Hey guys, I just realized that yesterday was the anniversary of when I published this story back in 2015! I can't believe it's been a whopping two or three years already. Thanks for the support, and I hope you guys enjoy.

Miriam spent the next several days resting, and trying to get back on her feet. After years of good health, her body had taken a major blow. This wasn't something that could simply be healed overnight. Her recovery was very slow and drawn out. She had to rest to regain her strength, and by then, her muscles had atrophied so much that she found it difficult to walk. Her parents helped her, urging her to walk everyday with them by her side.

And now, it was her first day back outside. Even if she was walking on her own without support, Miriam hardly felt like herself. She found herself getting angry at everything; she almost snapped at a hatchling for giggling. Even her father's anger wasn't this bad. But perhaps, this too was something that would pass in time.

"Be careful, dear," Amelia warned her. "And don't go too far."

Miriam groaned. "Got it, mom," she replied angrily. "Now leave me alone and stop annoying me."

"Also, watch out for the sky water," Amelia added. "It's still a bit slippery."

"I got it," Miriam snapped.

Amelia felt a little hurt by her tone, and Tristan sensed it.

He rubbed her back, giving an understanding smile. "I'll go talk to her. And don't take what she says to heart."

Amelia smiled back and nodded, although she hoped Tristan wouldn't crack down too hard on their daughter.

Tristan ran to catch up with his daughter, and found her slouching as she walked, a persistent frown on her face.

"Did mom make you follow me?" Her anger was once again evident in her tone of voice.

"No." He placed one hand on Miriam's shoulder. "Here, sit down."

When Miriam didn't obey, he practically had to force her to the ground by grabbing her arm. "Sit."

Miriam let out a long sigh, normally calm emerald green eyes hard with contempt. "Yes?"

"I don't appreciate your tone with your mother." His voice leaked with the same disdain she was giving him. "You can yell at me, disrespect me, I don't care. I've been through worse, I can take it. But you do not disrespect your mother, do you understand?"

"She disrespects you," replied Miriam. "I've seen it."

"She stands up for herself," clarified Tristan. "But that's besides the point. Your mother is so good and kind to you, and you just brushed her off. I get it, she might be a bit overbearing, you're welcome to think that. But she cares about you."

"I know she does. Doesn't make it any less annoying."

Tristan was getting irritated. "What's gotten into you? Not even Mackenzie's as bad as you."

"I'm sure she'd love to hear that."

"No, she knows she's a handful, but she still respects us. What's wrong with you?"

"A lot," snapped Miriam, getting up and walking away. "Thanks for asking."

Tristan had to wonder if all teenagers were like this. Even so, Mackenzie was her age and never disrespected her parents so blatantly. Did her illness play any part? If so, they had a problem.

...

Miriam watched as the tree stars slowly fell from the trees and into the pond below, creating ripples in the water which spread over her reflection. She hadn't gotten a good look at herself until she saw her reflection. She seemed to have a permanent scowl on her face, and her jaw was clenched. She looked more intimidating than she thought.

As she thought back to earlier in the morning, she recalled how she behaved towards her mother. She didn't want to be so cruel. She knew what she said was wrong and had hurt her mother, but she couldn't stop herself from saying them. In that moment, it felt like she wasn't herself.

So that was the problem. Miriam didn't feel like herself. She'd now identified the issue, but how was she going to go about fixing it? She called her mother annoying, speaking to her like she was some sort of nuisance. She'd never done that before. Never. And she'd put a damper on her relationship with her father as well. The way he spoke to her, it stung. It felt like a fiery mountain was blowing it's top inside of her. She couldn't blame him, though. He loved her mother so profoundly.

The more Miriam thought about it, the worse she felt. Where in the world had she gotten the idea that her mother disrespected her father? Was she simply making things up now?

A loud buzzing broke into her thoughts. She looked down to see a buzzer sitting on one of the tree stars that had fallen from the trees. Then, a swimmer emerged from the water, and the buzzer seized the opportunity to attack. It killed the swimmer instantly, and flew away with it's lunch. Miriam didn't think too much of it, for it was the circle of life. That was something her mother had taught her.

