Growing up too fast

Manea's ears flicked and a soft sigh escaped her as Fia only cited that she had been fairly mature and then dismissed the question entirely while avoiding her gaze. She was always such a pushover for her children. For anyone else she dealt with she was always far more firm and could easily fill this role of Matriarch that she inherited, but her children would be the death of her. It was why she had allowed so much and pulled so many strings to allow Avacyn and Saracyn to live the way they wished despite the fact that she had every right by their laws to put a stop to it. She wanted them all to be happy and to have what they wanted. Was it really all that much for Fia to want to live at least a bit more separated from her parents?

Before she could reply again though, Fia looked back to her after a brief pause in their conversation, asking instead whether she thought her father was going to leave the den again. Manea blinked with surprise at the question, her ears flicking back against her head again with a mix of guilt and shame. She had tried to hide as much as she could from her family, but Alastor's absence had of course been obvious and she hated that her children had to play witness to that. At least that question came now and not in the midst of it all so now she could at least answer that question with confidence. A reassuring smile tugged at her lips and she lifted her paw to gently stroke over the top of Fia's head and along her cheek affectionately. "He's not going anywhere, my darling," she replied confidently. "I'm... sorry we ever made you doubt that." She sighed softly as she lowered her paw, adding, "Your father and I sometimes have differing opinions or things that we want from life, but those things are very small in comparison to how much we love each other and how much we love you and your siblings. We just needed to work some things out, but we're in a much better place now."

She certainly wasn't willing to go into the details of what had brought them to blows, but she didn't want Fia to worry about her parents or their relationship when there was nothing to really worry about—at least not any more. Perhaps she was just slightly eager to move away from that topic, but Manea was quick to bring back up her daughter's original desire. She considered it for just a moment before she said, "If moving out on your own is what you really want, then I'll allow it. I know you are a capable young woman, I just worry about you and I hate to see you and your siblings grow up so fast." She smiled a bit before she added, "However, I do have some stipulations. I want you to pick somewhere close by to our cave so I can check in on you and I'd like for you to come eat dinner with us at night, okay? When you're two you can move to a further out part of the island or onto the mainland, but until then I want you somewhere on this part of the mountain range. Is that a deal?"

Manea | Temno | Ciemny