[html] The male was finding himself quite happy now that he was home. The Prince of the Sadira line had caught the faint and dead trace of his brother, a creature that smelled like his brother, and a creature that smelled like his very own son. Well, Haku. Mostly Colibri's son. It was strange how defined the line of that litter had been, whereas Tybalt loved both his parents equally. Melisande had been his angel, his precious gem. Her sister and brother seemed hardly aware of his existence. With a soft sigh the male reached down with his maw, flicking his tongue at the lake for a few moments before he turned, face dripping, to walk around the packlands.
The golden moon on his flank was still bright and glinting, and as the moon overhead beamed down on him he wondered just what his mother thought of the man he had become. Yes, he had left his children in the hands of the pack, hoping to find a comfort Clouded Tears had not offered him. Yes, he had forsaken his first love to be with another, and now had a family he felt a part of. Yes, he had become happy, and had come back, ready to make amends. "Did I please you Mother?" He mumbled, remembering crying with his daughter on Ceres' grave, and the awful awful child who had been there. Her name, her face, everything but her horrible manners and lack of tact had wanderd away. But she was not hte focus of his thoughts, his children and mother, the ones he had lost, kept flooding his mind. Maybe they were happy, or so he hoped, wherever they were. [/html]
She knew she would have to visit that place someday soon, or it would never get out of her mind. Melisande remembered jumping and snuggling close into the comforting coat of her grandmama. It wasn't so much comforting then as it was cold... dead. Before that, there was a tiny mouse, and she, the tiny pup she was, and Ceres had given him a funeral. Now Melis couldn't help but wonder if the white wolfess had forseen what was coming, and was somehow trying to prepare her for it all. It was a beautiful day now, just like it had been then. Snow coming down in little flurries, and the sun even peering out every so often to cheer things up. Yes, it was about time she went and visited her Grandmama.
Melisande was not for a single moment disappointed when she saw that someone had beaten her to it, because this was one form that she would always be able to recognize in an instant. She smiled, coming up quietly from her father's side. If they hadn't been here, in this place, she might not have been able to resist the urge to sprint at him and knock him over with excitement. She knew, in her heart, that she didn't have it in her to be angry with him for leaving, for anything. He spoke. There was no one else to answer, so the little white wolfess did. "I'm sure she is very pleased with you." she said. And then, because she didn't know what else to do, she just stood there and smiled like an idiot.
[html] The voice, oh that voice! Pulling him out of his comfort zone - or, lack of comfort zone - the silvery voice of his beloved Melisande called out to him. I'm sure she is very pleased with you could she be? Could Ceres allow her son breath when he had left his children? Never, in all his years, could he remember a time without his faithful, nurturing mother at his side. Turning to face her, tail twitching in a slow pace, he fought back the tears that threatened to storm his eyes. "But are you?" He began, advancing towards his oldest daughter. "Can you be pleased with the man who walked away from you? Who left you alone, to wander through life? I am a failure as a father Melisande...." But how could she be smiling so at him? How could she stand it? With a hoarse cry the male gave in, rushing to his child's side.
Kisses, nuzzles, soft noises of delight, oh, he thought he would never see her again! Beaming at the woman she had become, the father watched with emotional eyes as his daughter merely stood there, doing whatever was natural to her. This was a luxury, to be able to do that again! "My precious, precious girl....I am so sorry I failed you." And it was so true too. [/html]
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indent Melisande thought about it. Oddly enough, she'd never felt real anger at her father. Disappointment, perhaps, and certainly sadness, but she understood. He had needed to go, and find that same nothingness that she had found. She'd left too, after all, how could she say that it was wrong of him to have done that very same thing. Now she shook her head, as they broke an embrace.
indent "I forgive you, father." She continued to smile. "I saw Konane... she said you were here too. I missed you." That was the truth of it. She'd missed him, and that was all. In fact, she had missed quite a few people, and now that she was back, Melisande wasn't sure why she'd left in the first place.
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[html] A thousand years would never erase his sorrows at leaving behind his daughter. He imagined she would be happier here, with family, than with a broken man and his bride as they tried to piece themselves back together. He had written her the letter, put it where he thought she would find it, and off he and Konane went like Romeo and Juliet. It was still his favorite story, and had inspired the name of his younger son. "You are too good to me." He whispered softly, nudging the equally pale figure of his daughter in loving, tender motions. "I dont deserve you - I never did. You sister and brother never seemed to love me like they did Colibri, but you seemed to go out of your way to make me know I was loved." he said softly.
Looking into those eyes, those beautifully haunted eyes that held half his genes, half her mother's, he asked himself again how he could have left her behind. "Did you find my letter? I left one for the pack, at the tree, and another for you, and you alone." He had never wanted her to worry, never wanted her to fear for him. But how was he to know what had taken place after he had left? [/html]
Melisande hadn't even realized she'd been holding it against her father - having left without saying good bye. But now, here she was, feeling suddenly bad for doing so. She hadn't even looked for a note, of course. She hadn't expected one, and indeed hadn't even known that he was officially gone for a while afterwards. Anything could have happened to a letter, of course. Mother nature and her creatures were not kind to lonely objects. She looked at her paws. Actually, she hadn't even known there was one for the pack. You'd think someone would tell her that. Her heart sunk a little bit at that. She did go out of her way to show him he was loved, and a few others in the pack as well, but when she wasn't doing something for them, when she was out of their sight, did they think of her?
But at least he was back now, and all she could do was hope that he wouldn't leave her again. She knew that it was his choice, she couldn't force him to be here nor there, and she didn't want to. She just missed him when he was gone, that was all. Home wasn't quite home without her Daddy. "I didn't get the letter. But then, I didn't look for one either." She shrugged, as if it didn't matter, even though both of them knew it did.
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