Hideaway Strath Futha.

-"Rye,"- Towhee said curtly, -"I just said I'm their mother."- The amusement had slid off her face and she was giving him a pointed look, wondering how this conversation had taken such a turn. Rye's label was technically correct but it totally rubbed her the wrong way. -"And, for the record, I'm really damn good at being both a mom and and aunt,"- she added.

But this was Rye, so her irritation didn't last. -"I'll take you to meet them soon,"- she promised, her smile returning, unaware that he'd already met her son. -"Right now, though, I'd like to—" But whatever she'd like to do, Towhee never said, her voice cutting off and her orange eyes rising skyward as a shadow passed overhead.

More than once, Towhee had spied a hawk flying overhead and felt her heart leap, only to fall once more. But this time, her heart leaped and then it soared. Even from down here, it was unmistakably X. "X!" the Kilonova shouted, her breath coming fast as she watched the familiar raptor circle, winding lower, until she eventually landed on one of the lower boughs of a nearby cedar.