"I'm all right," Greta says, setting the card down and curling her arms around Saoirse, mindful as ever of her injured arm. This is all backwards -- Saoirse shouldn't have to wipe her tears -- and she lets out another apologetic chuckle over what a mess this has become. "I just wasn't expecting such a sweet note, that's all."

That's not the whole explanation, and she knows it won't be wholly reassuring. "And it reminded me of just how much I love you," she continues, smoothing back the girl's hair, "which is quite a lot." She's smiling more easily, now. And if she emphasizes the last three words with a storytelling cadence, it's only to lighten the mood, not to cover up a falsehood. She does love Saoirse, though she's avoided saying it for reasons that now seem inadequate. Because she's a selkie, and loving a selkie -- truly loving one -- is synonymous with letting them go when the time comes. Now, of course, it seems borderline criminal that she hasn't mentioned it earlier. She could have been saying since nearly the beginning.