Yes, he said, and her face lit up. It would be several more moments until she realised there was a misunderstanding between them, but in those moments she imagined an even more glorious return to the lake than she had dared hope for. She knew that Poison Path was no more, at least not in any form that Bella had known it, but her emotional ties were not strictly to that pack name. Families come and go, groups form and disband, but she valued the more permanent, the eternal, the unchanged. No matter who lived there now, there was no chance that her lake would not still be there, serene and perfect, waiting. She yearned to see it again every moment of every day since she had taken her children from their abandoned home, and the anticipation was almost too much.

The first hint that there might be something wrong came when he spoke of distanced siblings, but it wasn't impossible that Veho and his fellow believers had come here without his littermates. Wolves had passed through this land all the time on their own, it was no odd thing. But his very next sentence brought the illusion crashing down, her expression falling as she realised their miscommunication. There were no others. He hadn't even been to the mountain before.

Though before she had clung to his every word, now they were fading from her ears, as she knew that she had done it again, let her heart run away with possibilities which were false. At least this had been a quick demise. She broke eye contact to look up at her mountain, once more holding mysteries from her, calling to her to follow it blind. No Poison Path, no Athena, and Ash lived in the forest - all that waited for her was wind and water and the unknown. It was fortunate that wind and water were two of her favourite things.

Duck was waiting, she remembered dully, but she also knew that she had started to zone out. Embarrassed by her rudeness, Bella looked back at Veho, his kindness not deserving such a dismissive attitude. Here he was, baring and sharing these deep parts of himself, and she had to go and fall in her well of self-pity again. What a wretched creature she was. "I'm sorry." This place... it tore at her emotions until they were raw, in a way that she hadn't felt since... well, since she had been a child. Perhaps...

"I... thank you. Maybe another time. I don't think I'm in the best place to..." She trailed off, not even knowing how to articulate it, and stood again; the count would have exceeded two hundred by now. Duck hadn't known of her time limit but it made her uncomfortable to leave him alone for long. Her other option was to break down in front of a stranger, and while he might have been an angel, Belladonna knew that she had to learn how to solve her own problems. The wind still owed her many answers to questions whispered in the dead of night. To place herself in the arms of her Ancestors... would either redeem or ruin her. Snake and Fox would never understand it, Crow would put up with it, and Duck - well, she didn't know anymore.

Being shown such unconditional kindness by a stranger after being emotionally rejected by a boy she had loved ever since he was born was almost enough to break her. By some miracle of willpower she maintained her composure, drawing a deep breath to steady herself. Veho stood, as if to show solidarity, his concern for her wellbeing plastered all over his face. Compassion, gentleness, love - she had tried so hard to teach this to them, to impress upon them their value above all else. She had failed, but some other mother had succeeded, and the evidence stood before her now.

Do not be sorry, he said, coaxing her eyes up with a gentle touch. It was absurd but her instinct was to apologise again, and that almost made her laugh. She nodded, the movement quick but slight, drawing strength from his even tone and soothing presence. The misunderstanding had taken a turn at dancing on her heart, the soaring height of possibility followed so swiftly by the fall of reality, but it was not his fault, and in no way did she believe he had intended it. How strange he must have thought her, and it was not even breeding season - her hormones were entirely stable, it was everything else which was not! Veho spoke calmly, and Bella found solace in his voice as much as his words. How long had it been since she had sat alone with someone who genuinely wanted to help her, out of goodness of heart alone? While Wolesh had never been unkind to his mate, the Calor patriarch had held additional motives for everything. When he had crooned at her, speaking pleasant things, it tended to result in her agreeing to something.

Veho asked for nothing more than to help. Searching his eyes, she tried hard to find deception in them, but could not. Even if his kind did not live on the mountain, he was here, at its foot, to usher her up. Who knew what other souls would bless her with their company when she arrived at its peak? "I'm s-" she began, automatic, but instantly remembered his dismissal of apologies, and a rueful smile finally cracked her bleak expression. "I would like that, to learn how to listen to them. I think I will need it."

She licked her lips, indecision tearing her two ways, and still she knew Duck was waiting. Two hundred fifty... "It's my children, Veho," she whispered, before she could change her mind. "They're breaking my heart."

Again came the soft words, spoken medicine for wounds of the mind and heart. For a selfish moment, she wanted to ask him to accompany them, just in case she needed reapplications of the salve. Such a desire was folly, for not only did the angel have his own life to lead - and, most likely, other unfortunate souls to mend - it would do her no good to rely on such a crutch. This was her chance to prove she was the superior parent - after all, Wolesh had gotten himself killed, and what kind of father let his own ego grow so monstrous that it lead to abandoning his own children? Bella was still here, pushing on, making what she thought were the correct decisions for the situation. Aware of her eldest three's dissatisfaction - though not happy with it - Duck's unexpected rejection had been her tipping point. To have her excitement of returning here tarnished by all of them so thoroughly, it had almost been too much to cope with. To let them know that she often doubted herself would have been self-destruction.

You must trust them. Bella was already quite convinced that Veho's spiritual guardians had smiled upon her, for they had gifted Bella with his company when she needed it most. She quietly added another promise to her list, to pay her earnest respects to them upon arrival at her destination, once she could sit on her rock and look out over the lake once more. She could think of no better way to show her gratitude. If they never paid her any attention again, the Ancestors would have already blessed her deeply.

She knew that Veho spoke of his Ancestors, that all of his pronouns referred to those he worshiped, but Bella heard another meaning. So wrapped up in compensating for Wolesh's harsh parenting, for Duck's health, for her parents' absence, that she had failed to trust her own offspring. Love them, yes, unconditionally and without hesitation, but trust? She trusted Fox and Snake to look after one another, Crow to behave with dignity, and Duck to know right from wrong, but these were the easy things. They were the traits of a whole, good person divided up among them all, and she knew that she did not trust them to embody those traits they had not received. Fox and Snake were rash and dramatic, Crow had taken too many of her father's moral values to heart and the idea of leaving Duck on his own for more than a few hours caused her physical pain.

"You're right." So caught up trying to fix everything, whether it was broken or not, Bella had sabotaged her own desperate efforts at perfection. This realisation did not come easy, but the sting was bearable - for it was not too late. They were not a fractured family, torn apart by consequence and wanderlust. Wolesh was gone but the rest remained, and Bella knew that they would be stronger for it.

"You're right," she said again, after a longer silence. She refocused her eyes on Veho, and smiled broadly. Whatever ailed Duck was something she had failed to see in her blinkered state, but no longer. She would let it come to her, just as Veho said. All she could do was have an open heart. Swiftly she reached forward to place a wet kiss on the angel's nose, a small repayment of the gift he had given her. Glancing up at the mountain, she felt that familiar swell of excitement which her son's moroseness had quelled. "I should get back to him now, I said I wouldn't be long. We have a long climb ahead of us. Veho, I - I hope to see you on the mountain one day. If there is anywhere my Ancestors would likely be listening, well... there are many beautiful places of my own I would love to share with you."