Lion Head Mesa immortality

@Treva i must always have a mom thread!

toula had a gift for her mother. in her youth, her father had gifted her mother beautiful white furs; toula, unaware of its meaning and loveliness both, had used it as a cub in playing games of pretty, pretty princess. though the fellahin did well to keep it clean, today toula had brought with her new precious and pale furs. she had tasked one of the fellahin many moons ago with this, and they had done well to bring her several.
her mother would have her pick! mink, fox, hare... each skinned (as perfectly as it could be done). toula was unsure if her mother had ever felt upset for toula's adoration of the white-furred thing, but the gracious girl would always seek to right her wrongs.
and beyond all of this, she wished to spend time with the woman she so adored! mother, she greeted softly, after her attendants announced her in their ceremony. toula smiled softly, eager to see her.

many things stirred in akashingo.

treva watched with a worried eye. if she had become reclusive save for winter planning, she spoke none on it. not a single face would pry free the worries of her heart.

she wished for daughters.

she wished for sons.

she wished for some, for none. a tangle of her heart and her biology.

it was easy to don warmth for her only daughter. that whose future was up for debate, but treva would give tooth and claw to secure safety. warmth, love, care. no politics of prince or pharaoh would halt the things she would give her daughter.

and it was with that pale, family worn pelt upon her shoulders that she greeted toula. vibrant, smart toula. treva wondered how she had ever produced such a girl. she wondered if any of the wilderness of her blood was in there — or if it had been smothered by the divine, the royal.

what is all of this?

asked in a low hum as she moved to press a kiss to the top of the girl's crown.

i wanted to give you something beautiful, toula started with, sidling alongside her and greeting her with a chaste, adoring kiss to her chin. I know I have borrowed your furs many a time, and I am glad to see you wear it still, that... I have not ruined it, a bashful smile then, as she lowered her head in apology. toula had played more than just pretty, pretty princess with her mother watching. once or thrice, she had played strong, savage Shabti!
she wanted to be beautiful like her mother. strong like her mother. she still wished to make her proud. but most of all, toula wished for her to be happy. father told me there is to be a celebration you wish to have... I would love to help you with this, she added, tail wagging. toula so loved celebrations! and I thought... perhaps you might like to wear one of these, if it is fitting, she remarked hopefully.

kisses exchanged.

treva held more love than she could speak for her daughter. her first, her only. she almost wished for none to come after when she saw this level of grandness.

there was discussion of the celebration to come. of a gift given to her, by her daughter! it was then she allowed her focus to fall upon the furs brought. all lovely, all tended to with the handiwork of trained fellahin. as she examined them, she kept toula near her side.

you could ruin no such thing of mine, toula. only enhance it. another kiss, her nose lingered where she had planted her affections. you will hold the celebration with me. you are old enough to have such a part.

the spread was bountiful.

do me the honor of picking one first. the one you shall wear before all at the celebration we will hold.

toula could scarcely believe her ears, at the invitation! her gaze was wide, but joy remained present. did her mother truly think so? nose to nose, toula beamed up at the Divine Woman she worshiped upon this plane. truly? she murmured, eyes bright. she knew her mother meant the words; she said with glee, oh! it will be the best celebration ever! she decided, her heart swelling in her chest!
and at her mothers offer, toula looked to the furs. oh! each was so lovely! and for her first party to host, alongside her mother... she must be certain to look lovely, too!
but it felt selfish, to pick her favorite. her gaze lingered upon that of the mink, but turned to her mother. these ones are for you, mother. i promise i shall ask the fellahin to find one for me, she gently bid, but would never command! she merely wanted to be sure her mother loved it, truly! and for her family, toula could be selfless.
although she was vain, it was never with the intent to outdo any other—especially her mother!
toula had another gift for her mother, that she would share only once her mother had made her pick!

it would be.

