The girl's nightmare's behind her, she began to wander through the glowing room. Her rest had been far less rejuvenating than she had hoped for, but perhaps she hadn't really expected any better. After all, even without the blackness up above she had nightmares almost every night; unfortunately, she had apparently taken to screaming down in the caverns. Perhaps she wouldn't rest well until Kaj returned from above. He'd been gone so long, and he'd been so tired when he left her. She sighed. He really needed to listen to Res more. He needed rest.

But her wanders seemed to take her to a confusing place as she left the glowing room. She thought she was headed back out to the main cavern to find Res, to see if Kaj had made it home with Lace yet, but nothing where she was walking seemed even remotely familiar, and every time she turned the whole room seemed to shift and turn, to sparkle and dance even without a distinct light source. But happy accidents rarely bothered the girl and she tried so hard to find wonder in the place... still, somehow it would not come. Her mind and heart were tired, exhausted even, and with no chance that sleep in the caverns would give her the life she needed, the girl doubted she would find rest before all this madness ended.

Still, as she wandered on, the girl began to forget some of her depression, some of her sorrows, her loss, her worry, her stress. The dancing crystals seemed insistent, like they would not give up on her, would not let her wander through their mass without finding some joy, some of the childish heart that had been hers for so long. And so, eventually, she managed a smile, a faint one, but a smile nevertheless. And her blue eyes sparkled and she lifted her head and softly, oh so softly, she managed a nicker, a happy sound that filled her little portion of the maze, the idea that she was utterly lost suddenly gone from her brain. For a moment, for this wondrous moment, she was Kahlua again. The weight of the world was not on her shoulders, her friends were safe, there was no darkness, there were no terrible memories here in the caves. She was simply herself. Young and happy.

@[Leliel] and open for others!