Silence settled after the word, thick and unmoving, like fog that refused to lift.
Aubrelle was the first to speak.
"…That's everything," she said quietly. "Even the parts I didn't want to tell."
Her voice was steady, but not light. As if each sentence had been weighed before being allowed out. She did not look away, nor did she brace herself. She simply stated it, the way one admits something that cannot be undone.
Trafalgar inclined his head a fraction.
"I see," he replied. "Thank you… for telling me."
Nothing more followed.
And that was what made it difficult.
Aubrelle waited.
Not for reassurance. Not for absolution. She did not want to hear that it would all be fine, or that she should forget it, or that she was too kind to have done what she did. She had heard those words before, from people who meant well and understood nothing.
She waited for a reaction.
Trafalgar did not rush to fill the space.
