"Son," he began, "I know you and I talked about this once before, when you were younger, but you have grown a bit since then."

"Talked about what, Father?"

"About what might happen tonight, or perhaps not."

If it wasn't Ajua saying baffling things, it was their father, Artemis thought to himself. Asking him a question about his puzzling talk would get him no where, so instead, he waited patiently for the man to continue.

Kosuda sighed, heavily. "Where to begin?" he murmured. "It was somehow easier to discuss this when you were a curious kitten asking what a pair of ostriches were doing. You wondered why one was trying to climb on the back of the other." He chuckled at the memory. "You said, 'Father, why is he trying to climb on her back? He's already really tall, why is he trying to be taller? And why does it look like he's hurting her? Is it because he's so heavy?' On and on, your questions came as quickly as they were innocent. As soon as you thought of one, your curious mind thought of another. But, I imagine you may have questions still." he said, looking over at his now adult son.

Artemis listened to his father's anecdote with fond amusement. He remembered that day and all of the questions he had wanted his father to answer. Things were simpler back then, but then, so were his questions, and a simple question required only a simple answer. But now, he was grown, a man, a newly married man, and his thoughts were not so basic and they certainly were not innocent...at all.