Firefly Glen And what once was a world is a star

She didn't mean to leave them on tenterhooks. Her lips parted to elaborate when Bronco pressed, "What do you mean?" Meerkat's eyes cut between his face and Fennec's, noting the lines etched in each. She wanted to come clean to them, though at the last second, she decided she wouldn't mention the marital exchange.

"Before I found out about Osiris and Leta, I tried to get Atlas to show me where they'd buried Toad and Desdemona. I didn't mean to but I..." Her voice went a little thick thanks to a lump in her throat. "I caused him to have some kind of breakdown. He ran off and he hasn't been seen since. I don't think..." She took a shaky breath. "I don't think he's coming back. And it's my fault."

A hot tear squeezed from the corner of her eye, wobbling before trickling down her cheek. Meerkat found she couldn't look either one in the face now, her snout turning downward to point at her toes. More tears slipped free, gliding down her muzzle to plunk silently in the snow.