“Everything clicked. Her notes and my notes, we even deviated from the song, and as Tanis hummed her melody, I felt compelled to sing around it, my tones dancing up and down and intertwining in a compliment to hers. It was a moment I’d never forget no matter how long I lived, the feeling of puzzle pieces sliding into place. I knew I was a siren; the evidence had stacked so high by now, and of course I was getting along well, fitting in with the others at the House of Sirens. But this, this sealed the deal. This was my one true link to this world and my heritage.
Tanis didn’t take her eyes off of me, even when tears began to run down her face. What had she gone through? Thinking she’d lost her baby, the illness that took her health and her voice. Enough to make her want to live in a house away from everyone else and only do her work at the towers.
As our song faded to an end, we all stood there. Calliope was in absolute shock, Caspian and Nikkos stayed silent. Tanis stared, her eyes reflecting mine with welling tears threatening to spill over that might not end if they began.
But we couldn’t quite move past this part, Tanis and me. My mother and me. I was ready to love her. I was ready to hate her. I was ready to scream at whatever circumstances brought me to this point. What I could have had, what I didn’t have.
Shaking, Tanis reached out a hand. To touch me. Maybe hold my hand, maybe to lead to a hug. But it was too much for me, and I took a step back, spilling the first tears.
“Wait.” My voice tremored, and my hands balled into fists, grabbing my dress at my sides. Everyone paused, not a soul ready to move. Tanis looked ready to break, like a glass sculpture tipping too far forward. I just needed a minute, but I owed this connection to the both of us.
“Okay,” I breathed, opening my arms. Tanis didn’t wait for a translation before flinging herself forward to wrap herself around me as tightly as she could. My hair, her hair, it was all the same color as our heads rested on one another’s shoulder. My tears fell on her, hers fell on me, and we would both surely be a mess after this, but no one was going to say anything. Not to us, not for what we had both missed out on.”