once in twenty lifetimes

Late nights, all entwined
Made a promise to never say goodbye

Good job, Tal.

His words seemed to comfort the young woman who leaned tearfully against his shoulder, for she smiled, a watery, wavering thing, and said thickly, "I guess you're right." She stayed where she was for a moment, her line forgotten, savoring the feel of a friend's warmth and letting go, for a moment, of that guilt and shame that forever seemed to plague her. Sometimes she could forget that it festered deep beneath the surface; other times, like now, it seemed that it was all-consuming.

But Tal was right in that there was only one way to go: forward. And so Sohalia sat up a little straighter, rubbing away the last of her tears and shoving her deep, dark feelings somewhere deeper and darker in the back of her mind. "I guess all I can do is try and fix things, if people will let me." And if they wouldn't... well, she would cross that bridge when she got to it.

I replay it in the back of my mind
Over and over again

Sohalia