Ana followed Rachel into the kitchen and sat down at the table.<span style="color: #ff9999">“I wasn’t sending you away. I meant we could discuss what we needed.”</span><br/><br/>Ras sighed softly and squeezed Relene again. “Life is absolutely worth living. Obviously my childhood wasn’t as traumatic as yours has been, but I would endure it all a million times over just to wake up and see my children’s smiling faces every morning. It’s hard, it… life can really, really fucking suck. But it’s always worth it.” He shook his head and turned to look at Relene face to face. “I did what was best for your mother. Sahra had severe emotional and psychological trauma from her childhood. She couldn’t be repaired or saved, she would be an absent mother, a disinterested lover, and she would have no control over any of it. Sahra’s problems couldn’t be fixed by an Eternal just snapping their fingers. Her psyche was so deeply scarred that there was no saving her. Even your mother just accepted that she would let Sahra mindlessly bang on pipes in the ship. What kind of life is that for Sahra, the child, or Elune who would have to watch her mate waste away into nothingness because her obsessive behavior was killing her? Muse was everything Elune needed, independent yet devoted, willing to explore and support Elune without hesitation or question.” He took a deep breath and took Relene’s hands in his own. “When you were killed all those years ago. Your mother was holding me in her realm so that I could heal from some fight or another. She was keeping me in her realm and still blamed me for your death, blamed me for not being there to protect you. I don’t think Elune truly loved any of us. Why else would she have been building her ship and planning to leave for six months? Why would she leave you without saying goodbye?”<div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>