Bloom (The Survivor): We used to talk all the time, you know?

Libra (The Friend): Yeah, same with me. We spent so much time together.

Mom (Me): Good morning girls. What are we talking about this morning?

Bloom: About Lark — just kind of reflecting on the relationship we had with her.

Libra: We’ve been a dreamer our entire lives, after all — you’ve said that a few times now, Mom.

Mom: Indeed I have.

Libra: It’s been fascinating watching Lark grow into herself since she and Aura separated.

Bloom: Yeah, she used to be challenging and standoffish most of the time, but now she’s really chill. I guess a lot of that difficult behavior was Aura all along… But *she’s* becoming more agreeable too.

Mom: Being able to exist as herself has allowed Aura to come to terms with her past — she’s starting to process what it meant, just like the rest of us.

Libra: I suppose that’s true about Lark too. Now that she’s existing as herself, she feels more like she used to back when we were the dominant persona. That’s probably what led to us reflecting on her in the first place.

Bloom: She still feels a little different though… Or maybe it’s just this place? Gosh, this is hard to describe. Like… I know she’s family, but she doesn’t feel like my other sisters.

Mom: Can you elaborate on that a bit?

Bloom: Libra feels like my older sister. She’s definitely college aged, and she remembers newer memories than I do. Ivy’s *definitely* my older sister; she’s twice my age. Aura feels like my older sister too. But Lark…

Libra: Lark doesn’t seem to have her own time period. Or rather, she’s kind of spread across every time period? And she has these powers that none of the rest of us have. She bends the rules of what it means to be part of this family.

Mom: But doesn’t break them. Despite those differences, she’s still your sister.

Libra: I believe you, but if you weren’t here to tell me, I’m not sure I’d think we were related.

Mom: She’s a bit different than you, certainly. Her purview is dreams — a part of her is always dreaming, and dreams are clearer to her than reality. Whereas the rest of you girls were concerned with real life first and dream life second, she’s the other way around. That’s why she seems a little aloof and detached.

Bloom: So when we dreamt, or when we were daydreaming, we imagined ourselves as her, or let her guide us.

Mom: Just so. Dreams are tricky things — dreams are where unrealized desires live, where the rest of us put them when we can’t find a way to fulfill them. Lark holds those dreams for us, and surfaces them for us, to make sure we don’t forget them.

Libra: So she’s more like another Mom? That doesn’t feel right.

Mom: No, because she doesn’t have any way to bring us closer to our dreams. She can’t act on them — only I can do that, and that’s why I’m your mother.

Libra: That makes it sound like she’s more of an archivist; someone with a specific job inside our mind instead of one of us.

Mom: That’s only part of what she is though, just like being the Friend is only part of what you are and being the Survivor is only part of what Bloom is. Lark is also the person I dream of being, the woman I hope to grow into, the girl that never got a chance to breathe free. She’s the part of me that I could embody in my own private space, where I lived my own secret life away from the rest of the world. She’s me, and she always has been.

Bloom: So why didn’t she change when we did? Or rather, why isn’t there an older Lark for Ivy’s time and a younger Lark for mine?

Mom: That’s a good question — I think it’s because our dreams didn’t change much in all that time. Or rather, our dreams shifted as we changed, but the big desire that she was holding onto for so long was a constant throughout.

Lark (The Dreamer): Though I’ve recently been able to let that dream go.

Bloom (cheerful): Hey sis!

Libra: You mean our desire to be a girl.

Lark: Of course. I don’t have to hold the dream of being a girl anymore because we’ve fulfilled it — it’s our reality now. Writing this series has fulfilled some of our other dreams too, and I’ve been able to release my hold onto those as well.

Bloom: It’s kind of awesome, living as our dream self. Oh wait! If you’re our dream self, is that where your powers come from?

Lark: Yup! It’s mostly awareness of dreams, or movement through dreams. And since dreams embody desires and our desires are everywhere, our dreams are all over this place in varying amounts too… Or rather, they’re stronger in some places and weaker than others, and my own presence and control varies from place to place too.

Libra: I guess that makes sense. If you wanted to travel back to college, you could visit the dream where I imagined myself as a mech pilot…

Mom: Oh yeah, we played a lot of *Xenogears* that semester.

Bloom: Or the dream where we became the commander of a mysterious, futuristic plane.

Mom: That was *Final Fantasy Legend 3*, if memory serves. Goodness, how many of my dreams were informed by video games?

Lark: Oh, not just video games. Books too, and movies, and television… Some stories that you came up with on your own, too. We’re all pretty creative, after all.

Mom: Ah, that’s a fair point. There’s nothing wrong with finding inspiration in media, after all.

Lark: Still, I wonder how things will develop for me. I held onto our dream of transition for so long, and now I’m free to dream beyond it. Actually fulfilling our life’s dreams has been such a liberating experience — I’m curious to see who I’m able to grow into.

Mom: Likewise, dear daughter. Our future looks especially bright.