Redhawk Caldera if only you knew

His words broke her heart, just as did the crumpled posture he took on when facing her. Eljay had made such great improvements since the birth of the firebirds, and even further with his new little siblings. But he seemed now to have reverted to a boy she had not seen for some time - sad, terrified, anxious and miserable.

"You're not crazy, Jay," Fin said gently, "You're just hurting. And when you hurt, it's hard to face the things that are hurting you because it feels like that only makes it worse." She wondered about this wolf that Eljay had found that looked like Peter Pan, but he seemed to understand that his new friend was not literally his old one. She said nothing about it now, but remained vigilant about searching each comment he made just in case it alluded to something more worrisome.

"Facing it though is the only way that you can start to feel better," Fin added after a moment. It was an odd concept, her teaching someone else how to deal with grief when she was clearly no expert in the matter. She had avoided facing what had happened to Hawkin for what, three years? She grimaced slightly and began to hope that Elwood soon would show.