Broken Antler Fen And I'm so sick of crying, yeah

Jasmine moped, but for once she couldn't rival Diantha. Her fussy sister had become a terror overnight, stealing a spot that had been hers, up until now.

At first, Jasmine had wailed when mama had left them, as she'd always done. But as the night turned into a new day, and more hours passed between mama's leaving and the present hour, Jasmine was at a loss. She moped, but for once she couldn't rival Diantha. Her fussy sister had become a terror overnight, stealing a spot that had been hers until now, and Jasmine couldn't figure out how she felt about that.

Auntie Maia had no answers for them either, no matter how much she or her siblings badgered her. Ibis had left for a little while, and would be back again - but something nagged her... and Jasmine wasn't so sure.

The energy that eeked from Diantha and Roswell felt heavy, and filled the den with something like the clouds right before it rained. Jasmine had only watched the rain once, but once was enough to give her this understanding.

Unlike the rainclouds, she thought Maia and Eljay much like the sun. They radiated something warm, and Jasmine felt in an emotional tug-of-war - even though, for a pup her age, she had no way to describe the empathy she was feeling or any way to deal with her emotions in a mature and productive way.

But she did know that being near Diantha and Roswell made her very sad and that being closer to Maia or Eljay, or one of their daughters, brought her feelings she couldn't even remember feeling when mama had held her. None of this made sense, so Jasmine sat on her own, well enough away from all of them.

Jasmine didn't know what a dragon was. She only knew what swimming was because she'd asked about fish once, after Livia had brought mama some to eat. She only knew what flying was because she'd watched the birds fly when she'd wait in the den entrance for mama to come back. But Jasmine knew how the dragon felt, because she had felt those things, too. And tears pricked her eyes now -- no longer crocodile, like the ones she'd shed countless days before -- but real, as she considered... maybe mama had left them here to teach them a lesson, too.

A long silence stretched in the den. Roswell and Diantha offered no answer, and when she looked toward them through blurry eyes, they didn't seem like they'd really been listening at all. Only Uncle Eljay seemed to want to know the ending of the story. Maybe what he said was what actually happened. Maybe it was silly to say anything else.

But Jasmine said, "maybe she said sorry and everything was okay," and she gave every effort to give something more than a squeak. Even still, her voice felt small. She didn't feel so silly though, and she glanced at Uncle Eljay to see what he thought of her answer.