"I know it is," she said softly. She knew that raw exposure intimately. She was terrified of never returning to where she belonged, terrified that she would someday forget who she was entirely. "I am a creature that was not born to die... but here I am. Dying." She leaned close and lightly touched her forehead to Greta's. She did not mean to make the woman's worries seem small, but she was trying desperately to let her know that she knew, at least to some degree, the anguish she must feel.

She squeezed Greta's hand. "You remind me of someone. She was very kind to me, even when I was just a silly girl. Even when I couldn't touch the feelings of those around me, even when I was cold. I worry I was cruel." Their worries had all seemed so ridiculous to her. Being human had changed her, fundamentally. After that first transformation she would never be able to go back to the way she was before.

"It will be alright. It doesn't need to be right now, of course not. But it will be."