After that discussion, everyone was so tired, most of them went home or just turned in there at the house.

Yet it was hard to sleep deeply after such a day.

Cinder found herself awake again after her body had had its basic need of sleep satisfied enough to not force her to keep slumbering. This was around 6 a.m. in the morning, and even in later fall, it was light at that time in Argus.

Many of the others hadn't wanted to walk home, so there were several people in the living area or spare rooms.

Royal hadn't gone home. She saw him in the living room.

Shaking her head to herself, she went out the back door to the small patio. The sun was coming over the yard walls.

Shine was out there already, to her surprise, with her books and notebook and coffee, of course.

"Oh, hello," she said. "Good morning... I didn't think anyone would join me out here."

"I can't seem to sleep anymore," Cinder said. "Aren't you more tired after all that cooking?"

"I'm too used to it now," Shine said. "I live in a house full of people. I'm adapted. They don't drain me so much now. But it's nice to have a little quiet out here."

"Then I'll leave you." Cinder figured Shine had it first.

"No need. One person isn't so bad, and I was out here for a bit already. Maybe I woke you up getting the coffee. Sorry about that. Anyway, Grace might wake up soon."

Cinder sat in one of the other lawn chairs, hugging the blanket she'd grabbed, since it was chilly out here. "How is that...? Being a parent now and a DJ?"

Shine was a little surprised Cinder would ask something like that, but she answered smoothly. "It's hard at times. But worth it. I wouldn't trade it for anything else. Mostly spending my time teaching and taking care of the students now, though. Not world traveling... Wally and I think it may be a while before we have a really intense mission again. A grace period, ha ha... Anyway we might have more kids."

"More?" Cinder was surprised. "With all you're doing already?"

"But it was easier having so much help, really. We all share the responsibilities...and I like having one; I want to double that blessing. Both of us love kids, you know."

"Maybe a little too much if you want to add that much work."

"No, Cinder, it's only natural," Shine shrugged. "Especially when you're with the right man. I would be more worried otherwise, but he's going to be a great dad, I can tell. And we have so many friends who would step up if we did need it, I'm not so afraid. You're lucky you have that much security... I've never had as much luck making friends in my own world, you know. I think the people there are too different from me. I never fit into their mold. But when I world travel, I find oddballs, and we understand each other. It's been nice to have that."

She sipped her coffee. "But you don't really want to talk about me."

"I didn't really want to talk about anything, just to think."

"I see... Well, if you do want to talk, I'm here." Shine turned a page. "But I'll let you think if you wish. I can do either by now. You'll find I'm not as dead set on always shoving my input in as I used to be. I'm learning not to exhaust myself. Haven't I grown a lot since that first mission with Wally and all of you?"

"You're still talking now."

"I was going to stop." Shine did stop.

But actually that was worse.

"You do seem different." Cinder volunteered a remark at last. "Somehow still the same though. But you're...a little quieter, a little less pushy. I would assume it's just having too many people to worry about to focus on one so much anymore."

"I've learned to make fewer words count more," Shine said. "But I think with age, that's just something we learn anyway. I'm just learning extra fast because I have to handle so many students. I'm still a young woman. It's been 5 years for you, it's been about 3 to 4 for me. I'm not even Winter's age yet. But I feel the job ages you inside in a way...and simultaneously, it keeps you young, always learning, always having new experiences. The duality of it has to be why so few people do it forever, but I find it reassuring in a way."

"This is the most you've told me about your side of it," Cinder said. 

"Usually you're not interested in me, but I see you've grown also." Shine turned another page, though she was not actually reading. "Are you still worried about Mala?"

"I suppose you know what we talked about before," Cinder said.

"If you mean on the ship, some of the others did mention it. They hope they convinced you not to worry about it. I guessed you'd have some feelings about it after I heard the whole story, but I don't know if I can add to what they said."

Cinder had still been turning that over in her mind. "I think I understood what they said. I think, funnily enough, Pyrrha is the one who made it click."

"Does that mean you finally understand her also?" Shine asked, sipping her coffee.

"Maybe. At least I finally feel like she's not pitying me," Cinder said. "It wouldn't surprise you, no doubt, to hear it."

"I knew you felt that way, though I never put a name to it like pity, just that you felt inferior to her."

"She did pity me."

