:Yes, please: 

She identifies the box it's in and Fetches it out and hands it over.

Leareth reads it. Halfway through he starts crying again, and has to stop and dab at his eyes so he can see the paper again. Then he reads it a second time, very focused. 

"Thank you," he says finally. "That is very helpful, I feel much more oriented." 

"You're welcome."

Leareth reaches out and squeezes her hand. "...How are you feeling? I still feel - very sad - I think something is different with the lifebond but it does not feel like everything is all right, yet." 

"Yeah, me too. You told me once that reincarnation in general preserves lifebond compatibility but you didn't mention how you knew that."

"It was mostly a guess, from some Tayledras and Shin'a'in anecdotes; they have a small population size and strong oral history traditions, so more cases of recognized reincarnation, and the Star-Eyed seems fond of lifebonds. It also makes sense given the mechanism. The soul is the part that the gods can work with directly, the rest of what a person is, is - fleshed out, I suppose, as they are born and grow up in a particular brain and body, there can be nudges there but it would get messy. Given that I have reason to believe lifebonds are a tool the gods use to meddle, I can infer that the soul, which transfers across lifetimes, is the relevant part." Frown. "I suppose the gods might sometimes make modifications before reincarnating a given soul, but I know They did not do so for me, since I bypass that system entirely." 

"Okay. So it's probably just that you're too young or something."

"Normally lifebond compatibility is preserved but people do not come back with broken lifebonds," Leareth says thoughtfully. "I am a little confused that it seemed to come across for me, though it does seem as though it would be much odder if the person were returning as an infant and without memories. I have significantly more continuity of self than would usually be the case, maybe that is why."

He twists around to lock eyes with her. "And - you would have accepted a broken lifebond for the rest of your life? If I had come back without one, and - not wished to be mind-control-bonded to you again? That is–" he blinks hard, "it is - very, I am not even sure of the word, 'kind' is not it, but - very something..." 

"I really hate mind control."

"I know." He drags a sleeve over his face. "You are not going to like this idea, I think, but - we could have a Mindhealer look and see if they think the bond is going to re-form soon or if we are stuck like this for years. I would prefer to at least know, so I can mentally prepare myself for it." 

"It's a good idea. I can psych myself up for it. Do you want to ask Melody here or wait till we can see Nayoki?"

"I am not sure what logistics are in the way for seeing Nayoki. Also I only sort of remember her anyway." Leareth actually doesn't remember the name at all, he vaguely remembers a mage-Mindhealer leading a research team, and can guess from context that Belrun is referring to her. "Either seems fine but - I do not feel very up for navigating how to get back to the north, if it requires actions from me, it is distressingly hard to make plans right now." 

"Okay. We can ask Melody and probably since your people and the Valdemarans are already talking they have a way to arrange to transport us."

"All right, that makes sense–" And he barely finishes the sentence before, for some inexplicable reason, he's crying again. :I am sorry, I do not understand why I am like this right now - you seem to be coping with it much better...: 

She scoops him into a hug. "I have more practice I guess? And I'm not dealing with a new body at the same time, and also only half of my soul-gluing modifications are busted right now as opposed to a hundred percent of them, and also I'm not frostbitten and whatever else."

"Mmm." Leareth tucks his head under her chin and gives himself exactly sixty seconds, counted out, of crying without trying to stop it, and then wrestles his emotions back under control. 

"Oh. I was going to ask you - normally I pick a new name, when I start in a new body, it helps keep track with records and such. I had been saving 'Leareth', though, it was - significant, it was the name I chose for when I began actually executing the first steps of my plan. But - I suppose we now have greater hopes that it will be a different plan we carry out... I am not sure. I would also understand if you found it too confusing for me to suddenly be named something else." 

"It would be kind of confusing but if you really want a new name I'm not going to stop you."

"I do not actually have one lined up or anything, so it might be simplest to stay with 'Leareth' and find a different way to demarcate the records." 

"'Leareth Two'."

Leareth laughs. "What is that convention they have for kings sometimes, when royal families follow that very confusing policy of naming their firstborn sons after their father... 'Leareth the second', 'Leareth, second of his name'..." He has to stop because he's giggling too hard. 

"The exact conventions differ! I think I've heard both in reference to different dynasties."

"Well, for day to day purposes I can just be Leareth. It will probably be less confusing on net, sticking to the same name; usually I have ended up pursuing something different in each life, when I was in the exploratory phase, or at least not making it known that I was immortal and actually the same person as previously, but this time I am trying to pick up exactly where I left off, so." He finds her hand again, squeezes it. "I know this situation is not ideal for either of us, in many ways, but - I am glad I had you to come back to. I have never had that before." 

"Is it usually worse, the transition - this seems pretty bad!"

"I mean, usually I am not dealing with a broken lifebond! That is definitely part of what is making this bad. But - the disorientation is normal, I think. And usually I am coming back in a rather vulnerable position, as a child or teenager with a Gift not yet at full strength, alone in a strange place. I have to re-derive the schema I used to select my records cache locations, since I cannot rely on having retained enough memories to find them otherwise. So I generally would spend weeks or months wandering around in the wilderness looking, with only sketchy memories of anything. I do not like it very much."