The two of them walked out together into the melee, then drifted apart among the throngs. They would always have a tie, because of their secret, but it didn’t need to be vocalized. They knew they would be there for each other, if they ever wanted to share a moment’s reflection, or memory, and they would give each other comfort. It was an unusual situation, thought Emilia, but then—what was usual? The whole point of life was you couldn’t ever be sure what would happen next. Sometimes what happened was good, sometimes not, but there were always surprises.