"Miriam?"

Miriam looked up to see her sister standing above her, looking somewhat concerned. She'd always looked up to Mackenzie, figuratively and literally. She didn't want to hurt her in the way she'd hurt her mother, so she kept silent.

"Hello?" Mackenzie sat down, and gently nudged her in the side.

"Don't touch me," Miriam snapped, moving a few inches away from her. "What do you want?" Oh, boy. Here we go.

"What you'd say to mom? I was talking to her and she sounded like she was going to cry."

"Why do you think I have something to do with it?"

"I don't know, I asked dad and he told me what you said."

"And?"

"It's a bit...uncharacteristic of you. What's the matter?"

"Nothing."

"Don't you lie to me. You'd be stupid to think that you could try to lie to me about this and not get caught."

"Now I'm stupid?"

"Well, you sure are acting like it. You're not acting like yourself, that's for sure."

Miriam's mouth curved into an unpleasant frown.

Mackenzie stood up, refusing to push her sister for answers.

"Okay, fine. If you want to sit here and act like a baby, that's your choice. I'm not going to waste my time, I have better things to do." She really didn't, but it was an effective tactic.

She looked at Miriam, hoping she'd cave, but had no such luck. There was no use in trying, so Mackenzie quietly walked away to where she knew Gabriel and Adam would be.

Mackenzie waded into the pond, covered by the shade of the circle of trees. The light of the bright circle shone through the leaves, making the water just warm enough to kick back and relax in. She swam to the slightly deeper end of the pond, resting her head on the grass.

"I don't know what's gotten into Miriam."

Adam, who had been resting on top of a rock, lifted his head. "What do you mean?"

"She's being so mean. It's...weird."

"Mean?" Gabriel raised a brow. "Miriam?"

"I know, it's not like her. But...she snapped at my mom, which really surprised me. Our mom's a bit much sometimes, but we've never snapped at her before. Not like Miriam did."

Gabriel and Adam exchanged glances. Gabriel lowered his neck slightly, frowning. He'd only known Mackenzie for a short while, but he knew that she truly was good at heart and hated to think that she was being mistreated. "Did she snap at you too?"

"Sort of," replied Mackenzie, looking up at him. "She didn't call me annoying, but she's still acting stupid."

Gabriel raised his neck, and used his claws to strip the tree above him of it's tree stars. The tree stars rained down on Mackenzie like sky water, and Gabriel lowered his neck.

"It's alright. I'm sure she'll come around eventually."

Mackenzie gave a half hearted smile, and munched on a tree star. "What's with all the tree stars?"

"I just thought they might make you feel better."

"Oh. Well, they do."

"Good," said Gabriel, pleased with himself.

...

Miriam trudged across the valley, her head hanging low. As she wandered aimlessly, she heard a familiar screech. She watched as Kyra swooped down, landing in front of her.

"Hello, Miriam. How's your first day out and about?"

"Hi, Kyra. It's okay."

Kyra begged to differ, but didn't press the issue. "Oh, that's good." She spread her wings, preparing to fly away. "Well, I'll see you later."

Miriam clenched her teeth. "Kyra, wait."

Kyra turned around. "Yes?"

"I need to talk to you about something."

"Oh? Well, let's go somewhere nice and shady and we can talk."

They went to the pond where Miriam had been when Mackenzie approached her. Miriam took a seat, as did Kyra.

"So. What seems to be the matter?"

"...I hurt my mom."

Kyra hoped the situation wasn't the way it sounded. "What do you mean? What happened?"

"She told me to be careful when I went out, and..."

"And what did you do?"

"I called her annoying, and my tone was really nasty. I didn't mean to...I don't know what came over me."

"Hm...well, how did you feel when you called her that? What were you feeling in that moment?"

"I knew it was wrong, but I couldn't stop the words from coming out. I just...I didn't feel like myself."

"Oh. Well, that's perfectly normal. For you, I mean."

"It is?"

Kyra nodded. "You're still recovering. You've hardly had any actual interaction, and your body is worn out from fighting off your illness. It's natural for you to be a bit snappish."

