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These days, Robin sleeps fitfully, if at all.
In the daylight, she acts like she always had, and tells Sumia that everything is fine. Sumia is even willing to believe her; she knows Robin’s mannerisms too well not to. She recognises small things Robin did before - before the second war. When the sun is high, she knows Robin is back, her Robin is back and she will not disappear again.
When the sun hides, and Robin tosses and turns in her sleep, and wakes up with strangled gasps, it's impossible to forget she was gone.
Sometimes the shift of the mattress as Robin slips out of their bed wakes Sumia up. A few months ago, she would have followed her, tried to calm her down, convince her to go back to bed and try to sleep some more. These days, she knows why Robin leaves, so she stays under covers and quietly waits for her to return.
These days, Robin's body is strange and familiar all the same. Scars new and old cover it like calligraphic lines. Sumia never gave it any thought; her skin is hardly unmarked, after years of war and countless injuries. But the freshness, the knowledge that some of Robin's scars are recent, disturbs her. She doesn't dare ask where Robin got them, not anymore. Robin doesn't remember. There are many new things Robin doesn't remember these days.
Sometimes she catches Robin trace one of her scars - the visible ones, on her arms - and then return to what she was doing, like it was nothing at all.
These days, Robin still opens herself up to Sumia when the two of them are alone. Her heavy-lidded, sleepless eyes look straight into Sumia's like they used to, before. Robin's lips slip from Sumia's mouth to her chin and down her neck, as easily as they always have.
Robin's skin is warm under her fingers, and her long hair tickles Sumia as it always has. She's tangible, and light doesn't pass through her skin, and Sumia will not let her go again.
One evening, when they lie together, Robin takes Sumia's hand and places it on one of her scars - the long white one on her chest. Sumia had never dared touch it before, and now that she feels how cold and smooth it is against Robin's skin, she wants more than ever to ask what happened.
She looks up into Robin's eyes, not daring to voice the question. Robin answers her anyway.
"I don't know how I got it," she sighs. "It was there when I woke up. It burned a little, and it felt like something inside me was hollow. Then it stopped."
"Does it burn you these days, too?"
"No, it was just that one time."
Sumia's finger runs down the scar, gentle and attentive, as if she was reading from a delicate, sacred volume. She has to admit: it was silly of her to assume the end of the world would leave one's body painlessly.
One morning, when Sumia enters the kitchen, she finds Robin sitting over a plate of a half-finished breakfast. She greets her, surprised she didn't hear her rise, and Robin smiles sheepishly.
"I'm sorry I didn't wait for you," she says after pressing a kiss to Sumia's cheek. "I woke up feeling light, like someone took weight off me. Somehow it made me really hungry."
Sumia nods and pours herself some tea. Her breakfast can wait a little more, she thinks. For now, she’s happy to watch as Robin finishes eating - with more appetite than she usually shows these days.
Robin wakes her up, and Sumia looks around, confused and groggy. The sun falls through their windows, bright and warm. Has she slept through morning?
"Wake up, Sleeping Beauty," Robin laughs. "We'll be late to the market."
Later, on their way to the village, Robin hugs her arm and leans her head on Sumia's shoulder. For the first time since winter ended, she's not wearing one of her heavy coats. When Sumia turns to look at her, she also sees the scars on Robin's upper arm.
They've faded a little.
"I had a dream last night," Robin says after a moment. "About a story from one of your books, the one about a man who gave a demon a ride on his shoulders."
Sumia is surprised Robin remembered the story - the book it came from was left behind in Ylisstol. She's read it many times when she was younger, though, and knows it by heart.
"The ending was different, though."
Sumia swallows and asks, "How so?"
"When they reached the destination, the demon didn't trick him," Robin explains. Her voice is very calm. "He just disappeared. The man was shocked, and then he laughed with relief."
Sumia worries her lip. Robin doesn't seem to notice her silence, and continues speaking.
"It was nice, I think. He took a big risk but it worked out in the end."
When Sumia turns to look at her, Robin's eyes don't meet hers. She's looking somewhere ahead of them, and she's smiling.
These days, Robin sometimes wakes up from nightmares, but when Sumia holds her, she calms down, and sleeps until morning.