(1) There is no excuse for Jennie to be the mean bully that she is. But I can see now that her anger never had anything to do with me. It had only to do with herself, and she chose to direct it at me for some reason. And while that is not cool, I kind of get it. Sometimes it’s easier to blame others than blame yourself.

(2) Everything I’ve ever been told about the Horangi is wrong. I might never get to the bottom of what happened with the sunstone ax and the attack, but I know in my gut that Taeyo is a good person. He just helped a gwisin find peace, and by the look of things, he helped Jennie find solace, too. And all that was to help me save my sister and to stop the prophecy from coming true. If the other scholars are anything like Taeyo, then I have no reason to be ashamed of my heritage.

And with that realization, something blooms inside me.

Gwisin Halmeoni turns to Taeyo and smiles warmly. “Thank you, my son. For your help, I would like to offer you a favor in return. Is there anything I can do for you before I cross over?”

“Actually, there is something….” Taeyo looks at me and nods.

I open my mouth to ask her to locate the last fallen star for us. But something stops me. Instead, I look over at Emmett, who is desperately pretending that he’s not crying. (Spoiler alert: He’s defo crying.)

“I understand you can travel the Earth at the speed of thought,” I say gently. “Does that mean you can find anything—or anyone—that may be stuck here as well?”

Halmeoni considers this. “Yes, I believe I can.”

Taeyo and Emmett look at me with confusion on their faces, but I nod defiantly. “In that case, we would be grateful if you could find Sookhee Harrison, a Gom, and mother of Emmett Harrison. Her son would like to talk to her. This is the favor we ask of you.”

Emmett gasps and covers his mouth, but I reach out and squeeze his hand. I know he could still be disappointed, but I also know how much courage it took for him to decide to find his mom. He put himself out there, realizing he could get hurt, because seeing her again was so important to him. After everything he’s done for me and I’ve done to him, it’s the least I can do. He deserves this.