Blackfeather Woods and then one day you find ten years have got behind you

Gods, she knew he was speaking truth and logic, but she looked away then, suddenly angry. Angry that he was defending Potema, the woman who'd wanted her dead. All three of them, dead. Perhaps she could forgive her mother for hating her, but she could never absolve her sins of despising Ramsay and Euron. Her brothers, so perfect. . . She loved them more than anything, and always would.

"We needed her," Maegi choked out, completely contradicting what she had said before. "I--I needed her. The older I get, the more I realize how much I wanted her to love me. . .and I hate myself for it." Tears tracked down her cheeks, the emotions stifled by the poppies for so long finally coming to the surface. She sniffled and buried her face in his neck, shoulders shaking in quiet sobs.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled a few minutes later, voice muffled in Mou's pelt. He smelled nice, both of the woods and his own unique scent (she swore she could still find a hint of sea salt, though it was probably her imagination running wild). "It's been so weird coming back. Nothing is the same. So many are gone. My brothers. . ."

Her head rolled back, and she stared at him with reddened, hazy eyes, gaze wandering lazily over the lines of his face. "I'm glad you're here," Maegi slurred, smiling sadly.