Lunise's smile returned when Meesei grinned. She gazed into Meesei's eyes the entire time, and a moment after the end of it, she blinked and found tears forming at the corners of her eyes.

"You know I will support whichever decision you make," Lunise whispered. She breathed in slowly enough not to make it obvious how close she was to sobbing. "But, speaking entirely selfishly, I was hoping you would say that."

Lunise stood up on her toes to put a kiss the tip of Meesei's nose and then stepped in to hug her tightly. She breathed in sharply against Meesei's chest, tears flowing freely. She stayed where she was for a while, unwilling to let Meesei go.

Perhaps a minute passed before Lunise's muffled voice sounded again. She still sounded teary, though had a joking tone. "I pray mother is not too disappointed. If she really has been studying lycanthropy as those monks said, I think she had a few of her own little reasons to have you on the island."