POV: Kai
Coming home shouldn't hurt this much.
Ren crosses the settlement square in seconds, moving with the speed of someone who's spent three years believing someone was dead and just discovered they're alive. Her arms wrap around me before I can prepare, squeezing hard enough that my ribs protest.
"You're alive," she breathes against my shoulder. "You're actually alive."
"I'm alive," I confirm, returning the embrace despite the complicated knot in my chest.
She pulls back, and her hands find my face, checking for injuries with the practiced efficiency of someone who's patched up countless wounded. Then she slaps me. Hard.
"Three years," Ren snarls, fury replacing relief. "Three years you let us think you were dead. Three years I mourned you. Three years, Kai!"
"I know." There's no defense for what I did. No excuse that makes it better. "I'm sorry."
