A long time coming

Satira wasn't sure what she expected from her father with each pointed jab she barraged him with. Maybe part of it was just to vent the thoughts and feelings she'd been keeping bottled up for so long. Maybe it was to show him just how badly he'd fucked up by making the choices he had. Maybe it was just to do something to keep him from walking away again and say her piece before she lost the determination to do so again. When Mojito did finally speak, the words he said were not what Tira was bracing herself for. She knew her father wasn't cruel; if anything, he was too empathetic and kind. But still, hearing him claim that she was never the problem and admitting to his own faults felt like it took all the furious wind out of her sails. She didn't want to beat up on her despondent sire. He was doing enough of that to himself without her addition. He apologized to her—apologized twice—and expressed that he had no desire to force himself into her life. If she wanted him to be a part of it, that was the only way he would be.

Tira swallowed back hard, trying to force down the emotions threatening to choke her. Breathing was difficult, her chest heavy with those repressed feelings bubbling out of her. Steel blue eyes were still pointed at him, her gaze narrowed, but beyond the anger and frustration lay a sorrow and a heartache she could never express. Mojito bowed his head, looking as if he were mourning the death of their relationship, and in a way Satira was glad he was. Perhaps their relationship was long since dead and buried with no chance of revival. Maybe others would have told her to tell him to leave for once and for all, to put him out the way he had done to her time and time again. But that wasn't what she wanted. Satira wasn't a vindictive or vengeful creature. She didn't want to hurt anyone. That had been her biggest driving force behind becoming a healer. Now she had the power to lay her sire low and exile him from her life for good or to forgive him and let him back in.

The tawny wolf-dog shook her head, turning her gaze away from Mojito's for a brief moment so he wouldn't see her wiping away the tears creeping up in the corners of her eyes. She disguised a sniffle behind a deep breath, then looking back at him again. Maybe he would be perceptive and notice the shimmer of teardrops in her eyes, or maybe he wouldn't. "Y'know, all I ever wanted was to be like you. I looked up to you so much, Dad. You were a hero to me," she said, struggling to keep her voice level and even. "I never saw doubt and insecurity in you. You made me feel like it was okay to be me, to be the way we were." She was referring to their lineage, of course. A half-breed and a quarter-breed. "You were the reason I wanted to be a healer too. I wanted to be just like you and help people. And y'know what? I did. I became a damn good healer. I saved a wolf from dying and another from losing his tail. I helped patch up the fighters after the raid. I learned all on my own, I did this all on my own."

Satira shook her head and released a heavy sigh, her head hanging as her floppy ear drooped. "I never wanted you to be perfect, Dad. I just wanted you to be there. I was all alone. Mom had Uncle Indy and they started their own family. Arc has his new girlfriend. I had no one... and it hurt even more knowing you were out there somewhere but you just weren't here." Yes, Tira knew all about Asla and Indigo. There were little mysteries left to the little wolf-dog who'd been forced to grow up fast. She looked up to Mojito, looking into those eyes that mirrored her own. "I want you to know just how much you missed, Dad. You're right, we can't get that time back. It's gone forever. But if I forgive you, if I let you back in, how can I know you won't disappear again?" How could she be sure she wouldn't wake up one day to find him gone without a trace once more? How many times could she let him back into her life only to receive heartbreak and confusion in return? She looked up at Mo, pleading with him to give her something real to believe in. She didn't want to turn him away. She wanted her father back. But she'd been burned so many times now, trust had to be earned.

"Satira"