She hadn't meant to say the words, she was angry and they just slipped out. Tally regretted it the moment it happened, Sarah's eyes looking back at her with so much hurt. Hurt that was quickly hidden behind a stone cold gaze.
Walls going up, walls that Alder had built over hundreds of years so that nothing could hurt her. So nothing could make her falter. But Tally Craven slipped through, making her falter.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it. I'm so-sorry."
Alder stood, ever the ex-General that she was, hands behind her back, "Don't be sorry, it's true isn't it? My heart is black. The things we say in anger have a semblance of truth to them."
Sarah stepped forward and lightly touched her cheek, only love radiated from those fingertips.
Love and sorrow.
"I may have been reborn from the mycelium, but it couldn't heal the past. And I will try harder to make up for that. I'm sorry to have disappointed you once again."
Tally clung to her shaking her head, "I'm sorry, it's all my fault, I didn't mean to say it. Your heart isn't black. I only said it out of jealousy. I just wanted you for myself. It was immature of me to say. Please, I…" Tally pressed her forehead into the woman's chest as she wept.
Sarah shone through as she lowered her walls and pressed a kiss to the girl's head, "Oh, Tally, how many times are you going to break my heart?"