[ It wouldn’t have mattered to Sharon if Rose didn’t remember Trench. Even if this was a version of her from some other universe, that wouldn’t change a thing. Rose was still her mother, still Rose. But when she hears her mother say the word Trench, the tears start again. It was her! That means she remembers every morning breakfast, every shopping trip. Mother's day. Falco and spa days and movie nights.

Fuck. ]

The Pthumerian Ocean... I know. I remember. [ Her voice cracks, and the words are almost lost in the soft, shaky sob that follows, punctuated by a frustrated sniffle. ] It was August. You had to go back, and I hated it, but I knew... I knew you'd be safer out there. [ Her voice falters as the memory washes over her, Trench, that hellish place, a nightmare even on its best days. Every month brought a new kind of suffering, and Rose didn’t deserve any of it. She had been through enough already.

But now, knowing this is the same Rose... Sharon’s mind spins. Thirteen is either an incredibly manipulative bitch or foolishly kind. She’s not sure which thought unsettles her more. ]

It’s been... [ Sharon’s breath hitches as she gathers herself. She forces herself to think, to calculate how much time has passed. ] For me, it’s been about two years since then. And I’ve been here, in Folkmore, for a little over a year now. [ The words feel surreal as they leave her mouth. Time had slipped through her fingers like water, but here they were, together again, even if only for a moment. ]