"She couldn't help it. It's the kind of person she is. She thought you needed help... But you doing the same thing she did elevated you to her. She understands now that you're both the same, even when you're wildly different. You're never going to have the same personality, but you can make the same decisions. To her, that's enough. You're lucky--not everyone weighs people the way Pyrrha does, by what she thinks they're willing to do. That's what makes her special. Jaune knew it, but not everyone else does."

"Is that how you weigh people then?" Cinder said. 

"I suppose that's one way. I tend to judge people by different standards depending on who they are. If they claim to be like me, I use the one I would use on myself. To people who are so different from me, I have to go by what I think is in their hearts. Only God really knows that, but I try to guess as well as I can. At times, though, as you know, only God really does know, and I have to concede that to Him. I find an odd aspect of destiny in all that happened, though. So God really did know the whole time who you were and what you would do."

"Does that make it less of my choice?" Cinder said.

"No, it means that God plans for your choices and works around them, as with us all. I believe some choices He does influence, but I doubt He really forces them. I believe He plays us by what's in our hearts the same way that I sometimes do with people. If He knows a person's nature, He could suggest things to them in a way that sounds plausible but is for His purpose. I assume the devil does the same, but God always knows more than the devil about human nature. In that way, I see that Mala's nature, being her own choice, was something God could use to prompt her to spare you all long enough for the rescue to happen. You could have just made your sacrifice, but God judged that you deserved to live and she didn't. So He used her own pride to bring her down. Like Pharoah. And by the help of her sister also, so that she could finally have some strength. I see a lot of meaning in that. But I do still think it's your choice. As much as we can choose."

Cinder knew that this was all Shine would tell her. And probably all Shine knew. Perhaps it had taken a long time for the team to understand this, but Shine really did not know everything. When she said that, she meant it. But it was the best answer she had, and maybe it was enough to be satisfied with.

"Now that I've done this, the others seem to think I'm one of them," she said.

"I think you were before, but now you think so." Shine hit the nail on the head with her usual skill. "You proved it to yourself, not them."

"Them, a little," Cinder argued.

"Some of them, granted. But others already knew. Still, if it helps you gain some self respect, that's fine too."

"I don't know if it's that, but I do feel different. Like, for once I did something and I didn't think it had to benefit me, but I did it anyway. That must mean I had some real conviction behind it other than anger. I wasn't just running. Maybe I can finally stop running." She picked at the blanket.

"What else have you still been running from?" Shine asked, turning more towards her. "Anything in particular?"

"I have a feeling you think there is."

"A certain tall, handsome flyer does come to mind," Shine said. "Forgive me, but I didn't miss the looks you kept giving each other yesterday. And, as I heard from the others, he did go in there after you, however he tries to claim it was an accident."

"I was worried it wasn't," Cinder said. "He tried to tell me it wasn't his plan to get captured, but I thought it was probably bulls---."

"I think the truth likely is that he might not have intentionally made it his plan, but, in his heart, he was going to do it," Shine said. "And he knew it. Not that letting Emerald go wasn't also a good call--it did help her get more distance for a short time that probably helped all of you in the long run. But he might have been able to help her. I don't know that he had to sacrifice himself. But, of course, he wanted to help you."

"It might have helped me more if he didn't," Cinder said.

"You worried that Mala would use him against you," Shine said. 

"I worried about it because Watts implied it was already going to be done," Cinder said.

"You could have just let that happen if you didn't want her to have leverage. If they'd captured him first instead of you, you wouldn't have had to walk into the trap. They could have found Royal instead."

"I couldn't be sure they'd have kept him alive. With me, I had some reason to think that," Cinder said. "Anyway we didn't know what they did to prisoners other than what we saw in the woods, and that was enough."

She shuddered.

"I...didn't know for sure, but I did get the uneasy impression that Mala might have done that to male prisoners as well as female," Shine said. 

"She gave off that vibe," Cinder put it bluntly.

"Yikes." Shine shuddered also. "I'm glad it didn't happen."

"Still, they suffered, and I thought it was harder to watch than I would have expected," Cinder said. "I used to feel so little when I saw people hurt. I just used them to make sure I wasn't. But I started to feel guilt about Emerald being hurt even before this, and when they...beat them, and Mala stabbed Esmeralda in the eye, and..." She paused. "...well, tormented Royal in her way, I never felt so strongly shaken up watching anyone else suffer as I did then. It felt like it was happening to me, but also like it wasn't and I wished it was."

