Faeyra clung to the girl as Gracie as hard and desperate as Gracie was holding on to her. She sucked in a breath, lips trembling as she fought back tears. Her normal defenses, the cool, shiny layer of professionalism and good humor she usually hid behind, lay shattered at her feet, and she wasn't sure if she was going to get it back. She rested her cheek against the top of Gracie's head and let the pain, shock, and relief rip through her. Calvyn hadn't responded, if that was even him. It... It was him, wasn't it? She couldn't quite make him out through the fog of her tears, not at the distance at which he still stood. All those times she'd lain awake and hoped he would come back... And Gracie... No. She couldn't be too greedy. She already had more than she could ask for. She daren't hope for more, even as her heart threatened to burst.
She pulled back, just a little, to hold Gracie's face in her shaking hands. The smile - a true, full smile rather than the crooked grin she usually wore - broke over her face, as she sniffled. "M-My little girl," she said, her voice breaking. Her hands brushed at Gracie's hair, her shoulders, down her arms to those tiny little hands. She was so warm, so vibrant... so alive. She hadn't realized how much she'd wanted to believe Gracie was still alive until that moment - nor how much she'd feared never seeing her again, of grieving for her for the rest of her life. "I'm real. Are you?" She laughed, pulling Gracie into another hug.
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♥♥ drawing by the AMAZING ALICE ♥♥ |