As she came closer, the titan seemed to fracture.

Her shoulders trembled.

The hard lines of her face softened into something broken open.

She stopped inches from me, and I could smell her perfume, something crisp and expensive, like winter air.

Her violet-blue eyes filled.

Slowly, with a hand that shook, she reached out and touched my cheek — a tenderness so foreign to me that I flinched, though she did not pull away.