"It hard," Beverly agrees softly, "to go through something like we have and not wonder what's real and not real." Fatima had told Beverly that she had started to think Zelien was all just a dream when she had come here. Fatima had been here for so long without anyone else who knew and a Beverly who had never been there at all. It was hard to blame her for wondering.

"I'm glad that neither of us has to deal with that right now. For what it's worth... this is real. It took me a while to actually believe that." And now she feels that she has to convince herself all over again. So much for her progress.

"There were children in Zelien, too," she continues, a frown crossing her face as she remembers Kaede. "I was trying to teach one and protect her at the same time. It was terrible by itself, but I don't think it really compares to anything in Panem." Of course, that doesn't mean much of anything. Zelien was still terrible for an adult, and horrific for a kid. "There's something to be said for the people you go through something like this with."