"Perhaps they felt the same about you," Shine said. "Love hurts like that. I've been angrier about Wally getting hurt than I've ever been over myself, as you know...and if someone hurt Grace, I'm not sure even I would remember my rule about taking their lives. Wally can defend himself, you know, but when someone is helpless...it's that much more maddening."

Her use of the word love had not escaped Cinder there.

"I suppose I've started to feel actual remorse," Cinder noted aloud. "I thought I never would."

"I always thought it would happen once you let some love into your life, bit by bit," Shine said. "I did not think you were truly a sociopath, not if you could cry in shame, as I've seen you do. But it takes a while for shame to become real remorse--it never will without love. We have to value someone enough to really understand when we hurt them."

"So you think that's it?" Cinder was amazed at her own voice because it was not angry, though she thought it would have been. "You think I've started to...feel that, for people."

"I think that's obvious," Shine said more gently. "But you're not comfortable with it yet."

That was definitely true.

Cinder hesitated about telling Shine the question that was on her mind...but who else could she be sure would be honest, fair, and understanding of it without blowing it out of proportion?

She just hoped Shine didn't get excited. She didn't think she couldn't handle that.

"About Royal," she said.

Shine tensed, but in anticipation.

Cinder wished she hadn't said it, but now she had to go on. "He...well...he told me he..."

She didn't know how to say it.

"Loves you?" Shine guessed.

Cinder nodded. Then, "How did you know it was that?"

"What else would it be?"

"Could have just been 'likes'."

"I didn't think you'd look like that about just the crush part," Shine said. "But why would you need him to tell you? He wouldn't have gone in there after you if he didn't love you. And you..." She paused, as if debating if she should say it.

Even Shine thought this was a delicate subject, Cinder realized ruefully. Why did everyone think she was so fragile?

Because she was, a different voice told her.

But not this fragile--she could at least talk about it... She thought this, as she'd barely been able to bring it up at all.

"You think I'm in love with him, don't you?" she said to Shine.

Saying it a bit more irritatedly made it easier.

But didn't fool Shine one bit.

"Do you think so?" she replied.

Cinder shrugged helplessly. "I don't know...I can tell you think I did all that because I am."

"So you wouldn't endanger him," Shine said. "Poor guy--but I suppose it would take you longer to figure it out anyway."

"Why? Because I'm dense?"

"No, because you're not comfortable with good feelings," Shine said. "They haven't always served you so well, have they? Affection, hope, they're hard because they don't always work out. Evil feelings really don't always work out either, but your perception is so skewed when you have them that anything will look like it confirms them. Hope is different. Even when it's confirmed we barely believe it."

This was true. Cinder knew that however many times Royal had told her yet again that he really didn't care about the past, she still barely believed him.

She didn't know if she ever would believe it entirely.

"Well," she spoke again, "I don't know if I feel that kind of way. "

"Has he asked you to tell him?" Shine asked.

"He wants to date," Cinder said. "To try it out. He's so sure about it. He says that not trying would be worse than trying. But I think it would be worse to try something, knowing it's never going to work out, and putting myself through that...or...someone else..."

"You plunge headlong into everything else, but this one thing makes you afraid," Shine said. "Because you know it's important."

Cinder didn't argue.

"I might be able to help you figure it out," Shine said. "But I can't make you act on it, and I shouldn't. But if you at least want to know if you do feel something for him, I think I can help."

Pause.

"Go ahead," Cinder said.

"I always seem to have this conversation with people who are emotionally challenged," Shine muttered to herself. Then aloud she said, "I suppose the easy part is the physical... I don't think you've ever had any difficulty being attracted to people, whether you act on it or not, so I'm sure you know about that."

Cinder remembered kissing Royal with a lot more vivacity than she wished she did. She was pretty sure she reddened. What was she? A high-schooler? How stupid.

"I suppose it's not exactly news that he's good looking," she allowed. "I think a lot of people would be attracted to him."

"So yes."

"I've found a lot of people attractive who I had no interest in being with," Cinder said.

"I know, but for starting things in a relationship, it's nice if the instant attraction is there, though I know people who had it grow with time, which is fine too," Shine said.

"Hmm, were you attracted to Wally at first?" Cinder said.

"Truthfully? I knew he was attractive, to many women, and I did like his eyes and goofy smile, but I didn't feel like I was really attracted to him in that way at first. But I know myself pretty well, and I have to trust someone to feel like that around them. It's part of my psyche. It's not for everyone. Some people, attraction happens first, others have to know someone first. Especially women, as I understand it, but there's some guys I know like that too."

