She takes the gem loosely in her hands, the weight of it so heavy against her palms, and she looks in it and Anya is toddling over into her brother's arms, who is probably complaining about his homework, but he looks happy, like he's glad that he even has homework. Victor was almost too protective to let him attend a real school... she would have homeschooled him in a heartbeat, but he begged and begged, and she didn't build him to keep him locked up.

Cole is cooking with Athena on his hip, and Athena is making the salt shaker float.

She doesn't know that this is real, either. A hope gem could project a false hope. But it's all she has to hold onto. All she has that she can believe in. So she forces herself to believe it. She must. "Thank you."