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Hugging her so tightly caused his wounded ribs to freshly ache, but he ignored the pain, filled with too much happiness and relief to let it bring him down. He was beginning to think that he would never see his children again and it was such an incredible surprise to see his daughter show up here. He smiled broadly as they finally released each other, still trying his best to ignore the throbbing ache of his ribs. The smile faltered slightly as she looked him over and asked him what had happened. “There’s been some… troubling times here for us. War.” He shook his head, not eager to think about it. Finally reunited with his daughter, and what is there to speak of? War. It made him bitter to think of how it was affecting him still. This was supposed to be a happy moment, not one brought down by thoughts of warfare.
“I’ve missed you too, cara mia,” he said, that smile of his regaining some strength. He still couldn’t believe she was right there in front of him. He followed her lead and began walking back to the tree he’d been sitting beneath while he continued. “I’ve… been holding up alright. Better, since the fighting’s stopped.” His left hand reached up to his wounded side in a subconscious gesture as he remembered the battle in the AniWayan village that had brought him to this state.
As they reached the tree, he pushed aside his tools with his foot to clear the area, then very carefully settled himself down onto the ground. He beckoned for his coal-furred girl to sit beside him. “How have you been, sweetheart? It’s been so long.” Hopefully life had chosen to treat her more kindly after all this time and trouble did not plague her. Perhaps Anathema offered her the safety she needed. He wondered how long ago she had arrived in her mother’s pack.