Ah, but see, that was part of what she meant, about the fragments.
'...always one foot out the door.'
There was a glimpse there, in that metaphor, of something different. A different existence, different definitions, different limitations...part of her had always been grasping after those limitations, the True limitations, the laws that existed beyond this illusion that they were living in. That, Avis believed, had been at the heart of her desire, the drive behind her quest, just as it had been her own frailties, her selfishness, her physical obsession, her hubris that had lead the desire and the quest astray.
And...perhaps more than that besides...
Avis' hand tightened around Star's fingers as she felt his lips brush against her cheek, and the slim, elegant band of the River Ring pressed firmly against her skin, reminding her of its presence as it subtly etched its pattern into her ring finger.
No matter how dark her thoughts had been moments before, no matter that her tears had mixed with the breath of the wind, a small smile slowly fought it's way into being on her lips.
'...I'll always be yours...'
Spoken both words, but also with the artifact that sat upon her finger. An oathring, forged and accepted with that promise in mind.
For both of them.
"I was afraid I was going to die," Avis said softly, turning to so that their lips were only inches apart. "I was afraid that I was going to die in the mud, forgotten beneath the walls of a French fortress. And I was afraid I was going to die, again, after we first met. Back...back in Florida. But you saved my life.
"Without this," she confessed, lifting their clasped hands up, the ring hovering before their eyes, "I wouldn't have made it back. That's...that's part of what helped me realize that I was making a mistake. That I was trying to walk away from what made me who I am. From what made us who we are."
She let their hands fall again, and freed her hand from his so that she could reach up to twine the curls of the mop between her fingers.
"I know I haven't done much to uphold the oath that I made to you, but I want to. I want to prove that I can. I just...I just don't think that I can do that here."