Chapter 37 - Closer

Date : 4.26.2170

Location : Liseera

Niria

"You gonna get up some time today or should I tell Mags not to bother tonight?" Niria slowly opens her eyes, wincing at the bright overhead light. Her sight is blurred but she can make out what looks like the silhouette of an asari nearby, or maybe it's a filing cabinet. She's so tired that everything is a little confusing. Even sitting up is a serious trial, "That's better. Take it slow kiddo. Damn near put yourself in a coma. I warned you to get out as soon as you started havin trouble." Her sight clears up a little and she can finally see Aethyta standing next to her, along with cousin Galia to the left.

"I tried but something… odd happened." She looks around, taking note of who isn't there. "Where's Jane? She carried me here didn't she?"

"Jane took off a while ago. Got some food from Mags and now she's putting the new holo room through it's paces." The new chamber was a fascinating place. It was perfect for training but several people had underestimated just how dangerous it could be. No deaths but plenty of injuries. "So, how'd it go?"

"It went well enough for the first try. There is something I need to talk to you about… alone please." She looks to Galia and the doctor takes the hint. Once they're alone Aethyta gets things going.

"Alright Niria, what's wrong?"

She spends a few minutes trying to decide the best way to describe what happened. It's not something she's ever had to deal with before. "I saw… something inside her mind, something I can't really explain."

"Give it a shot anyway."

"Well, when I got tired, I tried to break the meld. While I was pulling out I saw these huge clouds of emotion or memory scattered all over and I got distracted. Then I accidentally drifted into one. What I felt there was terrifying." The sheer power behind those feeling had been disorienting.

"What did you feel?"

"Pain… hatred… rage. It was all so strong, so monstrous. I don't understand how someone so young can feel like that. As soon as I crossed into that cloud of emotion, it latched onto me, tried to pull me in. It… it almost consumed me." Aethyta is watching her carefully as she tries make sense of the experience. "The only reason I was able to make it out is that Jane pulled me away. She showed up, standing on open air. She was covered in billowing red haze of emotion, like rage and fear mixed together. And there was someone behind her. Another human, but this one had wings and very… flattering armor. There was silver light coming from her and Jane was pulling strength from it. After that she pretty much carried me out. I've never felt so safe before."

All in all it was a truly remarkable experience. Aethyta is looking at her with a mischievous gaze, "So… did you like the way that felt? When she carried you to safety?"

What is that supposed to mean? "Well yeah, it felt great." Aethyta's smile is getting wider with every moment.

"All safe and warm and close." The emphasis on close has Niria on edge. Saffa Aethyta usually doesn't talk like this unless she's teasing someone, and she loved to tease Niria.

"Uhhh, I guess… What are you getting at Saffa?"

"Ohhh nothing. So, do you think you can handle this?"

"Yes, I think so. It's going to be a lot more intense than I expected but I believe we can make it work. It's going to take a while though. I've never been so tired before." She'd once tried to stay awake for three days straight and given up after two. The exhaustion from that was nothing compared to what came from an hour long meld with Jane.

"Yeah, rearranging things in someone's head is a lot more taxing than just sharing with them. Don't worry though, it'll get easier over time. Especially if the two of you can get nice and close." Now she's a little worried. "Anyway, hop on up and we'll get something to eat."

"Shouldn't we go talk to Jane first?" Aethyta smiles at her and shakes her head.

"Oh we'll do that eventually. I wanna let her get a little worked up first. It'll make the show that much better."

Aethyta

Her little cousin is recovering much faster than expected. Rooting around in Jane's head was clearly taxing for her, but she's glad to see that Niria is rallying quickly. The two of them grab a quick bite from a bizarrely chipper Mags. "That red girl gets it dammit." It was the only explanation they got before the normally crotchety matriarch shooed them away. The two of them finish their food right as they're walking into the training room. Modeled after the facility on Mindoir, when it's finished this room will be every bit as impressive. For now however, it was still a little too low power to give a real challenge to an experienced warrior, or to a certain, mildly sadistic young woman.

The first hint of a problem is the sound of shouting, "Dammit! I said turn it up!" Aethyta sighs and picks up the pace. Once inside the seating area Aethyta spots Jane down on the arena floor. The girl has her sword out and is pointing it at something in the control both, specifically the nervous young asari manning the controls.

