In her raw state, her father’s embrace jolted River like a shock of electricity. She tensed, instinctively going into fight-or-flight. Then she felt the pure, unadulterated joy emanating from him. She realized he was murmuring into her hair, shuddering with what might have been a sob. The tension washed away like warm water. Crushed as she was to his chest, she smelled the starch on his shirt, the familiar scrape of the fabric against her cheek. She smelled his particular brand of shaving lotion. His warmth soaked the cold rain from her clothes. For the first time in what she only knew as years, she was a little girl again, innocent, safe, protected in her father’s arms. It was a feeling not even Ariel could impose upon. She smiled serenely and squeezed him back. They finally broke apart, and Gabriel held her at arm’s length.

“Ri yue xing chen, how did you get here?” he managed through the overpowering emotions welling in him.

“I came to see Mom,” she said. Her father’s joy faded. River dropped her eyes, the warm feelings also draining away as she remembered the mission and the circumstances which drove her to undertake it.

“Of course,” Gabriel replied. “But, where is Simon?” he asked, searching the rainstorm for her brother.

“He’s not coming,” she stated with finality. Gabriel eyes darkened and she felt him torn between happiness at having her back, and what was almost a sense of betrayal that Simon was not there as well. But he simply nodded and drew her inside. She stepped to the center of the foyer, letting her gaze wander around with simple curiosity at the space that was both familiar and somehow foreign to her. Gabriel finished locking the door and stopped to watch her. His eyes widened when he saw the gun strapped to her thigh. “It’s not safe for me,” she turned around, answering his question before he asked it. Gabriel did not understand the world-weariness in her eyes. When she went to the Academy, she was a warm, gentle teenage girl who loved to dance. Now she looked l