Shaking with emotion as she literally hid in a public toilet stall and bit down on her lip to keep from audibly sobbing, Bindhi sank down onto the toilet. She had seen her aunt and uncle. She had just literally walked right by her aunt and uncle with neither of them realizing who she was. All while she knew them. Knew their faces and their voices. And she couldn’t do a goddamned thing about it. Gulping down a sob, Bindhi buried her face in her hands and tried to tell herself that it was better like this. They were safer not knowing that she’d once been Arilee Selvig, scapegrace niece and full time pain in the a**. She could keep them safe and far from harm by simply walking away from all of this. She’d done it before.

But that had been in the heady gift of power from Ares. She was the one who’d merrily tripped off and left her family behind. The one who’d seen no other recourse but to murder her own father to remain free to serve the Queen of the Dark Mirror. And it had been so easy to forget them since at the time they’d lived far, far away from Destiny City. Holy ********, she was a terrible niece. A terrible, thoughtless person.

Crying softly, Bindhi berated herself for how thoughtless she’d been. Did her aunt and uncle miss her? Or were they glad to be rid of her? Shaking her head violently, she dismissed that thought. Her aunt and uncle had loved her when she thought no one else cared. Did they live in Destiny City now? Or were they just visiting for Uncle’s work? She had no way of knowing.

And she couldn’t go to them. Thanks to the glamour that had protected her upon purifying, they’d never recognize her. And they really were safer if they had no idea about her. But it hurt. It hurt to realize that she had to leave them behind. That she could never invite them to see her get married…

Oh hell.

A fresh bout of tears rolled down her face. This, more than anything drove home just how much she’d given up originally to become a senshi and then again once she’d purified. She had orphaned herself and in the most spectacularly braindead way possible. Though even as she shredded her heart, she knew she’d made the right choice when she’d left Arilee behind. And she had friends. She had Angus.

It still hurt.

Mopping her tears as best she could with a wad of toilet paper, Bindhi took a deep breath and hoped she didn’t look as terrible as she felt. She needed to go home and just… be without anything to demand her time and attention. She had to figure out a way to give her family some tiny piece of mind. Because she had no doubt that after her father’s death, her aunt and uncle were likely to be very worried about Arilee. Even if she couldn’t go to them, she could still do the right thing and ease some worry. She just had to figure out how.