Silence was not the response she had expected, and the longer it dragged on, the more agitated Flair became. She trusted Jethro’s judgment, but she was starting to feel like he was keeping something from her and it put her even more on edge, brows furrowing deeper as she looked to her co-lead for an explanation; And it better come quick!

Yet it wasn’t Jethro but the boy who finally spoke up, jolting Flair’s attention back and, for just a moment, putting the full force of her glare on him. She would have modified her expression for Auburn’s sake, but before she could, his words got through to her, prompting a reaction all their own.

“Oh, yer Chan’s…” She rushed to answer before coming to an abrupt halt, the smile that had just started to return growing stiff on her lips; Chan’s… What? Looking over the youngster again, there was no denying the resemblance, a little paler and skinnier, but otherwise, he was her friend’s spitting image. Flair found herself rendered mute, stunned by the assumed reality of what stood before her; an image of what she could have had.