[Though Kalmiya holds fast to the hand that's come up out of the tumultuous waters, she doesn't do anything more. Doesn't pull, doesn't force it. She just holds steady where she is, ready to be there when Ash feels ready to pull herself out of the mire of self-protection and self-destruction.]

Thank you. It's all right, though; you didn't upset me.

Guilt and shame are some of the loudest feelings a mortal can experience. They fight harder to hang on to you than patience and compassion do. And they can be powerful motivators for change, but...you have to know when to cut them loose. They won't leave enough room for patience and compassion if you cling to them as they cling to you.

[Underscoring this is the feeling of pulling, but it's not at Ash. It's the pulling of someone yanking themselves out from quicksand, of freeing a limb caught in the gnashing teeth of a predator, of breaking the chain on a weight that's been carried too long.

All those threats coalesce into a specter of distant shame, which hangs over Kalmiya's words like an approaching storm—held at bay by her sheer determination not to let it guide her, and yet never quite out of sight. Never quite out of mind. Never so far behind that it couldn't catch up to her if she were to have just one bad day of trying to escape it.]