That brings Pepper's smile back, if small and slightly sad. "I'm just glad you have that somewhere. I wish things were better back home, duh... but we weren't back for very long. It doesn't really give us a lot of information about where things go from here. The way I see it, we can either worry about what happens until we get ulcers, make plans to do something about it, or stop worrying about it completely."

That last one is unlikely, even in the long term. They would all go home eventually. Still, if anything supports living in the present, it's Konryu. She takes a deep breath and exhales slowly, tapping the ground with her fingertips.

"When we were home... did you think that Tony and me would give up at all?"