She was free. 

The wind whipped her auburn hair into her face, slapping her marred cheek. Only it didn't necessarily feel marred anymore. She'd long stopped caring about the supposed physical flaw. It was a part of her, yes, but it wasn't all of her. Just like being witch-girl wasn't all of her, just like how her parents and Lilith weren't all of her. She could not be defined by a single thing, and she could not control where she had come from. Her mother may have been a murderer. Her village may have been built on the seven sins. But she was not, and she could believe that, at least, in a world where she could believe nothing else.

Hans stood at the fence beside her. "I want to come with you," he whispered, taking one of her hands in his, and Karina's chest ached. "Please."

She shook her head. 

"You may be the SunStriker, but there are some things I need to do on my own. Without this." Without the past, she thought, and waited with bated breath for his response.

"I'll wait for you."

She said nothing. There were too many words to fill the void, and she could not pick just one line, one monologue. 

"We always fall back together, don't we?" He laughed, and it was a tune that she could laugh along to as well. "I'm sorry for not telling you everything." He dug into the pouch that hung from his belt and pulled out a thin leather bound book. "I found this down in the basement. It's not magickal. I've been writing everything I can remember, everything I know--I've been writing it down. I want you to read it." He pressed it into her hands. It felt a little rougher than it initially looked, a little more cracked. "That's the second copy. I have two. One for you and one for me."

She blinked fast, trying to get the tears out of her eyes. "Hans...I almost tried to kill you."

"Lilith did. Not you. I--I trust you."

There were a million biting things she could have said to that, a million silences she could have offered. But the question his blue eyes implored was more important. Did she trust him, without any Lilith to guard her back, without anyone else there? Did she trust him without strings attached?

"I trust you, too." Because he had proved himself to be more than his past. Because he had stayed. Because he was the SunStriker who didn't want blood on his hands. Because his smile was warm and soft and made her feel as beautiful and complete as a sunrise. "And that's why I'll come back." She slipped his journal into her pack. He pressed his lips to her knuckles. When he let her hand go, it looked like his own dangled limply by his side.

She had to focus on herself right now. He had to focus on himself.

He would stay with Baba Yaga for the time being. She would not.

"I'm free," she whispered, and felt something like peace fill her soul. 

Her bootsteps carried her away, to an unknown journey and future.

Thump. Thump.

I will live by my light, and my light only.

Thump. Thump.

I will live by my Darkness, and my Darkness only.

Thump. Thump.

I am defined by my present and created by my past.

Thump. Thump.

I do not yet understand who I am, but I guide myself to discover.

Thump. Thump.

I am me. 

Thump. Thump.

I trust me.