You will always remember

[Phoenix]

[html]

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j40/k ... efinal.png);background-repeat:no-repeat; padding-bottom:140px; background-position:bottom center;">

He had never really realized it, but it had been Ember’s death that gave Phoenix the final push to maturity. Even after all the tribulations of his youth, he’d still been careless, silly… overall, immature. The shock of losing the wolf he was closest to had sobered him up, driven in the lessons he should have learned when he’d lost his first family. Granted, he’d been miserable to be around for months afterward, but at least he’d come out of his with a new sense of responsibility towards those he loved—the same sense of responsibility that ultimately got him a mate and the joyous products of that union: this new Ember and her siblings. The gentle giant felt a small pressure under his muzzle, and he returned the affectionate gesture with a kiss on the back of her head. He didn’t mean to upset her with his tale; it hadn’t really occurred to him that he might. “Aw, no, sweetie,” he quickly reassured her. “Jus’ the opposite. Y’make me happy, an’ givin’ you that name makes me happier.” Well, perhaps “happier” wasn’t the right word. Phoenix saw this Ember as a second chance, both for himself and for the name. Feeling encouraged, he continued the story. “Her life wasn’t easy. She kept losin’ th’ones that she cared about… her friends, even a boy she’d fallen in love with. Then one day, she jus’… gave up. She stopped carin’, an’ didn’t come outta her den Eventually she starved herself an’ died.” It was not an easy tale to tell, especially when Phoenix still considered himself at fault for her tragic ending. “It was a sad day for Storm when we found her in her den. She forgot that there were lotsa wolves who still loved her. An’ I shoulda been there more often. If I had jus’ gone t’visit her more often, she wouldn’ta forgotten how important she was t’me an’ t’everybody else. That was the end of the story, but he wasn’t done speaking. Phoenix grew even more serious as he looked deep into his daughter’s eyes, not with harshness but with care. “Ember, I want you t’make me a promise. Promise me, that even if you ever think you lost everybody y’care about, that you won’t give up. I’ve lost everybody I loved a couple times, but I didn’t let that stop me. I kept goin’ an’ eventually I met your momma an’ we had you guys. Now I got a new family, an’ my life is full of happiness. Yours will be too if you never give up. Promise me.”

[/html]