“What would I have to prove, then?” she asked, shifting her gaze slightly to look at my reflection in the mirror.

I took in a breath and with my words laid open the wound. “Maybe you feel guilty because you couldn’t save Kimberly Forest.”

She wheeled back around to face me and thrust the comb in my direction. “Don’t…” The word caught in her throat, and I thought I could hear her voice crack slightly. “Don’t… Just don’t go there.”

I nodded. “I thought so.”

“Damn your eyes, Rowan Linden Gant!” she admonished.

“Yeah, damn my eyes.”

I stepped forward and pulled her close, wrapping her in a tight hug. She melted into me as she rested her cheek against my shoulder. I knew she was harboring a desire to cry, but at the same time I was all too aware that she wouldn’t. We stood there for quite awhile, neither of us saying a thing but still communicating with clarity unmatched by simple words.

She finally pulled away then turned back to the mirror without comment and began working at her hair again. Her darkened mood was obvious from the vicious strokes she was making with the comb.

“Aye, I’m still going to do this, you know,” she eventually announced.

“Yeah,” I answered softly, placing my hand on her shoulder and giving it a light squeeze. “Yeah, I know you are.”

*****

There are certain inalienable truths.

We’re born. We grow old. We die. And, somewhere within that span we live our lives. If we’re lucky, we find someone to live that life with. If we’re very lucky, we find that particular someone who makes us whole.

That was one of my personal truths.

In Felicity, I had found just exactly that person who made me whole. I suppose that would explain why I was so adamant about protecting her from those horrors I had already experienced-and would surely experience many more times before reaching that final truth.