"Quite some time," Peony said. "A colleague and I took a pair of scholars on a training outing in late Leo. She found the hare here at that time. In truth, it might not have survived in the wild alone; at the time, it was quite young and badly hurt. But for all that they have bonded, it has grown and healed, and wild things are wild, in the end." And while this particular species of dreamhare was not a particular danger, it did have the potential to lash out if threatened.
She thought that she might, perhaps, offer Ridley a kitten sometime in the near future, a harmless house cat to keep her company. It would not be the same, but it would be something to love and care for which she would not have to give up.