For as long as she could remember, Lela's favorite pass time had been stargazing. Her earliest memories were of staring up at the heavens with her own mother, trying to make out pictures in the myriad of sparkling dots. Her least favorite nights were overcast ones, when nothing could be seen but a distant twinkle and musty clouds. Her favorite nights were spent in the company of a loved one, usually Thoth, talking about whatever came their way, all the while staring at her beloved stars.
Tonight, she didn't have anything particularly important to do. Life was so much more complicated for her now that she was queen. At least, she thought, they had been able to produce an heir so early in their marriage and reign. The stress of that had been gone for quite a while. But ruling didn't come without other little niggling problems. Tonight, however, she was just going to stargaze.

Though they weren't actually related, Leto had something in common with her adoptive grandmother. She loved to examine the nighttime sky, and used it as her mental re-composure time. While Lela appreciated the beauty of the sky, Leto appreciated its vastness. She found it calming, knowing that whatever in life was troubling her was so insignificant in comparison to the enormity of the night sky. She took it as a comfort. Thousands and thousands of young lionesses just like her had stared up at that sky over the course of time, that same sky that she was now watching, and their problems had come and gone with that time. Their sadness and anger and pain had all passed, but the moon and stars had remained. It was like a grounding for her emotion. This gave her a serene quality, most especially during one of her stargazing nights.
Tonight, she'd yet to find a locale for her meditation. As she padded slowly around, a familiar tan back caught the corner of her eye. The practically glowing crescent shoulder blades gave away the figure of her grandma. She recognized the upturned face and calm demeanor for stargazing, and so continued her walk quietly in the other's direction.

It wasn't long before Lela picked up on the presence of another, and it was even quicker that she noted who it was. She lowered her gaze over her shoulder to one of Thoth's granddaughters, and had a glimmer of a wonder as to win they might have their own blood grandchildren. "Evening." She nodded her head politely, not bothering much with the niceties. Though Lela was the image of proper, and even sometimes almost cold with her politeness, she had learned to drop this mask with family when there wasn't an audience. (Which wasn't all that often, sometimes.)

"Hi, grandma." Leto smiled softly as she grew closer, and came to sit beside the queen. She bumped foreheads with her affectionately, then wrapped her tail around herself to settle in. She breathed in deeply and closed her eyes. "This is nice." She opened her eyes and turned to look at Lela. The pair looked smart next to eachother despite the lack of real relation. The younger's soft brown played off nicely with the older's light tan and blue. They could almost be related, most especially considering the light blue that did actually run in Leto's own bloodline. "I don't think I've actually sat with you in a while. It's been too long." She, of course, shared her family trait for enjoying a majority of her time with relatives, which wasn't usually hard in a tight pride like theirs - but Lela kept busy with her position, of course.

"Yes, it has. Don't be shy about visiting the den." She touched paws with her granddaughter, then continued. "I don't know the last time you saw the kids, but they've gotten so big. Ready to leave their poor mother behind." She faked a pout. Of course, she knew her children wouldn't be going anywhere. She was, though, starting to feel the edges of empty nest syndrome. Hard as that might be with the comings and goings of royal life, she really was reluctant to see her children grow into budding adults. And her dear Selene, that girl didn't know what she was headed for as heir. Lela almost wished things could be different.

"You know, it's not like I'm much older than them." She made a face. If anything, Leto did not feel like the adult she was now considered. She was sure her slightly younger aunt and uncles felt the same way, and she wondered briefly how they felt about the responsibility that was sitting on their shoulders. Especially her aunt Selene, who was currently being groomed to be the next queen. Then again, it wasn't too far fetched that some day one of her uncles might be king. After all, Lela herself hadn't been first in line. She hadn't even been second in line. Even though Leto wasn't around for the events that resulted in her grandma being queen, she knew them well. A great controversy and then a great sadness resulted in Lela becoming top lioness. Of course, she didn't wish any of the events of the past to haunt Selene, and wished her aunt a happy, peaceful reign someday.

"That's true." Lela smile and simply let the topic drift off, allowing her granddaughter to wander wherever her young mind was taking her. Without knowing it, their minds were drifting to the same individual. But, just like their shared but different love for the night sky, their thoughts on their shared relative were different. While Leto wished her aunt happiness, Lela wished her daughter a cool head to handle what was to come. Sometimes, in what Lela thought of as weaker moments, she wished that sometime soon she would be able to step down as queen and allow her daughter to take the lead. She hadn't shared these private thoughts with anyone, not even her mate. As their litter grew into the images of what they one day could be, though, the thoughts came more and more often. Lela hadn't ever truly wanted her position. She had taken it in a time of need for her pride because if anything, she was all about service. Though she still wanted to do what the pride needed of her, she couldn't help but feel that perhaps she had been a transitional monarch. Perhaps what she would be remembered for is holding things together until a new and better heir could come forward.

When her wandering mind had returned to the present time and place, Leto glanced at her grandma to see that familiar misty look in those light blue eyes, and a head turned up to look at the stars. Instead of disturbing Lela's dreamy stargazing, the younger lioness turned back to the heavens as well, and simply enjoyed the quiet night and the company.

Word count: 1,154.