"It's already tuned to the maximum safe settings! A lot of people have been hurt on the higher settings." The asari in the control booth is from one of the subfamilies further out in the city, Mavi if Aethyta is remembering right.

"I don't care about safe! TURN IT UP!" Jane tended to intimidate people that didn't know her, especially when she was pointing her sword at them. Aethyta needs to step in before the girl loses her temper.

She calls the asari girl through her omni-tool, "Mavi, turn all the settings to maximum."

The girl pales a little, "But Lady Aethyta the higher settings are very dangerous."

"That wasn't a request Mavi." The young woman wilts a little under Aethyta's attention, but still follows her orders. A few moments later, the three targets in the field are joined by a dozen others, each one moving far faster than before. An acolyte like Niria would be killed quite easily. Even Aethyta would really have to work at it to escape uninjured. For Jane, it's just a bit of good cardio. For the next hour Aethyta sits in the stands next to Niria, quietly chuckling at the acolyte's expression. The girl is completely entranced as Jane rips into the swarm of opponents. "Whadda ya think?"

"I… wow…" She's not the only one to be a bit speechless. A small crowd has been gathering, mostly because Aethyta has been sending invitations to people. Around forty people are in the stands watching in near silence as Jane carves through targets. The girl is slowly returning to the carefully controlled patterns Fel taught her. At first her strikes were wild, feral even. She'd been snarling like a rabid animal in the beginning, but now the calm they'd been working into her was coming back. Her attacks are still overwhelmingly powerful, however she's no longer leaving gaps in her defenses or expending energy needlessly.

Let's see if she can keep it up with her biotics. "Switch!" Jane doesn't hesitate to scabbard Abyss and let her peculiar golden biotics light up her body. Half the asari in the stands are swaying gently, enchanted by the overwhelming feeling of power cascading from her. She's ripping targets apart with her bare hands now, or blasting them to pieces with tightly controlled bursts of energy.

Despite how visually impressive the entire display is, Aethyta knows that it's not really doing much for Jane. The only thing she'll get out of this is the chance to burn off a little excess energy, and a chance to make sure that people are aware that she is not to be trifled with. At least that's what Aethyta had hoped. Unfortunately, some people are just too thickheaded to take a hint. After an hour, Aethyta calls to Mavi and the young woman powers down the sim room. Jane whips her gaze to the booth with a thunderous expression, but before she can start yelling the applause gets her attention and she finally takes note of the crowd. She gives a sheepish wave as Aethyta smiles at her. Then a voice calls out from the crowd, "It's a trick!" The applause dies down and everyone turns to the source, a loud mouthed young woman stomping down to the arena floor. "There's no way any human could keep all that up if the settings were maxed out!" The crowd jeers at the boarish asari, a newly minted huntress named Nomila.

The arrogant woman turns to Aethyta, "Mistress I couldn't keep such a pace up on the maximum setting, so there's no way a human could. She has to have done something to the sim controls!" A few members of the crowd are cautiously nodding, but most of them are just glaring at Nomila. They'd felt the power coming off of Jane and had no doubts. From the opposite end of the arena, the girl herself is glaring at Nomila with barely caged fury.

An wonderfully evil idea crosses her mind, "Well little huntress," Nomila grinds her teeth at the derision in Aethyta's voice, "if you really believe that, why not challenge her? I'm sure that it'll be easy to beat her… if you're right." The young huntress shoots a vicious smile at her before turning to Jane.

"Alright human. Let's see what you're made of!" The huntress flexes every joint to loosen up. Jane turns a curious look to Aethyta, not sure what the matriarch is thinking. She decides to give the girl a bit of direction.

"Alright Jane, nothing permanent." The girl nods and starts a leisurely walk towards Nomila. The huntress wastes no time, launching a shockwave at Jane. The girl braces a palm, disrupting the surge with a single effortless pulse of amber energy. Irritated, Nomila tries again, this time with a singularity. Jane simply surrounds the new gravity well with a biotic bubble and compresses it. The singularity collapses as Jane picks up her pace. Nomila is absolutely pissed now. She dispenses with any pretense of careful consideration, opting instead for attempting to overwhelm Jane. A push tears up floor plating before Jane swipes a hand through it, shunting the energy to the side without slowing. Another shockwave is simply ignored as she dodges to the left. At a dead sprint Jane roles under an attempted warp, springing to her feet right in front of Nomila. The asari has no time to react as Jane takes hold of her chest plate and hoists her into the air, before slamming the huntress down into the floor.

