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Sava sat quietly by while the four of them had their quiet moment. She couldn't imagine a thing like this, and her own family--small as it was--was not for want of drama. It was beautiful, watching them reunite so unexpectedly after Ash's personal quest to find them, the desperation in the girl coming to fruition. Sava did see her as a girl, though the she-wolf probably didn't see herself that way. It might have had something to do with the fact that she was about Ryka's age.

Ryka. The thought of her son plucked one of her heartstrings and caused a pang of longing in her chest. That was why she was here. She glanced at Valreth, the young miracle, the boy not much older than Ryka had been when he left home. She envied them, being together like this, being happy. And more than that, she envied their knowledge that when their children left them, they would be safe. Valreth's impenetrable fur and Ash's powerful phoenix-like fiery rebirths, both gifts she had inadvertently granted them through their parents.

The one with stony fur, their father, who had grown handsome in his old age, broke from the enthusiastic family huddle and turned his violet eyes on her. Katar, his name was? Something like that. She did remember those eyes, and that lithe form. Not that there'd been anything between them, though she'd had a few fantasies when she was younger about the grey-furred war hero "thanking" her for providing the potion that saved his life.

"What is it you're doing here?" he asked, those eyes narrowing. "Did you two know each other?"

Sava looked at Ash, whose eyes were red from crying; she had her father's eyes.

"No," Sava said simply. "I met her in the forest while each of us were trying to track you down. I was drawn by the sudden fireball that resulted from--well..."

She cleared her throat and regarded the group with that gentleness she had only had since becoming a mother. The memory of killing his own daughter, even if she stood before them alive and well, did weigh on the grey wolf.

"I apologize again, Ash," he said. "I can often be as quick to judge as I am at everything else. The speed I possess is not always a blessing."

Sava wrinkled her nose at the word "blessing"--she'd always resented chosing to be a healer for this reason. It made sense for the temple-goers who crowded around statues and drew their power from the Goddess of Creation or some other deity, but her gifts were always her own. She had scrounged up the ingredients, ground and mixed them just so. And yet so many soldiers she saved in the war had the audacity to thank the Goddess as soon as they rose from their would-be deathbeds. Tch.

But Ash's face was soft and her eyes sparkled as she looked at her father.

"And I told you, it's alright," she said gently. "Actually, I've been meaning to ask about that--your speed, I mean. I have so many questions about--"

"Let's keep focused on the important matters for now," the muscled brown she-wolf said.

Their mother, Fara Flameblade, sat on one of the two large beds, though large and sturdy as it was, it wasn't enough to keep the wooden frame from groaning and bending slightly under her immense weight. Except, well, her last name would be different now, since she had married. Sava had heard quite a few stories of her exploits during the war, and recalled it had been difficult to keep quiet about her involvement in granting the legendary warmaiden the incredible strength that made it possible. And, she recalled, she'd had more than a few fantasies about the she-wolf as well, back in her early days. Not that she was any less horny now, she just knew how to control it, and of course she respected their whole monogamy thing, even if she'd never taken interest in that herself.

She came out of her thoughts to see all of them looking at her. Oh.

"What?" she murmured, ears flicking back for a moment.

"I'd asked, for the third time now, what are you doing here?" the grey-fur said with a hint of annoyance. Perhaps his patience wore thin faster than a normal wolfkin's too.

"Ah," Sava sighed, her eyes switching to young Valreth. "Well, you see... I have a son as well."

***

"And this son of yours," the grey wolf continued, "where is he?"

Another tug of worry. She laughed it off with a soft chuckle, burying it.

"Oh, he's always off somewhere," she said, glancing down at the hardwood, and when she brought her eyes back up, she saw a glimmer of understanding in Fara's eyes, something they shared, mother to mother. Even the grey's violet eyes seemed to have softened slightly, and Ash leaned forward slightly, ears perked. And Valreth's face was... she knew that look. A swirling mix of emotion, one part compassion and four parts eager heroism. She'd seen it enough in Ryka's eyes.

"He does very dangerous work," she continued with a sigh, setting her hands on her thighs like she always did when she was nervous. Her tail curled around the back leg of her chair.

"He hunts--" She stopped herself, bit her tongue. "... evil."

The grey raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. The others seemed equally skeptical.

"I'm sorry, there's only so much I can say," she said. "What little I do know--" Another pang of worry. "--I can't tell you. For the safety of everyone involved."

Young Valreth and Ash still seemed confused, but the two older wolves shared a look of understanding. They probably figured her son was a monk, one of the post-war peacekeepers whose orders had formed out of the settling dust. Sava might have preferred that.

"The reason I'm here is probably what you feared," she said. "I'd... like to try to replicate your son's ability alchemically."

Their faces hardened and her ears flattened.

"Not for profit or anything, if that's any consolation," she said quickly.

"A little," the grey-fur said bitterly.

"I don't even need to make it permanent," she said. "I just want my son to be safe."

Her voice broke a bit toward the end, the desperation rising from her chest into her throat.

"Your family is here," she said. "Your children both have incredible power. But I'd guess that hasn't stopped you from worrying about your son, and it won't stop you from worrying about your daughter."

Their parents' faces fell with doubt, confusion and consideration. Valreth and Ash looked at her with what was mostly pity.

"I think we should do it," Valreth said. "I want to help."

"You're not serious," his father said.

"Katok," Fara said.

The grey-fur looked at his wife with an expression of shock, betrayal.

"It should be his decision," she said with a gentleness unbecoming of such a large figure. It seemed being a mother had had an effect on her as well.

Katok looked at his son, his face full of difficult consideration, then glanced at his daughter.

"It's his power, to do with as he wishes," Ash said. "I've had this conversation more than a few times with the woman who raised me. I'm settled on that."

"Who was that?" Fara asked, ears turning toward her.

"Surra Dawnfeather," Ash said. "An aarakocra from the Temple of the Goddess."

She let out a gentle laugh, one that could only be a painful memory turned into a humorous one by time. The girl must have been wise beyond her years.

"The others in the temple thought I was some kind of demon when they found out what I could do," she continued.

Sava snorted at this--she hadn't expected anything more from religious types. The others looked at her and she waved it off dismissively.

"Surra was the one who taught me to see my... unique condition... as a gift," Ash said with a smile. "And you should know, she was protective of me too. She refused to let me experiment with my power for years before I managed to convince her to let me go it on my own. You'd like her, I can take you to meet her. But my point is, Valreth should be allowed to do as he wants with his own abilities."

Katok sighed. But as he opened his mouth to respond, there came a knock at the door.

***