it would be so for the sake of toula, by the power and grace of her divine daughter. who treva did not see a lick of the wilderness in. the most fervent thing about her was her devotion to her studies and her palace.

if treva could have given her daughter any thing in the world, it would have been the wild spirit of roaming. a goddess of the wildlands had produced too perfect of a princess.

she had not missed the lingering of a gaze upon mink. treva was wordless as she picked it up herself, then moved to drape it along the refined shoulders of the pious girl. finding it complimented the dark cloak of her spine. for you, amiirad. she wished to hear no fuss of it.

with a soft gesture, a fellahin would be swift to don treva with the fox.

do you know the strength it is to be amiirad, my daughter?

drat—she had been too obvious in her look!
she opened her mouth to protest, but a look was all it took from her mother to quiet her. if this pleased her mother, she supposed she must accept it; toula felt warm, and grateful all the same.
and once the foxfurs were placed around her mothers shoulder, toula advised, it has been blessed with the Allseeing Eye of Ra, with a small smile. toula had traced the shape of it, @Akhtar had said the words and she after him. all that toula had learned to keep her family safe, she would employ. toula would keep her family safe in the ways that she could.
the question of her mother caused the young girl to blink softly. toula thought that she might, but did not wish to be wrong. strength, her mother asked. to have wisdom, she answered knowing the things that were required of her. the wisdom of many languages. the wisdom of knowing how to protect herself, with tooth and with poisoned thorn. to heal, too, with tongue and plant. to know the wisdom of stories, the warnings in them—most that she did not yet understand—but also the paths offered, too. to sing and dance well, as this too was something she could use... prayer, and devotion, too!
but toula, the ways in which she figured were all ways in which to provide joy. happiness to her mother, to her father, her sister.
she looked to her mother, curious to see if she was right.

flattered. touched. warmed. her daughter went to great lengths that continued to be endearing and incredible. it struck her with some mild sense of fear.

had makono not been the same? siptah?

she did not wish that quarrel to come to toula.

it means you are destined for divine things, as your blood commands, my love. she moved to press her nose against the girl's forehead.

your father and i often talk for countless hours about you. all the things you might do, might see. so tell me — a soft inhale, she pulled away for the exhale. what are the wants in your heart?

toula listened to her mother, quiet as the words took root. divine things, her mother had said. whatever these things were, toula would see to it that they were done! leaning into her mothers touch, toula bowed her head a measure to honor the woman she so adored. understanding. acceptance. toula's ambitions were shared with that of her mother, her father. in life, she had never been given a reason to overlook them or consider their own betrayals. it could not be done!
her family was divine. makono among them. and were they not all happy?
she believed so. her family was quite adept at one thing, at this point placing it above other more nefarious things, it seemed: keeping toula safe, sheltered, away from that part of it all. toula was taught so many things, but she did not look to her family with her well-learned gaze.
for the divine did not make the same mistakes as mortals did. and toula had learned from the stories of their Gods, to not tread upon such a path.
her mother asked her a most beautiful question. toula seemed to detest the idea of any space between herself and her mother. as her mother withdrew, toula leaned forward once more to gratefully embrace her for the thoughtful question.
she shared her dreams: I want to be like you, and like Iset, she admitted, I want to marry my love; I want to be wise; I want to heal, and to protect my people, and to help in all of the ways that I can. I want to share the wisdom of the Gods, so that all might feel Them in their hearts, too. I... I want to make you happy, and father, oh, and brother and sister, too. I want to see you and father happy, and be happy with you, as we are now! she felt.
she did not mean it in a way to rule, as she spoke it; her mother was a woman who toula revered as much as her father, and wanted to embody. and as she spoke the words, it seemed that she carried such a spark to see these things done, to make them become; in the lightness of her voice, clear as a bell, her words were clearly at the expense of none. 
it was perhaps the first time toula voiced her own thoughts, her own true desires, but she spoke them with conviction and a head held high, and with a warm smile with it.