Evan found Anaya in the library an hour later, curled up on the couch with a picture book. She looked up when he entered, her face brightening.
"Papa! Look at this book! It has a dragon who makes friends with a—"
"Anaya, we need to talk."
Her smile faded. She knew that tone. "About what?"
Evan sat down beside her, suddenly aware that this was one of the hardest conversations he'd ever have to have. "About the barrier crossing. About you going home."
"You mean about US going home."
"That's the thing, kid. I—" He took a breath. "I can't go with you."
For a moment, she just stared. Then: "What do you mean you can't go? You HAVE to go! We go together! That's how it works!"
"I know that's what you thought, but—"
"NO!" She stood up on the couch, her small body rigid. "You PROMISED! You said we'd stay together! You SAID!"
"I know, and we will, just not right away. I need to stay here for a little while longer."
"Why?" Tears were already forming in her eyes.
"Because there are other elves, Anaya. Other elves like you. Trapped in bad places, being hurt, being scared. And I—" Evan's voice cracked. "I have to try to save them. Like I saved you."
"But that's not fair! I need you!"
"And they need help too. Those who don't have anyone fighting for them."
Anaya's face crumpled. "Then I'll wait! I'll stay here until you're done saving people and then we can go together!"
"No. It's too dangerous. If something goes wrong, if the bad people find this place—"
"I don't CARE! I won't go without you!" She was crying hard now, her small hands fisted in his shirt. "Papa, please. Please don't make me go alone. I'll be good, I'll be quiet, I'll help with the saving—"
"Baby, listen—"
"NO! You listen! I looked for you my WHOLE LIFE! And I finally found you and now—now you want to send me away?" Her voice broke. "You're leaving me just like before! Just like when I was born!"
The accusation hit like a physical blow.
"That's not—Anaya, I'm not leaving you. I'm making sure you're safe."
"Safe is with YOU!" She was sobbing now, hiccupping between words. "Safe is together! Not—not me there and you here!"
Evan pulled her into his lap, holding her while she cried. She fought him at first, angry and hurt, but eventually collapsed against his chest, her small body shaking with sobs.
"I hate this," she whispered. "I hate it so much."
"I know, baby. I know."
"How long? How long until you come?"
This was it. The moment where he had to prepare her.
"I don't know exactly. But Anaya—" He tilted her face up gently. "There's something important you need to know. About when I cross the barrier."
She sniffled, waiting.
"When humans cross into elf lands, when we pass through the barrier—sometimes we change."
"Change how?"
"Our faces. The way we look. Sometimes we look completely different on the other side." Evan kept his voice steady. "I might not look like the Papa you know anymore. My face might be different. My voice might be different. Everything on the outside might change."
Anaya's eyes went wide with horror. "But—but then how will I know it's you?"
"You'll know because of what's inside. Remember? You can see inside people. That won't change. My outside might look different, but my inside—" He pressed her hand over his heart. "—this will be the same. The love will be the same."
"Will you still make silly faces?"
"Probably. Can't guarantee which faces though. Might be different silly faces."
"Will you still tell terrible stories?"
"The worst stories. That's a promise."
She was quiet for a moment, processing. Then: "What if you forget? What if crossing makes you forget me?"
"I won't forget you—"
"But what if? What if you forget everything? The cookies and the scary place and the woods and—and all our adventures?" Fresh tears spilled down her cheeks. "What if you forget you love me?"
Evan felt something shatter in his chest. "Then you remind me. You tell me all the stories I forgot. You show me who I am—who we are together. And even if I don't remember the details, the love will still be there. That's deeper than memory."
"Promise?"
"I promise. No matter what face I have, no matter what I remember or forget, I will always—ALWAYS—love you. That's the one thing that can't change."
Anaya cried harder, burying her face in his shirt. "I don't want you to be different. I like you exactly how you are. Grumpy and silly and warm."
"I like you exactly how you are too. Food-in-your-hair and all."
"I don't get food in my hair!"
"You currently have oatmeal behind your left ear."
She reached up, found the oatmeal, and despite everything, let out a watery giggle. "Oh."
They sat there for a long time, Anaya's sobs gradually quieting into hiccups, then into exhausted breathing.
"Four days?" she finally whispered.
"Four days."
"That's not enough time to say goodbye."
"Then we won't say goodbye. We'll say—see you later. When I come home with my maybe-different face and fuzzy memories."
She pulled back to look at him, her amber eyes red and swollen. "You promise you'll come? Even if it takes a long time?"
"I promise."
