"Raizen" she said, and the name fit him the way it always had - cool hand to a hot forehead, the sound that told his bones they could put their weight down. "You're doing enough."
Wind paused at the ridge like it had manners. Snow held its breath. Raizen didn't move.
She stood just past the lip where camp light died - a neat slip of gray coat. Hair that never stayed pinned at her temple. The careful smile that emptied rooms of their noise, and filled them with warmth.
"I see you" she went on, voice a low house-sound remembered from other winters. "Running harder than anyone asks you to. Giving blood to things that don't bleed back. You think you're always late. You're not."
His throat closed. Words gathered and tripped each other trying to get out.
"You -" He had to swallow twice. The second one hurt. "You weren't there. I should've - I was…" He hated that his breath shook. "I'm always -"
