The young girl is appropriately wary at first, but Cera patiently waits for characteristic youth and impatience to take hold, and sure enough her curiosity seems to take hold of her in time. Ilaria is always a good ice breaker, especially with little tikes like Aleta. She's simply too cute to ignore after all. You're cute too, Ilaria scoffs fondly, and Cera internally rolls his eyes at her. You're biased, Illy. Before they could debate it any further, the child is politely introducing herself. Cera blinks, pleasantly surprised by her manners, and his smile is a warm glow of approval. "It is lovely to meet you as well, miss Aleta. You have impeccable manners." Perhaps that would encourage her to continue being so concise and respectful in the future. They certainly needed more of her type in the world, he thought with exasperated fondness. My, he felt old all of a sudden, and realized with a sigh that he was nearly six. Where had the time gone?

One brow tilted playfully as the girl proclaimed she was in fact not lost. "Oh? Well you must be a regular adventurer!" Oh how he loved children and their exuberance, so eager to see what lay beyond the next hill, or further into the horizon. His breast ached with phantom, remembered pain. It would never truly ease, though the actual pain of the scar was nearly nonexistent outside of the winter season. Psychosomatic, but still painful in his troubled mind. He had once been as free-spirited and adventurous as her, and it had nearly cost him his life. If he were of the same evil as the stallion he'd encountered in the Deep, well...Aleta could very well have ended up exactly as Cera had, in this moment they were sharing. 

And quite a moment it was. 

Cera waited, endlessly patient, with brow crinkled in a sympathetic, pained frown as Aleta babbled her entire life story at him. It hurt his heart to hear such a tale spun from someone so young, to see his ghost in her golden frame, drifting through the world looking for an errant parent that should have stayed beside her to love and cherish her. He wished to move forth and embrace her, but felt it inappropriate considering they hardly knew each other. Well, Cera knew Aleta rather well after all that, but he would not impose on her just to satisfy his own emotional turmoil. 

"I'm very sorry you've had to experience something like this so young, Aleta," Cera murmured, eyes soft like crinkled emerald velvet. "And it's okay to feel hurt, and confused. A mother is supposed to love and support you always, like it sounds your father does. But sometimes family can be...complicated." Ranjiri and Midas flashed through his mind's eye, and he shook his dished face to rid himself of the comparisons. Aleta didn't deserve such a tainted, biased answer. Cera would supply her with genuine help or none at all. 

"There are many reasons why your mother may have left. But it's important to find out why. And I will help you however I can." A solemn vow that was expressed on Cera's concerned features. Flicking his long flaxen tail, the Forger tilted his head, parsing through the words Aleta had spewed and realizing she had not supplied a name. That would be the first step. "I have lived in Helovia my whole life, and have visited many herds. Perhaps if I know your mother's name, I can help you find her. Do you mind telling me?" Not that he intended to use the knowledge of her lineage for evil, of course, though he would not blame her for being careful if she chose to withhold it.