Golden Glade Get Lonely

It hadn't been what Reek had wanted, but Laurel opened up... just not in the way he had hoped.

Though he had known -- though he had always known -- that Laurel was not happy with he and Jhala, it broke Reek's heart to actually hear the words. She wanted to leave, just like her sister. At least she had the gumption to talk about it before traipsing off into the unknown. He could try and sway her, to keep her here. The thought crossed Reek's mind, but his daughter's happiness was more important to him than his success or pride as a parent. If Laurel wasn't happy hear in the Glade, he was doing her a disservice as a father by keeping her here. This however, was a hard bridge to cross for Reek in an emotional sense.

"I would never hate you," he told her. Reek's voice cracked as he spoke. After everything, he could never bring himself to resent his daughter. Sometimes, he was afraid of her, but he never hated her. "You're my baby girl." His princess. Though he had used that title to lure his daughters away from the creek, he meant every word. They were, and had always been, his world.

Reek's ears fell flat against the top of his head and his expression was one of defeat. "I can't keep you here Lorry if you're unhappy," he continued. "I would if I could, but the choice has always been with you." True to his word from the day Saena tried to reclaim her daughters, Reek tried to give his children full autonomy in their choices.

He fell silent for a moment, and then, "There's still one thing I need to talk to you about. You're old enough now to understand, and you need to know why I wasn't there for you or your sister when you were babies."