For the moment, I’m just Daire—a girl straddling two bloodlines. One I was given—one I must earn.

Whenever I look at me, all I see are things I'd like to change.

Ever, if I’ve learned nothing else in my six hundred years of living, it’s that people hate change almost as much as they hate for their beliefs to be challenged.

May you bring unconditional love and infinite peace.

It's not that kind of love. It's the real kind. The unconditional kind. The nonjudgemental kind. Not the physical kind. I love you as a fellow soul who inhabits this earth. I love you as a fellow immortal. I love you because I finally understand what made you the way you are. And if I could change it, I would. But I can't—so I choose to love you instead. And my hope is that my acceptance of you will spur you to do something good too, but if not—" I shrug. "At least I can say I tried.

Each soul, each person, has to find their own way - learn their own lessons ... It's all those rough bits that make us stronger.

And now I'm right back where I started. Sober and miserable.