Sun Mote Copse the fortune lady came along and walked beside,

She was too far gone to feel any embarrassment over weeping in front of him or Wraen or anybody else who likely overheard her loud caterwauling. It was hard enough to deal with Meerkat's departure on her own, yet to be pressed and pushed like this, she was approaching her breaking point. And, of course, all she wanted to do was seek out her little therapist for a hug and a smile. Towhee was pretty sure she felt every one of her organs twist as the cries wrenched from deep inside her.

Somehow, through the tears and wailing, she caught Arcturus's words. They could've set her to crying even harder (if that was even possible) but, instead, she sucked in a very wet-sounding breath, hiccuped and fell silent for a beat. She felt herself flush from head to foot but the emotion was so intense, Towhee herself couldn't even name it. She just knew she felt like she was going to literally fly apart at any moment.

-"Don—don't you thi—think I want to do that with—with every fiber of my being? But she wanted to go."- Her voice steadied a little even as it dropped to a harsh whisper. -"What choice did I have? I couldn't hold her back."- Well, she could've, but at what cost? -"She's going to do amazing things with her life. They all are..."- She thought of Figment and Fennec, Bronco too. She hitched another sob, swollen eyes slowly shutting. Towhee wished she could just be happy for and proud of them (and she was, underneath the pain).