[color=black]Safe.[/color]

She was...safe.

She tried the word out in her mind. She was safe. Right here, with Besca and Dahlia—people who cared about her, people who would never yell at her, or lock her in her room, or give her another drink of bitter dark angry water that she [i]needed[/i] to drink—she was safe.

And the voice—[color=black]Quinnlash[/color]—it—[color=black]she[/color]—had said that...that [i]they[/i] were trying to turn [b]them[/b] into [i]them,[/i] it was true. The dream was still crystalline in her head, she remembered perfectly. But she also remembered [color=black]Quinnlash[/color] saying that [color=black]she[/color]—that [b]they[/b] were stronger. And Doctor Follen had said she was strong, right? She needed to be strong to pass the test, and she'd passed. That meant [b]they[/b] were strong, didn't it? So [i]they[/i] weren't going to turn [b]them[/b] into [i]them[/i]. [b]They[/b] were...

Safe.

[i]Safe.[/i]

She looked still into Dahlia's glinting silvery eyes. She was fierce, and strong, and nice, and she was always there when Quinn needed her. She did her hair, she'd helped her through the test, she could get through to her when nobody else could. She would keep her safe. She'd never had anything like any of this. She was almost like...

Her eye flickered down to Besca then. She was kind. She was caring. Quinn knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Besca would never hurt her or leave her, she would always be on her side. She'd [i]promised.[/i] She would help her through the dark days, she would be there to share the bright ones. She left the doors open when Quinn asked, and she wanted to make what [i]Quinn[/i] wanted to eat instead of just putting a plate through the door. She was even helping Quinn right now, cleaning up the rips she'd clawed into herself. She would always keep her safe. All things that her parents would never, ever do. She was just like...

"[color=FFE63D]Um...[/color]"

Her voice was small. It was small and thin and tore at her throat, and she could feel tears creeping into it already. She was afraid. Terrified they'd say no, even though she knew they wouldn't. But...strength was about going on even when you were afraid, right? She leaned forward into Dahlia's arms, doing her best to speak loudly enough for both of them to hear.

"[color=FFE63D]I—I don't—[/color]"

It was a lot to take in. It was a lot to ask. But...she had to do it anyway.

"[color=FFE63D]I don't...have a family now. And I—I don't think—I don't think...I ever d—did. So can—[/color]"

She was holding the tears back now. It was hard. They wanted to come out. But she needed—she [i]wanted[/i] to ask.

She lifted her head laconically from Dahlia's shoulder, looked between the two of them. The tears were still beckoning her, thickening her already barely functional voice, but she wrestled them back. Slowly, slowly, she fought the last sentence out through that painful lump:

"[color=FFE63D]—Can you be my family instead?[/color]"