Thomas Gillan entered the eating hall. A Foch noticed him enter, and waved him over to the table she was sitting at. The hall was quiet, only a few Foch were present. As Thomas sat down, the Foch who waved him over introduced herself.

“You must be Thomas. My name’s Freyja, I assume my little sister sent you here?” she said.

Thomas nodded.

“Yes, she did,” he said.

“Mhm,”

The two sat at the table. Freyja looked at Thomas, not saying anything. Thomas looked back, then around the room feeling increasingly awkward over the silence.

“Did you just stop by to say hi?” Freyja asked.

Thomas quickly turned back to face Freyja.

“No, uh… um. Lianna said that you’d be better to talk to…”

“Oh, that’s what this is about. You feel bad about what you did,” Freyja said.

“Yeah…”

Freyja stretched her arms out, only to set them on the table and lean forward towards Thomas.

“Let me tell you my take. Yeah, you screwed up. But if you realise how you screwed up, that’ll be good for you moving forward,”

“Do you think Samuel will forgive me?” he asked.

Freyja leaned back again.

“Ehhh, I’m not sure how much it--- oh, good timing.”

Freyja looked towards the entrance to the eating hall. Elenora stood outside the door, while another Foch - a girl Thomas didn’t recognize - entered the hall. Thomas looked as she approached.

“Hey other little sis!” chimed Freyja.

The golden-brown haired Foch gave an annoyed look at Freyja.

“It’s Saya, Freyja! I have a name,”

She walked over and took a seat next to Freyja. Saya looked over at Thomas, then over to Freyja.

“Why is Thomas here?” she asked.

“He wanted to apologise, Saya.” Freyja answered.

Thomas looked at the two, with a confused furrow.

“Do I know you?” asked Thomas.

From behind Saya popped out a spirit who moved through the air to land on the table.

“Hello, my name is Mai. Nice to meet you,” the spirit said.

Thomas looked down at the spirit. Mai continued her introduction:

“The one you know as Samuel made a contract with me, and now goes by Saya Ariadottir. I hope that explains your confusion?”

Thomas looked at the spirit for a moment. He then looked back at Saya, who gave a short, almost melancholic wave. Thomas slowly leaned back, his face slowly paling from putting it all together.

“Oh…” he said.

“I don’t think it’s entirely your fault, though you certainly helped make it happen. I’m not fully informed on all the details, but it sounds like there was more than just you on the way to this,” said Freyja.

Thomas looked downward, in thought.

“I guess this is what I get,”

“I suppose you could say that,” added Freyja.

Freyja leaned forward and poked Thomas on his forehead, prompting him to look back up.

“Were you going to apologise?” she asked.

Thomas paused to process. He looked at Saya.

“I’m… sorry,” he said.

Saya smiled, but shook her head.

“I don’t think it matters that much now. I’m with Mai now, and Lianna and Freyja have adopted me into their family.”

She looked at Freyja with a warm smile.

“I’m happy here… though I accept your apology anyway.” she added.

Freyja gave Saya a big, over-enthusiastic hug. Saya was still notably shorter than Freyja or Lianna, and struggled to escape Freyja’s grip.

“Who couldn’t be kind to this adorable little sister,” Freyja quipped.

While Saya tried to break out of Freyja’s hug, Thomas looked at the two siblings as a pair. Thinking over Freyja’s offhand comment, internally he finally began to understand what his actions had caused.

“Hmm, yes… by the way, Saya, your mother couldn’t make it, she’s rather busy. I’m sorry if you were hoping she’d be here,” he said.

Saya, finally free of Freyja’s hug, turned to face Thomas.

“Oh… okay, I suppose that would happen,” she said.

Saya looked downtrodden, but quickly returned to her happy demeanour from before.

“Can you tell her my name, and tell her to come by sometime?” she asked.

Thomas nodded.

“Yes, I can do that.” he said.

Lianna entered the eating hall, looking around for someone. She locked eyes with Thomas, and walked over.

“Hey, Thomas, I wanted to say that the chief okayed the negotiations… oh, so you met Saya.” she said.

Thomas spun his head to look at Lianna.

“Wha- oh, okay. …Yeah, I’ve met Saya,”

Lianna walked over to behind where Saya was sitting.

“Was he okay?” she asked Saya.

Saya turned her head to look up at the standing Lianna.

“Yeah, he was fine. We’re okay,” she said.

Thomas looked at the three Foch - Freyja, Lianna, and Saya - and saw a trio of siblings.

“Maybe this is for the best,” he muttered to himself.

He stood up, motioning to get Lianna’s attention.

“Do you need me to do anything else?”

“No, do you need to get back to your convoy?” she asked.

“Yes, unfortunately I can’t stay around. Be good to your new sisters, Saya,”

Thomas walked to Saya, and patted her on the head. He was done with all his business, official and unofficial.

Later that day, he would leave the village to return to the caravan, to get the men and women of the Fredericka convoy trading once again with the Foch of the Wildwood. Men and women who in recent weeks had grown to appreciate the changed attitude of his - including the one who ran away.