Blake had been fourteen, she remembered, when Adam had given her the black ribbon that she always wore to hide her ears, after a long training session and during a much needed break, his lips curling into a smirk, like they always did, and he had tied the ribbon around her ears himself at the time she was too clumsy to wrap it all the way round without tangling it and afterwards patted her on the head when his work was done.

"Happy now, Kitten?" was his words, deep, low, rumbling in his chest in a way that had made warmth curl in her stomach, giving her a giddy rush and made her cheeks flush in pleasure, amusement tinging his tone, and feigned annoyance was in there as well.

It was a happier time, and back then he had still been the man she had fallen in love with, when they both fought for the White Fang and for their brothers and sisters who could not, but in the end all they needed was each other, the two of them were all they needed to be happy, whatever the case may be.

Blake had turned her head over her shoulder, craning her neck to meet his eyes, and gave him a large, wide smile, in both surprise and delight at the gift, before wrapping her arms around his waist, her small body dwarfed by his, and he had embraced her back, even if he had grumbled and feigned reluctance to do so.

But, Blake knew, it was just a memory, long gone and in the past, and Adam was no longer here to give her gifts, or give her tough love, or here to be the sword at her side, always having her back, the one person in her life she could always rely on without a sliver of a doubt.

(Still, she reaches up, and touches the ribbon covering her ears, and although it was not as large nor wide, her lips curl into a smile.)