Gaia

The drive back to Volcano Valley is quiet at first.

Luna Evangeline sits beside me in the backseat, the dress I wanted to give her carefully wrapped in tissue paper on her lap. She keeps glancing at me, her expression thoughtful.

Finally, she speaks.

"Gaia, I know you're hurting. I know what Lysander did—rejecting you, choosing duty over the bond—it was cruel."

I stare out the window, watching the trees blur past.

"But I also saw something today," ...