The question awakens an old ache, dulled by time but too deeply rooted to vanish entirely. No one is waiting for her, and there's no comfort to be taken from that. But that doesn't mean she can't offer Amalthea something, or at least try to.

"I've heard people say we return to the very moment we left." And Amalthea had been on her way home, hadn't she? Barring further misadventure, there's no reason to think she wouldn't have made it. "If that's true, and they are waiting... it hasn't been for long, and it won't be for much longer. They'll hardly have time to miss you."