Plum was dreaming. Or at least, that''s what she thought. She sat on a large stone near the edge of a cliff that overlooked an endless sea.


    She’d never seen the sea before, yet somehow she felt the rolling waves, green color, and white foam were the perfect representation. She wore a dress of broad green leaves and felt an extreme sense of peace under the blue and cloudy sky, as a never-ending breeze flowed along the edge and out to the ocean. At least it''s a nice dream, she thought.


    “You’re half correct,” a feminine voice said.


    She turned to see her mother near the edge of a forest wearing similar garb, not even twenty feet away. Her smile told Plum she expected some kind of sweet reunion. Instead, Plum turned back to the infinite waters. “Why didn''t you tell me?” she whispered.


    “T-tell you what?” Locine said.


    “That I’m killing people!” Plum said. Her gaze stayed on the waves crashing against each other and the jagged crop of rocks rising out of the ocean. “I got her son killed… I smelled something weird on my way into fall, a disgusting burning smell… I didn’t think about it, but they were probably people, too,” she said, curling her legs tight against her chest. “There are others—all the people dying of some disease they can''t ever hope to cure… I killed you.”


    Locine sat next to her. “You didn''t kill anybody. And you certainly didn''t kill me.”


    Plum stayed silent and motionless.


    “It''s a hard world we live in; a hard existence I should say… That''s something Cammo would say all the time,” Locine giggled. “He never was the brightest ray of sunshine… but he was smart, and compassionate. You got that part of him.”


    She tried to pull Plum a little closer, but Plum moved away as her arms drew near.


    “You can hate me all you want,” Locine said. “But I like to think we did the right thing; not telling you, that is…”


    “I never said I hated you…” Plum stated. “I just want to know why…”


    Locine turned her attention to the long rolling grass beneath them that seemed to shimmer in the wind. “You’re a child. Someone who’s naive and innocent about how the world works. Your first thought—if the invaders had good intentions—would be to sacrifice yourself,” she said. “The way a child thinks. Plus, you probably wouldn’t understand the reasons why we did what we did…”


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    “I don''t want to hear that from you,” Plum said, raising her head. “Papa can say that because that''s the kind of person he is, but not you. You were the one protecting me… You’re the one who didn''t just treat me like some kid… I want to know why, and you still haven''t answered me.”


    Locine looked surprised for just a second before giving her daughter a wan smile. “You’re more like your father than you''ll ever know,” she replied. “It isn''t even a concrete reason… Honey, you didn''t do anything wrong, and you’re not a mistake. How can you be guilty if you didn''t commit the crime? Do you remember killing anyone? Of course not, you''re not the one who did it.”


    “But I could end it,” said Plum. “I could save all of them.”


    “That isn''t your responsibility,” her mother said, scooting back over. “You never did anything to deserve it. It''s just the work of evil people to get children like you snatched up. You know… this disease that killed me wasn''t even a natural one… I knew the moment I had it, that it was something someone was forcing on me.”


    Plum finally looked her mother in the eyes. She knew how guilty they must have looked from the way her mother looked guilty right back, as if she felt it were her fault too.


    “Someone else killed me,” she claimed. “And the deaths in combat are your father’s sins, and his alone. That boy who participated… Do you know why he did it?”


    Plum shook her head.


    “Because he thought it was the right thing to do,” Locine stated. “He said he’d done a lot of bad things in his life and thought saving you was a good thing. Are you going to tell him he was wrong? Especially when he thought it right?”


    Plum exploded. “Stop trying to make me feel better! I don''t want that from you! Just tell me what you REALLY think!” She was standing up, then. “I don''t care if it hurts, if it makes me feel like garbage, I just want the truth!” she said, hot tears streaming.


    Locine nodded and got up herself, standing knee deep in the long grass. “I’m so proud of you…” she started. “And I’m sorry this is how our reunion had to play out… But the truth is: what we''re doing is going to get a lot of people killed. But those deaths aren''t on you. They’re on me, Cammo, and that boy…”


    Plum cried hard as she hopped to the ground. Locine stared at her from above with compassion, before kneeling down to hug her. Plum wrapped her arms around her and sobbed violently. Locine’s smell, the warmth emanating from her, the soft and gentle embrace she provided… all these things comforted Plum, even if it did last just a moment.


    “I understand how you feel about it. How you want to go with her…” Locine said. “But you have the right to fight for your life…”


    Plum nodded, unable to speak due to her sobs.


    “I love you,” Locine said, and kissed her gently on the forehead. “This is this Crater’s secret. It lets you say goodbye. If only people knew…”


    And then Plum fell forward into the grass, her mother gone, leaving her alone. Was that really her? Did she really come back to life in a dream? Or was it something more? Plum was too busy sobbing to really think about that, but she wasn’t too busy to think about what she said. I have the right, she thought. Because, in all honesty, she didn’t want to die. I have the right.