Did she? "Yes," she decided, if the way she rolled that word over her tongue showed some further hesitation. "I enjoyed being able to protect those who couldn't, but especially..." She trailed off, thinking. "I like being able to help. Not just people, either," she said with a smile, indicating at Zouichi's partly feathered companion. "Helping birds to fly again is something worth smiling over."

There had been something liberating in watching those birds leave for someplace she could never go.

"Alex being one of your friends from home?"