The memories had past and Sunny and Stephanie had returned to sad truth of reality. The sun was still down, but with Hyoyeon fast asleep on Stephanie’s bed, it was obvious that they had been within Stephanie’s mind for quite some time. Sunny’s eyes found Stephanie still sitting by the door wrapping herself in her own limbs. She looked helpless. It’s reasonable though, after all, this was her most vulnerable memory and Sunny had seen it firsthand. It was obvious she had been crying as she remembered her final day with Taeya. Stephanie slowly lifted her head and stared back at Sunny with misery pouring from her eyes. “Do you understand now, Sunny? Do you understand why I can’t have friends? Why I can’t get close to anyone? I’m a hazard. Everything I do is a risk, every action I make can create catastrophic results.”  Stephanie cried.

“You don’t honestly believe that.” Sunny stated.

“Of course, I do. Dean was right about everything. When I found Taeya I knew I could get her out of there without harm, but I didn’t think about anyone else’s safety.”

“Hey, stop it Steph. Dean wasn’t right about everything, he was right about two things, but not everything.” Sunny crouched down next to Stephanie and comforted her with a pat on the back. “Number one: Taeya was, indeed, the cause of your reckless actions and number two: what happened to that man was your fault.” Sunny stated.

“Thanks, Sunny, this is really helping…” Stephanie scoffed.

“I’m not done yet, Dean was right about all of those things, but there was something he failed to understand. He believed the situation to be different, when you asked him what he would have done in your place. He claimed it was an entirely different situation, he was wrong.” Stephanie slowly sat up and faced Sunny more intently. She had gone over the things Dean had said to her that night over a thousand times and believed she had thought of every possible meaning to Dean’s words, but this was the first time something new was being suggested. “What do you mean, he was wrong about that?” Stephanie asked.

“Before I answer that, let me ask you Steph, how important is Taeya, to you?” Sunny questioned.

“She’s my world. My only friend for most of my life on Earth, and she accepted me wholeheartedly for who I was. She made me feel at home.” Stephanie answered.

“You would do anything for her, wouldn’t you?” Sunny suggested.

“I see where you’re going with this, Sunny, but it doesn’t make what I did right…”

“No, it doesn’t, but it also shows that you’re not what Dean portrays you to be.”

“And what exactly does he portray me to be?” Stephanie asked.

“A higher being. Someone who doesn’t make mistakes and assesses every possible situation. He blamed you for what happened because you had powers. He put all the blame on you because when he looks at you, he only sees the unmatched superhuman abilities you wield. Because of that, he thinks of you as someone who’s perfect in every way, but that’s why he’s wrong, Steph. You may not be born here, you may have strength far beyond any normal human being, but you’ve spent almost half your life here as well. You’ve practically been raised by a girl who’s your age for your entire adolescence. You’re more human than you think, Steph. You get angry, you cry, you smile, all of these things are human traits. And all humans make mistakes, all humans throw all logic out of the way when it comes to saving what they love most. That’s why Dean was wrong about you, he looks at you and thinks only of your alien heritage, not your humanity.” Sunny explained.

“And what? I’m supposed to just forget the fact I took someone’s life because it was a mistake??” Stephanie retorted. “Regardless if you believe that I have human emotions or not, it doesn’t stop what I did from being the most heinous crime someone can commit.”

“I’m not saying it changes anything, Steph. But I’m telling you that you’re going to have to make difficult choices for the people you love. Those choices will have major consequences that you’ll have to live with. This guilt you feel separates you from just a random murderer. Someone who takes life with no remorse is a monster and look at you, Steph, this guilt is eating you alive. A monster wouldn’t even be fazed, but that guilt you hold shows you’re not a monster. There’s always room for redemption, but you’re the only one who can make that choice.” Sunny continued.

“Redemption? How can someone like me be redeemed? I should just take my own life to restore balance…” Stephanie sighed.

“You think you’re beyond redemption? Oh, honey.” Sun