[ and just like that, she can't stop crying, tears hot and slick on her cheeks. she tries in vain to wipe them away but they just won't stop. and she hates it. she thought she was done crying over the things she'd lost, the things she'd had taken from her, the lives she could have had, but she wasn't. she may never be. ]

Rose was the greatest gift I ever could have been given in life, Falco. [ it didn't make up for her suffering but it almost did. it was almost worth it all just to be called that woman's daughter. to be held and loved by a woman worthy of the title of mother. ] And, in some ways, she's the reason I know you.

You've been a gift to us, too. [ her words are nasally and heavy, full of love and sorrow in equal proportion. ] Thank you, Falco. Thank you for... not hating me for what you've seen.

[ she hasn't told him she was afraid of that but she was. she's been afraid, so very fucking afraid, that he'd look at her differently. that he'd see her differently. that he'd no longer care about her. but here he was, glad for her. glad for the her that was sharon and the her that was alessa and that made her heart clench up so tight in her chest that breathing hurt and she was filled with feelings she couldn't put into words ]