Stone Circle Sister, you are going to be an aunt.

Heat flushed through her cheeks, and Nanook shifted her weight. The strength in Desna's voice wasn't something she'd expected. Her words, even less so. In their time apart, her memory of Desna had chipped to leave only strokes of perfection. Whatever her mistakes, they were buried deep. Her sister was the wise one, the one who had done right in the end. Nanook struggled to see her sister as anything less - but her words resurfaced the scale of reality. And, for a beat, her lofty thoughts subsided, and she blinked to see Desna, a wolf like herself.

And then the moment passed, but Desna's words spilled strong and free - that things were good. That she was wanted, and Nanook couldn't argue herself out of trusting that Desna meant everything she said, as little as she believed them herself. And her chest tightened, but not with fear. This was a different feeling, one that made her want to try harder, to be better, not to boost herself or make her wrongs right, but for the pure joy of seeing like joy on Desna's face as they learned together. Laughed together. Lived together, as sisters should.

The smile that crossed her sister's face pushed her to the edge, and her thoughts corrected her - they had a new start - they had one since they had found each other in the Valley. Nanook had simply not believed, and it would take some time yet. But every reassurance pushed her closer to accepting that.

She pressed the faintest smile. "You don't think of yourself as a bad sister either, okay?" Nanook's thoughts bounced through all of Desna's words, but settled on the last. To give the pups a family they themselves had never had. Nanook had no idea how she could help, but she knew she wanted this, too. "Maybe I could show you the stars, and you could teach me more about pups." Her face turned sheepish. "So I'm a bit more ready for when they come."