Wapun Meadow let these shadows prove the sunshine

Arlette, the girl corrected - and the coincidence would have unnerved him, if she had not offered him the relation that followed. Ah - and just as quick as they had scattered, the pieces clicked neatly back into place, and the momentary confusion quickly rearranged to make sense again. Malachi shifted his weight to face the girl more fully and appraised her with the upward tip of his head.

”Your grandmother,” he repeated, his voice a low and contemplative murmur. This was not Scarlett, nor her daughter, but a descendant of the winter queen. He didn’t question whether their Scarlett was the same. This much was obvious to him. 

”Yes,” he said, and as he watched the mannerisms of this radiant girl, he couldn’t help but see the reflection of his old friend in her face. Scarlett’s children had survived, and if her granddaughter was any indication to the family she had raised, he hoped that meant that there were many here who were abundant in the gentleness and compassion he’d been too late to see in Scarlett. He wondered - how did she fare? Was she still near? He smiled softly, though his gentle words flowed with an edge of sadness. “I know her.”