"Hm?"

"- don't want you to be scared -"

Snuggle.

"Might - take a while."

Nodnodnod.

Snuggle.

"I don't think I should leave the children alone for much more than a sunset. But - we have that long. Before we need to figure more things out."

"I know that having you means having the children. I'm not going to leave while you fetch them or something."

Nodnodnod. "Okay.

"Is it better for you, me being here? Even if it's not the thing you want, yet - "

"Of course."

"Okay. That's good, then."

"As long as I'm not hurting you I'd rather be with you. And I think I can avoid hurting you. Trying to be careful."

Nodnodnod.

"It's much better. Being with you. Even if it'll take a while for it to be as good as it was."

"I'm glad. I didn't realize- I thought you were unhappy, before the mindreader happened - I thought you wanted to be with the other humans."

"I wanted - 

"I thought that I could be with humans for a while and not lose any of what I had with you. It's lonely, a little, only ever talking to fairies. But I was wrong. If I'd been right I would have wanted to keep talking to them, every now and then, I think, but - I've talked to a lot of humans, and I don't think any of them were as good to me as you are - "

"You could write them letters. They wouldn't respond very often, I suppose. They could come see you in the fairy circle."

"Yeah. I think - I'd probably better, I'll need to talk to them about getting the other children back from their father. But - I want to stay a lot further away from them. For a long time. And especially make sure they're not able to hurt you."

Nod. Hug. "They're just - 

- well, the one with dark hair who looks like you is all right. If she came to the fairy circle I would ask her for advice."

"She's watching the children right now."

"I guess her me is also all right but I hate him."

"He didn't take the rules seriously for a long time. But I think - he'll probably be good to her."

"And would be good to you, if he had you instead. That's why I hate him. For - being better for you."

"...he doesn't love me."

"I guess. But it'd be - better if he did. Since he's human, can give you human things..."

"He's going to marry his Imrainai, I think. I think - neither of us would be happy if he wasn't devoted to just the one."

Nod. 

"I suppose that - if I had never met you, if Hagan had been in the woods and had helped me escape the Emperor, then of course I would have gone with him. I'd have gone with almost anyone I'd met in the forest that day, if they'd told me that they could help me get my children back. 

"But I think he probably wouldn't have held me."