He'd convinced her no amount of death or sacrifice would return their family. He'd been the one who'd made her see there were other ways of honoring their sacrifice.
She'd created her mission from the ashes of the old, clung to it during the nights when her demons had threatened to destroy her.
Having her failures thrown back in her face was insulting. It galled her on a level she could barely comprehend.
It was difficult resisting the urge to return to the class and exact retribution on Rheya. Kira knew the kid didn't deserve it. She'd seen an opportunity to knock the humans down a peg and exploited it. Exactly as she was no doubt taught.
Except this time, she'd gone after an open wound.
Kira's footsteps slowed as she came to a stop, staring at the empty hallway in front of her.
"I know you're there," she said, not bothering to look around. "Might as well come out."
Silence echoed. Kira waited with a restraint she didn't feel.
Finally, she turned, knowing what she'd find even before she did. Finn waited patiently; his expression carefully blank. A good thing given how fragile Kira felt. She couldn't have guaranteed she wouldn't have tipped the situation into violence if he'd looked at her with sympathy or pity.
She looked away, her mouth screwing up. "I don't suppose you'd agree to go back the way you came."
He didn't answer, which was answer enough.
"It's too bad. I could use some alone time right about now." There was a shakiness in her voice that said she was at her limit.
Finn read that, moving to take a place at her side. He stared out the window she'd unwittingly stopped in front of. Finally, he moved. "Come on. I have a place to take you."
Kira didn't bother hiding her suspicion. Finn and Kira had come to a compromise of sorts, but it wasn't the sort of thing that made them friends. This smacked of caring, the sort you might apply to someone you were friendly with.
His smile was brief, lightening his eyes and revealing a glimpse of the man he might have once been. "Don't act so suspicious. Not everyone is out to get you."
"Says you," Kira threw at him. "My track record says otherwise."
*
"This is where you wanted to bring me?" Kira asked skeptically.
They stood outside a bar located on the edge of the city, close to the fortress's walls. Housed in a cozy-looking building of stone and stucco, the inside was filled with a sea of synth armor, deep blue the dominant color.
Wide-open windows looked out on the city below and the ocean beyond it.
A long bar curved through the middle of the room, its surface polished and bright.
The place smelled clean and fresh. A murmur drifted through the space, the Tuann inside not paying any attention to the newcomers. Many hung out in alcoves; gauzy curtains pulled to hide the identities of those inside.
There was none of the electric hum of depression or desperation that she'd become accustomed to from the station bars she normally frequented.
This space spoke of elegance and comfort.
"You never struck me as the type to drown your sorrow with alcohol," Kira said, sending Finn a sidelong look.
Warmth lit his expression. "You looked like you needed to get away for a while. This place fits that need, while exposing you to another side of life with us."
Kira hummed in interest, taking in those around her. Roake's colors may have dominated, but she caught glimpses of the armor of other Houses as well.
Kira moved toward the bar, leaning against it as she people watched.
"Do you guys ever take your armor off?" Kira asked.
Of those she could see, almost all wore some type of armor. Not all were synth, but the majority were. Those who were dressed normally were mostly behind the bar or moving through the room with trays. Less than a handful of the patrons themselves were out of armor.
