When he came to the den to see her he had not expected the conversation to go in the direction that it had. She needed to discuss some things with him but he already knew in his mind there whatever she asked of him he would do no matter what it took. It wasn't until she started speaking that he understood what she wanted to discuss.

The way she started he knew she was telling him her last wishes. He listened to catch every word not wanting to miss one. He placed a paw on hers after she'd spoke what she wanted him to tell Sachiel and her children. Then as she spoke of Vespertio she started to cry and he was strong for her and licked the tears from her cheeks. He felt honored that she would entrust this to him. Kajika hadn't spoken so that she found get it all out not being able to imagine how hard it had to be for her. As she spoke it felt so final and made his chest tighten but he didn't want her to see how upset he was to lose her. This was already hard enough.

“You don't have to ask to be buried with our family,” he told her. Though he had not wanted the thought it had come anyway and his mind had been made up. “I will make sure they hear everything Namid, you don't have to worry. I am honored that you would entrust me to tell your family what you may not be able to. As hard as it might be to see you not yourself I am glad that you came home so that I know you will be safe in your last days. I will make sure they know that you didn't suffer, you have my word.”

It seemed to him that now was as good of a time as any to tell her what he needed her to hear before she couldn't. “There's something I want to tell you before I can't. I love you Namid, you've always been like a mother to me and always there when I needed you. When I joined you took a chance on me and gave me a home and I appreciate that more than you will ever know. Now you've given me more than I ever thought I would have and I have always been happy to serve you and Vespertio but more than that you and him and your children have become the family that I lost before I came to the lore. Thank you for everything.”

He took her requests seriously and if there was ever the time that he would see Vespertio or her children again he would be sure to deliver her messages. While it made it all the more reason that she was leaving them for good he still felt honored that she would trust him with such and important thing. She had always been there and had taught him so much in the time that he had known her. Everyday he was glad that Des had talked him into joining the cove. Even happier that he had stayed after her first disappearance.

There had been things that he needed to tell her before it was too late. She needed to know them and he hoped that in some way they might give her a kind of peace. He saw the tears leave her eyes as he spoke how he truly felt about her, things he'd never told her. He was sad that he was telling her under the current circumstances but glad that he was able to finally tell her. “I'm glad to have had the honor to meet you too Namid and to have been a part of your life and your children's lives. I can't imagine my life without you and the cove.” It was his home now and he would do everything in his power to keep it going long into the future.

He felt her lean into him just before she spoke of needing to sleep, asking him to stay. The dark man smiled, “I will stay as long as you like. Sleep well,” he said quietly before giving her crown a lick and tucking her against him with his muzzle.

Fade