Bleeding Heart 69 In The End...

It was the kids who made the decision concerning their future. For a while, Dawn had forgotten that they were independent enough that they would naturally take it upon themselves to decide their own fate.

And they were enamored with Mem.

Honestly, Dawn could understand why. If she had met someone like the kind elven woman back then she would most likely have been just as in awe of her.

There were not many Nix'Rylians like Mem after all. She had a kind heart and it was quite easy to see that she wanted to help people.

And she was highly fond of children.

But, Dawn was still just a bit taken aback when Rex ran up to Mem and asked her to take them with her. The kids had not realized that Mem had already wanted to and so they had decided to ask on their own.

Mem looked up at Dawn and seemed to be asking with her eyes whether this was alright with her. Unable to refuse the kids own wishes Dawn just nodded.

As she watched them leave, she felt a little down about it. She might not have talked to much with the kids herself but she had enjoyed listening to them talk.

They all were really.

All of them were quiet, musing over their own thoughts, as they continued on. And they all seemed a bit depressed. They had been attached to the children. Especially those who had ridden with them.

Strangely enough, Raven seemed to be the first who managed to recover from the shock. Dawn felt a bit bad that she had not really mentioned it, but she was unsure of how she was to bring such a thing up.

It amazed her though that Raven was so quick to recover. He had been close to all five of the children. And yet, after an initial fifteen minutes of looking taken aback and a trifle disconcerted, he was fine.

But everyone else was upset enough that there were few conversations going on, and the ones that did were as short and to the point as possible.

Dawn herself found herself being engaged in light conversation by Raven. At first she hardly was talking but finally she just asked him how he had gotten his spirits back up so quickly.

At the question, he tilted his head, "It's not like they died or anything. We might see them again. And even if we don't they are in fairly good hands. I'm sure that Mem will take care of them perfectly well. She seems capable of that. If they are happy though than why should I feel sad?"

She could not find anything to refute in how he had worded it. "So what you are saying is that you feel happy for them instead of depressed by them leaving?"

"More or less." He shrugged, "They made the decisions themselves. It's not like any of us are their parents or anything so they have no real reason to not go with her."

He changed the subject then. Instead he started to as questions about Arrion. He seemed genuinely curious and Dawn could not help herself with such a willing audience.

At first it hurt to talk about him, especially as she had just had her hopes dashed so. But as she continued it made her feel better. If only that now there would be one more person to remember her beloved king with her.

And Raven seemed so sympathetic with her loss that he was easy to talk to. The words came easily.

She admitted to him that she had often taken Arrion for granted and that she had always refused to acknowledge her own feelings. Raven's expression changed a little at that, a shocked look that quickly flitted away, as his expression became kinda blank.

"I would never have guessed that. You always seem so in love that it would never have occurred to me that you ever acted differently."

She laughed a little at that, a hollow sound. "I realized just how much I really did love him after…" Her voice choked up and she could not continue. She had to take a deep breath to manage to speak anymore, "I… regret that I never told him that I – that I really did love him."

Raven patted her arm gently, and he gave her a bright smile, "And I'm sure he would be very happy to hear that."

Coming from Raven, somehow the words did not seem as empty as they might have from someone else. They were far more comforting than Dawn would have expected. And she found herself glad for this man's friends.h.i.+p.