The smile is what she wants and Hana thanks him with a little smile of her own. With Wren, the way their powers twine and marry, even his raw fear is easier than the tumult of emotions she feels when walking in a crowd. He's familiar and their language is singular.

Hana looks at him with a practical sort of face, one that suggests that that should be obvious. Of course love isn't always enough, she replies. Love is... How to express what she thinks without losing him in the signs?

It's like planting a garden. If you're lucky, all you have to do is throw the seeds into the soil and it takes hold without any effort. But most people have to put more into it. Time. Attention. Water. Plant food. Hard work. Love is the seeds and soil, the foundation, but it rarely flourishes without attendance.

But that doesn't make it painless when it goes wrong.