To You, My Heart I Surrender

Vali frowned as Bass explained. In her mind, even still, it was Wren's fault; Bass may have sought her out, but she was the one lingering by the borders, when she knows that her scent would be found by someone. Someone that cared for her, once upon a time. Whether it be Bass, or one of their seven children... though some of those children were notably absent now. The frown only grew as he continued on, the words just spilling out of him. She listened quietly, though the more Bass spoke, the more a spark of anger glinted in her eyes.

It was an unfamiliar feeling, that anger. It settled deep in her stomach, heavy and unsettling, and it was mixed with an emotion she wasn't quite sure how to identify. Perhaps... perhaps loathing. It was accompanied by the same intense desire that Bass had explained - the desire to hurt her, in some way, to show some representation of the pain Wren had caused in not only the life of her former mate, but also the lives of her children. It made Vali bloodthirsty, and she wanted nothing more than to feel Wren's hot blood on her tongue.

The injustice of it all struck Vali mute. She couldn't even fathom how a wolf would just... stand there silently. To return and return to wolves lives that she was unable to let go, yet unable to care or say a word in teh face of all the questions that Bass said he asked. How?. Her mind reeled with it. She just... didn't understand. She didn't comprehend any of it. And to continue just staring, even while Bass walked away... how? But then again, Vali wasn't certain how one could lose love for someone so easily; how one could just... stop caring. Every wolf in her life, she cared for. Even the wolves who hadn't been a part of her life since she was young... she still cared for them. That held true even two years prior, when she returned to Abaven after a several year absence. How could one just stop caring?

Her heart twinged as his voice broke, and a strange feeling arose at her at the word children. Some days, it was hard to remember that they were as old as they were, and Bass had children that were... well, adults, and had been for a few years. Man, that made her feel old. At least he didn't have grandchildren yet.

When Bass finished speaking, and he made that admission... "Oh, Bass," she sighed quietly. She leaned into his touch slightly, having absolutely no issues to the touch. She also reached up and nuzzled his ear softly, rasping comforting licks over the appendage. It was her equivalent of a back rub. After a few minutes, not only to help Bass, but also contain her emotional swirl of whatever-the-fuck it was, she stopped, and also leaned away from Bass a bit, before nudging under his chin with her muzzle in a hey, look at me kind of message. She moved to place her muzzle on top of his for a moment, but then realized that... when she did that, she was crossing her eyes to look at him. Yeah, no. A funny look twisted her face and she withdrew, though that was the only reaction - this was that serious to her.

Instead, her nose ended up maybe an inch from where his would be. "None of this is your fault." She spoke with such conviction, that it almost had a hint of anger in it. She shook her head roughly. "None of it." Her eyes were suspiciously bright when she said it, and she blinked away the unshed tears that came as a result of so much frustration, pain, and sorrow. "You couldn't control her actions, Bass. You couldn't stop her from coming and going. You tried - you tried to stop her. I know you did. She left anyway. You didn't cause any of that. You gave the woman you loved chances to come back to the man she once loved, and to the children she bore. You gave your children the chance to have a mother. It's because of her they didn't. If you didn't let her come back after the first time, your children would have hated you. You would have taken their mother away. But you gave her the decision, and she took herself away. Not you." She paused, silent for a moment, searching for the right words to say. "Each of your children... they're all adults now, Bass. You can't give them their happiness. You can't find it for them. Each one of them is different, and unique... and each one of them finds joy in different things. Perhaps some of them are still learning what those things are, and others are learning to accept what they find joy in. You can't be held responsible for that. Sparrow will find happiness. She just has to figure out what she likes, what makes her feel comfortable. But I promise you - I've seen it in their eyes. Every single one of them loves you. Not a single one of them blames you for what their mother did... they blame her. You saw that last year. And every single one of them is learning their path in life. It may take them away from you... it may take them from the pack, and they only return for visits, but they love you, Bass. They love you with everything. That's why, despite everything, they always come back to you... and they stay. They don't drift on the edges of your borders. They come home, to you, their father." She paused, torn on whether or not to say her last thing. Finally, though, she did. She would give Bass honesty.

"Perhaps, some of their paths lay outside of Abaven. But do not take that as them leaving you permanently, and don't blame that on yourself for that. Them leaving can mean that they're finding who they are, what they want to be, who they want to love and what they want to do.  They will always love you." Every word she spoke... she didn't completely speak it while thinking it through. She just spoke from her heart. She wasn't even sure how much of it actually made sense, or how much would help, but she hoped it did. "And they aren't the only ones, either," she added gently. She leaned forward, to almost playfully bump his muzzle. "Don't forget about that."

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