Blood is Thicker

The sound of paw-falls brought Larisa out of her reverie. She opened one eye to gaze at her intruder, and looked up to see none other than her niece, Manea. Her eyes narrowed but she returned the grin, and righted herself so that she was supine. Manea looked mostly the same as she had before Larisa had yet, but the stresses of leadership leave none untouched, and she looked and older and wiser than before. Still, she seemed strong and in control. Larisa's lips twitched. "It is, it is, a fine place to relax" she replied, stretching her forelimbs to displace her irritation. She caught Manea's eye, and spied the raised brow. She braced herself for a quip, but willed herself not to bite back. Now was not the time, and there was no need to anyway - she had overcome those feelings.
    "Just passing through? Ah, you have no faith in me, niece," she said with a wink and a grin. "No, I have come back to rejoin the family - not that I left, really, in the first place." She looked away, gazing at the clearing, thinking of her next words. "It was merely a...brief sojourn in a distant land, is all." She stood up and shook out her coat, although it was so damp with steam that merely clumped again. She looked back to Manea. "My question is, will you accept me back? After all, that responsibility falls on your shoulders now."