Meanwhile...
At first there had been so much pain. Rending, tearing, screaming pain. It was as if wherever she were going, part of her was not allowed to follow and knives were ripping it away. Part of her...and yet...not. As she shed it, this cloak, it was as if it had been holding her down for years, as if she had been wearing weights around her neck that she had forgotten about. And when it was gone, when she was free of the burden...she felt so...light.
The light surrounded her, enveloped her, embraced and became her. She had been afraid at first, before she had been one with the light, but now she felt a newborn, cradled by it. There was no pain, no fear, no sadness...just the light. She was the light - it was within her, and the very essence of her.
And there was the music...the lovely cacophany of sound that was both dissonant and yet strangely melodic, the songs and lives of uncountable people, singing to her, with her, around her. She was floating in the Weave, in the river of light and song and love and despair and desire and heartache and every human emotion that existed.
And it was so beautiful...
Something changed in her, at that moment. Although the darkness had been ripped away already, something dormant inside of her...opened. She didn't understand, couldn't explain, she just knew...and she saw the world for what it was in this moment. Flawed, in many ways broken...but infinitely perfectable and lovely to behold.
And there was peace. And forgiveness. And love. For her, from her, in her.
The singing softened to a soft hum, and the light dimmed, leaving her on what appeared to be the bank of a great river. The stars shone overhead, twinkling mystically on the water. Without thought, she began to sing, a haunting, sad melody that began in despair and ended in hope. She did not know the words she sang, or the song, but it warmed her, as if it were the only song she could sing. And indeed, it was. As she began to sing, the other songs faded, leaving only this one.
Suddenly, she was aware of a presence, and turned around to see a girl who looked exactly like her. She stared at her for a long moment, and understanding took her.
"Sarah."
The girl nodded, and came to her wordlessly, putting her hand on her cheek and nodding.
Much passed between them in that moment, things that words could not possibly express. A tender sadness, acceptance, forgiveness, love. And a gift, greater than any other. And then, with a smile, Sarah was gone.
Ruby sat again, heavily, on the soft grass near the river. Her mind was full, and there was time now, to think, to ponder, to try to understand everything she had seen and heard and felt. To come to an understanding deep within her. And if not, to reaffirm her faith that there was, indeed, good in the world, good in others, and good in herself.
And that there was, indeed, life beyond the fear that had held her for so very many years.