“I’ve asked too much of you,” Mira said with a hint of regret in her quiet voice. “I’ve given you too much special treatment. At first it was because you were the only competent one on the roster. Then it was because I trusted you. You’re disingenuously mature, Sulim. I’ve lost perspective on how young you actually are.”

“I… I see.”

Mira said those things but did not move away. Nor did she try to touch Sulim, who was only a fingertip away.

It was torture, to be neither pushed aside nor drawn closer. The most imperfect purgatory.

Sulim forced the breath out of her lungs and swallowed the saliva pulled away from her dried-out lips. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“For what? I’m the one who didn’t stop things before they got out of hand.”

Was that a tear in the corner of Sulim’s eye? Shit. Here I go. Embarrassing myself. Was it possible to feel worse than she did a moment before? “Guess I wanted to believe, you know?” What an awful life lesson to learn right now.

            Mira took Sulim’s hand. It was a touch worth its weight in gold… only a few minutes ago. Now? The gold melted into lead. Alchemists across the universe treated Sulim with more disdain than this single priestess before her.

“It’s not your fault.” Mira squeezed her hand.

She attempted to draw her hand away from Sulim’s, yet one of them refused to release the hold they had on each other. Sulim didn’t want to believe it was her. It had to be Mira, who offered an apologetic veneer as the rest of her came closer to Sulim’s face.

Why would Sulim deny this moment?

Her heart swelled in delight and disbelief as Mira’s lips brushed against hers. Sulim did not jump in as the rest of her body begged her to. She didn’t want to be that girl who took things too far. If this was Mira’s battle to fight, then Sulim wouldn’t give her reasons to continue the war within her. She wanted Mira to lay down her weapons and embrace the peace they could offer one another.

Right here, with nothing but their breaths becoming one.