Sarah knelt on the ground, still clutching herself as the door to the hab slid open. She heard the soft, melodic voice of willow call out to her as the Affini made her way into the hab. “I’m Back!” This was it, any moment now she would discover Sarah, and soon after that she would discover what she had done. All she could do now was hope that Willow would be merciful. 

Soon the Affini was looming over her, Willow's massive form towering over Sarah as she shrunk into herself. Somehow she managed to find the courage to look up at Willow, revealing her reddened eyes and tear stained face as she squeaked out a. “H..hey Willow.”

When Sarah’s eyes met Willows she saw the plant’s face shift to a look of deep concern and worry. In an instant vines wrapped around her as she was engulfed by a soft warmth as the slow rhythmic pulsing of Willow's body gently moved through her. 

“Sarah dear what happened? Are you alright? What happened to your arm?!” 

Willow's voice was soothing and peaceful yet Sarah knew this was just the calm before the storm. Willow was so kind, she had probably assumed that Sarah had hurt herself or something. Once she found out the truth Sarah knew all that kindness would turn to ash. Again she began to sob, clutching Willows vines as she buried her face into the Affinis form. She soon felt a hand begin to stroke her hair, plant fingers gently soothing her as she held onto Willow.

“There there dear, it’s alright, whatever’s going on, it’s gonna be ok, I’m here now.”

That kind, soothing voice worked its way further into Sarah's mind, attempting to dispel the storm of fear and anxiety that raged in her brain. Taking a deep breath Sarah managed to calm herself enough to speak, maybe if she was very lucky a confession would be enough to earn her a lighter sentence. “I…I’m sorry Willow, I’m so sorry, please, I promise I won't do it again, so please, forgive me.” 

“Shhh, Sweetie it’s alright, whatever happened I promise it's ok. Why don’t I compile you some ice cream then we can talk about it, alright?”

Sarah just gave a silent nod as a set of vines scooped her up off the floor, cradling her in Willow's arms as the pair moved into the kitchen. Sarah couldn’t help but blush a little as she was held tightly in the big strong plant lady's arms, a sense of comfort washing over her. 

“Is there any flavour you would prefer dear?” 

“Ch…Chocolate please.”

Soon she found herself sitting at the kitchen table, a large bowl of ice cream sitting in front of her as Willow took a seat next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. Sarah picked up the spoon in her left hand and began to slowly eat, it was a bit of a struggle at first, having to use her non-dominant hand to eat but she quickly got the hang of it with only a slight amount of assistance from Willow. Each bite of the cold creamy treat seemed to calm her down more and more, the storm of fear and anxiety fading with each passing moment as a cooling sense of calm passed through her, spreading to every corner of her body and wrapping her mind in a soft blanket of reassurance. She could still feel the worry and fear deep down, but they felt muted and distant, making them much easier to ignore. Once the bowl was empty she sat back in her chair, still feeling Willow’s arm around her shoulder.

“Feeling a little better now dear?”

Sarah didn’t answer, instead looking down towards the table and the empty bowl, anxiety still clung to her throat even if it wasn’t nearly as overwhelming as before. Without warning she felt a soft, viney hand under her chin that tilted her head up and to the side, forcing her eyes to meet Willows. Sarah remembered those eyes from the first time they met, stunning pools of lilac light that shimmered with flecks of blue, faint patterns and shades of colour dancing across their surface, inviting her to stare ever deeper.

“Listen to me Sarah, I can only help you if you tell me what happened, I promise everything is going to be ok so please, tell me what’s wrong”

Willow's voice was still as melodic and soothing as ever, but now it reverberated through Sarah’s entire body as her voice bounced around inside her skull. She opened her mouth and the words seemed to flow freely out of her. “I….I went into your workshop, one of the things in there broke my arm. I…I’m sorry Willow, I know you told me not to go in there b…but I…..” Sarah trailed off, why did she go into the workshop? In retrospect her idea seems so stupid, even if she found something that could be used as a weapon, she didn’t know the first thing about how to work plant tech. It didn’t matter now anyway, she had told Willow what she had done, now she would face the consequences.

Sarah, still staring into Willow’s eyes, saw them flash, not with the anger that she expected, but a deep sadness and regret. Vines wrapped around Sarah as Willow pulled the girl into her embrace. “Sarah dear, I’m so sorry, I should have never left you alone here.” As Willow held her close Sarah could feel a change in the rhythm of the Affini’s body, the slow gentle pulses became discordant and almost frantic. “None of this is your fault dear, as your guardian I should have had the foresight to make sure something like this didn’t happen. Can you forgive me?”

What was Willow talking about?! Sarah was the one who should be sorry, so why was Willow asking her for an apology? “W..what are you talking about, I’m the one who-” A vine placed to her lips cut Sarah off. 

“You are my ward, that means I am responsible for keeping you safe and happy. A duty I have clearly failed in on both counts?” 

Sarah couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Why wasn’t Willow angry with her? Why was she trying to take responsibility for this? She was a prisoner who had broken the rules, so why was her warden the one saying she was sorry? “But I’m the one who messed up, if I hadn’t broken the rules this wouldn’t have happened. Why aren’t you upset with me? Aren’t you going to punish me?” 

