Return Safely

"You know," he started awkwardly, his voice quieter than usual, "I think you've mastered that light energy thing pretty well. Replacing all those students with replicas? That was impressive."

Ahcehera barely glanced at him, her lips pressed into a thin line.

"It wasn't perfect," she said, her tone clipped. "If Khaterine hadn't interrupted, I could have stabilized the array. This wouldn't have been necessary."

Richard winced internally, so much for calming her down. He racked his brain for something else to say.

"You still saved the students," he pointed out. "And we made it out without anyone getting seriously hurt. That's what matters, right?"

She didn't respond, her focus seemingly locked on the path ahead.

Richard felt the tension between them was growing, and his chest tightened. He wasn't used to seeing her like this, so distant, so unreachable.