His gaze softened. She needed him now, and he couldn’t leave her. Hopefully he could at least see Dove later, or she would say goodbye before she left. Ash watched as the little nymph clung to his shirt like a baby possum to its mother. She hadn’t reverted to her plant form, so perhaps she was only napping for a short while.
She rolled around a little bit in her sleep before nuzzling more into his arms and into his chest, taking in his body heat. She slept for a good while before eventually moving to wake up again in his arms and rubbed her eyes.
"mm…"
After a while he slowly and carefully laid them onto the ground, the soft grass like a blanket for them to lay on. Ash shielded Lillian with his arms and his coat, and after a while he too dozed off. He was still asleep when she woke, his curly hair tickling his eyelashes.