[ It takes a few moments for those words to really land but when they do, they plunk her heart down into her stomach like a stone dropping into water. Something inside her wavers and ripples in the wake of it and she realizes that

oh

Brook is the same as her. The place he'd thought he could return to might not be waiting there for him anymore.

Her throat is so tight she can taste copper on her tongue. But somehow, she manages to get some words out anyway. ]

Okay. [ Her voice is sweetly, deceptively gentle and her words alarmingly matter of fact for what she's suggesting – as if there's no other potential decent option to offer him. ] Then you can go back with me. My world's pretty big, so I'm sure there's somewhere you can make a place for yourself.

[ More pretty promises she doesn't know she can keep. But in the face of Brook's anguish, what else can she say? ]