The sound of the impact echoes around the chamber as the crowd goes silent again. For a moment it looks like Jane's killed the self-absorbed young woman. Then she manages to roll onto her side and start groaning. Several asari bust out laughing, both relieved that Nomila isn't dead and glad to see her put in her place for once. As the laughter goes on, Aethyta makes her way down to the scene. Nomila is gasping for breath and slowly trying to get up. Failing, but trying. Jane kneels down next to her, quietly but firmly speaking. "Was that a trick?"

Nomila manages to wheeze out an answer, "No…"

"Are you ever going to try and pull this crap again?"

"No…"

Jane waits a little bit longer, carefully watching Nomila struggle. Eventually she sighs, "Do you need help getting to the med-bay?"

The asari quietly whispers, "Yes please." Jane gently picks her up and turns away. Niria comes down to stand next to Aethyta and watches as the human girl carries her 'opponent' out of the room with Spits trailing behind.

"She wasn't even winded by that…"

"Nope. Takes a lot more than a little target practice and one stuck up little huntress to tire her out."

An hour later she got a call from Galia. Nomila was going to be fine... eventually. Jane's demonstration had left the young asari with five cracked ribs and widespread internal contusions. The physical injuries would heal in time but the psychological impact would hopefully teach her a little humility. Galia had also told her that Nomila quietly apologized to Jane before the girl had left. Eventually they found her in the room that had been made ready for her. Jane was sitting on the bed cross-legged, with her battered breastplate in her lab. She was carefully picking out pieces of shrapnel and recovering any valuable materials that needed to be recycled. Jane glances up at them with a grimace before going back to work. "She'll be fine."

"Yep, I know. Galia called and told me the damage." Jane doesn't look up as she responds.

"She earned it. I don't like being accused of things I didn't do."

Niria is watching Jane's hands as she rapidly disengages numerous locking fixtures on the plate, "Will you be able to fix it?" Jane winces at the question.

"Maybe. The shield emitters are shot and it's really warped. I can patch the holes, replace the emitters, but it probably won't fit right anymore." Jane tosses the plate towards the armor mannequin in the corner and runs a hand through her hair, only now noticing that her braid has come loose. She quickly ties it back in place before looking back up at Niria, "I'm sorry, about what happened. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"Hurt me? I'm not injured. I'll admit, it was a little frightening but there's no damage. To tell the truth, it was actually an amazing experience, like nothing I've ever been through."

"Does that mean you're willing to keep working at it?"

"Absolutely. I'm actually kind of excited to get going again. Do you want to try again now or tomorrow?" As an answer Jane stands up from her bed and walks out the door, waving for Niria to follow. After very intently watching the girl walk away, her cousin turns to her with an excited look on her face. "Do you mind I go ahead go?"

"I suppose. Now you two behave yourselves. No funny business." Niria cocks an eyebrow at her in confusion before leaving herself. Aethyta chuckles to herself as she starts trying to guess how long it'll take Niria to get what she's been joking about.

Date : 6.1.2170

Location : Arcturus Secure Comm Facility

Hackett

"Do we have any word?"

"My associates planetside have assured me that the matriarch arrived with the Fulcrum with only minor… complications. A young asari has been assisting her in her training and the flares are slowly beginning to fade away." A collective sigh of relief sweeps the entire council at Asari's news. The self imposed communications blackout on Liseera had only been lifted yesterday. As such, all manner of panicked theories on her condition had been bandied about, from another assassination attempt to an all out attack on the secluded colony. "From what I understand, the two of them are working together quite well. Details are still a little scarce but my associates have indicated that the process is very intense and it will be some time before her flaring is dealt with in totality.

"This one is deeply relieved to hear this news. Is there anything this council can do to render assistance?"

"Not that I know of. My associates have made it clear that this task can only be accomplished by an asari with appropriate training and limited exposure to the galaxy at large. I'm unsure why they must be inexperienced with the wider world, but I'm more than willing to trust the matriarch's judgement on this matter."

"With nervous curiosity: How long will this training take to complete? Our time is not limitless."

"Elcor has a good point. My contacts in STG have identified a number of anomalous activities throughout the galaxy, including a massive increase in credit transfers to a number of suspicious gene research firms and subversive political groups, numerous spacecraft disappearing near batarian space and the border regions. Perhaps the most disconcerting turn of events are the recently discovered ties between almost two dozen mercenary factions in the Terminus and an as yet unidentified financier. This rise in funding has led to a massive increase in the smuggling of illicit materials, including narcotics and illegal firearms."

