Again, the rejection. The way Lilaena spoke, she seemed back at the mindset that any happiness between them was a lie. It took him back to the day when the ties between them had snapped. That day, the feeling was mutual.
But it wasn't anymore. He'd grown since that day and through his moments here with Lilaena, he felt in her a relentless good that would not die no matter how it was trampled underfoot. She wrongly thought of it as a weakness; it wasn't. It was the source of all her strength and the focus of all her pain.
It was her hope.
It was something he would not forget.
She was wrong on something else too. Not everything had been said between the two of them. Pierce placed a hand on Lilaena's shoulder and squeezed. "When the rest of the galaxy turns its back on you, I won't. Don't lose hope, and don't cry."
Lilaena did not shake his hand away, nor did she speak. Pierce left the room, pausing only once to look back at her from the doorway and wonder at whether those ethereal family ties between them would push them apart or draw them together.
'Oh baby, don't cry.'
######
You're in my mind all of the time
I know that's not enough
Well if the sky can crack there must be some way back
To love and only love
Baby don't cry.