Thunder Dome ambergris

She did not melt at his touch, not the way she'd done in his dreams. Disappointment tightened its grip around Sundance's tender heart, constricting, and he withdrew to seek Teya's gaze with his own. He saw her sorrow glisten in her eyes, the same clearwater depths that shone with life in his memory.

Teya appeared as a shell of who she'd been, but she was not damaged. She could be whole again. She could survive whatever trauma she'd faced, as he had.

He could love her in ways that would make her guard feel unnecessary.

I see you, he told her softly, I see how you hurt - let it be mine to endure.