The time since passed between the coastal queen’s shunning and present-day went by unrecorded; he could no longer recall how long it’d been since he last saw her, the mere thought upsetting. To this day, Aningan could not fully believe what transpired, how the woman’s own daughter could so easily turn her away. Part of him wondered if he was daydreaming, yet the more time that passed, the deeper the truth was set into his bones; a truth so confusing that he could not face the girl that remained, troubled by what went on inside her head. But, at the same time, he knew he could not avoid her for all eternity.

Settling on his decision, Aningan sought out the girl, following the most recent scent he could locate.

It wasn’t long before he was standing across from her, body rigid as he tried his best to maintain his composure. He missed seeing her, speaking to her—he considered her a friend once, even family, but now he wasn’t so sure. She turned on her mother, sending her away from her own home, so who was to say she wouldn’t do the same to him? What was keeping her from turning her back on him, too, and leaving him with yet another member of his family gone from his life?

There was so much he wanted to say, and yet, all it took was her saying a few words for him to go silent. His shoulders began to shake whilst his eyes burned with tears, threatening to fall; he was frustrated, he was angry—but, most of all, he was hurt. “Why?” he barely managed to choke out. Why did she side against her own mother? “Why… why didn’t you let her stay?” Were his actions now for nothing? Had he challenged the male before him for nothing, the role he thought to hold for Caiaphas now without her to take it back? The one that provided him with a home when he was all alone, following an owl that was also now gone—betrayed by her own kin and vanished into the wilds, never to return.

It wasn’t fair.

Aningan could not still himself, a million emotions all boiling up within. Part of him wanted to yell, whilst another part couldn’t find his voice at all. She had a point, as much as he didn’t want to acknowledge it. She was gone for a long time—“But she was trying to find us!” he tried to argue, grasping for any footing he could find. She cared about them, about Rusalka. The entire time she was gone, she was searching for them, he was certain of it. She just couldn’t find her way home—they moved, after all. That was what made her take so long, it had to be!

But as much as he tried to reason against all that Caiaphas did, he couldn’t. The more Raleska said, the more at a loss he felt. The sea tried to destroy them—it nearly succeeded, too—and she was nowhere to be found during or after that. Those that held grudges against the sea queen could have easily kicked them while they were down, a retaliation against their former leader. “I don’t know…” he muttered, eyes downcast. He could feel his eyes burning, tears threatening to fall—and perhaps a few even managed to slip by. All of the reasoning in the world couldn’t stop his heart from aching, yearning to embrace the kindness she showed him.

“I just wanted her to stay…” To be home with them, with those he was able to meet only thanks to her. “I just wanted us all to be together again…” Everyone else got back who they lost. Those separated from them by the sea kept returning, day after day, filling those voids previously made. Yet the one that he hoped so desperately would return, was not someone that they could afford to welcome back.

Aningan fell silent for a long moment, processing. There was so much he wanted to say—he wanted to argue his case, explain why she should be allowed to come back home but, the longer his silence went, the more he came to realise that she was right. She was right, as much as it pained him to admit it. His brow furrowed with frustration—it still wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair at all.

“Why’d she do it?” he broke the silence to ask. “Why’d she leave? Why’d she have to make enemies?” Why weren’t they enough to keep her home, to end her need for vengeance? Rusalka was her home and within it lived her family—they should have been enough for her.

The answer was a simple one—but the simplicity of it did not make it any easier to accept. Couldn’t she change? Would she have changed, if given the chance? “I wish she was different,” he said, staring at his feet. If she were different, then maybe she could have stayed—maybe she never would have left to begin with. But Caiaphas was who she was, just as Raleska said, and maybe there was no way to change that.

“I’m sorry, Raleska,” he muttered back, unable to look her way. It wasn’t her fault, none of it was. He knew this, he really did, but he wanted someone to blame. He needed someone to blame, someone other than the sea witch.

Aningan kept silent, thoughtful. His mind wandered far, contemplating how their lives could have been. But when she bumped his shoulder he was brought back to reality, blinking slowly and then offering her a small, absent smile. “Yeah, at least we have each other.” The only pieces either of them held that remained, still, from the sound.