Sleepy Fox Hollow And to know me as hardly golden is to know me all wrong

She was surprised by his response, even if it was very Mahler-like. She was surprised and annoyed; she was angry with him for the way things were between them and for how soured she had become towards Diaspora. It wasn't all his fault, she knew that, but he held enough of the blame. She kind of wished he would have been angry about her declaration that she was leaving, then she could tell him a bunch of horrible things and leave here hating him and pretending she never wanted to see his face again. But his words were supportive and reminded her of how they used to be before she complicated everything; they confused her and made a bunch of unwanted feelings and memories rush to her mind. She didn't know how to respond without dropping her mask, so she said nothing. 

She hated apologies, always had; they were just fake sentiments meant to assuage the guilt of the one doing to apologizing. They were supposedly offered to make the one who had been wronged feel better, but she always felt apologies really only made the guilty party feel better. And at this point, his sorry was too little too late. She ignored it; it wasn't okay, and she didn't forgive him. 

Stag refuses to come with me, she said instead, her expression darkening under the immense pain the words caused her. All I ask is that you take care of him and let me visit him, she continued. She wasn't even sure Stag would want to see her after she left, but the wouldn't stop her from coming to see him. She needed him to know that she wasn't abandoning him; she never would.