Hoshor Plains We picked up the shards and formed them into shapes of stars

The blackbear glowed with satisfaction, her orange eyes drinking in features that were so quickly becoming familiar to her. She had mourned Anurag in private, and although he'd not been long in this world, she had felt him missing from her life all the same. As much as she'd always tried to comfort herself with the knowledge that she carried him with her, she could not help feeling that something had been restored to her when she looked into Sumac's beloved face.

She only hoped that he felt the same, and that she might bring some comfort to him in return.

"Good," she said with an air of finality. Some of the commanding air faded from her posture, and it was absent from her voice when she next spoke: "Thank you, Sumac. You have become so very dear to me." She searched his face. "I only want to see you happy," she told him. "You will have a place in my life always, and in the lives of these babes as well. But it is not the same as falling in love, and fathering your own children."

Hurrying, she went on: "I will not pressure you." Tonight, I will not. "But I hope you will open yourself to the possibility. There is joy to be found, despite any risks you see."