[Despite popular belief, I think it's not that uncommon, especially in men with ASD or other neural divergences. People like that tend to need familiarity to feel attraction to anyone.]

"I suppose that applies here too," Cinder said uncomfortably. "The superficial is not all that matters."

"Have you two ever had any physical moments?" Shine asked.

"How can you ask me that?" Cinder reddened again.

"Sorry, I only meant lightly. I wouldn't think the really passionate stuff." Shine held up her hands. "Just holding hands or kissing or something like that."

"I... Why would I answer that?"

"That would be a yes... I take it it wasn't so bad?" Shine said.

Cinder didn't make eye contact. "I can't speak for it. I have no experience in that area. I could have been terrible at it."

"Don't worry, I'm sure attraction makes up for that," Shine said. "My first kiss wasn't perfect, if by perfect you mean I knew exactly what to do, but it was perfect in that it was mine. And I have no regrets now. That's all I really expected anyway. I'm quite good at it now."

"Shine!" Cinder didn't want to hear that.

"I'm just saying it takes practice, but we have a kid now and a lot of stuff is a lot easier after you've been together for years." Shine was doing this on purpose.

Cinder covered her ears.

"Okay, I'll stop," Shine said. "I'm surprised you're so shy about it. You didn't seem like the type."

"Well, I wasn't that type when it didn't concern me, but I really don't want to apply your logic to myself," Cinder shot back.

"I see. I suppose that makes sense," Shine nodded. "I understand that... Okay, sorry, sorry. I'm just not that sensitive about it myself, but I'll back off. We'll just suffice it to say that that part is not an issue. But you're right, that's not the same as love...though it can be a good indication for it for some people and if you are. It can't hurt, since clearly you need to trust someone to feel comfortable enough indulging."

"Don't use that word."

"I just mean if you really thought he was using you, you wouldn't have done it, right?"

"Stop."

"Come on, this is important."

"I didn't think he was using me," Cinder said, just to shut her up. "But I don't think it answers my dilemma."

"Well, on top of that, doing something very self sacrificial for the guy is a pretty good indication of how you feel," Shine said.

"Someone might do that for a friend."

"Someone might," Shine agreed. "So let's think of it in degrees, though it sounds wrong. You said it bothered you to watch everyone get hurt. Did it bother you more with Royal than the others?"

Cinder envisioned it again, unwillingly... The memory still made her cringe.

"I feel bad about all of them...but..." The intensity did seem worse with him. "It might have been worse with him. Still, that could just have been guilt. Everyone else might have done what they did no matter who was caught, but I don't think he'd have been so reckless."

"Would you say you're bothered by his recklessness in your regard? He seems like he's usually a careful guy the rest of the time."

"Yes, and I don't like him acting stupid just because of me," Cinder insisted. "I didn't think I was worth it."

"I guess he disagrees--so do I for the record, but that's because I think you don't regard your life nearly enough."

"He might think that also."

"Okay, I think I see the problem," Shine said. "It's true, Cinder, that, taken separately, all these things in of themselves don't mean romantic love. But considering that they all have been happening together, I think it's pretty clear. You have to look at it as a holistic experience. A dear friend might give up their life for someone, but they wouldn't make out with them before or after. That would be weird in a friendship. And someone with an infatuation might make out, but true danger always shows the superficialness of that kind of feeling, and if danger has not shown it to be false, then the only conclusion I could draw from the data is that it is love."

She sounded like a scientist on a cheesy TV show, probably on purpose.

Cinder sank back in her chair. "I knew you would say that."

"And you knew I was right," Shine replied. "So you know already. Why ask me then? Did you need me to confirm it so you would act on it?"

"It wouldn't be because you told me now to act on it," Cinder said. "My plan was after this, if we got this far, was to go back to Eurus and disappear. I'm sick of people hunting me...but Royal says he's not going to let me go unless I answer one way or the other."

"But he'll accept your answer if it is no, right?" Shine said.

"Yes...he seemed ready to before," Cinder said. "And I should have crushed him then, but, like an idiot, I blurted out something that made him think I did have feelings for him, and it was ruined."

"Deep down, you didn't want him to give up," Shine said. "What would you do without him around?"

"I..." Cinder had not really asked herself that before.

What...would that be like?

But she pushed aside the thought. "Shine, you can't really see me as ever being domestic material. I mean, me? A wife? A mother? Anything like that..."

