I was looking at her quietly, just letting the moment stretch, when a question I had buried deep inside myself suddenly floated back to the surface. It was something that had been sitting in the back of my mind ever since I came to this place. I'd meant to ask it sooner, but so many things had happened—one disaster after another—that it had been pushed aside, forgotten under the weight of survival and confusion.
Still, now that things were calm, even for just a moment, it refused to stay silent.
"Princess, can I ask you something?" I said at last, my voice breaking the stillness.
"What is it?" she replied, turning to look at me. There was a faint pause in her movement, like she was trying to read my expression. She probably found it strange that I'd suddenly shifted the topic so abruptly.
I hesitated for half a second, then forced the words out. "Do you think… we'll be able to go back home?"
