Another Way

Chapter 43: Passage

Neither Sue nor Jasper spoke up in the minutes that followed, both too transfixed on what Solstice was doing to dare interrupt her. They watched in silence as she levitated for a while longer before descending onto the soft grass. She kept staring at the Moon, first for reassurance, then for hope, and finally, for answers.

Not even all the emotions burning up in her head could keep her righteous wrath sustained forever, though. Her posture trembled, then broke as her legs wobbled underneath her, before eventually finding a tired, slightly hunched-over balance. Whatever she had witnessed and understood in the minutes that passed, it had come to an unceremonious end.

And now it was time to act on it. However terrifying the thought of that was.

Sue's eyes went wide at feeling the older Forest Guardian's attention so intensely upon her, even before she'd finished turning around. She felt a mass of anxiety build up in her chest for but a moment; a part of her wanted to run. Both impulses weakened at seeing the soft—and yes, motherly—smile on Solstice's face, though, and disappeared altogether at the words that followed. "^Sue. When I, when I mentioned that you'd earned the markings of my people yesterday, I... I wasn't lying, you know. You deserve them. So much more than Solanum, or Nightbane, or most of those scum. You've honored Her in your actions more than any of them could've dreamed of.^"

Because of having been replaced by shock, that is. "^Would you want them?^"

All thought ground to a standstill in Sue's head. And then, a moment later, it resumed in force, stirring up a whirlwind that left Sue at an utter loss for words. A part of her hoped the incident with her bringing up the markings in the first place would be forgotten altogether, but Solstice clearly hadn't. She remembered her off-colour joke; her disguised yearning, and was forcing her to confront it here and now.

But it wouldn't be this simple, of course. "W-wait, I—" Sue stammered, feeling panicked and honored at the same time. "H-how? Didn't you say they were a family thing? That they were supposed to be done by your parents or something? W-would it even be okay for me to have them since I'm," she glanced at Jasper, "not from your c-clan?" She wasn't sure why she was bringing up those rules, especially since the person who'd explained them to her didn't care about them. A part of her felt like she had to. To do whatever she could to ensure others wouldn't overstep their own boundaries, to keep tabs on things and don't let other people make mistakes they'd regret, to always keep one hand on the figurative steering wheel.

Solstice had the answers, though, with her own questions. Her tired body straightened out a bit as she approached the bench; her eyes radiated all the confidence she could muster. "^Okay for whom?^" she whispered, letting the words linger in the air. "^What's the point of those rules, those traditions, if all they do is degrade us? As you said, Sue, it's my world, not theirs. My culture, not theirs. My goddess, not theirs, and I'm done with letting them claim Her for themselves.^"

Still, some of Sue's questions had struck true, and both psychics could tell. Doubt crept back into Solstice's mind; her gaze jumped away from her pupil; her breath caught. And then she stopped, and clenched her hands once more. Sue had a point—there were parts of her culture that only degraded their participants, but there were also others that gave it meaning in the first place. The line separating the two was jagged, almost fractal, but the marking ritual being about the family was on the former side. That much Solstice, despite everything, was certain about. "^But, you do have a point, Sue. They are a 'family thing.'^"

Which left the obvious solution.

Sue leaned into her seat, mouth agape, as Solstice knelt before her and extended a hand for her to take. "^Would you... want to be my family, then?^"