Blacktail Deer Plateau One

"I am fine, I guess," Osprey shrugged and then looked up at Dante with a sad smile. "You would think that after a while it gets better. That you can go on as it never happened, but... they never really leave you. The dead, I mean..." Then she went silent and her expression became thoughtful, as if she had realized that the subject was a bit too personal and might not interest the other party that much. 

The fact that Dante was happy for her return was something that warmed her heart. For a moment she pondered, whether she should tell him that during her travels she had thought about him the most and one of the many reasons, why it was hard for her to stand here and have an easy conversation with him was the fact that she felt bad for disappointing him. Even if leaving had not been a voluntary action. 

There was an opportunity to tell the simple words of "I missed you very much" and they would probably either complicate things more or - quite the contrary - make everything easier. And she felt she should say it and was about to do it, but the moment passed, she sighed and looked away. "Shall we walk?" she offered instead. "A lot must have happened, while I was away."