Sansa went to bed that night with many questions. Nova shut down after her confession. It was understandable. She seemed exhausted to Sansa. It was only then that she realized just how difficult Nova's life must have been after that one encounter.

She wanted to ask more. What had happened after? What did she do? How did that event lead to her isolating herself in the woods?

But more importantly...the description.

Sansa's heart was racing as she clung tightly to her chest.

Nova's words were familiar because Sansa knew exactly what she had been talking about. It had taken all of Sansa's willpower to not grab the female's shoulders and scream in excitement at her confession. She had to swallow down her rising hope as she took in Nova's despair.

Her answers, however, soon came in the morning.

She and Nova were hanging up the laundry to dry, letting the wind capture the clothing. Nova had been quiet the whole morning, only saying a word of greeting to Sansa before eating breakfast and going outside.

Moon River seemed to notice the small disturbance in her mother's emotion. Sansa could see her watching them through the window, those pale blue eyes intense in their focus upon the women.

Without warning or turning to her, Nova began to speak. It was almost as if there had been no lapse in time. As if only a second had passed, and they still were in the kitchen, sitting at that small table.

"Moon River was conceived from that night."

Sansa paused in her work to look up at the female.

She stared off at the distance, her eyes glazed over – thinking of another time and place as the past flashed in her mind.

"The pack noticed. How could they not..."

Nova laughed. Sansa did not join her. She felt a heaviness in her heart as she watched her. Nova looked at her then. Sansa felt a sad smile grace her face, "You left?"

A deep sigh left the female, "I'm sure you can already envision how bad it must have seemed to the pack...they invited me there to train and then not even a year in, I'm suddenly with child...the only question is – I was not claimed and I had no one in that moment to rescue me."

She sat down on the ground. Sansa sat with her, straight across as she took Nova's hands in hers, staring intensely, and waiting for the rest of the tale.

"They threw me out..." Nova's hand closed around her throat as she shut her eyes against the pain.

"Sometimes I would imagine him...walking through the pack in those first weeks. I would see him approach me, and smile- the same way he did when I first saw him. I thought of what I would say, but really it was only his words that I wanted to hear...The image of him turning to meet their stares and telling them that I was his...the we were his..."

A single tear fell from Nova's face as her broken whisper reached Sansa, "but he never did."

Sansa embraced her then. She felt shock when she saw Moon River approach them. The little girl slowly fell to her knees and crawled into her mother's arms. Nova's sobs only grew louder as she clung to her child.

Moon River's eyes closed, her face twisting in pain as she pressed her hand to her mother's cheek. Sansa watched in fascination as Nova's sobs slowly settled down.

Nova buried her face into the starlight hair of her daughter. Sansa felt suddenly uncomfortable – as if she were interrupting a precious moment. But Nova threw away any such thoughts as she raised her head to smile up at Sansa.

"Thank you," she whispered, "I have not told anyone that story and I...I know I needed to...so thank you for listening."

Sansa smiled and embraced the two again, feeling the softness of Moon River's hair as the little girl's hands reached to touch Sansa's face.

*  *  *

Sansa and Moon River walked hand in hand.

There was a small pond a mile away from the cabin that Sansa liked to walk to. Without a word, Moon River had raced to her side, extending her hand up to claim Sansa's.

Sansa felt a smile splitting her face from the small act of acceptance she had received.

They stopped often.

Moon River seemed fascinated by everything.

She reached for the plants, the ground- sometimes extending her hand to the sky while other times pausing to close her eyes and breath in.

"What are you doing?" Sansa whispered. She wanted to know more about this little girl.

Moon blessed was what Nova had whispered to her.

"It's all alive," Moon River said. Her small hand patted the bark of a tree softly. She looked up at Sansa, her face twisting for a second before the sudden pain was gone.

"Is something wrong?"

Moon River stared at the tree, before shaking her head and pulling Sansa forward.

"I like you," Moon River said suddenly.

Sansa smiled down at her, "Thank you. I like you to."

Moon River smiled up at her. Sansa could not help but marvel at how beautiful the little girl was.

"You don't feel bad – you're good." Moon River skipped then, something slowly unraveling in her withdrawn personality. Sansa watched before her as she started to open up, little by little.

"I'm good?" Sansa laughed at her comment, but the child only looked up and nodded.

"Momma feels bad a lot. It hurts," she pointed to her chest, pain coming across her features before she guiltily looked away.

"You love your mom a lot then, to feel her pain." Sansa stopped suddenly, bending to be eye level with Moon River.

"You're a Child of the Moon. Your mother told me and I believe it," Sansa reached for the pure white hair, smiling at the suddenly shy look that overcame the girl's face.

"A little Moon Child?"

Moon River's face lit up from her words.

"Moon Child? Moon child moon child," Sansa and Moon River laughed together as they sang the two words in a simple melody.

"Moon Child Moon Child what do you hear?"

"I hear eveerrrryyything," Moon River extended her arms, twirling around within the sunlight of the filtered leaves.

Sansa let her laughter spill out through the forest as she clapped her hands, enjoying the new game they had found together, "Moon Child Moon Child, what do you see?"

"I see the Moon staring at me!"

"Oh, very good!" Sansa applauded in praise.

Moon River smiled, her blue eyes becoming brighter as she stepped closer to Sansa.

"I feel the pain of the world falling on me."

Sansa stopped suddenly in her walk, stumbling on her feet to take in the child before her. But Moon River only innocently looked up at her, her blue eyes not seeming so bright as they once did before.

Sansa slowly reached her hand back down, waiting to see if it would be claimed.

An unknown expression passed on Moon River's face before she reached forward and took the offering. But something had changed in Sansa's outlook. She didn't see a child before her anymore.

She saw something entirely different. 

I don't want to alarm anyone, but....I don't know what has been up with my health recently. Because of that, I don't think I will be doing weekly updates anymore for Forgotten. I just feel really guilty whenever I can't post as I promise. I'm sorry for the inconvenience to you all. I hope you enjoyed the chapter ♥