I was wrapped in my Ma’s arms for the first time in a century. All I wanted was her warmth, so I pulled her closer with arms that weren’t mine. As I held her, I scanned the space around me, trying to fit this borrowed body around a home I’d been kept from for a century. Sahora's heart beat hard in her chest.
“Ma…”
I looked up and saw him. Violet eyes shining.
“Pa!” I yelled, running to him. He caught me quickly and hugged me tight, like he was afraid I would slip away again.
I felt Sahora shifting underneath me, trying to take back control.
I’m sorry. Just give me one moment, and you can have your body back, I sent the thought to her quickly.
Okay, but make it quick. I am my own. Her thought back to me was fierce, angry, but understanding.
“I can’t stay long.” My throat was tight.
Ami walked over to me slowly, almost as if she wasn’t sure how to approach. “Kathera?”
“Ami!” I wrapped her in my arms. For a moment, she was still, clearly unsure.
I pulled back slightly and looked at her. “Ami, I know it’s hard to believe, but it’s me.”
“How do I know?” Ami asked, still rigid.
I met her eyes, straightened my shoulders and said, “Breath is the beginning of a spiral.”
Her eyes got wide. “It is you.” She wrapped me in her arms. “Please come back.”
“Keep getting the shards and essences. I will come back.” I told her.
“This shouldn’t be possible,” Cyrus’s voice came from behind me.
I let go of Ami and turned toward him. Smiling, arms outstretched. “Cyrus, it’s me.”
“The Kathera I know wouldn’t use someone else’s body like it was her own.” His voice was hard, like he had already made a decision.
Drawing in a breath, Sahora’s body suddenly felt too small to hold me.
His words shattered me. My arms fell to my sides. If the ground could open and take me from this moment, I would not have stopped it.
“You’re right,” I told him, taking one last look at my family around me, my people, my heart, reminders of the life that had once been mine.
I let go of the thread that had been pulling me forward.
We can work something out, Sahora’s voice came through clearly.
Okay. My voice was small. Guilt filled me as I pushed myself back, farther and farther into the shadows of her mind.
I didn’t plan on stopping until I heard it; soft, fragile, and unmistakable.
I love you. Lyrian’s voice filled my head like warmth through winter.
I sent a thought back to him, hoping beyond hope he would hear it. Feel it.
I’m coming home soon. I love you.