Galina did not lift her head from the ground, so much as tilt her chin until she could see Souma, and meet his gaze. Though he was out of arm's reach, Galina's hand still glided over the soft green grasses toward him. She heard Souma speak and, somewhere in the back of her thoughts, she had heard him call her name. She even heard Souma's question, and knew very well this single word encompassed so very many "why's." But even if she wished, Galina simply did not have the breath left in her for them all. 

Still, she would try. Breath was precious right now. She would spend hers best she could.

Galina gasped and grimaced, her fingers curling into a tight fist with the agony of the attempt before they unfurled once more, along with the small breath she had taken. "No one... hurt. No one dies... Not Raigo-sama. Not Ai… Not [i]you.[/i] A little… A little stolen money. And no one had… To die."

She might never be sure Souma understood what she was telling him, that she was truly answering him the very best she could, trying to share her motives, her reasons that she had not always understand so well herself when it came to Takahiro Souma. But their walk in the gardens after tea was long over, and Galina’s breaths were so shallow. Pained. The time for grand explanations had passed. No matter. Souma was smart – no, [i]brilliant[/i]. He was so confused at the moment, so perplexed and unsure, and she could still read that in the set of his jaw, in the curve of his brow. 

But Souma would untangle the fuller sense of her words, Galina was sure, when she was gone. 

"Hase...kura. Hasekura... Soshitsu,” Galina said, her voice cracking for a moment, barely rising above a whisper. With no small effort of will, she gathered her strength to repeat that name again, to be sure Souma heard her. “Hasekura… Soshitsu. He… He is the lynchpin. If you… Pluck him free… All else in… In the web I built… It unravels just so. He is… A broker. Not… Not a brave man. Probably… Will not have to torture or… Or kill him… Or his family. Just please… Do not hurt Yury. My… My brother. Yury. You will… Let him go, yes?"

Galina let her gaze roam over Souma’s face for a moment longer, somehow managing a small, ephemeral smile before she allowed the dead weight of her eyelids to fall. The pain intertwined with the exhaustion felt like steel chains of hurts that bound her to the ground. Yet even so… 

Even so, this was a lovely sight to hold in her mind’s eye, far better than a memory, seeing neither hatred nor indifference in his gaze. Her worldly affairs had been put to some order, and she may have afforded some small shield – she prayed – for her brother. She had divulged as best she could, the very reason she was ever here in his family’s home. In these last moments before she lost herself entirely, Galina finally struck at the heart of Souma’s question, with all the delirious strength and breath she had left in her to give.

"I kissed you once… While you slept... “ she confessed so softly. 

“Do [i]you[/i] know… Know any stories, Souma?" Galina could feel the frigid cold creeping into her limbs, and she was helpless to stop its advance. She shivered in the warm Spring sunlight. “I do... Do love… Love art… Books too… Reading… Stories. Will you... Tell me... Tell me a... A story, 'fore I... Sleep?"