Hideaway Strath If I look back, I am lost.

He made her look at him and wanted to know what he could do to help. Towhee didn't reply right away. This hurt, badly, but she could think of no greater sorrow than being separated from her makeshift family. She would not be parted from them; she'd said as much to her brother before and didn't bother repeating it now.

And because Phox would never return, that meant going back simply wasn't an option. There were other reasons this was a good move too, aside from the their family group in and of itself, and Towhee tried to bear them in mind as she took a deep, shaky breath and said, "I just need time." In time, she could accept and adapt to this change, embrace it properly.

With no looking back, they could only look forward. Towhee's face suddenly contorted again. She didn't start crying, but she did ask, "What happens when they grow up? When you find another mate and make more babies? What happens to me?"