[ These worlds away from their own, places that gather scattered people together, operate differently than those they come from. Mayerling knows from sad experience that in his life in his world, whether on the Frontier or in the City of the Night, he will not reunite with those he's loved because everyone he's cared for is dead and gone, having completed their brief stays in the universe they know as they all are. Compared to the lifespan of humans, vampires appear long lived, even potentially immortal as time does not claim them naturally the way it does man, yet in the lifespan of the universe, vampires and humans alike present a mere blip on the cosmic scale, and vampires one that will end before humans. Even dinosaurs lived across far longer stretches of time than humans and vampires have. He too is a transient guest in the world, his life but a candle briefly illuminating the dark.

Yet Trench, Folkmore, and other worlds that Star Children have been in that operate similarly, they operate somehow like magnets—like calling to like. Mayerling's initial presence may have provided an anchor for Sharon, and Sharon one for Rose. Their yearning reaches beyond the grasp of their own comprehension to bring them together again and again. Whether the means be Thirteen or Mariana or some other cosmic being matters little, when those people's actions carry the weight of people's desires. Not all wishes are granted, but enough, enough that matters, enough that sees the three of them here together today. ]

The loneliness is well worth it when we are able to find love and those we love across universes. We have found each other, and it delights me utterly that you are here, Rose. It saddened me in Trench to learn that I had missed you, yet here we are finally meeting in another universe. It is as you both say. We find each other.

Please, eat and drink. We have time together, today and tomorrow and the days after.