A Family Rebuilt

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

With a hrmph, she left it at that.

Retrieving her duffel, s'Il was sincere in her thanks to the droid woman and all that she had done to help. Without her, s'Il would not have been able to accomplish what she had.

Another few minutes of random smalltalk, and the Lupine excused herself. She was dirty, tired, and very much wanted to see her daughter.

[General Dan]

Dan gave Eluna a curt nod and dismissed her, walking with Lok to return to his quarters.

"She's been eager for you to get back, and she's got a very important question for you, it seems."

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

"Oh?"

An important question... truth be told, s'Il knew that it could be anything under the sun. It was just pinpointing exactly what Tak had in mind that was the difficult part.

Once out of the hangar and into the corridors, the Lupine allowed herself a bit more freedom and wound an arm around the small of his back, pulling the two closer as they walked.

"What sort of question?"

[General Dan]

Dan returned the embrace, glad to have his confidant back in his company.

"Good question actually. She said it was a secret and for you to hear."

After a few minutes to walk, they arrived at the door, and Dan keyed the entry.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

She stopped him, with a hand over his.

"Wait."

It was a question of her own that had been in the back of her mind since she'd left, and could no longer keep it to herself.

"... she... I know you haven't spent much time around her," she found herself struggling for words.

"What do you think?" s'Il finally managed.

[General Dan]

Dan smiled, thinking about the time they'd shared.

"She's a blessing. A wonderful little girl. I've instantly taken to her, and I think she's the same."

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

There was relief in her smile, and s'Il eased her hand away as the door slid open.

She'd not taken two steps in when Tak was out of the bedroom, rounding one of the chairs in the front room, and jumping into her mother's arms.

The Lupine had dropped her duffel on the floor so that she could take up her little girl in both arms, and walking the rest of the way in, she found herself holding her daughter in a tight embrace.

"I missed you," she whispered into Tak's ear.

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

Winding her arms around Dama's neck, Tak squeezed as hard as she could.

"I missed you too," she grinned.

Still in Dama's arms, she leaned back a little, and her eyes went over s'Il's shoulder to look at Daddy with a suddenly stern gaze.

"You didn't ask her yet, did you?"

[General Dan]

Dan shook her head.

"I just told her you had a question for her, that's all."

The earnestness of her stern expression was incredibly endearing, and Dan smiled in spite of it.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

A wistful smile, and s'Il lowered both herself and Tak onto the couch. Making herself comfortable, the Lupine lifted a hand to brush away the little girl's bangs from her eyes.

A look to Dan was enough to tell her that he already knew what it was.

"Now. What's this question that's so important, that you want to ask?"

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

And now here it was! The big moment! Suddenly, Tak found that it was a lot harder to ask Dama in person, and she took in a few quick breaths.

"I want to - no wait."

That wasn't the best way to ask, she knew that much.

"I mean, um, I mean... "

A quick look to Daddy, and she breathed in deep.

"Can we stay here?"

Tak saw the furrowed brow, and went on before Dama could interrupt.

"Stay with Daddy, I mean; and live with him. He says we could all move back home, even."

Dama opened her mouth to say something, but Tak instantly placed a hand over the elder Lupine's lips before turning to look at Daddy for help.

[General Dan]

"We had talked about maybe finding a way to stay together...as a family."

Dan placed a hand on each of his girls' shoulders.

"Either here, aboard my ship, or elsewhere, if we have the opportunity."

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

It was certainly not what she'd expected, and s'Il was unable to answer for the first few moments. As much as she had tried to divine what it was that her daughter had wanted, to actually hear it was so different, and the Lupine breathed in sharply, turning her head to the side and biting her lip.

Of course, that Tak had managed to approach the notion that s'Il herself had been considering was a relief. It still did not make it any more surprising to hear.

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

Dama hadn't said, no, but she also hadn't said yes. In fact, she'd said nothing at all! Confused, Tak shifted her position and craned her neck to look at Dama's face. Was that a tear?

Suddenly, the little girl looked helplessly to her Daddy. It was a good thing he was hear, it seemed.

[General Dan]

Dan waited to hear her response, and in the meantime reached down to squeeze little Tak's hand.

"I think we've spent enough time galloping around the galaxy on our separate ways."

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

It took another few moments, but s'Il finally found her voice.

"I... I don't know... "

Turning to look back at Tak, the Lupine brought the little girl in for another hug, wrapping her arms around her daughter in a long embrace. The thought that Tak wanted to stay, coupled with Dan's own gentle coercion, was enough to bring to life a feeling of deep regret and sorrow.

"Oh baby," she leaned back, holding Tak's hands in her lap. s'Il reached a hand up to wipe away the single tear that her daughter had seen.

"Dama made some bad choices a long time ago... "

The little girl looked back at her mother, hopeful features suddenly crestfallen.

"... and leaving your daddy was one of them. This was a long time before you were born though, and I thought it was the right thing to do."

Despite her soft gaze upon Tak, it was more than apparent that s'Il was speaking as much to Dan as she was to their little girl.

"There is a bad man... who chases Dama, and I thought that your Daddy would be safe if I wasn't with him. But then," she had to pause, clearing her throat in an attempt to keep her voice from shaking.

"Then you were born, and I made another bad choice; I didn't tell him about you, and I didn't tell you about him. I thought it was the right thing to do, and that both of you would be safe from the bad man if I did that.

"But what I did was wrong."

This was not how she'd envisioned her request to be, and s'Il closed her eyes, resting her forehead against Tak's.

"Dama made some bad choices," she whispered.

[General Dan]

Dan stood back, allowing the mother a moment to be earnest with the child. It took a great burden off, after all these years, to hear her say the words that he now understood which had weighed her down.

"We both made some bad choices."

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

Now she was really confused. And not only that, Tak wasn't exactly sure what she could possibly say. Was Dama saying no, or was she saying yes, or was she even saying maybe (which almost always meant no)?

Leaning away from Dama after a little bit, Tak looked up at the sound of Daddy's voice, then back to Dama.

"But now we're here, and we can all be together and be a real family.

"Pleeeaaase?"

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

How could she say no? Indeed, how could she when she herself had planned to ask Dan about the possibility of the two staying?

Sliding Tak from her lap, s'Il stood, protesting muscles and all. It seemed her body - even with its' ability to heal quickly - was still subject to becoming sore.

The elder Lupine Passed a hand over Tak's head, flipping her bangs forward into her face, and with a ghostly smile she turned to look up at Dan.

"It seems that I've been beaten to the question," she started, and reaching down, she took his hands in hers, looking down at them.

"Before I left the other day, you said that things between us weren't very smooth, even now.

"But I want to come back, and fix that."

[General Dan]

Dan nodded, looking for the words as he smiled.

"I want to work and fix that too. I'm tired of constantly having to say goodbye. I'm tired of putting my life on hold."

He scooped up Tak and held her so that the three of them were eye level.

"If you'll have me in your lives, I won't leave you. We'll be together always."