentle brush of contact.
>It wasn't a kiss of unrestrained passion, greedy for sensation as only new lovers can be.
>Holding Luna felt as natural as breathing, kissing her felt like home.
>Pulling back to lose yourself in her eyes again, you run a hand through her ethereal mane delicately.
"Next time, I will."