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Hijil kissed Bhima, nuzzling into the comfort of her shoulder. Of course Bhima would not ever say that Hijil's ideas were stupid, but that she hadn't said it was reassuring in a way. Bhima's logic was sound. Hijil's idea was not absurd. Thus, whatever else it meant, things were not her fault.

Not her fault.

”If it isn't a problem...” she murmured, feeling tension leave her along with her guild, ”Then... it's okay to want children. Then I haven't been... wrong... for wanting them. For thinking about wanting them.”

Hijil opened her eyes in surprise, her breath catching in her throat for a moment. Bhima wanted children too?!

It shouldn't have been the surprise it was – Hijil knew that Bhima liked children. Her startled delight stemmed from her fantasy slowly, but surely, coming true. That Bhima would want children. That somehow, they would have children together, and raise them together, and be a family together. That Bhima wanted this too... Hijil could almost cry with joy. And, obviously, Bhima would never want something that could hurt either of her mothers – She silently and good naturedly scolded herseld - Bhima was too sensible for that.

”Mmm...” she murmured, ”I love you.” she said, closing her eyes again, ”If you want children, and I want children, then we should have children.” The 'how', Hijil wasn't so sure about, but this would happen. Even if there was fear all around, they would make it happen.

Leaving home, after all they had gone through to make it home, was not an option, not for Hijil. She didn't want to leave what they had made together, a comfortable life for the two of them and for more than just them, someday. ”Somehow, we'll have to.” she said, aware of the difficulty. Minds, Hijil knew, were hard to change. ”I don't know how, though....” she admitted. But maybe Bhima would know – this was more her thing, anyway. Whatever she felt should be done, though, Hijil was fully behind her.

Hijil hadn't even thought about the potential for 'elders' to mean 'elders of the whole race'. Surely, they weren't important enough to be brought up to them! She smiled meekly at the hurried correction anyway, trying not to imagine a situation where they would have to go to such lofty and powerful people. If that had been the case, she wasn't sure if she would have been able to deal with them.

But it was the village elders, and she thought that – with Bhima with her – she could at least be strong and supportive. She was working on her shyness, for her love's sake, and she thought that, for something as important as this, in this situation, she could do it. She nodded, making a small, comfortable noise of agreement.

”I think that's a good idea.” she said, ”If they agree that it is wrong, they can stop it from happening again... right?”

It didn't sound like the same thing, but if Bhima said it would work, Hijil believed it would work. ”Then lets talk to them.” she said, cuddling close to Bhima. She relaxed, knowing that – soon – things would be back to normal, or the calm that passed well enough for normal that Hijil didn't mind it.

”Both of us.”

Hijil would have liked to stay longer, but it was best to get this done now, before either of them – Hijil more likely than Bhima – lost their nerve.

She didn't know her way around the settlement very well since her activities usually took place in the jungles around it, and her wariness of large groups of people kept her out of the settlement when she was herself alone. Now, though, as she walked with Bhima, she found herself able to recognize landmarks:
There was the place where she bought bread. There was where a little girl lived, who was a friend of Bhimas. There was where a hybrid lived who bred and trained radaku.

She had been living here a longer time than she had realized, long enough to form memories that marked the buildings like tassels or flags. No, she couldn't leave this place, not anymore, and that made this trip that much more important.

She scanned the faces of the Alkidikes around them, struggling to recognize what elders she had a passing acquaintance with. But, to Hijil, all the faces save Bhima's looked so similar to each other that Hijil had a hard time picking out even the people she knew well.

Finally, though, they came upon a vaguely familiar older Alkidike. Whether she was the one from earlier, who had broken up the gathering, Hijil found it hard to tell. But, as they approached, she seemed amiable enough, giving the two of them an expectantly curious look over what appeared to be a pot of dye she was preparing. It was not the elder from that morning, but it was one that Bhima had dealt with before.

“Bhima.” she greeted, giving a nod to Hijil, “I can guess why you are here.” she said, searching their faces, “But I think it would be best to save the guesswork for other things.”

“I had heard.” she looked at Bhima levelly, concerned, “But I hadn't realized that was you, nor the extent to which they went. Not that it changes anything.” She set her items down, giving the pair her full attention. “I am shocked that any of our Sisters would think to behave this way.”

It seemed that Bhima was preaching to the choir.

“We were planning to meet in a few days to talk about the issues surrounding the disturbing news of Aisha's illness. If that is what it is. But, that they did this to you – a generally model Alkidike who has been loyal to her tribe... Goddess's breath, you've even gone to war, spilled your blood for your people. I will be honest, if it was some other sister, I'd be less startled. But you, Bhima...” the woman shook her head, as if ridding herself of something distasteful. “Clearly, we need to meet sooner if they are going after you and your...” the woman blinked at Hijil. “Sorry, what is your name?”

”Hijil.” the Shifter said. She was relieved that it seemed to be so simple, but... ”And they shouldn't go after anyone. Not like that. Not in any way... She said. If it hadn't happened to them, it would still be wrong to do something like that.

“No, they shouldn't, but you must understand...” the elder tripped a moment over the name, “Hijil, that they will anyway. The key is knowing when to put the pressure on them to stop. Which is, apparently, now.” She brushed off the remains of the dye. “I'll see if I can call them together tonight. Which is...” she glanced up at the sky, surprised. “Oh, hey. Now. Well.” She looked down, sheepishly, at her dye, an errand which had apparently taken longer than she'd thought it would. “I guess you two had better come along.”

The elder began to move quickly, going from tree to tree, knocking on wooden doors, calling people out of their houses, and eventually leading a procession of alternately irritated and curious elders to their meeting hut.

Suddenly surrounded by old and respectable Alkidike, Hijil felt her confidence begin to waver and she took Bhima's hand for comfort. It helped that she knew they were in the right, and that this was right, and that the elder herself agreed. If one agreed, surely others would too...

The elders seated themselves, a youngling – likely one of their granddaughters – set out a bowl of crispy toasted fruit and nuts for them to snack on, and ran back to retrieve some tea. Hijil and Bhima were asked to be left standing, as a sea of (slightly rheumy) black eyes watched them, expectant. The elder gestured.

So. Now they talked. Normally, Bhima did the talking. Bhima talked, Bhima presented, Bhima fought for them both. But Hijil could fight too, and she felt it would be a good thing – a very good thing – if she spoke first. Maybe. Possibly. Maybe.

She swallowed, holding Bhima's hand very tightly, forgetting for a moment how tight her grasp could really be. ”We... our home was... our belongings were...” she took a deep breath. ”Our things were thrown into the trees. We've done nothing to bother anyone, and they did this to us. It's... Its wrong.” she bit her lip. Oh stars, she was doing poorly, but she owed it to Bhima – and the kinfa – to do it anyway. ”And we don't want to leave, so... If you could... make sure that doesn't happen again? Please?” Hijil fell silent, looking embarrassedly at Bhima as she shrunk back a little from the scrutiny, her now white-shifted skin reddened by a very obvious blush.