Barely a moment has passed by after the Starstorm has disappeared that there is yet another flash of light, and a woman appears in their midst alongside Kaya.

There's no indicator – no crown and no glowing aura – and yet, Yara knows immediately.

She feels her mouth drop open, and immediately bows as deep as possible. "Your majesty."

"What –" Tam begins, and she yanks him down as well, causing him to let out a noise of startled annoyance. For all of his analytical and strategic skills, he is surprisingly slow on the uptake this time around, she muses, then stores it away in her folder of "list of things to use to poke fun at Tam later".

"Rise," Liliana says. "There isn't need for you to bow, especially since most of you here are not my own people. I am here for one thing, and one thing only – to break the pact."

Hesitantly, Yara raises her head, then makes eye contact with Allioni in surprise.

We did it.

We actually succeeded.

"But before that," Liliana says, "you should all understand that breaking the pact will mean that there will henceforth be no more Stars sent to earth, and that all past wishes that are still in direct effect now will be erased, alongside the closing of all passages between this world and the world of the Stars. If you wish to proceed, I will need everyone who is in this room to give your consent. Do you agree?"

"Yeah," Allioni says.

"Of course we do! It's what we came here for, after all!" Chia exclaims in determination.

Tam nods, Yara does too.

Mrs. Rivyet hesitates, glances towards Raine, who dips her head, and sighs. "It's what my daughter wants, so alright – I give my consent as well."

"Very well," Liliana says. "With both the agreement of several humans and Stars, we have fulfilled all conditions to break the Pact of Adalina. However, all of the passageways closing will also cause a ripple effect that will remove most, if not all, traces of Stars from humanity. You will be the only ones from now on privy to this knowledge. Do you, even so, still agree?"

Another round of replies, some firm and some not so much, but all still in consent.

Liliana nods. "And one last thing – with the separation of this world and that of the Stars, this will mean that any of the Stars still here will lose their power. And while it is not possible for a Star to lose their Starsong – that is, after all, directly tied to their soul – a Star's mortality is, however, tied to mine. Meaning that, if you stay here, you will become wholly, completely mortal. You will, with the exception of your Starsong, be essentially human. Kaya has told me that she has already made up her mind and will be staying here. However, to Hwa Yara, I offer you a choice – you may choose to stay here," Liliana says, her eyes piercing and seemingly able to see right through Yara, "or you may return to your home realm and live there."

And suddenly everyone is staring at her.

Wonderful.

She feels, strangely, suddenly tense.

Back then, back before this entire ordeal, the choice would have been easy. It should be easy, even now – the realm of the stars is where she was born, where her family is. It's her home, the place she spent her entire childhood in.

And yet – what is home, anyway?

And what is family?

She thinks of jeers and scathing comments, of a place that always felt a bit too cold and a bit too large, thinks of her mama's tight smile and even tighter grip, and, belatedly, realizes that she hasn't seen that place as home in a long while now.

And then she thinks of smiles and laughter and bickering and bantering, thinks of piano music, moments spent in train compartments, brushing Kaya's hair, snarking at Tam, yanking Chia back from yet another reckless antic and trying to convince Allioni what he thinks is a good idea is really not a good idea, and of what she had said to Raine on the balcony.

It feels right, warm, safe.

Take care of each other, Anya had said, and Yara realizes now that she hadn't meant just the two of them – but all of them.

The decision, now that Yara thinks of it, is really actually quite simple to make.

Maybe because she's already made it long ago – pleading and pulling Raine up from the balcony – or maybe even longer before that, when she had gotten that vision of a burning building and started running even before her mind caught up.

And so, she says: "I appreciate the offer, but I think my mind has been made up as well. There are a lot of things here I still want to do, and –" she glances towards Raine inadvertently, "– a lot of people here important to me. So thank you, but I would like to stay."

Liliana smiles – it looks, strangely, the littlest bit proud. "Understood, Hwa Yara. Then I will proceed. Everyone – please, avert your eyes."

And then, wisps of light appearing around her, unintelligible voices that grow gradually louder alongside what she whispers under her breath, she begins to glow, brighter and brighter until Yara has to close her eyes to avoid being blinded –

And then, in a flash, the light fades, and Liliana disappears.

There is no grand bang and no explosion of light, no remaining wisps of magic or stardust drifting from the sky.

There is no sign at all, and yet, Yara suddenly, inherently knows, just as surely as one would know that the sky is blue and the grass is green, just as strong as a deep-rooted belief one has had their whole life.

The Pact of Adalina has been lifted.

--------------------

"So," Allioni begins, tipping his head back to see the night sky, "it's finally over, huh?"

"Yeah," Kaya agrees, smiling. "It's kinda hard to believe, isn't it? Strangely enough, I've actually sort of gotten used to this lifestyle – it'll be hard going back to normal after this."

"Ugh, tell me about it," Chia complains. "There's so much stuff we have to do it's giving me a headache just thinking about it. We'll have to make our way back, find the planes we stashed again, clean up the house, pay the bills –"

"– apologize for not watering Mrs. Nadia's flowers," Tam continues, and Chia pales. He pats her on the shoulder in reassurance.

"I'm going to die," she states, then buries her face in her hands. "Bury me with my favorite knife, okay?"

"The purple one with the glitter and firework doodles?"

"The purple one with the glitter and firework doodles. And oh, right," Chia says, popping up again, curls flying, "what do you guys wanna do when we get home? Anything fun?"

"We're broke," Tam reminds her. Chia lets out a horrified screech at the comment. "What? It's the truth," he says.

