as it turned out, the reason things had been so awful was because tora and tess could not accept what was happening. both stubborn enough that they couldn't take the words of someone with over a year of experience as fact, but it didn't matter. what mattered was that now that both had come to terms with it and tackled the biggest obstacle between them and something resembling harmony, things had been good. the headache had lessened significantly and was more of a dull ache, a reminder that two minds inhabited this brain. things didn't seem nearly as dreadful as they had at the beginning of the week. they could both handle this.

what was sharing a body with someone compared to dying and coming back to life? it was a challenge, sure, but it could not compare. tora had faced numerous villains and gotten into plenty of fights during her time with the league. instead of fearing what was happening to her, she felt comfortable with it, like she could embrace it. she could have never imagined giving into what tess wanted so desperately would have had such a tremendous effect, but it had.

for the first time, she was confident that she could tackle whatever was thrown at her. if the stories were to be believed, her fight wasn't over, and with a clear head, she was hopeful she could avoid dying for a second time.