"Well, I have strong motivation to learn how to now," Miyume said, smiling sweetly at him. "And I like spending time with you. You make me happy just as you are."

Her feelings were beginning to swell again so she feigned interest in where they were going. It was dangerous to get so invested in him and what they shared but he was special to her. And he'd done something no one else had been able to do since she'd first taken ill.

He'd set her free.

The skies were still a vast, scary place Miyume felt she could easily get lost in. But for the time in her young life, she felt like she might not be doomed to sit and watch everyone else take wing while she stayed locked in a cage. Maybe someday she'd be ready to fly high herself.