She smiled his way. It was a weak thing, but genuine. Hortensia was a kind soul, someone who'd been wronged and was about to set things to right after too long. But she did not have a choice. If she wanted to see it through, now was the time, before the illness finally took her. She didn't know if she had a month or a year, but it would be soon. She could feel it in her weary bones. The loneliness she felt all these years melted away as this man, a complete stranger, offered his help freely. He sat and listened, and he made her feel as if someone cared. She never touched another since Magnus, but she would love to fall in love with a man like Mark, but it wouldn't be fair to entangle her heart with his knowing full well she wouldn't be around much longer. But then again, he could choose for himself if he wanted to love her despite knowing she would die soon.

Hortencia tilted her head at him and she said, "My true name shall be yours to know soon enough. I would have someone say it to me after all this time." Her words were soft, impactful. Her eyes were filled with a hunger she hadn't felt since giving birth to her daughter. She reached out tentatively, her fingers finding his sleeve. "Would it be fair of me to let you in more if you know that I am dying? I... don't know why, but you make the butterflies in my stomach flutter as if I am freshly out of the school room." Her cheeks filled with red.

She gazed at him longingly, so very much wanting to feel again before she left the world. It wasn't fair that it happened this way, she thought.

She wanted to know what a kiss felt like again, for she had forgotten.