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The question struck too close.

I did not answer immediately.

“I do not know.”

“That’s probably true.”

“Yes.”

She looked out the window. “I think sometimes people stay gone long enough that returning starts to feel harder than leaving.”

I understood what she meant.

Earth.

Her mother leaving.

The settlement Talia had stayed in because familiar survival had once felt more like control than an unknown future. And then the choice had been taken from her anyway.

We were not discussing only me.

“You would return if you could.”

Her face changed. “Yes.”

No hesitation.

That answer hurt in a way I did not expect.

Because she had been taken.

I had chosen disappearance.

Not under simple circumstances.

Still a choice.

“I left them voluntarily.”

Talia looked back at me. “You left because you were injured, grieving, and convinced disappearing was duty.”

“I agreed.”

“Yes.”

“That remains voluntary.”

She turned fully toward me. “You are very determined to prosecute yourself.”

I frowned. “That is not what I am doing.”

“It is exactly what you’re doing.”

I almost argued.

Stopped.

Perhaps that was progress too.