Stone Circle life is old there, older than the trees

As Arlette eased away, Merrit found he was loathed to let his sister go - but then he reasoned, he was here to stay. This wouldn't be the last time they could hold each other like they were kids again. He had never deserved the love she had shown him when he had been nothing but content to linger in his misery, completely blind to the ones who stood right before his eyes. Regret washed over him, but Merrit rose to his feet, his gentle smile still touching his lips as he listened to his sister speak, and he found rest in the familiar chorus of her voice.

His heart warmed as she spoke of mother; he still had little trust for Greyback still, but his affections would always hold for Valette, and the news of her successful delivery brightened his face. "That is excellent," he rumbled through the quirk of a smile, but as prepared to ask more, Arlette threw a glance over her shoulder and he caught his tongue, his thoughts shifted entirely away.

"No." His voice was clipped, but he caught himself. Since had found himself keeping a few steps behind, Merrit allowed himself to come alongside his sister before he spoke again. They were family, after all. Equals. And besides, he had missed her company, and the way he felt when he was near her. Safe, and loved, unconditionally and without reserve. Her calmness lent him the courage to speak, and not give into his common failure of holding these things closer than cards to his chest. "But I found other things - or, I realized things. Father left us, but I will not be like him," and he turned to her with troubled eyes, "And in what I did - I left you, too, but I will not leave like him. You mean so much to me; you are my home, and I simply couldn't see that." And though he sensed no tension between himself and Arlette, he chose to address that further. He needed her to know that he understood what he'd done to her; he needed her to know that if he'd hurt her, he would never do so again. "I wasn't fair to you. Not in leaving, and not in how I pushed you away after father left us. I understand that now, and I can't change what I've done - but I want to do things differently now. And I want to know if you can forgive me."