There was a fish firmly clamped in the young boy's jaws and a smile lit up his face. He had followed fresh scents of his mother back to the family's resting place. His eyes were bright and filled with a certain amount of pride as he poked his head inside the den and set down the fish at his feet. "Momma? Are you in here?" The words were curious to match much of the things he managed to say. He was normally a quiet being but with what he had accomplished that day, he was ready to be a chatter box. The boy picked up the fish again, waiting for an answer. He knew his mother was out and about more but he wanted to bring her something special. Perhaps after this she could go and find luck and they could play.
Slowly but surely Frith had been helping her get back to some sort of routine. Progress wasn't as swift as she would have liked, in fact some days she felt there hadn't been much of a change at all and yet some sense of use was certainly aiding her confidence somewhat. There were certainly days that it seemed more and more likely she would be back to herself, or at least be relatively comfortable back in her position as Author.
She had been out for a little while, though with her sleeping pattern still a little out of sorts found that she was tempted to rest in peace and quiet for a while. She had wondered what her children were up to, though lacked the energy right now to track them both down. Instead it seemed that the reverse would happen, her son searching her out instead.
Her head would lift from her paws as she heard his voice and mismatched eyes would glance towards the entrance of the den. "Fate." She answered "I am, is everything ok?" He didn't sound particularly troubled though with all the worries she suffered with currently it seemed more than logical to check.
Her comforting voice reached through the air of the den which gave him cause to enter, the fish clamped in his jaws. He walked at a decent pace until he was in front of her and he set it down. "Everything is fantastic! I caught you something." The young boy smiled as he used his nose to push the fish towards her. He had a wide grin on his face. "I had been trying to catch it but it kept swimming away but then Aslan found me and he taught me how to catch it so I caught it for you." The young boy explained as he laid down in a sphinx-like position in front of her. He desperately hoped that she liked it.
Fate wouldn't answer her immediately and whilst he hadn't really given her any reason to be concerned, a part of Novella was still on edge, worried about her son. Had it really come down to this emotion constantly driving her every thought? Why couldn't her children visit her simply because they wished to spend time with her? He seemed very cheerful and his words too certainly backed that up as well. Those worries would slide away, though not without her feeling a little bad about having prepared for the worst. Where had her optimism gone?
She would look down at the fish that Fate and brought her. Certainly feeling impressed as he announced that he had been the one to catch it and even a small smile would grace her lips as his excited chatter continued, explaining his difficulties until his big brother came to the rescue. This was what she had wanted, craved all along for them to be one big happy family. So why did she keep ruining that?
"That's wonderful." She praised glancing down at the fish once more before looking to him again. She should say more, something to keep his happy little conversation going. She clung to this moment of happiness with a fierce desire, such times seemed so rare lately. "Did you catch one for yourself?" She enquired, was he joining her in celebration of the first bit of food he had caught?
His mother proclaimed his catching of a fish to be a wonder but the way she said it and how she was acting made him slightly concerned. His mother seemed worried which, given his curious nature, made him question her with a laced accent of concern. "Is something wrong, mum?" His head cocked to the side for a moment as he looked for anything that might be physically wrong. She asked if he had caught one for himself and he shook his head. "I wasn't hungry. I caught it for you because you seemed kind of sad lately." The boy admitted as he looked down at his paws for a moment and then back up at his mother. What was the true answer?
There was only so long that Novella could keep her depression from her children. The elder ones had surely worked it out long before though Fate and Luck were growing more knowledgeable as the time went on and had surely begun to develop suspicions that something wasn't quite right with their mother. It was sad that they hadn't yet seen her in her true, usual self only caught glimpses of that side of her.
Sure enough though Fate now was starting to realise that something wasn't quite right, even asking her if something was wrong. How on earth was she supposed to answer that one? Things shouldn't be wrong and yet for some reason her mind was convinced they were. "I'll be fine my dear." Was the only consolation she could offer him. Soon she hoped she would be better, though it seemed to be a painfully slow process to reaching her normal self and beating this depression.
Now however though it would only make her feel worse as her son confessed he had caught the fish to help her feel better. She controlled the emotion or at least tried to though it certainly hit her hard. It was a lovely gesture though so upsetting that he had felt the need to do something to cheer her up. "Thank you." She responded, a small smile finding its way upon her features, touched by the compassionate nature of her son. "It's your first catch though, you have to have at least a little taste. Share it with me?"
His mother would try and talk him into taking a bit out of the fish he caught but he stubbornly shook his head at that. He had caught it for her and so she would be the one to eat it. He figured it would not hurt to take a small bite but at the same time he was not very hungry. Still, she was persistent. "Just a small bite." The young boy would concede as he went and took a small bit of the weird tasting creature and swallowed it almost whole. He smiled at her, sitting down. "The rest is for you, though!"
Apparently someone else could also be rather persistent it seemed. How long would they go back and forth in this debate until one finally gave in and just did as the other wanted? It was harmless requests either way, wouldn't make much of a difference though neither mother or son really wanted to give up on their thought. In the end however Fate would be the one to cave, emphasising it would only be a little bit and sure enough the mouthful truly wasn't a big bite.
She couldn't really force him to try anymore though, he had met her in the middle after all and so Novella wouldn't push any further. She didn't want him thinking she was being ungrateful at all. His efforts truly were admirable and sweet. "Alright." She agreed and to make a point of her own she would lower her head now and take a bite out of the fish. "This is very kind of you."
