"Yes!" Valkyrie's voice and face didn't hide even a hint of her desperation anymore. "Yes you do! I was home every holiday, and every birthday, and as often as I could be. I even went to that stupid reunion thing two years ago. She's - "

A brief noise coming from somewhere in Skulduggery's direction made Valkyrie falter. "It. It's never said anything I wouldn't have, or done anything I wouldn't have, or - it's me. It's Stephanie." She was crying now too, and couldn't really bring herself to care. "It isn't some robot that walked around and looked like me. I didn't want to trick you, I just wanted - "

She just didn't want to change her life completely. Not if she didn't have to. Not if she could have some semblance of normality to come home to. But Valkyrie couldn't fit those words past the choking lump in her throat, so she simply squeezed her eyes shut and rose into a standing hug.

It had been a long time since she sought real comfort in her mother's arms. She'd wished for it, countless times, while Skulduggery was gone. But Valkyrie never dared ask for it, because she wouldn't have been able to hide how wrong everything was. Now, she didn't have to. She was still crying, probably harder than she ever had since she was a child, but not because there wasn't any hope. It was more like a carefully constructed dam breaking. Like everything she'd bottled up for the last few years had finally found a small outlet, right in the only place it ever would have.