A heartaxe starts to take shape in Yuki's hand, only to fizzle and fade when the cool touch comes to her arm. Yuki had been ready for a fight if she needed to fight, even if that wasn't supposed to be allowed at the ball. She had been ready for that, but not for Walking Elm to appear by surprise. Not for this. Not for the feeling of honey swamping her mind, filling her heart, covering her senses. 

She feels like she can't think. Can't breathe. Was this what Hazel had felt? Did he like this? Yuki liked many things. She liked Purnima flexing her strength, she even liked when Purnima pushed the limit and she felt the tight coils around her chest pressing on her skin. But not this. Not this. This was losing herself. This was hammering at a prison that nobody else could see or hear. She wanted to scream. She wanted to wretch. She wanted to stab. The vine pulls at her back, and her body is not her own.

Then she sees Aadya. Her distant rock right there before her. So strong, and so physical. Yet the only words she can form are "Aadya, a pleasure" as she and Walking Elm begin to pass by. That and she takes Aadya's hand in greeting, the traditional greeting between Kel knights. And in that moment, her whole being, everything that is Yuki is in that hand.

[Overcome with heart 2+6+2=10]
She holds the grip of her dear friend, her paladin. And she squeezes. And in that squeeze is everything wrong in a way that Aadya can feel. The tremor in Yuki's hand, and the desperate strength that says more clearly than any words: [i]whatever you do, please don't let go[/i]