never be so kind you forget to be clever
Flora huffs as Ronin presses that kiss into her hair, swatting gently at his chest like she’s brushing him off—but the sound is too soft, the touch too familiar, to be anything other than affectionate protest. Still, she straightens after, spine stiffening like a blade being drawn. "Yeah, well, I’m not you," she says, voice low but steady. "I don’t just have two kids and an immortal husband who’d burn the world down for me. I’ve got a region. An entire coast of people who’ve already lost too much and are about to lose more if we don’t keep pushing back."
Her knuckles tighten around the tea mug until the ceramic creaks faintly. "You think any of this is easy?" she asks, her tone bordering on accusatory. "The man I wanted to marry left me. Not just broke up with me—left, spat at my feet and flew off like I was a monster. I’m the one who got infected, the one who cut the deal, the one giving up the home Enzo and I lived in and my bar." She lifts her eyes to Ronin again, jaw set, expression fierce. "So no—I’m not going to stop fighting just because Dad has to hear my voice in his head and you might have to see me dead again. Because as far as good reasons go, that’s not one."
The breath she lets out is shaky, though, and she tips her head toward the window, watching the water dance in the light. "Maybe I’ll just stay invisible all the time," she mutters, quieter now, though not joking. "Make it harder for Dahlia to find me if you and Dad get back into things. If I’ve got the compass and I don’t stay still too long, I’ll always have a way out." She shrugs a little, curls shifting against her shoulders. "I’m not asking you to like it. But I am asking you to respect it, because if I stay in Haulani, it puts way more than just Mateo and I at risk and that's not something I'm willing to do." It would be Jack and Sohalia at risk, Hotaru and Sunjata, Koa and Kaisel, Danta and Asta.
Her knuckles tighten around the tea mug until the ceramic creaks faintly. "You think any of this is easy?" she asks, her tone bordering on accusatory. "The man I wanted to marry left me. Not just broke up with me—left, spat at my feet and flew off like I was a monster. I’m the one who got infected, the one who cut the deal, the one giving up the home Enzo and I lived in and my bar." She lifts her eyes to Ronin again, jaw set, expression fierce. "So no—I’m not going to stop fighting just because Dad has to hear my voice in his head and you might have to see me dead again. Because as far as good reasons go, that’s not one."
The breath she lets out is shaky, though, and she tips her head toward the window, watching the water dance in the light. "Maybe I’ll just stay invisible all the time," she mutters, quieter now, though not joking. "Make it harder for Dahlia to find me if you and Dad get back into things. If I’ve got the compass and I don’t stay still too long, I’ll always have a way out." She shrugs a little, curls shifting against her shoulders. "I’m not asking you to like it. But I am asking you to respect it, because if I stay in Haulani, it puts way more than just Mateo and I at risk and that's not something I'm willing to do." It would be Jack and Sohalia at risk, Hotaru and Sunjata, Koa and Kaisel, Danta and Asta.
