From_Aurora

To: Athena

Dear Athena,

Have you really left us for good, without even saying goodbye? I know we haven't spoken much lately, but isn't that just part of the slow, relaxed lives we now lead? After all those centuries of struggle, trying to build New Jerusalem, I thought we deserved a rest. And if that disappointed you... why didn't you say so?

I know you disapprove of all those silly titles they give us now, but we really were your first companions. We know what it was like. I was there when Yemo died, I remember the horror of realizing there was no way of bringing him back. The impossible finality of it, and then the determination to make it make sense, to have it be part of a story that leads to a better world. I never abandoned that, Athena. I just thought that maybe I could spend some time on the things that make life worth living, too.

Maybe I lost track. Maybe I failed you. I don't know, because you didn't tell me.

Aurora