Tana's question took me by surprise. My heartbeat accelerated, an anxious shiver traveling down my spine and tail, and I looked down, not daring to meet her eyes.
Tana reached across the table and took my hands, holding them tightly. She was so warm and soft, and I found a gentle, quiet strength flowing into me.
"If you don't want to," she murmured, "I understand. But we've been together for so long, yet I feel like I hardly know you." Her voice broke, thick with emotion. "It hurts me when I see you wake up crying in the night, or when you look so lost and lonely. I want to help, to make you see that you're not alone, but I don't know how. Please, just tell me…"
Tears welled up in my eyes, and I turned away, a lump in my throat. I'd tried so hard to appear cheerful whenever I was around them, to hide my tears after waking up after a nightmare, or when my soul hurt so bad I couldn't help but cry. And yet she'd known the whole time?
