warts and all

Rhythm tilted her head curiously as her ears swiveled forward to catch his words clearly. She was lucky her hearing still remained in pristine condition, being blind and deaf would have been too much. She would have let the slavers kill her if she'd been handicapped so thoroughly. Valentine answered her with a riddle, his hers, ours, the families.. She thought for a moment as he encouraged her forward. Rhythm had few if any possessions back in the day that were not plants. She would never forget his gift to her though, his own den. Which had become her den, their den, and finally where their children had been born. 

She gasped quietly at the surprise in her realization as Valentine babbled about how many steps she was away from her boulder. As he said "den" she jumped with an accuracy fully sighted wolves would be envious of. A huge smile swept over her face, just as surprised and elated as the first time he'd gifted her the spot. She turned back around to face him, despite not being able to see his features she could see him just as clearly in her mind as if her eyes remained I damaged. She lowered herself to the rock, dangling her paws over the edge as she beckoned him to come closer. 

"You remembered," she said with not surprise but love intertwined within her words. She felt her eyes tearing up at the thoughtful gesture. She felt like home. "I love you so much, Valentine. I've missed you so much all of these years." the tears fell freely from her sightless eyes now and she tries to wipe them with her silver flecked paws. "So much happened, I wished you were by my side every day." 

The pain of the emotions tangled around her other offspring welled up in her chest. "I can tell thinking about what happened makes you angry," how could it not? "I'd rather not speak of it, but.." she couldn't find the right words, they were hard to say out loud. "I need you to know I bore them offspring." she knew how he might react, but the words left her lips as she cried. "I know you're having Rhyme take you back, and I know I can't and shouldn't stop you," she hated that she had trained this special moment with such talk, but everything had come pouring out. "But if you can save them too.." she begged, he had no connections to them but they were her blood. She loved the ones that had not been tore from her side. Rhythm would never ask him to love or care for them, but she wanted them to taste freedom too.