She could hear the ocean. The waves ebbed at the shoreline; water slapped against stone and birds called out as they swooped down to the water. In the distance, she could hear the sound the caves made as they became partially submerged - a low booming and a rumble like thunder as water crashed through their caverns. Somewhere in the distance, children laughed and the chatter of others blended in with the wind.

Sila had been at her side the entire morning as they made their way towards their old den where Pan had been given back to the earth. Niviaq had been adamant on the location - from there, she had said, the horizon seemed to stretch onwards into forever. She had expressed a fleeting moment of guilt for being so close to Pan but not her former mate Faol'an but Sila had assured her - neither would mind when they met again. Love could bridge any space, anytime - that's what Sila had come to believe at least.

It was a pleasant day; the sun was warm but the breeze cool as it rustled through what remained of the spring flowers. Sila had been subtle in her call for her siblings, tried to conceal it from her mother, but Niviaq did not mind either way. She had merely found herself a pleasant place by Pan's resting place atop the plush mountain grass; she closed her eyes and sighed in relief as the wind rustled her coat and she basked in the sounds of the world. In the distance though, the ocean always seemed to be getting closer.

Eventually, Sila had helped her down into the warmth of the den as the sun had begun to set; it sat low in the sky, illuminated the heavens in shades of wildfire. Her mother had uttered the name Jaylah as she took one final look at the sunset before she moved down into the warmth of the den. It had been lined in feathers, even those Sila had gone to the coast to find - gulls, she supposed, and terns. She had even found herself a single gull egg, a delicacy her mother seemed to enjoy more than any meat or berry. She had grown tired though and Sila had been reluctant to peel herself away from her. It felt wrong to leave her there and yet, Niviaq had never looked so at peace as she curled into a ball with a tangle of feathers at her nose.

As Sila waited and called once more for the others, her mother dreamed. The ocean was vast and the cliffs sloped down towards it; children played along the shore. Iskra, Vulcan, Alyeska with their mother Jaylah basked in the sun; Chasca and Soldat laid atop the cliffs and smiled down at them all as their own children tumbled down the paths and towards the others. Grimm, Kavik, Hera, Poseidon...Desoto, Kyou, Rosco...it was almost funny to her to see Alcide and Moonglow by the water and she could not help but laugh as they all seemed to turn to meet her. She moved along the water, dipped her toes into the sea with a sigh of finality. There were others strawn along the shore and along the cliffs above, faces she knew from so many years ago. It was beautiful, she thought, to see each of them smiling with one another.

She had never once stopped smiling as she curled tigether into herself. Her breath had become slow but her dream had become more vivid as she moved between the here and then. The ocean breeze tousled her fur and she giggled as the seaspray washed over them all, one large wave having crashed down on the rocks with a thunderous boom. When her eyes opened, she spotted two others along the shore; one was illuminated in gold as if he had been made of the very mineral itself and the other was silver like the moon, glowing and beautiful in the sunlight. She paused at first, shocked, but it took her no more than a moment before she took off at a sprint to meet them both in an embrace. She had been reunited with her sun and moon.

Sila had waited some time before she took it upon herself to finally turn and gaze upon her mother. She had become so very still, her eyes closed in sleep as she grinned at forever. She would wait though - Sila thought - for her siblings and any others who might wish to say farewell. At least, farewell until the future. Sila wasn't sure how long she would have to wait to see her mother again but... it did not seem like such a bad thing, all that waiting. She grinned, small and weak, but earnest. Until they met again, she'd do her best to create many stories to tell her.