Enid and Charlotte both lay huddled in the swarm of blankets, piled high along the side of their shared residence. The hollow was dark; Charlotte had put out their lantern – and the two were not so much trying to sleep as trying to wait out another forest patrol.

They’d gotten uncharacteristically cocky – at least for Charlotte, seeing as how Enid was notorious for her bravado, something that had been useful to her survival during her upbringing in the Metro – and strayed too close to the tree that loomed over the rest of the forest, that which played home to none other than the de facto ruler of this domain. The Snatcher.

Not only had he sent out a patrol of his own Subconites, but the chaos that they inadvertently caused apparently warranted the Snatcher himself leading the charge – Charlotte theorized that its intention was to hunt down the intruder and force them into signing a contract. Enid had heard this explanation by now; she knew what the great purple spirit did, and she knew now how to properly avoid all the traps he set on the ground (which were surprisingly obvious once you knew what they looked like). What she also knew, though, were things Charlotte didn’t.

...But hey. That’s a story for another time, isn’t it?

“Hey, Charlotte, earnest question.” whispered Enid, an oddly sincere look upon her face.

“Hm?”

“So, let me get this straight, if you wanted, you could change into a human form, yeah? Or something different?”

“The majority of spirits can assume any form they'd like, if they're powerful enough. I suppose I could, if I wanted to, though I don’t see the point in it. I gave up my former identity a long time ago.”

“Completely?”

“The only remnants of my past that are still with me are Helter and Skelter.”

Enid narrowed her eyes.

“The whole form changing thing... most fire spirits aren’t like that, are they? I mean, they can’t change.”

“That has to do with their state of mind, dear,” Charlotte answered, before continuing, “They have the capacity to change, but they don’t want to, which is at least one thing we have in common. The fire spirits want to, well... die, although I suppose it’s not so much death as it is rebirth, sending their energy away to be used elsewhere. To be remade.”

Enid frowned.

Having the capacity to change, but not wanting to... didn’t that sound familiar.

“Couldn’t you do that? Go through that whole... recycling... thing?”

Charlotte glanced at her with a soft smile. “Of course I could. It doesn’t mean I’d want to, though; I have unfinished business here and even then, I think I’d want to stick around. The world has changed much since I was alive, but I do believe I’d like the chance to get to know it, even if it’s not what it once was.”

There was a moment of silence before the metro cat decided to speak again.

“Would you ever consider going back? Or even hybridizing your past self with your present one?”

“I’ve never considered that, no. My past self wasn't always... the greatest person. I did a lot of things I regret; and even after that failed to act in cases where I should've. ...In any case, care to elaborate, dear?”

“I guess, like, acknowledging who you once were. Not necessarily going back to being that person, because not only is that pretty stupid but also impossible. No one’s ever the same person they used to be, and most of the time trying to go back will just hurt more. Not to mention all the things you've learned since being that person. Instead, I'm thinking - if you took a look at that person you used to be, and acknowledged that they were you, no matter their faults. I think our past selves deserve a little love, y’know? More than we tend to give them. I know that I myself... I could stand to be a little kinder to my past self. She wasn’t perfect, but she was still... me, yeah? She may have been a little more naïve, and..." She fiddled with her paws nervously, "Admittedly may have done more than her fair share of bad things, but without her I wouldn’t be me. And it’s... important. That I’m me.”

“That’s certainly a novel concept,” Charlotte hummed, seemingly lost in thought. “I think I could try it out sometime.”