Farewell Friend, May Your Journey Be Short and Eventful

Shay had asked Mal down to some cafe place where she got them both a coffee. They weren't going to talk down there. Shay had the urge to stretch her legs. By the time she'd gotten her coffee, she realized she shouldn't even be having it and poured her cup out, keeping it just for looks.

"Hey Mal," Shay said when she saw the other woman. Shay smiled, gave Mal her coffee and motioned her outside into the major park of the city.

They'd been walking a good few minutes before Shay said anything. "I heard you're heading off to Mes. Wanted to talk to you before you went flying off to save a different world."

Shay could tell Mal was... hurt? It was weird to see Malara Tor of all people looking vulnerable. But Shay had expected it. That was why they hadn't stayed in the cafe. The outskirts of a park away from everyone else was better.

Shay smiled reassuringly at Malara. "Marriage is fine. About the same as dating really, just with more mundane." But they weren't here to talk about Shay, so she rose her empty cup some to Malara to indicate her.

"Actually I called you out here because I wanted to tell you how proud I am of you. It might not mean much coming from someone so young, but seeing everything you're doing... it's very inspirational.

"Dalia will be fine. She's strong, and I'll be here for her."

Shay paused, then lifted her cup to her lips by habit as she thought. "I know everything is hard right now, and it's bound to get harder."

They walked until they were in the forest, away from the hubbub of civilization. Shay sat on the ground near a small plot of soil where the infant stages of a tree were growing.

"I don't want you... breaking. I'm worried about you."

Shay leveled Mal with a mothering look right then. "That's not entirely true, Mal. And as far as I know, all that war didn't involve losing people you were close to. There are more ways to break than lying in bed crying.

"It was already har, in the beginning, to get you onto the path you're at now. It's even harder to stay on it. Empathy sucks that way."

She sighed a little, trying to keep herself from talking too much. Shay laughed humorlessly. "Cat. Pandora. And now Jafar missing? That shit is hard. It's hard to keep opening up when people hurt you again and again.

"I'll be honest with you, this is one of the few times I've ever spoken with anyone about an experience I personally understand."

She looked at the sapling. "Don't close off. From mortals. Immortals. People in general. Even when it feels like you'll shatter into a billion little pieces. I'd hate for someone as strong as you to forget that this pain... just means you got to feel so much happiness that its absence hurts. But it's worth feeling it again. What's life worth without those intensities?"

Shay was quiet and solemn when Mal laughed at her. It spoke to her pain that Mal gave up the charade so quickly. Usually, Shay had to fight more.

She thought about it, got up and went to stand beside Malara. "I know, Mal. I know. But it does go away, given time. Like a scar, it's there but the pain stops and then you just have the good memories.

"You're right that you don't have the time for people who are going to leave you, that's why you search for the people who won't. Look for the ones who will fight to be by your side, and you'll find them. Hell, they might have been there the whole time."

Shay nudged Mal with her shoulder, like a hug or a nuzzle. "It'll take awhile, but they are out there, and closing doors won't help you find them."

She went silent, stared at the sapling. "And, sometimes, even then, things don't work out, but they were still worth it." Shay motioned to the sapling. That's my — well, they weren't a baby yet but it felt close enough. It hurts like Hell, but I'm not going to stop. It's not going to change how happy I am when it happens. It's not going to break me if it happens again.

"That's just life. You couldn't have the sweet without the bad. What Pandora did to you wad fucking deplorable, but you got Dalia out of it."

"Comes with practice," Shay answered quick. Then she settled back into silence to listen as Mal let out her problems. It was nice when Shay didn't have to fight and piss people off to get them to open up. Maybe she was getting the hang of this cosmic job, or whatever.

"You know, back when I was in the orphanage, I tried a lot to get close to people and it always backfired. It was kind of just random chance I met Theo and things got a little better.

"I guess what I'm saying is, the right people fall into your life. Maybe you have them here now and you just haven't realized it yet. Or maybe the people you end up closest to aren't the people you're dating. But you're not hopeless, y'know?"