There was…so much happening recently that it was making Kiyo’s head spin. Her son had suddenly abandoned his family and set out to Auster and the man she was beginning to suspect she harbored feelings for, had suddenly gotten his memory back and none of the memories really seemed to be good. For not the first time in her life, she felt like she was floating, unsure of which way the current was taking her. She needed to right her boat, and, after speaking with Magnus, they’d decided that the best way to do that, for both of them, was to take a trip. But before any of that, she wanted to let Venom know what was happening and to check on her. The Empress was, and always would be, a daughter to her. She was the mother of her grandchildren, whom she loved very much, and there was a lot in her that Kiyo could see from herself. She deserved happiness.

The woman walked through the halls of the palace for what would probably be the last time for a while. She’d grown fond of the halls, their musky scent and their cool walls hugging her like a friend. They weren’t making it easy. She poked her head into the Great Hall, happy to see Venom within. ”Venom. Can I speak with you?” she asked gently. Her tone left plenty open for rejection. Though her and her son looked nothing alike other than their silver eyes, she understood she was still probably one of the last wolves that she wanted to see. If she was told to leave, she would do so without complaint.

"Hattori Kiyo"

Right now she was too focused on picking up the broken pieces of her life to harbor anger towards the man she had pledged her life to. Just as the world was beginning to return to normal everything changed as Hattori left her. Experiencing such a betrayal rivaled any other event to throw her life into shambles. More impactful than the death of her father and much harder than taking the throne for herself. Hattori came into her life and made himself essential, she built her future around him, and now he was gone. Venom shook her head as she tried to rid herself of the thoughts, she needed to go on a trip, she needed to get out of Ashen for a while. She needed to reevaluate her priorities.

Venom was tying a couple more loose ends so she could freely go and visit the other packs of the Empire, a suave excuse to get her out of her own head. The Empress was finishing her job here when she heard pawsteps in the hall and her sunset gaze lifted to see Kiyo’s pale form emerge from the shadow. Her heart clenched, but she remained impassive. Now was not the time to break apart. "Of course, Lady Kiyo.” Venom replied, gesturing an invitation for the woman to join her. That she hadn’t left right after her son was a clear sign that her loyalties were at the very least split. Venom would hear her out.

"Venom"

Venom’s face was like an impassable wall when their gazes met, and Kiyo had to avoid flinching. Normally their interactions were all smiles, like that between two close friends, but now she was being held at more than arm’s length. It felt a bit like how it had when they’d first met, when Venom hadn’t known she was pregnant and Kiyo hadn’t known they were her grandchildren. There was suspicion and hesitance, and she desperately wanted to wipe it all away.

Still, she was granted permission to enter and the pale woman obliged, her silver gaze taking note of the things stacked around and tidied up. She sat on a fur nearby, but there was more space between the pair than had been there before. The ghostly woman looked at the crackling fire briefly, trying to get her wits about her and decide on how to go about this conversation. But she knew Venom, and she knew there was only one real way to do it.

”I do not approve of what he’s done, or what he’s doing,” she said bluntly, figuring there was no need to clarify who ‘he’ was. ”I want to say to you what I wish someone would have said to me, when Hideki was being unfaithful to me and abusive. When I felt like everything was ending and it was somehow my fault,” the entire time, Kiyo had been staring into the fire, but now she took a deep breath and turned to meet Venom’s sunset gaze.

“You are better than him. You are stronger because you tried, you are wiser because you’ve experienced love, even if it’s turned into regret now. You cannot control someone else or know what they truly think, no matter how much you might want to, just as they cannot control you. None of it is your fault. You are a wonderful mother and a righteous, intelligent queen and no man can take that away from you.” She tried hard to fight the tears that had begun to swim in her eyes. The words had come from her soul, and she trusted her daughter in law to know that. She’d spoken to her of her previous marriage and the children she’d lost when birthing Hattori. Yet, Kiyo had survived despite it all, and she wanted like no other to let Venom know that she would too. That it would hurt like hell for a bit, but it would eventually grow to a dull ache, then to a scar that she would glance at once in a blue moon. A memory, an event in her past as she continued to her future.

"Hattori Kiyo"

Venom would never expect for Kiyo to take her ‘side’ in everything that had just happened. Hattori was her son, and obviously that was where the woman’s loyalty should lie. The Empress didn’t know what to expect, maybe for the healer to disappear with her son, the only remnant of her being the name Venom’s own daughter carried. And yet here she was at Venom’s door, accepting the invitation to have a seat by the crackling fire.

The Empress gave her ex mother in law all of her attention, sliding her work away with a subtle shift of her paw. Kiyo did not hesitate to get right into the meat of what she had to say. Dual toned eyes lifted to the antlered woman. Immediately she told of her disapproval in Hattori’s actions. Kiyo showed the most empathy of any who had been given the news, feeling similarly to when she was young. It seemed the apple never fell far from the tree. Kiyo wanted to say the words she wished someone had told her.

A soft sight left her and Venom looked away as she noticed the tears in Kiyo’s eyes. "Lady Kiyo…” She started as she felt the waves of emotion wash over her. Venom was having a hard enough time holding her own emotions together. "Thank you.” She decided to start with it easily enough, she really did appreciate the woman taking the time to tell her the words she so needed to hear. "I know you speak the truth.” Venom didn’t blame herself, she questioned her decisions but knew this was all Hattori’s doing. Her broken life and family because of him. Her heart clenched tightly again, but she had shed more tears than Hattori deserved.

"Venom"