"Claire Chase!" Oberons voice cracked like a whip, and a roar of thunder shook the ground. She was so close she could see the road and darkened street, the blurry outline of houses through the rain.

The Erlkings voice was ominously quiet, and his eyes glowed amber through the gently falling snow. "The laws of our people are absolute," Oberon warned. "Summer and Winter share many things, but love is not one of them. If you make this choice, daughter, the trods will never open for you again."

She looks back at Puck, smiling apologetically before she walks through the trod without another word.

"Dont do this. I cant follow you this time. Stay here. With me." Puck's face clouded with pain, and he turned away.

As she stumbled through the trod and onto the sidewalk, the rain hit her like a hammer, cold, wet and comfortingly unpleasant. Like normal rain. Lightning flickered overhead; regular, white lightning that didnt respond to the whims of a faery kings mood. Her gown clung to her body; the drenching would be the finishing touch to ruining it completely.

Through the rain and darkness, through the glow of the streetlamps that made it impossible to see more than a few feet.

She glares down at the dress, muttering under her breath before looking around. "Ash?!" She calls out.

The empty road mocked her. Didnt he think she'd come after him? Was he already gone, fading into the rain without a backward glance, believing himself alone in the world?

"Dang it Ash!" She mutters, rushing down the sidewalk, looking for him.

"Youll wake everyone up if you keep shouting like that."

She turns around, frowning.

He stood where the portal had been, hands in his pockets, the rain drumming his shoulders and making his hair run into his eyes. Lamplight fell around him, shining off his slick coat, surrounding him with a faint nimbus of light. "You came after me," he murmured, sounding awed, incredulous, and relieved at the same time.

She looks around with a nod, "Seems like it."