Closing the door gently behind her, Cara quietly moved further into the Mother Confessor's room. The light of the full moon leaked in through the window, illuminating the frail form buried under soft blankets in the middle of a large bed. Cara's heart ached at the sight. More than friends, but less than lovers; Kahlan had wormed her way past all of Cara's defences, and the blonde hadn't noticed until it was too late.

Kahlan's illness was not something Cara could poke with her Agiels, something she could torture into submission or outright kill. So she'd spent months running, hiding behind her pride and her Mord-Sith facade…wasting time that should've been spent by Kahlan's side while the illness had worsened.

But she was here now.

She knelt by Kahlan's bedside, brushed her fingers over a gaunt cheek. The brunette had lost a lot of weight since Cara had last been to see her. Even like this, Cara found her beautiful - in a heartbreaking sort of way. Kahlan stirred and offered Cara a sleepy smile. The Mord-Sith pulled the bedcovers back just enough to slide in beside the brunette who quickly reached out to pull her in closer before closing her eyes once more with a content sigh. Cara stiffened at the contact, watching Kahlan's breathing even out, and then relaxed into the other woman's hold. She'd expected questions, anger, hurt. She supposed that Kahlan hadn't been fully awake, hadn't emerged from whatever she'd been dreaming.

A part of Cara still wanted to cling to her Mord-Sith ways, to the numbness, the apathy, the strict control of body and mind. She wanted to keep her emotions in check. She wanted to keep some particular emotions locked safely away. But there was no fighting the tug in her chest or the queasy feeling in her stomach, and she seemed completely incapable of fighting the tears building in her eyes. Laying there beside the sleeping Confessor, she reluctantly – angrily – allowed the tears to fall.

"It's your fault," she hissed. "Mord-Sith aren't supposed to feel." Quieter, "not like this."

Kahlan had been surprised to open her eyes and find herself face to face with the long-absent Mord-Sith, but she was too exhausted and relieved to delve into the questions she wanted to ask. She'd been drifting back to sleep until the sound of Cara's voice had caught her attention. She focused on keeping her breathing steady and her body limp, feeling bad for the deception, but desperate to hear more. She was beginning to feel disappointed when a few moments passed in silence. She was focused on the warmth of the arms around her and the regular puffs of breath against her face, and was startled when she heard the almost imperceptible sound of a teardrop hitting the pillow.

"You changed me. You taught me to feel, so I was no longer Mord-Sith. Made me believe that I-"

A frustrated growl.

"You made me feel, and now you're just going to leave me. Break me, just as I've been broken before. But this time…If I'm not Mord-Sith, and I'm not…." Kahlan heard her swallow the end of her sentence. "What am I?"

A barely audible whisper, "Who am I?"

Kahlan felt a pang in her chest at the vulnerability in Cara's voice. She opened her eyes and brought a hand to Cara's cheek, startling her. The blonde tried to pull away, but Kahlan moved closer. She watched a tear roll lazily from the corner of Cara's eye and felt her own tears fall in response.

Cara finally let go, unable to hold back her anguish and the accompanying sobs. "I can't protect you from this. I can't fight it. I can't stand in the way and let it take me instead."

Kahlan pressed her forehead to Cara's, cupping her face in both hands.

"I'm not supposed to care for you, Kahlan. I was never meant to love you."

Unable to hold back, she pressed her lips hard against Cara's in response. She savoured the sound when Cara's breathing hitched, committed the texture of the blonde's full lips to memory.

Kahlan knew from the state of her body that she'd be lucky to make it through the next couple of days, let alone the week that the healer had predicted. But with her lips and body joined to Cara, time seemed to stand still, and none of it mattered except for the rapid beating of her heart.

She pulled back when her breathing became laboured, and quickly gasped out, "I love you, too."

Cara buried her face in Kahlan's neck, curling into her like a child with her arms still wrapped around her. Kahlan had never seen the usually infallible woman appear so fragile.

"You'll be okay," she whispered. "You'll get through this, and you'll go on without me."

Cara didn't respond, but tightened her hold, crying harder as she thought of all the time she'd wasted running away, being afraid. She'd spent too long away from Kahlan since the illness had first set in. She told herself that she didn't deserve this moment, this night, even as she wished that she could make it last an eternity.