Ngh…. She wondered where she was. All she could tell was she was on grass and it was nighttime.

Her back was sore, but she couldn't feel her wings anymore. The warmth her halo gave off was gone as well.

Where was she?

And what happened to her?

Last I remember…. She closed her eyes cringing at the memory. She was giving up her halo, taking her Day of Flight. But this wasn't what she expected. Rakka had seen many friends leave her over the years… When her time came she expected to wake up somewhere… Different. With her friends. Or the crows. Or somewhere, where she wasn't alone anymore.

Rakka carefully sat up, making her way over to a stream. In the years since being born in Gurie, she had grown a little, her hair she had let grow out long.

But the face that looked at her wasn't of the aged Charcoal Feather with the chestnut hair. No… It was the face Rakka knew as herself when she was first born from the cocoon.

But how could that be?

She was tired, yet still stood up fully. Something or someone was calling to her. Their presence… She could sense it.

Stumbling a little she walked until she saw the back of a small house.

There was a woman sobbing on the back porch clutching a toy of some kind.

"E-excuse me…?" Rakka asked quietly. "Are...You alright?"

The woman looked up as their eyes locked.

Oh my…. They had the exact same eye color. Rakka noticed more similarities.

The woman got up as she gasped. "Your…"

It was starting to come back to her… This woman was someone important.

"Your home…" She started to cry as she pulled the girl into her arms. Rakka began to cry as well.

They said no one would know me….Outside the walls...My family wouldn't recognize me… But she knew...Deep down in her heart she always knew somehow...That was a lie.

This woman who's heartbeat now echoed in her ears. She always knew her.

"My baby…" She sobbed. "Oh my baby…"

They took her…. They took her from me…. Rakka started to cry with her.

"Momma...Momma!" She cried clinging onto her, feeling her back being stroked now free of the weight of charcoal wings.

This is what it means…

It all made sense now…

A Haibane traveled beyond the walls on the day of flight…

To go home.

"I'm here…." Rakka's mother murmured. "My little one… I got you…"

The former Haibane smiled despite the tears that still fell.

"Mother…."

I'm home…