What happened. Her questions echoed bitterly in his head, and his hands clinched when her heard her voice. He hadn't listened to her messages. He wished she would just go away.

Scar didn't know how long he stewed, tense and quivering and a touch off balance. His eyes fixed on a spot on the horizon and stayed there. Dozens of biting comments had sprung to mind over the past weeks, but he had forgotten all of them, now. Now that she was hear, all of the miserable, hot upset had seeped back and clouded his thinking. It was all too much, like he was being torn in three directions.

"Is Rose alive?"