Somewhere in the last few years, Beqanna had started to feel like home instead of a place Tavani was stuck. Her memories of where she had been before had a haze to them, turning many of them rosier than they really were.

There were still new things to discover, and it felt like almost every day she found something new, but these discoveries were now surprising and interesting instead of frightening.

She even has a few favourite spots.

It's a little early in the year for a swim but Tavani can't help it. There's enough of her Baltian mother in her that the chill doesn't get to her easily. So she finds her way to the widest, slowest part of the river, and eases in — the spring sunshine glittering on the surface. Her black wings fold behind her like a swan's, crowning her in dark feathers, while the bits of feather and skin and hair that come in contact with the water swirl with shades of blue and purple.

Her black-and-sky eyes are on the shore once she starts swimming leisurely, watching the comings and goings of whoever happens to pass by. Now that her anxieties over existing in this place have faded, there's more room for her to be aware of just how lonely she is. There's a sad sort of enjoyment out of watching others and imagining that they don't carry that same weight.