Elva nodded solemnly. "I can understand that," she affirmed. "Something that devastating will always change you. I've had many--encounters-- myself, prior to that. And I haven't had any man since. I do hope, though, that you get to be able to have that again, now that you have a new home." She beamed at him, before looking ahead, down the beach. 


---

Kire saw how he looked away, heard the tone in his voice as he insisted he was okay. "Being alive and being alright aren't always the same thing," she said softly. When he went on to say what he had been thinking of during those moments, her lips parted. That he would accept death so she would live, she didn't know what to say to that, as waves of emotion took over. Guilt, for the most part. And a feeling she couldn't explain. But that he cared this much made her heart swell with that strange warmth. 

Unsure if he would welcome the gesture, she raised her hand to rest it on his shoulder. "I'm sorry you had to go through that," she murmured. She had apologized before, that night in the hot springs, but he had been so out of it before. "I..." She faltered, her words failing her. Instead, she leaned forward and hugged him, though not too tightly.