Page 60 of Suncatcher

Driz took her hand, leading her up the once-central street, just cracked earth now. “The surprise is up there,” Driz said, pointing vaguely on the horizon. “But I wish to show you something first. You may want your lantern.”

She seemed nervous, and it rubbed off on Pearl, her senses already on edge. But she removed the travel lantern from her hip and lit it, following Driz up rotting steps and into what had been the saloon. One of the doors had clearly been rehung recently, because it was upside down and the hinges were staked with new, jagged bits of iron, not the original nails.

Inside wasn’t as bad as she’d braced for. Beneath her feet, the dust and sand of years and storms had been cleared away, revealing patterned tiles. Old bottles and broken shards lined the shelves, which caught her lantern’s glow, and several of the stools at the bar appeared intact.

She glanced at Driz, uncertain how to respond. “Is this what you wanted to show me?” she clarified.

“I used to come here a lot, especially when I was young.” Driz walked over to the wall. “This is why I brought you here.”

Part of a cracked mirror hung there. Driz stopped in front of it, staring at herself for a long moment before she turned back to Pearl, extending her hand, looking almost shy. “Will you look with me?”

Pearl slid her palm into Driz’s larger one and joined her.

Pearl was unused to feeling small. But the top of her head barely reached Driz’s ducked chin as Driz moved behind her, her full face still in view.

“Do you see yourself?” Driz asked, her eyes on Pearl in the mirror.

Pearl nodded, still not quite sure what Driz wanted.

“And you see me?”

“Yeah.”

“And…is this what I look like all the time?”

The glass was a bit cloudy, and a crack ran through it. “Mostly.”

Driz nodded. “I have not had anyone to ask before.” Her breathing quickened, her wings shuddering.

Pearl reached for her. “What’s wrong?”

Driz squeezed her eyes shut. “She was my only friend, for a very long time.” She pointed at the wall. “Me, in the mirror. Now I get to show her you. Show her I am not alone anymore.”

Pearl didn’t know what to say, the urge to run away strong. Alarm bells rang in her head that this was too much. Driz was getting too attached to her. At the same time, Pearl needed to wrap Driz up in her arms and hold her until she smiled again.

Driz looked back at the mirror, her expression darkening. “I wish I could look better for you.”

“Don’t say that,” Pearl snapped, and Driz flinched.

“I am sorry.”

“And don’t apologize for it either.”

Driz gazed at her, and Pearl sighed. She was overwhelmed by Driz’s heartbreaking words and Pearl’s own confusing reaction, and this need to erase the sadness from Driz. Pearl knew she couldn’t change the past, but she could give Driz something new.

“Don’t move,” Pearl ordered before she could think too hard about it.

She grabbed two bar stools, one tall and one broken down to the upper braces beneath the structure of the seat, and dragged them over. She placed her lantern on the taller stool to cast light over them both, and stepped onto the short one in front of Driz so they were nearer the same height, facing each other. And she kissed her.

She meant it to be a quick peck, but Driz’s soft gasp followed by her faint rumble almost derailed Pearl’s plan.

She forced herself to pull back and glanced over her shoulder, waiting for Driz to meet her gaze in the reflection. “You’re not alone right now,” Pearl promised.

Driz couldn’t stay quiet or keep her wings still as Pearl’s lips landed on her cheek. Soft and warm, they lingered before trailing down to her jaw, pulling a groan from Driz’s throat. When she turned, mouth hunting for Pearl’s, Pearl retreated.

She gripped Driz’s face, forcing it back straight. “No, watch,” Pearl whispered. “Don’t look away. I’m trying to show her.”

Understanding swept through Driz. She looked back in the mirror, at herself. And at Pearl, as Pearl touched her.