"You're a lot more optimistic than I am," Faye remarked quietly, raising a brow. And in many ways, that had always been true, for as long as Faye had known Lily. There was something about her that couldn't be broken, an ability to push on forward when all the odds were stacked across her; to say that Faye admired that quality would have been an immense understatement.

She feared it as well, of course. Because she'd been that way once, expecting the best of people and anticipating getting to travel out into the world in full. Nothing had worked out in the way that Faye wanted.

"Does this mean I can recruit you for babysitting when the time comes?" she smiled faintly, cheeks still a little pale, but tone sounding more sure. Wallowing wasn't going to help anything, after all.