"I see it more than I used to... Maybe not a conventional one, but who cares about that?" Shine hugged her knees. "If you want it, why not? Surely, after all that, you can't doubt that you'd stay on the straight and narrow. If the tribe couldn't turn you, nothing could. Why not just accept it? Afraid to be happy?"

"I've never been happy," Cinder said.

"But do you feel close to it around him?"

"He annoys me usually," Cinder replied.

"Because he makes you happier, and you don't know what to do with that."

Cinder shook her head. "Does that really sound like a good foundation for any kind of relationship...? One person who can't deal with being happy, and someone who's okay with that?"

"Well...speaking from experience, it happens a lot," Shine said. "I don't think any two people are ever equally ready for something...and the more ready you think you are, the less you probably actually are. You have the idea that it would be too easy if you think you're ready. So you think it will be too hard--maybe you're more ready than you think. Take some time to think about it, but don't leave him hanging for very long. It would be unkind."

"That's it...? No other advice?"

"If you decide to get together, I have plenty," Shine said. "But I won't waste it on you if you're not going to do it."

"Does this mean you think I am ready?"

"No," Shine said. "I don't know if you are. Because I'm not in your head. I see only some of it. But it does seem to me that all this lined up at the right time for you, and that's usually a sign of some sort. The Lord knows when we're ready. Don't say no out of fear, that's what I tell everyone. If wisdom cautions waiting, fine, but I personally see no point to it myself. You seem more afraid than you have any real reason."

Cinder hugged her sides. "Even if I was to agree, I'd be afraid that...eventually...the bloom would be off the rose. I'd disappoint him, or anyone else, by not being able to act like other people. I'd get angry, say cruel things. I can barely say anything nice now..."

"It seems to me, Cinder, that Royal understands this about you and that you struggle with it for reasons. He must know it would be a struggle at first. But it has not been easy for me always to show love either. I had a lot of baggage, more than I tell you about. Wally has been very patient with me. And there are things that he has too, that I find hard at times, hard more because they bother him, I think, than me. But we have our moments. So let me break it to you--Royal is going to have hang ups too, ones that won't make sense to you, even. But, that doesn't mean it's a bad thing for you to be together. Love is not about demanding perfection, it's about loving someone until they are perfect for you, and you them. Love is beautiful, because it covers our ugly sides...and it makes our beautiful sides more beautiful."

She tugged her hair. "I do know one thing, though. Whether it's Roy or not...you should not shut yourself off to love. You need it. I know you well enough to know you won't try unless you have a reason. And if anger is not enough for you anymore, you need something else. Love is a strong enough passion to replace hatred and anger...but there are not many other passions that will. None, in fact, as far as I know. If you do not want to shut down, you must find someone to love and let love you. And if someone is already there for you...well, I would not scoff at it , but that is me, and I'm one to talk anyway." She laughed at herself. "Oh, how little we understand of what is really good for us..."

Cinder was tired of this conversation...not that Shine was annoying her, but that she was getting tired of the effort of trying to keep up with these new thoughts.

"I think that's enough," she said. "I'll have to think about what you said. I'm not sure yet."

"Okay," Shine agreed. "I hope it did help a little. I'll leave you to it. I have to check Grace anway."

She got up and took her stuff with her.

* * *

Shine did check Grace, and not long after she did, she noticed some of the others were going home, not wanting to put Pyrrha through any more work than necessary.

Royal was leaving also.

"Did Cinder go home already?" he asked Shine.

"No," Shine said.

Royal paused. "Oh, I should say goodbye to her then."

Shine held up her hand. "Royal, if I may give you some advice?"

"Of course, Miss Li--uh, I mean, Shine," Royal said. "I'd be foolish not to listen to your advice."

"I'm not infallible, but I think in this case I'm right. If I were you, I would leave Cinder alone for a few days."

"What? Why?"

"She needs some time to think," Shine said. "You had better not confuse her right now if you want her to be sure she's come to her own decision."

Royal looked narrowly down at Shine, since he was taller than her.

"I...see... I guess she's told you some stuff."

"Enough." Shine was going to preserve his dignity in case he didn't want her to know all of it. "I understand that you've told her how you feel."

Royal nodded. "In fact, it's worse than it was the last time we spoke."

"I can imagine it would be, after all that." Shine smiled. "But especially after an experience like that, you'd better let her simmer. I've known Cinder a while, and she does nutty things when she's pushed too hard. Even if she's less nutty, she is still impulsive, and she would not want to make a snap decision this time."