"Even if you look different and don't remember everything?"
"Even then."
"Even if—" Her voice got very small. "Even if I'm mad at you for leaving?"
"Even if you hate me, baby. I'll still come home."
Anaya threw her arms around his neck, holding on like she'd never let go. Against his shoulder, she whispered the words he had taught her:
"I carry you with me, Papa. Always."
Evan's vision blurred. He performed the gesture—hands to heart, then extended to her. "I carry you with me. Always."
They held each other while the afternoon light filtered through the small library window, two people preparing to break their own hearts because it was the right thing to do.
Eventually, Anaya pulled back. Her face was blotchy, her nose running, her eyes swollen. She looked absolutely miserable.
"Papa?"
"Yeah, kid?"
"I still think this is stupid."
"Me too."
"But I'll do it. Because you asked me to. And because—" She swallowed hard. "Because you need to save the others. And that's important. Even though I hate it."
"You're very brave."
"I don't feel brave. I feel sad and angry and like my tummy hurts."
"That's what brave feels like sometimes."
She considered this. "Really?"
"Really. Being brave doesn't mean not being scared or sad. It means doing the hard thing anyway."
"Then I'm being VERY brave. Like, the bravest."
"The absolute bravest," Evan agreed.
She snuggled back against him, exhausted from crying. "Can we just sit here for a while? Before we have to tell Grandma and Uncle Yusuf?"
"Yeah, baby. We can sit here as long as you want."
They found Helena and Yusuf in the common area an hour later. Anaya's eyes were still red, her grip on Evan's hand tight.
Helena took one look at them and understood. "You told her."
"Yeah."
Yusuf glanced between them. "Told her what?"
"That I'm not going with her when she crosses. That I'll come later, after—" Evan stopped, not wanting to explain the whole "infiltrating military facilities" plan in front of Anaya.
"After you do the important saving people thing," Anaya finished quietly.
"Oh." Yusuf's expression softened. "Kid, I'm sorry. That's really hard."
"Papa said when he crosses the barrier later, his face might change and he might forget things but his inside will stay the same." Anaya recited this like she was trying to make herself believe it. "So I'll still recognize him. With my special seeing."
Helena and Yusuf went very still.
"His face will... change?" Helena repeated slowly.
"And he might forget stuff. But not the important stuff. Not that he loves me." Anaya looked up at Evan. "Right, Papa?"
"Right."
There was a long, heavy silence.
Then Yusuf made a sound that was half cough, half strangled laugh. He turned away quickly, his shoulders shaking.
"Are you laughing?" Evan demanded.
"No. Absolutely not. Just—" Yusuf's voice was strained. "Just something in my throat. Very dusty in here."
"Yusuf—"
"I need to go check on—on the thing. The important thing." Yusuf fled before Evan could stop him, his barely contained laughter echoing down the hallway.
Helena just stared at Evan, her expression a mix of shock and something that might have been awe.
"You told her," Helena said slowly, "that crossing the barrier would change your face."
"It was the only way I could think to—"
"And that you might forget things."
"To prepare her for when—"
"Evan Cross." Helena pressed her fingers to her temples. "You just... you actually just... oh my God."
"What? It'll make the transition easier when she meets Kael! She'll think he's me with a changed face instead of realizing I was lying to her this whole time!" He was whispering.
"That's—" Helena stopped, clearly at a loss for words. "That's either the most brilliant or the most catastrophically stupid thing you've ever done and I genuinely cannot tell which."
"It's brilliant," Evan said defensively.
"It's going to blow up in your face spectacularly."
"Or it'll work perfectly and she'll accept Kael as her father without any trauma."
"Or she'll figure out the truth and feel completely betrayed."
"Or—"
"Papa? Grandma?" Anaya tugged on Evan's shirt. "Why are you arguing about faces?"
"We're not arguing, sweetheart. We're just—discussing." Helena knelt down to Anaya's level. "Your Papa is very creative. Sometimes too creative."
"I like his creative," Anaya said loyally.
"Of course you do." Helena pulled Anaya into a hug, meeting Evan's eyes over the child's head. Her expression was complex—worry and hope and fear all mixed together.
Later, she mouthed silently.
Evan nodded.
They'd talk about this later. About the ethics of his elaborate lie, about whether it would actually help or hurt, about what would happen when Anaya finally met her real father.
But for now, Anaya was squeezing between them for a group hug, and Helena was holding them both, and Evan was memorizing this feeling.
Four days.
That's all they had left.
Four days to be a family before everything changed.
Again.