Another Way

Chapter 14: Sibling

The vixen and her student stared blankly at each other for a few moments, both of them trying their hardest to figure out what the other was thinking without having to resort to explicit telepathy, Sue being the first to eventually crack as she tried to bring up her excuse- a very valid reason in its own right, but an excuse here all the same-

"Don't you think that me being there after what happened with Spark and... her friend would help?"

Sue's question thankfully finally broke through Sundance's thoughtless confusion, though unfortunately all it resulted in was a quiet sigh and a light shake of her head, plumes of red fur warming the air around them with each motion. Right as she opened her mouth to respond though, the point of Sue's words did finally begin to take more of a hold underneath her vulpine skullcap, the resulting pause giving Sue a brief, exciting hope- a hope that would be dashed right away all the same, however-

"^Hmm... while I can't deny it's a good idea to bring up what had happened and show how our separation is harming both of us and even third parties, I really doubt dragging you personally into all that would help. I know you feel guilty about Solstice's breakdown and emotionally invested in all the ugly history that led to it, especially with your leg still showing what it all leads to, but you're not responsible for any of this. These aren't your sins to be burdened by, Sue.^"

As much as the Forest Guardian wanted to reflexively disagree and continue to assert her point, the moment of hesitation right as her voice got stuck in her throat did elucidate the very real risk of her potentially giving too much away through her insistence, the brief hitch lingering on as she pretended to relent, simply sighing and mumbling out instead-

"I... I suppose. It really feels rough, only being able to watch from the sides and hope that Spark and P- her friend will be able to be friends in peace one day..."

"^Oh it absolutely is. Alas, it's gonna be a touchy, difficult discussion either way, and it'll be up to the whims of Fate to decide whether we can even affect anything anymore, but I sincerely doubt your physical presence and direct input would contribute at all to swaying most of those there- your deeds will be plenty, believe me.^"

Sue acknowledged the words with a pretend somber nod, internally relieved at the verbal diversion working out and Sundance not seeming to be suspecting much of anything- though at the same time, she couldn't deny that the vixen didn't have a good point about all of this. Who knows whether the people wronged by what had happened here all those years ago would care even slightly about yet another Forest Guardian showing up in there to try and steer their judgment, and the more thought she gave to it, the less enthusiastic she was about the idea of disregarding Sundance's words and tagging along anyway.

But at the same time, what else could she do? Give up and let her destiny be completely swayed willy-nilly by yet more forces and events beyond her control or comprehension?

Fat chance.

A couple pats of a warm, furred paw on her shoulder snapped Sue out of any more internal discussion, the vixen offering her a soft smile, softer still by the virtue of her inebriation, and an approving look.

"It's alright Sue. You've already helped plenty, more than most here can honestly claim- you make the most of your stay here, and we'll try our best to mop up the murk in the background. I'd even go as far to say that focusing on that is probably the best thing we all could do today- compose ourselves, take a breather, try to enjoy this slice of Spring. How's that sound?"

Relaxing was self admittedly not a strong suit for Sue, not one bit, especially not after her father's passing- each day had a shopping list of tasks that needed to be dealt with, ranging from urgent like work, urgent like keeping up on her classes, urgent like keeping on top of cooking, urgent like making sure she always had something clean to wear, to urgent like churning through her schedule weeks in advance to even carve out a single week in which she could take a break from it all in earnest. Suppose that if she's already taking a break from reality, having a whole day for explicit relaxation even with so much looming on the horizon couldn't hurt that much, even if she doubted she'd be any better about not letting the anxiety over what were to happen in the future cloud over her immediate senses in the present.