Hornet had near forgotten about the candle lighting thing they did during Spiralefes. The only thing that had reminded her was stumbling upon it herself on the way home... home to a much larger, much emptier house. Her stride falters, and she slows and eventually stops by the lake.
She had avoided the thought for some time. Sometimes there are lapses, times where they'd gone without seeing each other for days or maybe even weeks, passing ships in the night. But she could always find him in his room when she needed to, or finishing up his shift at the flower shop right as she was starting hers. She thought it was just that again. They were just missing each other. They'd catch up again soon. Right?
Hornet had lit one candle last year, for her mother. It seems disrespectful to not light one again, especially not after their... chance encounter here. Hornet still has a hard time convincing herself that was real. She never saw her again after that... this time, the meaning is double, she supposes, as she takes a second candle.
Approaching the lake, she remembers standing by the ocean, so sure of herself she had done it. So happy, elated to see him. They were finally free, and they were free together... Such a nice thought, if only for such a short time. She looks up at the stars, and she thinks of fireflies. Her heart aches the same way it did that night. Even now, she's still a little embarrassed to have been so vulnerable, but she still lingers in the... freeing feeling of being able to cry. She hasn't cried since then.
Hornet sits by the lake, hesitant to let either candle go. These candles aren't them, she knows that much, but she feels so strongly that these flames carry their spirits, their memories... she doesn't want to let what's left of them go.
And she feels so selfish for that. She knows that wherever they are now, it's better. She knows Herrah is resting well knowing she finally met her daughter. She knows Rung is back home, and has forgotten this place as nothing more than a strange dream. She knows that's what has happened to them, because that's what had happened to her. When she had briefly been able to return home, she had written her life here off as a dream, and it had faded entirely from her memory within a few days, and it made her feel so guilty when she came back. It's so selfish to wish they were here again, when she knows she was happy back home having forgotten, and she knows they're both happy to forget too. She knows this place is a prison. But it was a prison made better by the people she found in it. And when all those people are gone now, she...
What is there left for her?
This is exactly what she had feared would happen. That she would outlast them. Not just Rung, but Quirrel and Ghost and the Vessel and, hell, even her father. What are they all doing now? Where are they? Why must she light so many candles? Why can't she go home? What has she done wrong? What is she doing wrong?
Hornet doesn't even realize she's been crying until a tear hits her wrist, shaking her out of her thoughts. She suddenly feels very silly. There are so many other people here... How stupid of her to cry over her own situation as if she's the only one. How stupid.
Still, she can't help but linger as she watches her candles float away... to wherever they might end up next.