Swiftcurrent Creek a year from now we'll all be gone

Ruenna's words are not what she expects, and she can't keep the surprise from her expression at first. Leaving? It doesn't make sense — until it does. Her heart lurches and drops into her stomach abruptly as the other woman explains, twisting painfully. Unaware of the drama Ruenna has faced with the members of the Creek, she doesn't realize the first reason given isn't simply an excuse to mask the latter. All she hears is after all this with Kavik...
— and she knows that she's driven away her only friend here. I understand, She says quietly, gaze dropping. Her eyes heat with tears predictably, infuriatingly, and her throat tightens with emotion. A million thoughts crush her at once, but she can't bring herself to voice any of them; part of her fears that if she speaks again, she will break entirely, and she does not want to taint Ruenna's new beginning with her tears and sorrow. Her burdens are her own, and she would not pretend the other woman has any obligation to her. She just can't help how alone she suddenly feels.