A/N: Griffin is trying to figure out what to do with her life now that the war is over when she comes to realize she's not alone.

There was a knock on the door. She wasn't expecting anyone but she didn't startle like she'd used to do when she'd been sleep deprived and constantly on edge from the endless planning and the enormous stakes of the war. But not anymore. She couldn't feel much these days. In fact, she only felt numb, and she told herself it was better that way even when she knew it was a lie.

"Come in," she said, for she figured that if it was anyone she didn't want to see, they would've walked in already without bothering to request permission from her.

And indeed, when the door opened she was met with Faragonda's face. She didn't seem exactly happy–Griffin doubted anyone could be after what they'd witnessed in the final battle–but she was still much more cheerful than Griffin could deal with. "Hey," Faragonda greeted as she walked in, her voice nowhere near its usual joyful sound but it would get there, Griffin knew. The fairy always found a way to pick up the broken pieces, and even if she sometimes joked it was a pixie thing, she knew better. It was a Faragonda thing. And she admired her for the beautiful display of quiet strength.

"Hey." She forced herself to smile for Faragonda's sake. Her friend was making steady steps towards recovery and she didn't want her own lack of progress to set her back. She didn't want to drag her back to that pit of despair that their memories of the war were. They had to move on. And just because she couldn't, didn't mean she had to get in the way of everyone else.

"Packing?" Faragonda asked as she sat down on her bed, eying her suitcase that was nearly empty, and not just by fairy standards.

"Yeah," Griffin said as she moved her gaze through the room, pretending she was looking for things she needed to grab and throw in the suitcase when the truth was that she'd already packed everything that she wouldn't need until her departure the next day. She hadn't had much to begin with after she'd left the Coven, and most of what she'd had, had been destroyed along with the entire planet of Domino. The only personal belongings she had–the only ones she'd cared about–were gone. Even the flower hairpin from Faragonda was lost since she hadn't taken it with her into battle. She only had the clothes she'd been wearing, those she'd been provided with in the Fortress of Light and a few books that had been recovered from one of their safe houses. And most of her friends were alive. It was more than she could have hoped for.

"Where to now?" Faragonda asked and if the upbeat tone sounded somewhat forced and her eyes seemed to glimmer with tears, Griffin pretended not to notice. If she were any less selfish, she would ask Faragonda what was torturing her. (She knew. It was the same thing that tormented all of them.) But she couldn't witness her friend break down. It would be too much.

"Home," she said, all of her resolve going into making the words louder than a whisper and forcing herself not to choke on their acrid taste so she couldn't make herself seem even remotely excited. There was no home for her anymore. She'd lost the right to call her realm home when she'd passed its secrets into Valtor's hands. And she didn't even dare think about how much being in his arms had felt like home.

Faragonda nodded, cutting her gaze from hers. "Start anew," she said but the bitter chuckle that followed was something Griffin had never expected to hear from her. It set off all kinds of alarms in her head. "As if it's that easy," Faragonda shook her head, the tears streaming down her face and Griffin could swear they would both drown in them if she didn't do something to stop them. "After what we've been through..." Faragonda's voice broke and morphed into a sob.

"Hey, hey, I've got you," Griffin soothed as she rushed to her and sat down on the bed as well, taking Faragonda's hand in hers and wiping away the tears from her cheeks with her free hand, only to feel the sorrow soaking up into her skin and leaving her frozen, unable to help her friend.

"I don't know what to do," Faragonda cried, the words hitting far too close to home and if her vision wasn't blurred by the tears, she would've noticed the pain crossing Griffin's face which would've led to a whole new cause for crying. "Everyone expects me to just go on and return to being a guardian fairy for my realm but how am I supposed to do that when I was there to watch an entire planet perish and all I could do was... nothing?" the words kept spilling from her mouth just like the tears were streaming from her eyes and all of it threw Griffin in agony because she understood too well. She felt so lost herself. "How are we supposed to move on after everything we saw?" her voice was so loud and unstable that it was scary, for Griffin had never heard her like that, but she understood. She'd asked herself the same. And she hadn't been able to come up with an answer. Until now.

"Together," she said as she gripped tightly at Faragonda's shoulders to draw her attention. "We'll get through this together," she promised as she held her gaze before drawing her into a hug and feeling Faragonda sink into it helped her relax as well. She hadn't known what to do with herself before that moment. But now she had a direction. She had nowhere to be. So she'd stand by her friend and help her pick up the pieces. And hopefully, she would find some peace for herself as well.