Raya watched Virana rush after Namaari, her jaw clenching and her heart pounding. Once Virana was out of sight, Raya dropped her eyes to the floor, trying her hardest not to look at Benja as she started down the hallway toward the kitchen. Her shoulders tensed when she heard footsteps following her, but she didn't turn around.

She stormed into the kitchen, slamming open the nearest cupboard before rifling through its contents. After a moment, she grunted in frustration and closed the cabinet door forcefully before moving onto the next one. She could see Benja hovering in the doorway from the corner of her eye but kept her gaze focused forward.

"What are you doing?" Benja asked, frowning as Raya wrenched open a drawer.

"Looking for a mango," Raya snapped. She shut the drawer harder than necessary and made herself pause to take a deep breath before she moved on to the next one.

Benja blinked at her. "A mango? Why do you need a mango?"

Raya whirled around and moved to the other side of the kitchen, immediately setting on the next row of cabinets. "Because Namaari is upset."

"You lost me, dewdrop," Benja said, shaking his head. A small smile played across his face but dropped into a frown when Raya still didn't look at him. "Dewdrop—"

Raya slammed the cupboard door closed, breathing heavily. "Don't call me that."

"You don't like your nickname?"

"No!" Raya let her face fall into her hands, making an annoyed noise before she turned to face Benja. "It's not that I don't like it. I just don't like how you use it."

Benja squinted at her. "Isn't that the same thing as not liking it?"

Raya stiffened, then exhaled slowly, forcing herself to relax her shoulders before she answered. "It's different," she said, trying her best to keep her voice calm and even. "I don't mind that you call me 'dewdrop.' What I mind is that you use it to tell me when the conversation is over, and I have to just go along with whatever you're saying."

Benja's brow furrowed as he held her gaze. "I'm sorry, dew—Raya. I didn't realize I was doing that. But I hope you can understand that I just want what's best for you."

Raya didn't even try to stop herself from rolling her eyes. "Whatever you have to tell yourself, Ba." She shook her head as she closed the last cabinet and moved toward the doorway. "I can't talk to you about this right now. I need to go see if Namaari is okay."

Benja shifted to block her way, placing a hand on her shoulder to stop her. His touch was gentle, but it still made Raya bristle.

"I don't think it's a good idea for you to be around Namaari right now," Benja said, watching Raya's face carefully. "Your magic was reacting to your emotions before. You need to stay away from Namaari until you both calm down."

Raya tried to shrug off his hand, glaring at him when he tightened his grip. "That's not your choice. It's mine."

"Raya, be reasonable, please. This is for your safety, and for Namaari's."

Raya scoffed, reaching up to rip his hand off her shoulder. "Is it? Just like not telling me about Bayani? Was that for my 'safety,' too?"

Benja crossed his arms, matching the intensity of Raya's stare. "Yes. It was."

"That's not your choice anymore!" Raya yelled, her entire body going rigid. "As much as you might want me to be, I'm not twelve years old anymore." She paused as her voice started to waver, swallowing thickly and waiting until her voice was steady before speaking again. "I can make my own decisions and you need to respect that. I'm an adult now, whether you want me to be or not. Treating me like a child isn't going to change me back into one."

There were tears gathering in both of their eyes now and it was clear from Benja's face that what she said was hurting him, but now that she had started, she couldn't stop.

"You have no idea what I went through during those six years on my own. I was completely alone and fighting for my life the entire time and on top of that, I knew that you expected me to fix everything. Do you understand what you asked me to do?" Raya stopped, gasping for breath around the sob stuck in her throat. "I had just been betrayed by someone I thought was my friend, someone you encouraged me to trust, and I knew you were about to turn into stone right in front of me. I was about to lose you and my home and everything I cared about. And you still asked me to bring Kumandra back." She paused again, but the tightness in her chest wouldn't let her breathe deeply anymore. When she spoke again, her voice was only just above a whisper. "How could you ask me to do that?"

They stared at each other for a few seconds, both of them crying now. Benja opened and closed his mouth several times, then looked away, taking his hand from Raya's shoulder and using it to cover his mouth as tears flowed down his face. He took a deep breath as he turned back to Raya, resting his shaking hands on her shoulders.

"You're right," Benja said, his voice quivering. "I asked too much of you that day and I am so, so sorry, Raya. I should have done more work with each nation separately before I invited them all to our home and put so much pressure on you. My idealism didn't let me see the possible consequences and you paid the price for that, many times over. Far too many times." He moved one hand toward Raya's cheek, giving her time to pull away before his fingers touched her skin. "I thought about you constantly while I was stone. I was aware enough to know that I was trapped and sometimes I would get overwhelmed and start to panic. But I was able to calm down when I remembered that you were out there trying to bring me back."

Raya shook her head, turning away from his hand and biting down hard on her lower lip. "I should've brought you back sooner. You had to suffer for so long because I was too much of a coward to face what happened."

Benja moved his other hand up to Raya's face, tilting it up toward him and waiting to speak until she met his eyes. "Raya, I need you to understand how proud I am of you. Not because you fixed the Gem and reunited Kumandra, but because you kept your hope and your kindness alive during those six years. The world tried so hard to take that away from you, but you didn't let that happen. It takes a very strong person to do that, and you figured out how to be that person, all by yourself." He used his thumb to wipe a tear from Raya's cheek, giving her a sad smile. "And you're right. I've been trying to pretend like we didn't lose all that time together. But if I do that, I can't acknowledge the amazing person that you've become. I'm sorry for that, and I hope you can forgive me for my mistakes."

Raya pulled him into a hug, gripping handfuls of his shirt as he held her just as tightly. "I do forgive you. I forgave you a long time ago," she whispered into his shirt. "I just got so frustrated. I'm sorry I yelled at you."

Benja laughed softly and kissed the top of Raya's head. "It's okay. I think we needed to talk about this. It would've been nice if we had avoided the yelling, but we can move forward now." He stepped out of the hug and walked to a crate sitting on the end of the table in the middle of the room. Reaching inside, he pulled out a mango and offered it to Raya with a smile.

"Ugh, it was right there the whole time?" Raya snorted, wiping the tears from her face before she took the fruit. "Thank you."

Benja smiled and tapped the end of Raya's nose with his finger. "You're going to have to explain this mango thing to me later, because I still don't get it. But for now, I believe you need to go find Namaari. I promise we can talk about the situation with Bayani afterwards, but I'm guessing she needs you with her right now."

Raya pulled him in for one more fierce hug before she ran out of the kitchen, heading toward Namaari's room.