"If you think I should, then I think you're probably right," Royal said. "But it won't be easy. Now that all that is over, she promised to answer me."

"And she will. When she's ready. Or at least more ready," Shine shrugged. "You guys are all going to the festival in Vacuo, right?"

"There was talk of it."

"Wally and I are going to stay longer for it too. After all, we were there too for the first one, and it feels right," Shine said. "I suggest you wait till then. It's a couple days off still before it really starts. After that, she'll be deciding where she's going to go anyway, so she'll have to answer you."

"Can you at least give me a hint which way she's leaning? I'd rather be prepared."

"I sympathize with that, Royal, but it wouldn't be very fair," Shine said. "And I'm not sure I know. She's been easy for me to predict when it comes to anger, but her positive feelings run a lot deeper than anger, and they're so new to me that I'm not sure how she stands on them. You might know more than I do, actually. I hope you're confident."

"I was more confident before you said that." Royal frowned. 

"Just wait a few days," Shine repeated. "Trust me."

"Okay...I will, but I'm not used to taking your advice yet, so don't be offended if I say I don't feel very reassured."

"I'm not offended." Shine waved him off as she walked away. "See you in Vacuo."

"Sure," Royal said, leaving.

[But we all know Shine is sly enough to be aware that this advice is going to make Cinder act faster. Always one step ahead, right?]

* * *

Cinder was not left to herself for the rest of the day, despite Royal disappearing without a word to her, to her chagrin.

But Esmeralda (who, for someone who'd been through an ordeal the day before, sure seemed to have a lot of energy) asked if she could look around outside.

"You mean explore the city?" Cinder said. Not enthusiastically.

"Could I?" Esmeralda said.

"You're welcome to stay here." Pyrrha came in, holding Lux. "Until you find your feet."

"I think Mr. Pine already found them." Esmeralda pointed to her feet.

"It's an expression." Pyrrha smiled. "But if you want to see Argus, I'm sure someone would show you around. I do have some chores to catch up on, but...I can imagine you're curious."

"That's...uh, nice, Mrs. Arc," Esmeralda said, "but I thought maybe Cinder could show me."

"Me?" Cinder said.

"Oh...is that bad?" Esmeralda backtracked really fast. "Sorry, I just thought..." she stammered.

Pyrrha gave Cinder a look.

The funny thing was, it wasn't a pleading look, it was more of a challenge, like "well, what are you going to do?"

Bristling at the insinuation that she would back down, Cinder stuck out her chin. "Do you think I'm not capable of it just because I haven't lived here for very long?"

"When did I say that?" Pyrrha said innocently. "Though now that you mention it, do you even know Argus that well?"

"I know it well enough," Cinder retorted. "Wouldn't want to take you away from your housework."

"Good, because I do have plenty," Pyrrha shot back, as if that was a retort. "And why are you always at my house? You have your own."

"And I'll go back to it," Cinder said. "I'm not the one who invited everyone to stay the night."

"True." Pyrrha went back to being her gentle self.

"Did I make you angry?" Esmeralda was confused.

"No." Cinder left the room to get her stuff, what little of it she'd had with her.

"Don't worry about this," Pyrrha told Esmeralda. "It's just her way of saying she'll do it. And I've finally learned how to speak her language. You have to read between the lines with Cinder."

"Hmm," Esmeralda wasn't sure what that meant.

"If you did want other company..." Pyrrha followed Cinder, "Ben, Polly, and Jodie would be happy to join you. They have the weekend off for the holiday. You are coming to Vacuo with all the rest of us, right?"

"Why should I?" Cinder had her bag.

"It's important PR," Pyrrha said. "There's a good chance your probation will be lifted, but you have to show up. Don't you want that?"

"I suppose." Cinder was sick of it, but it no longer seemed that important. After all, she'd done pretty much what she wanted for months...but she felt that the rules of Argus wouldn't apply everywhere else. If she ever wanted to leave it, she needed her legal rights to fight back.

"But can the kids go?" Pyrrha said.

"You want me to take your kids out?" Cinder said.

"More of the other way around. I just think it would ease some of the burden of conversation. They know Argus very well." Pyrrha shrugged. "And I could use some time with just the young ones to worry about."

"Mom, can we go to the mall?" Polly came sliding into the room right then.

"Serendipitous," Pyrrha said.