It had been years since Mjrn had faced Thaka in full blown conversation. It wasn't like she was avoiding him on purpose, she just knew they lived separate lives now and seeing each other on a daily basis was completely unreasonable. She had spent most of her life fawning over him, protecting him, being everything she could be for him only to have him give her the cold shoulder in return. It was no wonder they ended up like this, anyone who knew the couple when they were younger probably could have called it. This break up was a long time coming. With or without closure Mjrn would move on with her life.
She had moved on with her life and in all truth she hardly ever thought about him at all anymore. The only time he came up in conversations nowadays is when she was talking to her children.
Ironically though, today was the day that she had to actually talk to him face to face. She wasn't necessarily looking forward to this but she needed to touch bases with him, they did share grown children after all. They needed to stay civil in order to keep the family together. So she would swallow her pride, if only for one day... for the sake of her son.
They agreed to meet at dusk, so here she sat waiting for the man that was never on time. Typical, she thought to herself with a frown. If he stood her up she would find him cut him right down the middle, root to stem.
In the distance she could make out his figure. His colors were hard to ignore. He hadn't changed at all, not after all these years. He looked the same as the day she met him, now only slightly older and a little more gray. He carried more scars than before but it was typical of him at least, he never knew when to keep his mouth shut. Who knew how many fights he had been in. The dark lioness stood up, flicking her tail from side to side in slight annoyance.
"You're late." She exclaimed with a rather disapproving frown. Her expression was a mixture of discontent and disapproval. She honestly just wanted this to be over with.
"Sorry for that." He replied quickly and sharp. He didn't mean to keep her waiting, he knew how much it annoyed her. As he drew closer to the dark lioness he smirked under his breath. She hadn't changed. Not a single thing about her looked different. In all honesty he was a little jealous, she still looked in her prime he felt way over that line at this point in his life.
He moved to stand close to her though he kept his distance cordial. The dynamic between the two had shifted dramatically over the years, He no longer felt confident in standing beside her, and in truth it was no longer his place, he had lost that privilege a long time ago.
"Thank you for agreeing to meet me." He spoke first breaking the ice swiftly. He didn't want to keep her any longer than he needed to but he did have things he needed to say. News he thought he personally needed to share.
'If it's about our son getting married I already know. I am going to be there to support him." She quickly nipped that in the bud. If that was all he wanted to talk about then she could be finished here and leave. She... she wanted to leave. He was looking at her like he use to... and it felt like fire against her skin. He felt like a poison.
"I am happy for him. Don't you dare try to get in the way of that boy's happiness, Tahka. Not everyone has to be miserable with you." She hissed, lowering her ears at the thought of him trying to stop his son from marrying the female he loved. Outsider or not, she would defend the couple from him if she had to.
"That's not why I asked you here." He quickly replied, moving himself a bit closer to her again with a small step.
"I wanted to talk about Sarafina." He knew just her name was enough to send Mjrn into a rage, she saw red when Sara's name was ever mentioned and for good reason. He wasn't so thick that he didn't understand her anger and hate. He.. he couldn't change the past though. He stood before her hoping she would allow him to speak. For the fist time in a long... long time he just wanted to clear the air. He owed her this, this little bit of information that might help her sleep at night. It might... help.
"..." Mjrn felt the lump in throat swell as her eyed pinned in disbelief. Did he just... did he just say Sarafina? Her whole body felt sick, it was like she was being swallowed whole and couldn't escape this awful feeling that was creeping up on her quicker than she could breathe. She winced, feeling herself grow increasingly desperate for air. Why was he doing this to her? Why couldn't he just let her live her life without plaguing her with this information? Was he going to admit they were together now? Had he finally gotten what he wanted? How disgusting. She hissed at him and took a swig right in his direction.
"You ******** right off with that." She was searing with anger.
"I am not interested in your damn sister and her dramatic emotional tactics." She truly felt hate in this moment.
"Mjrn, please. It's not what you think." Tahka's eyes felt hallow as he looked down at his own paws allowing her to slap him right across his face. He didn't stop her. He knew deep down he deserved that. He honestly deserved much worse. He couldn't say sorry enough for the past and he wouldn't try. He just... he needed to tell her of Sarafina's death. That the lioness that haunted them both was finally gone. Mjrn needed to hear it from him. She needed...
