Hiding from my brothers was not as easy as I thought it would be. I know they had caught on to my scent, and playing a game of cat and mouse with them was not my idea of a good time, but then again, I wasn't ready for the third degree when I saw them. I knew they'd have questions. I wouldn't be able to explain it to them though. I needed to have time to think it all out. Because lets be honest, I knew I didn't have the answers myself, not yet. A little soul searching was in my future. Whether or not I was ready was the big deal right now. I had been damn near caught a time or two, and I wasn't ready to face them, and the guilt was eating me alive. Anyone who saw me, and the way I ran, would surmise in an anecdotal way, that I was afraid, and they'd be right. But what was I afraid of?

When I had seen glimpses of them, I saw a young girl with them-- almost two, she was gorgeous. Had to be my sister's child, no one else would have children that color. A sad smile graced my face when I thought of them. I missed them, more than anything, and I knew that I would have to make it up to them, but when was the biggest question. I had no friggen idea.

Coming up to Royce, I grinned, it was strange the way I felt at ease with him. I had seen him when he had been at his roughest--and that didn't change my view on him. He was still Royce, scars and all, it made him who he was. I let myself settle in front of him, the tension flying out of my muscles as I found myself at ease.

"It's like I never left-- everything's the same. Mom's den was empty--I've taken over. It doesn't feel right, though, without her here." I sighed, my eyes casting downward. I huffed, slowly, looking back up to him. "Did you finally find her?" He'd know who I was asking about. I wondered if he'd gone and found her, and if he'd had the heart to heart like he had pushed me to do. But he didn't need to know I was being chicken about it. Not yet.