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Chapter 160: Blueberry Blues.

"He was getting old now; he probably knew them, but had forgotten them."

-QuintusPeregrinus, Bright Eyes

-"I can't understand what she was thinking."

Hazel and Primrose were discussing their daughter Snowdrop's misbehaviour. Since she had been confined to the burrow, and they could not have the discussion in front of her, they had to find another place to do so. The Honeycomb and above ground were also out of the question, due to the high risk of other rabbits barging in and offering unwanted opinions. Fiver had agreed to let them borrow his burrow while he was at silflay, and his mate at the river.

-"I thought I had taught them to respect all life," Primrose said. "Clearly I didn't do a good enough job..."

-"You mustn't blame yourself for things beyond your control," Hazel said.

-"Was it really beyond my control though? As her mother, it is my duty to instill upon her the proper values."

-"Including defending her warren, which is what she felt she was doing. This really isn't your fault."

Hazel and Primrose continued to debate the issue. The lack of previous situations that could be used as reference points on what to do made things more complicated. The closest past experience they had encountered was when Silverweed had to look into the hearts of the Efrafans to see if any of them had killed someone back in Efrafa, and even then, the two incidents unfolded very differently. One key difference was that Silverweed had proven all the Efrafans innocent, therefore nobody was punished; Snowdrop, meanwhile, had freely admitted to her misdeeds. Additionally, the Efrafan victims were dead, but Blueberry had survived the attack. From one point of view, such a lack of permanent consequences would allow Snowdrop to escape with a lighter punishment (although not as light as the tickling she and her siblings had experienced as a consequence for disobeying orders during the battle against the weasels). Ultimately, it was decided that she would have to apologize to Blueberry for her actions.

Snowdrop was still in the couple's burrow, where she had been confined. She appeared to be taking a nap, but woke up upon hearing her parents return.

-"What's going on?"

-"We have come to talk to you about what you did to Blueberry," Hazel said.

-"I told the truth earlier," Snowdrop said defiantly. "I have nothing further to add."

-"As you probably know, we went to dig him out."

-"Did you find him?"

-"We did. He's still alive, thank Frith."

Snowdrop gasped in a mixture of surprise and horror.

-"We think you should go apologize to him," Primrose said.

-"You're missing the point," Snowdrop replied. "He survived."

-"Yes, but you still tried to kill him."

-"I know, and I failed. That's the worrying part. He has improbably survived so many dangerous situations, there's only one possible explanation: immortality. He's not working for Woundwort, but for a far more dangerous enemy: Prince Rainbow. I can't believe I'm the only one who realizes it."

-"You're probably worrying too much," Hazel said.

-"I am merely being logical," Snowdrop retorted.

-"Let's assume, for the moment, that you are right and Blueberry really was sent by Prince Rainbow. How do we know that he has nefarious intents? Prince Rainbow has been known to help El-ahrairah on occasion."

Snowdrop sighed in disappointment.

-"You're a good father, but you have one major weakness: you always assume the best in everyone."

-"Yes, like I assumed the best in my daughter. I thought she wouldn't try to kill anyone!" Hazel had regretted his outburst instantly; Snowdrop also appeared sad following her father's words.

-"I'm sorry if I disappointed you," she said. "I was just trying to protect the warren."

-"A laudable goal, but there would have been ways to resolve the situation without resorting to violence," Primrose said. "You could have told us about your concerns."

-"Would it have changed anything, though? You probably would have just dismissed me as 'worrying too much' like father did just now."

-"If you had talked to us, we would have done our best to investigate," Hazel said. "Silverweed would have taken a look inside Blueberry's heart."

-"Why don't we go do that now, then? If I'm right, I trust you'll do everything you can to neutralize the threat posed by this freak. And if I'm wrong...then I guess I'll have to apologize."

-"I'm afraid that Blueberry is now suffering from amnesia, as a result of what happened. There's nothing Silverweed can do about it; we'll never know the whole truth."

-"Oh..." This new information left Snowdrop troubled.

-"Would you be willing to go apologize?" Hazel asked.

Snowdrop took a deep breath.

-"I'm sorry I made a rash decision without discussing it with you first. And I'm sorry for any other ways I might have disappointed you."

-"Uh, I appreciate that," Hazel said, "but I was talking about apologizing to Blueberry."

Snowdrop remained silent for a few moments as she considered Hazel's request.

-"I'm sorry, I just can't. I promise I won't try to kill him again, or any other rabbits for that matter. But...he still makes me nervous, especially with his guilt or innocence still undetermined. I would rather just ignore him whenever possible."

-"I see. If you don't want to apologize, we can't force you. Just remember that, no matter what happens, we still love you."

-"I love you too."

Snowdrop hugged both her parents.

-"Am I free to go now?"

-"Yes, go ahead."

-"Thank you. I'll go silflay now."

The kitten smiled, and hopped out of the burrow. The couple also left, but in the opposite direction.

-"What do you make of all this?" Hazel asked his mate.

-"I think she has learned her lesson."

-"Her refusal to apologize worries me a little."

-"Like you said, we can't force her. An insincere apology would be worse than no apology at all. I still think she deeply regrets her actions."

-"All the same, I can't help but wonder what Blueberry thinks of this whole incident. Assuming he even remembers it, which he probably doesn't." Hazel sighed. "It's not easy being a father."

-"I wouldn't know, being a doe. But you're still a great father to them."

-"I really hope so...thank you." Hazel lovingly nuzzled his mate.

Meanwhile, Strawberry had just finished giving Blueberry a tour of the warren. The two had gone through most of the major tunnels and burrows; while the two were bonding, nothing stirred Blueberry's memory, it really seemed the amnesia would persist for a while. Eventually, Strawberry went to silflay, leaving the kitten to explore on his own. He made it to the Honeycomb when another kitten ran over to him.

-"I'm really glad I caught up with you, Blueberry."

Blueberry stared at the visitor for a few moments, trying (and failing) to remember her.

-"Have we met before?"

-"Oh right, I'm sorry, I forgot about your memory loss. I'm Gilia, the Chief's daughter. We were in the junior owsla together."

-"It's nice to meet you...again, miss Gilia. What brings you here?"

-"I would like to apologize on my sister's behalf. What she did was nasty."

-"I'm sorry, I can't remember your sister, miss Gilia, or what she did to me."

-"That's one detail I'm glad you forgot, considering how horrible it was...anyway how are you doing?"

-"Miss Strawberry was showing me around the warren. I don't know how long I've been living here, but it feels like I just arrived, so I'm not very good at finding my way around."

-"If you wish, I could help guide you."

-"What's the quickest way above ground?"

-"I'll show you."

-"You know, you're very cute."

Gilia blushed and giggled.

-"You're pretty handsome yourself."

The two kittens made their way above ground. Mallow, who had been sitting in another corner of the Honeycomb, had overheard much of the conversation; the last few replies left him shaking his head.

-"Oh does...there is just no understanding of their thoughts..."

Hazel, passing through the burrow on his way to Pipkin's, also overheard the last part of the conversation. He too was left disturbed by what he heard, although for a completely different reason than Mallow. His daughter had a crush on someone, and was worryingly young. There were several new couples at the warren; was this influencing her, perhaps subconsciously? As a kitten, Hazel had experienced several crushes back at Sandleford Warren, and they all ended badly. While he had since found happiness with Primrose, he didn't want his daughter to repeat all the same mistakes. He would have to keep a close eye on her, not to mention the other three kittens. Why did they have to grow up so quickly?