[ Claire nods slowly as she chews a bite of the cookie. Once she swallows, answers thoughtfully. ] I think so. Which is why I won't ever try again. When I left Bree, I told her it would have to be forever. It wasn't easy to do. [ But in the end, she'd wanted everything with Jamie that was denied to them, to live the last half of her life the way she wanted.

Reaching out, she gently squeezes Annabeth's arm with her free hand, a look of warmth softening her gaze. ] I know who we are or were to one another other can be confusing right now. Sometimes it's a bit hard to reconcile, even now. But I believe we'll all figure it out. And I wanted you to know the real me, not what the Singularity made me into.

[ When Annabeth asks about a reunion, Claire nods, thinking back to the print shop, to the moment Jamie looked up and saw her, then promptly passed out. ] I did find him, yes. We spent a year and some months together before I was here. And now I've been apart from him again longer than we were reunited.

[ But she isn't sad about it this time. She can't go through all of that sadness and grief she just explained to Annabeth, a second time. She nearly did, stayed holed up, wrote to Jamie as if she were a prisoner of war. But then she made friends, she met others. She discovered magic. and so she's able to smile now, in a way that makes the corners of her eyes wrinkle. ]

But I've found a family here, and the friendships I think I've been looking for my entire life.