It's okay.

[ Gustave knows that's almost torturous to say, because things haven't really been okay, not since they landed on the beach and every plan they had fell apart. But there had been ups as well as downs, and maybe, things could still be okay.

Because she would be. Maelle had always been stronger than most people ever gave her credit for, even him, but she was still just sixteen. There were so many choices he looked back on, things he might have done differently — tweak that schematic and redirect the power, changed a line in the speech he wrote for Emma, had one less glass of wine the night before they left — but the one thing he never regret was signing that paperwork to make her family.

And that meant helping her through this, through the tears that were sinking into his uniform. ] Hey, [ and his voice is quiet as he rubs her back. Gustave tries to see if he can shake her out of it with something corny. ] What are you apologizing for? Ruining my shirt? Maybe our hosts can get me another one.