"I know it will." Parts of the experience are certainly less than they were in the days and weeks after she'd died. Having someone else living in the house after a few months had helped with much of it; a reminder of life that didn't exist when she needed it most in those first quiet nights. But that didn't stop the occasional nightmare, didn't take away the feelings that lingered until she could push thoughts of what she'd remembered down enough to forget about them. She'd been changed by the experience, and even if she didn't let herself show it most days, it didn't mean that wasn't true.

She could still remember being so enraptured that she couldn't look away. The euphoria of being wanted while water filled her lungs. The pain of being torn apart while she reached out to touch Chris' face one last time. All of it was there, as was the gaping feeling of nothingness that lived in the space between those last moments and waking up in Shadows' Rest days later.

"I don't know if it helped, the ceremony. I don't know if that's because of what this place is or the fact that your gods don't exist where I'm from." Her lips tug into a soft frown. "I wish I knew so I could tell you and ease your mind, even if it was to tell you a harsh truth, but I can't. The best I can offer is assurance that I'm grateful for the attempt. Knowing you cared and wanted to try after what had happened... it helps as much now as it did then."

It changes nothing about what happened, but it makes all this - her death, their suffering, this moment - a little easier to bear.