Eight flights of solid concrete stairs went by instantly as Chandra's heart raced and her ears pounded with rage. She could barely see straight and it was only her determined flight system that managed to get her all the way down without falling.

Finally bursting through a door requesting not to be opened, Chandra was out in the chilly air. It might have been the foul dumpster next to her or maybe she was just too upset but the fresh air she was hoping would provide relief was failing miserably. Her breathing was just as heavy and the young woman's only thought was slamming her fist into the stone wall in front of her.

Chandra was mortified that she had let her mother so profoundly down, but what was gnawing away at her the most was just how right Pia was. That snivelling worm Alppa deserved every bit of verbal abuse thrown at him – even the General believed that, but trying to thrash him around as she had done didn't help anyone. Even Chandra didn't feel good about the catharsis.

All that, and for what? To alienate everyone you care about? The slow whine of the door creaking open behind her was quickly imitated by Chandra's groan. And here's mother to yell at me some more. With her back to the door, the angry young woman did her best to sound remorseful. "I'm sorry about what I did, but I'm really not in the mood to talk about it."

What came next was more painful than expected.

Tough arms with pale, delicate hands wrapped around Chandra's chest and she felt a peck on the back of her head. With a soothing voice, Liliana said, "then we can talk about something else, or nothing at all." Her embrace tightened to the kind of intensity that she knew made her partner sleepy.

Chandra had been so sure that she not only shot herself in both feet in Liliana's presence, but that she deserved every bit of disappointment she had predicted as well. It was the perfect hug but the guilt made it a more miserable experience than getting chewed out would have so she tried unsuccessfully to break free of it.

"I didn't think it was..." Chandra trailed off quietly, trying to figure a way out of all of this; she was left wondering if anyone on Kaladesh had invented a time machine yet as she grew increasingly agitated by the lock around her. "I'm sorry you had to see that. I don't deserve this." She tilted her head down to press her chin against Liliana's arms.

"Maybe," Liliana responded unwavering, "maybe not. My job is not to decide what you deserve. I only care about what you need."

Chandra began feeling a little drowsy as she sighed her shame. "I really wanted to do this for you. For everyone. Hell, I even wanted to do it for myself." As guilty as the redhead felt about the turn of events, she had accepted a fact. "But even if I hadn't acted like a crazy person, I wouldn't have been able to be there with...With that."

"I know." Liliana kissed the back of her head again, harder as if she were really trying to get to the scalp. "I would never ask you to, nor, I hope, would anyone else."

The two stood in comfortable silence as Chandra could feel her rage slowly squeezed through her ears until she was finally calm enough to laugh. "So, you still enamoured with my passion?"

With no hesitation Liliana responded, "I still love you and I will leave it at that." Chandra could almost hear the grin on her partner's face. "Now how do you feel about going home? I know mom would really like to speak with you."

The shorter woman's nose twitched in discomfort. "You know," Chandra said emphatically. "I remember thinking how weird it was that you called her mom before they were even married, but gods be damned, it's so much weirder now."

Liliana laughed off the comment that her partner had said in earnest but it ultimately didn't matter to Chandra. It would take a lot more than any amount of discomfort to try to deny her beloved something that brought her so much joy.

"I guess we should go home," Chandra sighed. "Maybe we take the long way."


The walk was as long as the talk was small. The two had been moseying around the city for nearly two hours and Chandra could tell Liliana was trying to keep things as light as possible and there was no appropriate way to say, 'you can stop trying to make me happy,' but she got the opening she wanted when they wandered past the window of a charming antique store – slowing Liliana's pace to enough of a crawl that Chandra stopped completely.

Seemingly hypnotized, Liliana spoke with quiet awe, "that scythe..."

Chandra took note of the farming tool that's only distinction – aside from looking well worn with chips and remnants of removed rust – was a coil wrapped around it and no amount of scurrying on her phone could have told her what it was. "It's uhh..." Her eyes rolled all the way around as she tried to think of something intelligent to say. "Nice?"

"You see that snake head at the base?" Liliana's eyes and voice weren't directed anywhere close to Chandra's direction as if she were talking to herself. "This is an Amonkhet artifact. It was bestowed by the Church of the God of Power to farmers that demonstrated courage. It must be a couple hundred years old."

The only thing more bewildering than the fact that Liliana could spot and assess the tool from out of the corner of her eye was how matter of factually she spoke of something so enchanting. Chandra was rendered speechless and no one would have said anything if her partner hadn't finally redirected her gaze from the window.

From the display's reflection, Chandra could see her own confusion and Liliana answered the unasked question of, 'how the hell are you an expert on old farming tools?' "Josu..." She paused the way most people would speaking about their dead brother. "He was very passionate about gardening. I know he would have loved to have something like this. Such a shame how expensive it must be." With a tired sigh, Liliana pulled herself away and continued home

They only took a few steps when Chandra diplomatically stated, "you've told me almost nothing about him." This was a topic she had wanted to broach for the past week.

"You have asked almost nothing." There was no resentment in Liliana's response. It felt like she was mocking Chandra for being to shy to bring it up.

"I'm asking now."

Liliana reached out and wrapped her slender fingers around the stubbier counterparts and the two women nestled against each other and awkwardly walked, hiding their intimacy. 'Hmmming' through tight lips, Liliana seemed to need to consider her answer as though she hadn't been asked in a while.

"Other than gardening, botany, stuff like that – he loved to learn. Had he his own way, he would have only left our library to go the bathroom." Liliana's warm smile made it apparent she was enjoying the topic, or was at least very good at pretending to. "I suppose he had the silver tongue and mind for business, though I think he would have preferred he was useless in that regard."

"Most of all though, he cared about his family," Liliana said proudly. "I know a lot of people say that about their brothers, but he truly would have done anything for us. The hardest part for him was never dying, but knowing how difficult it was for us to lose him." There was a pause that insisted it not be interrupted. "Do you think mom would have liked having a son as well?"

Chandra answered honestly. "I think she would have loved anything that wasn't another disobedient little shit."

Liliana didn't laugh, instead looking on disapprovingly at the self degradation before realizing it was best to move on. "I wonder," she said with a snicker. "He did look a lot like me. I wonder if you would have fallen in love with your brother as well."

Responding with fake frustration that was masking the real thing. "I think it's really important that you know you're not as funny as you think you are."

Their hands tightened together.