Elara's POV
"I kept her too close," I said. "I told myself it was the illness. That I was protecting her. And some of it was that."
I looked down at the top of her head, her hair pale gold in the low evening light through the window.
"But some of it was me. Being afraid to let her find out what she couldn't do yet."
I pressed my mouth to her hair.
"That changes," I said quietly. "Starting now."
Mia's eyes opened. She blinked slowly, dazed, not quite awake.
"Mom?"
"I'm here."
She blinked again, more awake this time. "Are we home?"
"Almost."
She shifted in my arms. Then it came back to her, piece by piece, and her face did something small and complicated. I tightened my arm around her before she could finish whatever she was about to feel.
"Mia." I waited until she looked at me.
