Gossamer had left the courtyard for some alone time after the business of meeting the new pups. What should have been a purely happy occasion was clouded by terrible news. Zee was terminally ill and in terrible shape. What had seemed like frailness since her rescue may have been part of her symptoms and now it seemed like her mother would not be returning to the Armada with them. The news had hit hard as well as the denial. Gossamer was training in the healing arts and thought there might be something she could do to help but her training was in wounds obtained in battle, not something like this. From what she understood there was nothing any of them could do.

Anger boiled in her heart at the unfairness of it all. She'd already had to deal with the loss of her mother once and now again? Now for real? In some ways it should've made it easier but it wasn't. Gossamer choked down her anger and her tears and headed toward the castle, seeking the room her mother was staying in. She paused outside the door then reached out a paw, her claws gently scratching at the door. "Mother?"

Zee had made a second home in this guest room (a replacement for the one Sirius had already destroyed) and as the hours passed, left it less and less. Curled up upon push and soft pelts and furs, the warmth of the fire filling the room and a constant stream of medicine on her bedside... her family was taking care of her as well as they could. The sound of nails upon the door caught her ear and Zee gestured her once-companion to answer. The toucan may have passed to Vanta now, but as his old master's time was quickly coming he had been spending less and less time with the small blind girl. The bird set it's talons upon the handle and gave it a push, popping the door open and pulling it to give Gossamer entrance. "Goss." Zee sighed as her monochromatic daughter slipped in. Like every other visitor she'd had, she was a loss for words. How many times could the dying say 'I'm sorry?' before someone called her out on it? "I'm glad you came." She settled on instead. "Speech"

Gossamer's stomach flipped as the door opened her mother answered. Her mouth felt dry. She struggled to swallow the lump in her throat as she searched for the words she wanted to say but they'd vanished as if they were never there. The tears welled up again and Gossamer opted for action over words, at least for now as she rushed forward and threw her arms forward, hoping to wrap them around her mother's neck and bury her face in her mother's fur. Right now she just wanted to be close. It would have the added benefit of hiding her tears, at least for a little bit.

When she got herself together she pulled away. "I heard the news… I wish it wasn't true. I wish there was something I could do. Please tell me there's still something we can do…"