"She's dead." His words came slowly and soft. This fact still hurt him. She died without him, without any of them. He had failed his sister... he has failed the lioness he loved above all else. Even though he knew she was toxic he couldn't stop loving her. She could have cut his throat and he would have apologized for bleeding all over her. He was truly under her spell for years, his heart and soul bound to her own. Being her brother was his curse, he wanted to be so much more - yet he always knew it could never be. That was why Mjrn was even apart of this whole mess.
She was a means to some pointless end for him, as long as he couldn't have what he truly wanted he was truly unhappy. He felt sick just staring at Mjrn like this. He felt... guilty.
"She died a while ago but I don't think anyone has told you. I thought... I thought it best I did." He... didn't know what else to do, to be honest. It felt fresh again talking about it like this.
"...." For a long second she just stood there, eyes wide and pinned. Her chest pumped up and down with a heavy heartbeat.. the ringing in her ears felt never ending. She was dead? Was it true? Had the demon finally gone? All of these emotions swelled up inside her like a flood of red and she soon found herself smiling under a few broken tears. it was like weight she had been carrying all of her life had finally been lifted and she could move again.
She wanted to laugh. She wanted to dance with joy and thank every God in the heavens for this wonderful gift but she held herself back. It was true, Mjrn had longed for Sarafina's death for years but... now that the truth was staring her in the face she felt a little sad for Tahka. He was after all completely in love with her. Devoted to a creature that only understood heartache and manipulation. It was sort of sad when she thought about it. Mjrn would be able to recover from Tahka... but he would never be able to recover from Sarafina, or at least she assumed so. History was hard to erase.
"I see." She finally was able to muster up a half-assed reply.
"I wasn't trying to upset you, honestly Mjrn. I just, I needed to tell you." He repeated himself again, his own feelings easy to read if she looked hard enough.
"I won't say I'm sad, because I am not. But, I do hope you are okay, Tahka." She wanted to be the better of the two and confront him a little, in her own way. They could rest now. It was over. They both sat in silence for a long second, staring at one another with familiar looks of sorrow and defeat. Somewhere along the way they had lost each other, but still. In this moment they both had each other, if only for a moment in time.
"Let's leave this here. She's gone now. You have to let her go." Mjrn was the first to speak, nodding her head slowly at the red male. She would sleep well tonight, she wouldn't lose herself to this news but she knew he had the ability to become undone when Sarafina was mentioned, so she did what she could to pull him back from the edge.
"She swallowed the demons on her own. We don't have to live in that shadow anymore." It was true. She was to blame for her actions, no one else. It was now that they could rejoice and move forward, separate but together.
He knew she was right. Everything she said was right, for years she had begged him to see the truth and for years he ignored her. He knew that it was time to let his sister go. Once and for all to close that chapter of his life. Maybe now he would be able to live. It sounded so simple to just... forget and move on but it was harder than he thought... and truth, he had been trying to for years.
Seeing Mjrn helped dramatically though, she always knew how to pull him back from the edge even when he was afraid to admit it. he lifted his gazed back to her green eyes and gave her a small smirk. It was time to move on.
He wanted to thank her but the words wouldn't leave his throat. He hoped she would understand that in this moment he was thankful for her... even if he didn't know how to tell her. The two sat side by side and stargazed for a while without any words being spoken between them. Sometimes things just didn't need to be said. Sometimes moments like this spoke for themselves. They had lived a long life together. They understood what silence meant.
They had shared history, children, and sorrow together. A life; and now they sat together at opposite ends. They would never be what they once were, that was true... but in this moment, at least for a while they could be those cubs they once were, one last time. They could pretend that just for a little while they were both meeting again for the first time, without her influence hanging over them.
"You'll come with me to Azzan's wedding." Mjrn stated, nodding to herself as she spoke. He had no choice, honestly. They had to support him and she wouldn't have it any other way.
"I'd like that." He agreed, moving himself to sit right beside her now. He was ready to move on with his life. He was thankful for the dark lioness, even now after all of these years. She knew how to bring him back down to reality. He rested his head against hers and spoke again, his tone softer and sincere.
"Thank you."
~end with 2,021 words