"I think it's pretty safe to say that our enemy in the shadows is behind most of this. A few Hierarchy officials have made a number of policy reversals that are at odds with the basic principles of our people and indeed, their own psychological profiles. I can still have them dealt with before any serious damage is done, but it's only a matter of time before our enemy's influence outpaces our ability to stymie their attempts at subversion."

"Won't be too much longer till The War begins. Ten, twenty years at the most." Krogan doesn't sound too put out by the idea. "How much longer before she can enter your military Human?"

Hackett's stayed quiet for most of the meeting, quietly thinking to himself. "Technically, under normal conditions she could join right now with parental permission. However, given recent events, I believe it would be best to wait until her biotic training is complete and she's had time to adjust. It would probably be best to wait until she's eighteen before suggesting military service."

"Will she go for that? What we've seen from her so far tells us that she doesn't care for taking orders or waiting for approval on anything. She'd probably end up killing half a dozen centurions on the first day in the Hierarchy military."

"If we give her a clear target and get the hell out of her way things should go just fine. As far as the specifics go, we're working on it. By the time she's ready in a few years we should have a plan in place."

"Poorly concealed uncertainty: We can only pray that we do indeed have the time that she will need."

Date : 10.20.2170

Location : Liseera

Jane

She's coasting on the tides of her mind, gently riding upon swells of thought as her now quite familiar asari friend keeps herself busy, poking at Jane's brain. Ever since she'd almost been killed by an errant memory, Jane's kept a close watch on her every time they've melded. It's an odd sensation, watching someone manipulate a mental construct. It's a mix of pain and relief with every little modification. The pain comes from her brain being altered in tiny increments, each change bringing a tiny throbbing sensation. However, once the throbbing fades, a surge of relief floods in to replace it. Each tiny change makes life a little bit easier, a little less painful.

As Jane calmly watches, Niria is slowly pacing around the edge of the construct Aethyta built for her. The 'temple' is starting to become quite the lovely place. The stones are becoming cleaner and more solid with every meld. At first Niria had only been able to shore up one or two, but now she's able to fix entire swathes of the courtyard. All the 'moss' has been cleaned out, leaving just the visible cracks to deal with. The problem is the statues. The first time she'd tried to fix one of them, both her and Jane had nearly had an aneurysm. The screams from that first attempt had bounced around in both their heads for weeks. They'd decided to leave well enough alone, at least until they had more time to think on it.

The asari is pointing to each statue she passes, quietly talking to herself the whole way. Jane drifts a little closer to hear what Niria is whispering, "623, 624, 625…" She'll only get a few more. The entire process was still exhausting for both of them, despite the work they've both put into it. She can see Niria slowing down and decides to intervene. Jane lets her form coalesce in the courtyard. It'd been hard to do in the beginning, but Niria was a very patient teacher.

"I think that's good for today, don't you?" Niria turns to argue but has to catch her breath before talking.

"I guess so. I'm sorry." Jane takes a hold of the asari and keeps her mind wrapped up carefully as they withdraw from the construct. Niria had never resisted the close mental contact, in fact whenever Jane took hold of her, she seemed to melt into her grip. She keeps the asari nearby until they get close enough to the surface to break the meld. Once again, the two of them are kneeling in front of each other. As they both carefully stand up, easing the blood back into their lower legs, Jane steps up to the observation tower's window. They didn't need the shielded cell anymore since Jane's flares had mostly faded into minor pulses. Annoying but no longer dangerous. Spits looks up from the corner he'd claimed upon first walking into the tower, but goes right back to napping when it becomes obvious that she's not leaving yet.

Niria steps up next to her, standing a bit unsteadily as they look out over the fields. From the tower an observer could see the entire colony, from the small hamlets next to the clear blue sea to the west, all the way to the magma fields to the east. Aethyta's ancestors had chosen the spot because of some long forgotten religious reason. Something to do with balance and what-not. Nowadays, it was just a really pretty view. Jane loved looking out over the burning west. The red and black landscape was so beautiful that it had almost got her crying the first time she'd seen it. The sight of magma geysers and rivers of molten metal always helped keep her calm.

