[ME] save forever for me

Ashetta

And I know you're down and out now, but I need you to be brave
Hidin' from the truth ain't gonna make this all okay

There's a tremble in my chest, watching from where none can see. My arms are crossed, hiding the shaking. I tried to look like myself again—I cut my hair, I dug out my old clothes. Percy stands further back behind me, and Soot is clinging to him, the wine spider properly drunk as usual. I’m tempted to mount my unicorn, to gallop far from here, to safety, to where I can’t make shit decisions that hurt people.

But Remi and Ronin want me to come home. I brush the feathers I tied to my belt, throat tightening.

I spot Theea, and my heart lurches like every time I see her from wherever I’ve hidden. Glimpses of her smiling, meeting people, learning things. She’s supposed to be fourteen, and my heart aches at how much we missed her aging—but I love who she is now.

I scan the crowd, and I can’t help but smile when I see Vanya and their baby girl, embracing for the first time since her death.

And then I’m frozen.

Vervain .

Tears well hot and fast, breath trembling, and there’s nothing that can hold me back from seeing my mother again. I break from the shadows for what feels like the first time in a decade, the light spilling across pale skin, lighting up bright eyes, now glassy.

I wasn’t there when she died. I hadn’t seen her in years.

I try to slip through without anyone noticing—maybe… maybe I’ll go to Remi and Ronin. But first—

I stop behind her, scarred hands held close to my chest.

”Mom?” I say, the word shaking.

I see your pain
If you don't feel our grace
and you've lost your way