Larksong Grotto With apple blossom in her hair

indra didn't know what to do -- she was torn between two things, no, three, that she loved very much. on the one hand, saena had been the only thing she knew in life for so very long (and also so shortly, for she was young and things were relative) - saena meant casmir, who was a constant, and laika, a comfort. saena meant the chilly frost-ridden mornings and the gurgling creek -- home.

on the other, indra loved her father, and he had not once done wrong by her that she was cognizant of. he had made good on his promises, and she did not have the skepticism for jhala her sister harbored. reek was familiarity, comfort -- he was adventure too, and stepping out of your comfort zone. indra had hated it here at first, but had grown to love it.

and then there was laurel, who indra perhaps was most loyal to above all. nothing could shake her rock, her anchor -- and she looked to her sister with trusting eyes. she would be both of their voices, and she was. she smiled feebly as laurel shouldered her, for she knew her sister as her one constant and comfort above all. her friend, and her ally.

but indra didn't want to go with one or the other. she didn't want the creek without the grotto, or her mother without her father. she cast her gaze downward as laurel finished and jhala spoke, and there was a dark frustration simmering that had never been witnessed before.

and suddenly, an outburst -- "why do we have to pick?" she wailed, her lower lip trembling. "why can't we be happy?" her outcry lost its boldness and freshly cowed, she looked to the ground and mumbled quietly: "why can't you two just get along?"