Little Moth

Rhapsody had sat herself down in a eerily familiar clearing, Cessna beside her. She had been surprised when the young fox had run to her and pressed her little nose into Rhapsody's fur. Rhapsody had all of her memories of Cessna, what few there were. Rhapsody hadn't talked to Cessna much. She hadn't been allowed to, since Valentino had built the biggest wall he could between the mother and daughter. That had royally backfired, looking at the state of Cessna.

"You can come back to the Thunderlands with me, you know. You don't have to stay here alone." Rhapsody invited, her voice quiet but hopeful. Something told her that Cessna would say no, but she figured she could ask anyway.

As expected, Cessna shook her head. "No, I'd rather stay here. I like it here better. I don't want to move anywhere new. I've just gotten used to not running into things here." Cessna explained, leaning into Rhapsody's soft, comforting side. The young fox closed her eyes when Rhapsody leaned down to draw her tongue over her face. She wondered how much she could tell Rhapsody. The most that Cessna had ever said to Rhapsody was a few threats in battle. "I'm sorry about the eye thing." She started. Rhapsody shook her head, wrapping Cessna in a gentle embrace.

"Don't be sorry about it. I don't remember what you're talking about anyway. I'm more pressed to know how you ended up here." Rhapsody mumbled, staring down at Cessna.

Clearing her throat, Cessna sighed softly. "Well, after I was Exiled, I didn't really have a place to go. I went to a few places, the Ruins, Painted Brigade and then the Knights of Eden. I was captured and never found my way home. Dad's in the Dark Dynasty. I don't think they wanted anything to do with me though. He and Viper are having more babies. I don't think they noticed I left." She explained, trying to peace together the details as best as possible.

Rhapsody felt unexpectedly sympathetic. Not that she expected not to feel bad for her daughter, but it was a different kind of feeling bad. Rhapsody knew how all of that felt on a very personal level and she wasn't sure why. Frankly, Rhapsody was sick of not knowing why. Not being wanted was such a familiar feeling that Rhapsody wasn't sure she wanted to remember why those feelings were so strong.

"You don't have to apologize. It isn't your fault that he doesn't pay any attention to you. That's his problem, not your's." Rhapsody soothed, soft coal colored paws smoothing the bandages holding Cessna's tattered wings to her body. "You'll be fine without him."
"I know I will. It's just different. I miss him, I guess." Cessna had been without her father long enough already to know that she would live without him. She wasn't thriving, just alive. The Sanctuary had been nothing but welcoming to her, though, and Cessna was very grateful for that.

The pair of foxes sat in silence, watching leaves drift on the breeze. "Where do you think they go?" Cessna questioned, her eyes following the hazy shapes as they spiraled and spun on the breeze. She turned to Rhapsody, blinking up at her mother. "Where ever they want to go. They weren't happy in one place, so they go to another until they found the perfect one." Rhapsody theorized with a nod, meeting Cessna's foggy eyes. "Sometimes they need to make sacrifices to get where they need to be."
"Like my eyes and wings?"
"Like your eyes and wings, yes, but that doesn't mean you're any less of a nice leaf. You just have to find the right group to know that. I doesn't matter if it's not with Valentino. Sometimes, it just doesn't work out like that." Rhapsody mumbled with a shrug.

"When did you become so wise. Dad always said you were dumb." Cessna commented, her red and white tail curling around herself.

Rhapsody laughed softly. "He only said that to get rid of me." She answered with a soft sigh through her nose.

"I suppose we'll be fine." Rhapsody stated after a moment of lapsed silence. Cessna nodded her agreement, watching the leaves on the trees flutter in the breeze.

It was a comforting but awkward affair at the same time. Cessna felt like she still had more to say, but she didn't know what it was or how to say it. She wondered if Rhapsody felt the same. Unbeknownst to Cessna, Rhapsody felt that way and more. The pair of red foxes sat in silence, weirdly the same but different at the same time.