"That doesn't mean you have to say it!"

"Ignoring that particular concerning statement from earlier," Allioni says as Tam and Chia dissolve into their usual back-and-forth that's always too fast for anyone to keep up with but them, "why don't you go talk to her?" he asks, following Kaya's line of sight to where Raine is, wheelchair parked right next to Yara who's sitting on a pile of debris, the two of them silent save for the occasional trade of a few words. Mrs. Rivyet had disappeared a while ago – probably off to corral her men, which Kaya is thankful for. She isn't quite sure she'll ever be able to fully face her, not after all that's happened, despite how Mrs. Rivyet had, in the end, not gone through with her original plan.

"I don't know," Kaya admits. "I guess it would... feel a little awkward? I mean – I am grateful for what she did, but I'm still not sure how to feel about her. Especially considering... all that happened with mo – Mrs. Rivyet and I," she amends.

"Hmm. Legally, though, I'm pretty sure she still is your foster sister."

"Yeah..." Kaya trails off with a wince. "It is weird when you think of it like that."

"But you're wondering about it, aren't you?" Allioni questions. "Whether or not your Starsong could help her."

"Read my mind," she laughs, though it's a little edged with tension. She glances down at her hands, opening and closing her fists, flexing her fingers, then says: "I mean, Yara did say that while her legs are a birth defect, her eyes were lost in an accident, so it is possible that I could help her. And I do want to try it, especially after all she did for me – but I'm not really sure how to go about it, or what I would do if it..." she bites her lip, wringing her hands, and blurts out like she's tearing off a band-aid, "failed."

"I think you should try," Allioni ventures, "if you really want to. She probably won't blame you, even if it doesn't work. It'd be better you do it than you don't and keep on regretting it, anyway."

"I –" she exhales, breaths whistling through her lips, "– you're right."

"I'll stick with you?" he offers, and she nods.

"Thanks."

And then, before she can lose her nerve, she walks over as fast as possible and starts, "Raine, right? I'm... Kaya." She takes a deep breath. "If you want to... I might be able to heal you."

--------------------

"Open your eyes," Kaya says, stepping away as the glow of Aehra fades – practically buzzing with nervous energy, reminding Yara of a tea kettle about to boil over.

Yara stands next to Kaya, while Allioni, Tam and Chia are grouped together a short distance away – she's not sure whether it's out of privacy or because Tam is trying to steer Allioni away from doing something Chia convinced him is a good idea, but from the furious whispers they're exchanging, Yara is pretty sure it's the latter. For all that Chia is reckless, Allioni is equally so – even worse in some aspects, considering he tends to think something through, decide it's probably a stupid thing to do and does it anyway.

Yara looks back towards Raine – the scar tissue around her eyes is gone now, and instead of the usual vacant gaze, her eyes seem sharper somehow, less milky grey and more the color of rain clouds or a storm.

She's blinking in wonder, surveying her surroundings like she's discovering everything for the first time. "Oh, wow – I can... see again?" She says it less like a statement and more of a question, amazement and shock and befuddlement all rolled into one. Which means –

It worked.

Raine looks towards Kaya, next. "You're..."

"Yeah. I'm Kaya," she nods. "Nice to meet you, um... again?"

Raine smiles. "Nice to meet you too. And thank you."

A little bit away from them, the whispers have quietened down – Yara darts another look at them to see Tam confiscating a stick of fireworks while Chia pouts, and has to hold back an unintentional snort from escaping.

And then she turns back to see Raine's eyes on her, and suddenly her mouth feels dry.

For the first time, Raine is actually, truly seeing her, and she feels weirdly subconscious about it.

Also, Kaya has mysteriously disappeared, and out of the corner of her eye she's pretty sure she can see Tam dragging a protesting Chia away while hissing something that suspiciously sounds like "give them some privacy" ("But I want to see this!" she shoots back in return, and then he's clamped a hand around her mouth and pulled her around the corner).

And now she's alone.

With Raine.

Stars, she swears she's going to murder all of them later. Especially Tam.

"Um... Yara? Right?" Raine begins hesitantly, abruptly yanking her from her violent fantasies.

"I –" she clears her throat, shifts her weight, "– yes?" Her voice cracks a little, and she considers cursing whatever fates are clearly laughing at her now. She's pretty sure her brain's short-circuited, which is definitely out of the ordinary because she is never like this, which is, in all honesty, extremely embarrassing.

"Oh. I didn't expect that," Raine says, a little surprised. "You look exactly how I thought you would."

"I – exactly – what?" Yara blinks.

And then Raine smiles, and it's like the rising sun. "Beautiful."

A pause.

It registers.

"I – um – ah –" Raine waves her hands frantically, turning an amazing shade of scarlet before burying her face in her hands with a muffled "Nevermind-forget-I-said-that-I'm-so-sorry –", and Yara feels her own face heating up in the process (she's also pretty sure she hears Tam sniggering from somewhere and oh god she is never going to live this down, is she?).

"I – thank you," Yara manages, because really, what else is she supposed to say?

It's worth it, though, when Raine peeks at her from between her fingers before giving her that smile again. "You're welcome?"

And yes, maybe the laughter is awkward, and yes, they're both so red you could probably see them from a kilometer away, and yes, Yara is definitely never going to hear the end of this –

But, inside, she feels the warmest she's ever been (and distantly, she wonders if that long ago sip of liquor Anya had given her is finally taking effect).

But more than that – for the first time in a very long time, she feels happy.