Nova Peak Skeptic

She shook her head. It is not that easy, she told him. He is my son. These words were fervent, almost pleading. How can I watch him make a decision that I know is wrong? One that could be his last. Just the thought threatened to steal her breath. He was an adult—she was aware of that, but she was still his mother, and if something happened to him, she wouldn't be able to handle it. She had already lost so much, and now her children were scattered and she felt like she was losing them. And the way Taikon said she could just let Stag fight without her—did he even know what that would do to her? How difficult that would be? Would he stick around after that choice destroyed her? No else ever had. She had never been able to count on anyone, and she didn't expect that to change, especially now that she didn't deserve it; she had done the same to her own son, after all. 

I just wanted peace, she said quietly. But life has always had a different plan for me. She didn't know why she thought she could have anything different. It was time to pull her head out of the sand and stop acting like she deserved a quiet life. Slowly, her expression shifted into something more cold and stern, and she pushed her feelings down like she had always done in the past in order to deal with difficult choices. She rested her fiery gaze on Taikon. I will not fight just because some power hungry leader demands it. She was not meant to follow. She had allowed herself to do just that, and now she was deep in a mess of someone else's making. It seemed no matter what she did, she would always find herself in these situations.