"You've got nothing to be sorry about." Niria bows her head slightly, almost looking like she's ashamed. "I understand that this is gonna take a while. I'd rather spend a lot of time to make sure everything's fine, than speeding through as fast as possible and having my brain explode a couple months later. Keep doing what you've been doing and I'll be happy." Her friend gives her a tight smile. They'd gotten a lot closer since her arrival, and not just because Niria spent so much time rooting around in her head. The asari was intelligent enough to hold conversations about many different topics, including engineering and she was always eager to help Jane work on all manner of projects, including the new set of plates she was wearing. The new plates were even heavier than her old ones, but with motorized joints they felt as light as a feather.

Niria smiles again, "Thank you. I'm glad you approve." They stand in companionable silence for almost an hour, just watching the sluggish flow of molten rock in the channel half a mile down. Eventually Niria gently takes hold of her hand, "Come on, let's go."

"Go where?"

"A lot of the girls are heading to the beach today. The sea just entered the still season, so the waters will be very warm and calm for a while, perfect for a relaxing swim." That was another reason why Jane liked her. Niria was constantly dragging her to things that she usually wasn't initially interested in, but typically wound up quite content with. It might be a bit different today though. She doesn't immediately follow, which leads Niria to ask, "What's wrong Jane?"

"I… can't swim." Niria's smile gets even bigger.

"That's not a big deal. I can teach you how."

Jane can feel her cheeks flush with embarrassment. "No, it's not that. I understand the mechanics perfectly well. I can't swim because I can't float. I don't have the normal fatty deposits that people rely on and my body is too dense. Instead of floating I just kind of… sink… like a rock, even without the plating." Memories of the trip she and Hannah had taken to the beach move to the fore. She'd never seen so much water in one place before. Jane had walked through the shallows only to fall into a small valley under the water. The pair of implants in her lungs were the only reasons she hadn't drowned. Still, Hannah had nearly had a heart attack.

"Oh… Well there are other things you can do to enjoy the beach, come on." Niria gently drags her out of the tower and down into the colony proper.

Aethyta

She'd planned on a nice quiet walk on the beach, right until she had seen the children. She saw about fifty asari, from ages ten to eighty six, go charging down the path towards the water before she had even started walking. By the time she'd gotten down there almost twenty minutes later, they were all splashing and shouting playfully. Though she could easily make her way to a more secluded part of the beach, it was always entertaining to watch the little ones in her family play. A couple of them were have a diving contest, while others were picking up shells. Some were digging on the beach, for no other reason than the childish joy of digging. A few were slowly walking on the water's edge, basking in the warmth of the sun as she had originally intended. Eventually she spots a red figure sitting near the water, with a large varren bouncing excitedly in front of her.

As Aethyta approaches, Jane fuses a tiny panel shut on Spits' left leg and pats him on the back, pointing to the water, "Go on big guy. Have fun." The bulky animal bolts into the water to splash about madly. Most of the girls have gotten used to him and toss things for him to retrieve from the water. Jane doesn't move closer though. Instead she hugs her knees to her chest and simply looks out over the sea.

"Why you here, instead of swimming with the other?" Jane spares her a quick glance.

"Can't. Sink." She really should have known that given how much Jane has told her about herself. "I was just waterproofing Spits' legs so he could play in the water." Aethyta sinks down next to the girl and looks at the water herself. They spend a few minutes in silence before she spots Niria floating on her back a short distance out. Then a wicked idea sprouts up in her mind.

"You know kiddo… there are other ways to have fun in the water besides swimming." Jane cocks an eyebrow at her, "How long can you hold your breath?"

"About twenty minutes. Maybe twenty five if I'm holding still." An evil smile spreads across Aethyta's face as she tells Jane the plan.

Niria

Jane hadn't been interested in most of her suggestions, but at least she hadn't gone back to her room. When Niria had gotten in the water, Jane had started messing with Spits' legs, saying that she'd do something entertaining once he could get in the water. That had been almost an hour ago and it's looking like that wasn't going to happen. So Niria had laid back, relaxing on the surface as she tried to think of something she could do to get Jane involved. Coming up with nothing, she looks back at the beach and sees that Jane is gone. Saffa Aethyta is where the human girl had been sitting, but Jane is nowhere to be seen. "She must have gone back inside," Niria whispers to herself sadly, "I'll make it up to her, just as soon as I figure out how."

