She nodded quickly when Dawali repeated Naniko’s name, glad he was repeating it back to her. If he said it again, he would remember it should he choose to visit. She wasn’t too sure how Anathema handled trespassers or wolves wandering near the borders. When she had led Shadowed Sun, they had been willing to invite loners in to share their books, but hunting was obviously forbidden on claimed lands. She had never thought anything bad would come of it; however, she supposed she couldn’t take Skoll’s death as an example of that. It had nothing to do with their open borders policy – it had been a ghost from his past determined to take revenge. Somehow, those words sounded so much like her situation. She hoped she would not be the one to destroy a good wolf’s life because of her desire for vengeance.
She blinked and refocused her attention back to Dawali. She had zoned out for a few seconds, which was natural, but she was trying not to do it too often. She didn’t want to make her friends suspect something was wrong with her, or that she was relapsing to her bad habits.
When Dawali spoke again, she found herself nodding again in agreement and a bit in resentment. She wasn’t sure what or whom she resented: perhaps Claudius for thinking she was abandoning him, or even herself for doing the abandonment. She just didn’t know.
At the same time, the Kalona was right; he was two years old and he could make these decisions for himself. She knew she was partly to blame for his clinginess; she had coddled him when her other children left. Now, he was so afraid of abandonment and of change that she suspected one day he would just break down from the stress. She wanted to help him, for she truly did love him, but she truly hoped he might gain some independence living in AniWaya on his own. She just didn’t know what to do anymore and she hoped Dawali could help both of them in his own way. She would soak up any advice he had now since she doubted she would see him again soon, if at all. She would miss him and she could only hope Claudius would get to know Dawali better in her absence.
“You’re right,” she replied with a sigh. She shook her head in an attempt to try and figure out how to express herself. “He’s old enough, certainly, but… he learned things other children never did and at the same time, missed out on a lot of things. Could you just… keep an eye out for him? I don’t know if he’ll come to you, but I can only hope he’ll try.” She finished with a small, heh, before shrugging slightly. She was somewhat at a loss, but she knew she had to have hope. If she wanted her son to succeed, she had to believe in him: that was a mother’s job, after all. And she really did believe he could succeed on his own. He was strong enough – he would just have to find his strength.