[-Isabella-]

Nthanda glanced down at her cubs, wobbling after her as they took one of their first few short walks. She could still hardly believe they were hers. It seemed like time has suddenly begun to pass so quickly, barely giving her time to breathe.
By now of course she was fairly settled in her new home, but she was uncertain still about a lot of things, one being whether or not she should let herself feel at ease here or not. After all, this seemed better than her old home, but experience told her to be careful no matter how much she hoped and wanted.
As her thoughts brought her back to her growing up and her parents she shook her head, trying to shove them away. For now she wanted to enjoy her time with her cubs. Nthanda had promised herself long ago she would never let herself be to them like her father had been to her and she had every intention of keeping that promise. No matter what was going on in her life or with their father or the politic of being royal she wanted them to know they were loved and cared for.

That thought in mind she looked over each of them, just wanting to make sure they didn't seem overtired. Dumi was bumping lazily into Alexander, nearly knocking him over, while their brother trailed behind them sleepily. Behind them their sister Celestia had hooked her claws into a curtain and was now trying to get them unstuck with no luck. Stifling a chuckle Nthanda leaned over to carefully untangle the cub from the curtain. The little she-cub had proved to be an adventurous cub with little to no fear in most situations. Ketura had all she could do to keep an eye on her and Ravi liked to tease Nthanda that her daughter was causing her as much trouble as she had caused her own mother.
It was probably true, she thought. As a young cub she had been blissfully unaware of the dangers of the pride and had taken every opportunity to explore.

Now she understood her mother's worry as she had tried to keep all of her cubs safe. Despite having help on paw in case she needed it Nthanda still felt very much responsible for the safety and well-being of her cubs and didn't like to leave them with anyone else unless absolutely necessary.

Soon her sister would visit and she could only imagine how that would go. She hoped soon her mother could visit as well, but she knew better than to be too hopeful. If she was lucky her brother Nadir might be able to work it out, but that was still a slim chance. All she could do was wait and see. But in the meantime the cubs kept her quite occupied and gave her a very welcome distraction.

Now Celestia was eagerly trying to wobble her way ahead of her brothers, clearly ready to continue her walk despite the delay. Unable to help smiling Nthanda just urged the cubs to keep walking again, wondering if Celestia would be so eager if she knew that a nap was all that awaited her at the end of her adventure.