Was he being too obtuse? Missing the forest for the trees? Koda closed his eyes as she told him to. He let his toes wriggle into the snowy ground and settle down against the frozen earth beneath, if maybe the contact with the very soil of the thicket would further connect him. He breathed deeply, letting the scents of the forest and Nina's own scent pass through his nose. He'd been tense, his nerves visible in the rigid posture of his shoulders. What was it he felt? "Nervous," he admitted, his eyes still closed and a sort of grimace on his face. But there had to be something more than that, more than the nerves and fear and confusion that kept gnawing at him. He just wished he had an answer that would make her smile.

He didn't try to think and force anything, he'd tried that plenty of times on their journey here and it hadn't done him much good. He just let his mind wander, naturally drifting where it would with the Thicket and Nina's presence as his lifeline. What was it he felt here?

-- A flash of brown fur beneath his paws, dirt flying before he'd caught it the little critter. He'd eaten it all before she'd appeared, the same golden wolf, Nina, but with both mossy eyes looking at him and speaking in small, quiet tones. A buzzing, humming... It was an annoying noise, and at first he thought it was his head injury messing with him.

But then it made sense.

He leaned forward on the balls of his feet, suddenly excited by the small glimmer of memory that had presented itself to him. His eyes flicked open, "Bees!" He nearly shouted, a little bit over enthusiastically. A big grin was on his face with his tail swaying at his hocks, and he continued in a much softer tone, "You'd... You'd lost your voice. And I'd found you some bees and their honey for it."

They sat in silence for several moments, and briefly, Nina feared for the worse. What if he did not even know how to feel anymore? Emotions had always run on memories, it was how everyone knew how to feel about someone or a situation. The single word he uttered was enough to cause her to relax. It was good to hear his voice, certain and willing to give up the information she asked for. It was as if he was putting his own life in her own paws now that his memory had failed him. She was just about to speak again, when his voice graced her ears, the first word uttered confusing her slightly before it clicked into her brain. Soon after if flow of words caused a small smile to cross over her lips, one filled with the happiness she didn’t know she could possess anymore. He had remembered, if he had done so, then perhaps there was hope for them yet.

Her tail wagged behind her as she faced him, her emerald eye gleaming happily at him. Her voice easily radiated the happiness she was feeling, "That’s right…and then we stayed together and watched the stars dancing that night…" It was a slim chance that he would remember the full memory, but it was always worth a try. Perhaps this would make other things better for them too though. Memories were always something that everyone held close to them. It seemed as though, Koda regaining his memory would be a possibility. The boxes were obviously there, Nina just needed to find the way to open them all.