She's just starting to think of what she can do when she hears a splash nearby. Thinking that one of her little cousins is coming out to play, Niria looks around to figure out who it is, but there's no one nearby. The closest person is Tili almost twenty meters away. "Must have been a fish." Though uncommon, sometimes certain sea creatures would come close to shore during the still season. She settles back into relaxing for a minute before she feels the slight tug of a gentle current move her slightly and then comes another small splash behind her. She turns to look and still spots nothing, but she can feel a slight ghost of a sensation, as if someone is using biotics nearby. "Hello. Whoever is doing that, it's not funny." No response. Niria can feel the water around her moving again, this time with the sensation of something swimming right next to her. She starts treading water, trying to see what's disturbing the area around her. Her heart is beating a lot faster all of a sudden as she tries to head back to the beach. The water keeps pulling her while she tries to move. Suddenly she feels something cold brush firm a line along her lower back. The scream she lets out gets everyone's attention, whilst she frantically looks down, desperate to find out what's happening. That's when she sees them, a dark red figure and a pair of glowing violet eyes. "Jane!"

Her angry shout is drowned out as the water around her is pushed away by an amber sphere of biotic energy. In no time, she's standing ten feet down on the sea floor listening to Jane's near hysterical laughter. "Oh ho ho, Aethyta was right. That was hilarious!" SAFFA!

"Aethyta?! What?! YOU! SHE- urrgh!" She starts trying to march towards the beach but has to wait as Jane pushes more and more water away to clear a path. Once on land she stomps over to Aethyta, jabbing a finger at her chest. "YOU! I, ugh!" She can't even form the words before turning around and storming up the path to home.

Aethyta

She does her best not to laugh at Niria until the girl is too far away to hear. As soon as the coast is clear she gives into her mirth and lays back, laughing like a loon. A few moments later she's joined by Jane whose face has almost gone purple from laughing so hard. It's surprising how quickly she'd agreed to the little game. "Goddess than was great! Did you see her face?!" Aethyta stands up and does her best impression of Niria, "YOU! I, ugh!" Which just leads to the two of them breaking back down into hysteria for several minutes more. Eventually, when her sides are aching and her face is sore from smiling, the laughter dies down, apart from a few fleeting chuckles.

Jane has a huge smile plastered across her face, the first one Aethyta's seen since they'd arrived. But, now that they've had their fun, it's time for damage control, "As fun as that was, we should probably apologize. It was kind of mean, despite how funny it was."

Jane's smile dims a little but doesn't disappear, "I'll go. After all, it might have been your idea, but I was the one that actually did it." Jane hops up and starts walking back to town, but not before doing one final impression of Niria's furious march. The sound of Aethyta's laughter follows her up the trail.

Niria

"Of all the… cruel… mean… heartless… urrgh!" She's been fuming ever since she left the beach. A few people had asked her what was wrong and she'd damn near bitten their heads off. Now she's just pacing back and forth in her room, grinding her teeth, trying to calm down, but it's just so infuriating. Jane had scared her half to death. Before she'd seen the human, Niria had been convinced that some kind of predator had made it's way to the beach and tried to come after her. Then she'd had the nerve to laugh at her for being scared.

She's still stomping around, trying to avoid hitting anything when she hears a knock on the door. Against her better judgement she shouts, "Come in!" She ties a robe on as the door opens, revealing a still giggling Jane. "You! Don't think I've forgiven you!" Jane just keeps laughing as she steps in. Niria stomps over to stand right in front of her. "Do you have any idea how much you scared me?! How could you just-" She's cut off mid rage as Jane takes her in a tight hug.

"Thank you. Thank you…"

"Huh? For what?"

Jane pulls back and gently takes hold of Niria's hands, "For dragging me down to the beach. It was nice to be happy again." Niria is flabbergasted as Jane hugs her again before walking back to the door. The young woman turns back before she leaves, "Oh, and I'm sorry for making you scream like a little baby in front of everyone." She grabs a book and hurls it at the door just as Jane ducks back. The books thuds into the door and Niria can hear Jane laughing out loud as she walks away. She tries to stay mad but what Jane said makes it almost impossible. Niria thinks back, realizing that before today, she hasn't once seen Jane laugh or even smile. Seeing her so happy, even if it's temporary, makes the last dregs of anger dissipate. She whispers quietly to herself, "Okay… maybe it was a little funny."