That got a reaction - several conflicting ones. Abandonment, hopelessness - I hadn't mattered after all - scorn - throwing people in the loose end of a paradox with how many details? - and despair - No one found time to look for me? Are my sisters even okay? Did Saash make it home?

More positive emotions were slower to return - relief that lives were saved, of course, and that at least a few were offered a choice to return home at last, if that was what they wanted.

In the end, Nita's expression settled into a defeated look.

"/Why does it still feel/ dead...?" she sighed, curling away from Lea once more. He may guess what 'it' referred to, he may not.

But she made herself look back at him.

"We're all dismissed with no further responsibilities, huh?"