“Sweetheart, why would I punish you? You made a mistake and did something silly, but that's exactly why we are here. So cute little Sophonts like you can make mistakes, learn from them and grow, all while knowing there is an Affini there to keep you safe and happy.” Sarah felt Willow's grip tighten, vines pulling her in even closer, her entire body wrapped in a soothing blanket of plant matter. “The only person I’m upset with is myself. The fact I left you alone and let you get hurt. It’s unacceptable.”

Sarah tore her vision away from Willow's face, as if her mind was trying desperately to reject the words of comfort that flooded her senses. But the tears came all the same, flowing freely from her eyes as she tightly clutched Willow's form. Holding onto the Affini for dear life. She couldn't understand it, why was this plant being so nice to her? What had she done to deserve this?

Eventually Sarah managed to stem the flow of tears for long enough to look back up to Willow, those entrancing eyes once again pulling in her gaze.

“Now, how about we go fix up that arm of yours, yeah?” 

Just like before Sarah was scooped up into the Affinis arms, held in an unimaginably comforting embrace.

Willow really felt like a dirt poor excuse for an Affini. Leaving her ward in the hab alone. Leaving her workshop unlocked. All of it was yet more proof that she wasn’t meant to have a pet, that she didn’t have the time or the ability to properly take care of another living creature. Seeing that poor girl on the floor, crying her eyes out, wanted to make Willow wither away on the spot, the idea that she had hurt this wonderful little creature far too much for her to bear. Thankfully her mistake hadn’t seemed to cause too much pain and some xenodrug laced ice cream managed to calm Sarah down. Looking down to see the girl in her arms, Willow couldn't help but marvel at how adorable she looked. She gently slid a vine down the girl's cheek, her mind drifting to thoughts she really shouldn’t be having. Pulling herself out of it Willow made her way into the workshop, setting Sarah down on a stool next to a workbench.

“Could you show me how to disconnect the arm, dear.” 

With practised skill Sarah twisted her mechanical arm out of its socket, passing it over to Willow who set it down on the bench.

“I could probably fix it on my own, you know.”

“I’m sure you could, dear, but you’ve had a long day. Think of this as my way of saying sorry for my negligence. It’s my fault this happened in the first place.” Sarah opened her mouth to talk, likely to contradict Willow about this being her fault but Willow quickly silenced her with a vine.

Turning her focus to the arm Willow began to open up the various metal plates, gaining access to its internal working. While the technology itself was crude by Affini standards it had clearly been put together with no small amount of skill just as Willow had suspected when they had first met. “Did you build this yourself?” 

“Yeah, all my augments are handmade. Building and installing cybernetics used to be my job before I got drafted.”

“You’ve clearly got a lot of talent if this is anything to go by.” Willow gave Sarah a smile and watched as the blush crept across her face. Terrans really were adorable. “May I ask where you learned to build these augments?” Willow focused her attention back on the arm, rooting through its inner working with weir thin vines, making note of all the areas that had been damaged. 

“Not much to tell really, always had a fascination with machines, Mum used to tell this story about how one time when I was 8, she had come home from work and found me half way through taking the microwave apart.” Sarah let out a little chuckle. “She used to tell that story any chance she got, said I was her little engineer. She was furious with me at the time of course, though she was way madder at my dad for giving me his tools.” She let slip another chuckle, this one sounding a little sadder. “Anyway, then when I got my augments, it all kinda clicked for me. I knew what I wanted to do.”

The sadness in Sarah’s voice was obvious, like a lingering regret from very long ago. Thinking about what a good Affini might do in this situation Willow decided to push just a little and gauge her reaction. “And….how did you get your augments?”

The answer to that question did not come nearly as quickly and there was quite a bit more hesitation in the girl's voice when she finally did speak. “B..back when I was about, 15 or so. I got into a car accident. It really messed me up. Thought I’d never walk again after. Then one day dad came home and said he knew a way to make me better, to give me my life back. That’s when I got my augments.” 

By this time Willow had made note of all the damaged components and had begun the actual repairs, vines moving in a flurry around the arm gripping tools and material to carry out the repairs. “I’m sorry to hear that, but it makes me happy you found some good out of such a terrible situation.” A vine reached out and patted Sarah on the head. The girl tried to bat it away with her remaining arm but Willow was far too nimble for her. “You know, if you wanted I could talk to the Vet about having your natural limbs regrown, it would take some time but it could be done.” 

“What!?” Sarah exclaimed, the offence clear in her voice. “N..no!” She let out a sigh, looking down at her metal hand pensively “S..sorry, thank you for the offer but…no. I couldn’t do that. It….it wouldn’t be right.” 

“It’s quite alright dear, I didn’t mean anything by it, though if you do plan on keeping them we’ll have to talk about some upgrades, making them less strenuous on your body for one.” Coiling a vine around the arm Willow closed up the panels, handing it back to Sarah. “For now though I think this should suffice.” Sarah clicked her arm back into the place and gave it a little test, making sure everything seemed to be working.

“Th..thank you Willow.” Sarah hopped down from the stool, letting out just the most adorable little yawn that made Willows core melt into a puddle. “Wow, i didn’t realise it was so late, guess I should turn in. S..See you tomorrow Willow.”

“Alright dear, let me know if you have more problems with your arm, and make sure you brush your teeth before bed, or else I'm gonna do it for you.” Sarah turned to look at Willow, thinking that her last comment had been a joke. The stern look on her face dispelled that notion very quickly. “Goodnight dear, sweet dreams.”  Willow gave the girl one last pat on the head before sending her off to bed.