Forgotten

-20-

The next few days, Sansa fell into the routine of the small household. A wandering male came and was treated for a rough scrape he had encountered in his travels.

Sansa showed Nova proper techniques to wrap such a wound, and in return, Nova showed Sansa various herbs from the region that could be applied.

Sansa was in awe of the female's knowledge.

It occurred to Sansa as the days of comfort passed, that she was wasting her time here. She should be going out and finding the real soothsayer that she had originally been searching for. But instead, Nova seemed almost like a...mother.

Sansa had never had a mother before. She had ignored Warren's words to her on their last day together when he finally revealed many of her parents' secrets. She had locked the knowledge away tightly. There was only so much she could handle, and the missing of Night had overwhelmed her mind.

Every time she thought of his name, a pain shot across her chest.

Even more painful was the slow approach of the Spring equinox.

Sansa knew that Nova wondered about her story. She could tell the female scented her loss. But at the same time, Sansa herself could smell the same lingering scent upon Nova.

Both females seemed to be suffering.

Sansa looked in sadness sometimes at Moon River. The child was silent and absorbed in the strangest things.

She spent an hour one time staring at nothing but a tree.

Sansa approached her, sitting next to her as she looked also.

"Why are you staring for so long?"

Moon River's eyes found Sansa's. Sansa wanted to shiver against the profoundness that seemed to encase the girl. She couldn't explain it. She knew something was different about her.

Her scent, the way she carried herself and how she stared at both Sansa and her own mother. All of it made Sansa even more curious.

"The light," Moon River pointed to the filtered light above that was shining down between the leaves.

"It's pretty," Sansa agreed.

"No," Moon River shook her head, staring up at the brightness. Sansa watched as the sun's ray caught on the startling white of her hair. How it filtered the blue of her eyes. "It's not."

"Oh..." Sansa leaned her head forward to stare at the light again, squinting her eyes to try and see fully.

"It hurts my eyes to stare at that for so long," Sansa admitted.

"I know," the girl whispered. Sansa felt a chill run through her body as Moon River turned to her, her blue eyes widening, "it hurts me too."

"Don't look at it then," Sansa scolded. She quickly turned Moon River around, letting them both face away from it.

"See, look? Now it doesn't hurt." She looked at Moon River to watch her reaction. The girl held up her hand letting it block one eye.

"What do you see?" Sansa whispered.

Moon River smiled. It was the first time Sansa had seen it. "Spots. Pretty spots."

Sansa felt exasperation at the child. "That's what happens when you stare at the sun for too long. Don't look at it directly, okay?"

"Pretty things should be looked at," Moon River said simply.

Sansa smiled, "Yes...I can't argue with that."