Her tone suddenly grew more serious and less light hearted. "But it's no excuse for your behavior. You might have a reason to act the way you are, but that doesn't make it okay. Being ill is no excuse to disrespect anyone, especially your parents."

She paused a moment. "...Also, you are growing. Mood swings are a part of that."

Miriam swallowed the heavy and bitter tasting lump in her throat. "What am I going to do...?"

"You'll have to talk to your parents, and be completely honest about how you feel."

"Will it get better? Or am I going to have to deal with this my whole life?"

"Yes. This will all go away in time. But you must mend things with your parents first, otherwise there'll be rifts in your relationship. You don't want that, do you?"

Miriam shook her head.

"That's what I thought," said Kyra, who smiled sweetly. "Good luck, dear."

She looked towards the sky and flew off. Miriam watched her fly away, and gave her words careful thought as she continued her stroll.

...

The bright circle had just set, allowing the first shadows of darkness to settle in. The sky was adorned in magnificent hues of pink and orange, and a little bit of purple as the night circle slowly peeked over the ridge. Amelia looked up at the sky, worry in her gentle sky blue eyes. She could hear footsteps approach from behind her, but refused to acknowledge whoever it may have been.

"Amelia."

She heard Tristan's voice behind her, and turned to face him. "She's not back yet..."

Tristan smiled sadly and nuzzled her, both of their faces illuminated in the pale moonlight.

"She's fine," he assured her. "Don't worry. Perhaps it's good that she has some time to herself. She needs to think about what she did."

"Tristan..." she sighed softly. "Don't be so harsh. She's young. She doesn't know better."

"She's never acted like this before," argued Tristan. "And besides, I have no patience for someone who makes you cry for no good reason."

"Aw..." Amelia pressed her snout against his. "You're such a softie."

"No, I'm not," Tristan murmured.

"Mom?"

The voice caught both Amelia and Tristan's attention. It was Miriam.

Amelia's eyes softened considerably. "Hi, sweetie. What kept you so long?"

Miriam let her eyes wander for a moment before she gave a shrug. "Can I talk to you?"

"Of course you can. Come on." Amelia walked away, Miriam trailing close behind her. Tristan watched both of them leave, a satisfied smile appearing on his face.

"So, honey," Amelia shifted her gaze to her daughter. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

Miriam came to a halt. "About what happened this morning."

Amelia stopped a few inches ahead of her, and came shuffling back. She lowered her head, and flashed a smile. "Dear, you don't need to—"

"Mom, don't." Miriam sighed. "Yes, I do. It wasn't okay, what I did.

Amelia looked away briefly, and then returned her gaze to her daughter. "Then...why did you do it?"

"I don't know," Miriam replied flatly. "I talked to Kyra about it."

"And what did she say?"

"She said it's normal for me to be acting this way since I'm still recovering and I haven't been feeling like myself. But...I know now it doesn't excuse me being so rude to you. I didn't mean to, I just..."

"Oh, I know." Amelia nuzzled her. "I understand. And I'm glad you talked to me about this."

"So, do you forgive me?"

"Of course I forgive you, dear. I can never stay angry with you." Amelia breathed in, her eyes deep in thought. "But, there's more to it than that. You really did hurt me. I was just looking out for you."

"I know. I'm sorry, mom."

"It's alright." She gave a smile that reassured her daughter that it would be. "I'll try to come around, as long as you promise me you will too."

Miriam offered the most genuine smile she could muster. "I will."

Amelia chuckled, her chuckles turning into soft giggles as she nuzzled and adorned her daughter with kisses.

"Mom, stop it." Miriam laughed, pulling away, but her mother continued to fawn over her. "Mom, come on!"

Amelia nuzzled her one last time. "I'm sorry, dear. Would you like to head back home now?"

"Yes, please."

"Alright." She leaned in close. "And don't worry about explaining this to your father. I'll take care of him."

"You're the best, mom."

Amelia and Miriam still had a long way to go, but with the issues and misunderstandings between them identified, they were heading in the right direction.