Chapter 177 - Mother-Daughter Chat

"That… To think he would actually try something so absurd upon meeting you…" Puula sighed, leaning into her daughter after hearing her side of the story. But she suddenly chuckled out of nowhere, "Then again, didn't you do that to Oli way back."

"Mom!" 

Netra shouted but it only made Puula smile wider. It was the first time she had heard her daughter act as a maturing girl would. Finally, Netra showed Puula a glimpse of her personality hidden behind the cold front that Netra always maintained.

"What's wrong?"

Realizing how long she had been staring at her daughter, Puula leaned in closer and wrapped one of her tails around Netra. "You know, we haven't been able to talk in a while."

"No. We've been able to talk, we just haven't," corrected Netra, hastily returning to her cold, aloof attitude.

"True… But why is that? You've been avoiding me, right?" 

"..." 

"Netra, you can be honest with me. It's not hard to figure out."

"I have…"

"Can you please tell me why?" Puula gingerly asked.

Taking a second to think, Netra replied, "Because you don't listen."

"But I just listened to you. What makes you think I won't listen to you?"

"Because you don't. You haven't listened to me at all. I only shared a report on an incident just now, not a meaningful topic of discussion," stated Netra. "Had you not listened to that, then you'd be an ignorant chief, which you aren't."

"Then what do you think of me as a mother?" asked Puula, looking her daughter tenderly in the eye. "Go ahead… Be honest."

Sensing tenderness being more than usual, Netra gave in a little. "I think you're a wonderfully logical mother. You always seek the opportunities that logically offer the most benefit to me and Mrado. Taking that into consideration, you're a wonderful mother."

"And not taking that into consideration?"

"..." Netra needed another few seconds to think of a proper response. "I think…"

"Say it," Puula whispered into her daughter's ear. From Netra's aloof answers, temperament, and Puula's own experience as a growing daughter, it wasn't hard for Puula to recognize how her daughter felt about her. "You can say it, Netra. Don't bottle it up any longer."

"..."

"Go on. Say what you're thinking. You don't need to think up a way that wouldn't be hurtful. That would only make it more painful to hear, coming in a compassionate tone."

Netra wasn't sure how to feel. She had never seen her mother like this and she had never really voiced her true opinions and feelings to anyone for years. Apart from Oli, no one else had ever let her feel like she could be herself unapologetically.

"I'm a terrible mother…"

"Mom, you aren't--"

"You can't even speak openly with me. How could I be a good mother when my daughter is afraid to be honest with me?" reasoned Puula. The mother-daughter duo found themselves nestling closer into each other's fur as Puula added, "I've become my mother without even realizing it…"

"Hm? What do you mean?" Netra asked, looking up at her mother's rarely watery eyes.

"I haven't talked much about your grandmother, and for good reason I suppose." Puula smiled and began recounting her memories. "Did you know that your father and I were betrothed, even when I was against it the entire time?"

"No…"

"Our clan isn't naturally a matriarchal one, only relying on whoever the strongest cultivator is. But your grandmother betrothed me when I was young to a man much older than me. I had no choice but to be wed early on in life. Lucky for me, I didn't have you or your brother until I was older."

"Then… what happened to my grandmother and father?"

Sighing, Puula summed up her answer as succinctly as possible. "They died, as expected of wild cultivators. Your grandmother never managed to become a perennial, and your father barely qualified as a perennial. There are only three good things that I choose to remember about him. His cultivation technique is one of them. The last and greatest two are you and your brother."

Netra let silence exist for a moment or two before she began to finally share some of her more personal thoughts and questions, a natural response to her mother finally opening up as well.

"Then… If you hated him, why are you trying so hard to betroth me?"

Puula chuckled, "Because you're too pretty for your own good."

"Mom…"

"I'm serious. You're too pretty, too precious, and too strong-willed. None of those things are bad. In fact, I think they're all amazing qualities of a growing woman. But there's no telling how some people will try and take advantage of you and your gifts," reasoned Puula. "I promised myself to protect you from ever being in a relationship like the one I had with your father."

"Then why not let me choose?"

"It's not that I won't let you choose or be a part of the discussion, Netra. It's that you're still young… Oli's not coming back."

"Mom."

"Even if he did come back, why would you choose him? You're not compatible by any means."

"Mom--"

"Netra, you need to move on and accept reality."

"But--"

"The reality is that you're beautiful and amazing. You need someone just as amazing, if not more so. And while I would argue that Oli was a spectacular youth with a phenomenal future ahead of him, that's not to say that he was compatible with you and your needs."

"..." 

"What's wrong? I know when you've stopped listening to me."

"But you don't know when you've stopped listening to me," argued Netra, getting back onto her feet. "I'm done talking."

"Netra, we--"

"I'll be cultivating in the library, possibly all night. Don't worry if you don't see me tomorrow morning." Finished with the conversation, Netra used her tail to unlatch the sliding door's lock and left at a brisk pace. 

Puula sighed, left alone in her daughter's room. She felt that she had both made progress and created a new stumbling block within their relationship, leaving Puula unsure of how to handle their next conversation.