Gone--he was gone, just like that, and she hadn't even really noticed the moment that he'd left. There had just been... his voice, and then it faded away, and she was left standing in the hall amidst the crowd of passengers hurrying through, but still somehow feeling very alone.

Cadenza started to walk back through the halls, barely conscious of her own steps, letting her feet guide her through the thronging people with the instincts that came from traveling through a lot of big cities. She dodged suitcases, and weaved between arms and elbows, like a salmon trying to swim against the current. When a door swung open in front of her, she blinked back to the present for a moment, seeing that the two figures who'd stepped out were not just walking by her like the others.

When her thoughts finally caught up with her eyes, she realized the two figures were Tiffany and her mother, leaving Rain's cabin hand in hand.

"That's the lady who helped us!" Tiffany cried, her hand slipping out of her mother's to point up at Cadenza as a bright smile spread across her face, showing two missing baby teeth and lots of joy.

Mrs. Miller looked over the woman with a sort of half-smile, half-gape, that seemed to have a little hint of "You're not what I was expecting..." to it. She nodded in recognition and gratitude nonetheless, and held out a hand to shake Cadenza's. "I'm... truly grateful for what you did for us, Miss. Tiffany told me of how you and the man that had been with you looked out for her as best you could, and how you comforted her back in the store..."

The gypsy shook the woman's hand gently and withdrew her own quickly back, folding her arms as she glanced back down at Tiffany. She felt a little uncomfortable about the way the older woman kept looking at the feathers in her hair, and the weapons she carried... it was like Mrs. Miller was worried about what kind of person had helped her and her daughter. Did that have to matter right now? Sure, Cadenza knew she was no angel, but she'd genuinely just tried to help them...

Tiffany was still smiling up at Cadenza, a look of admiration in her eyes. Mrs. Miller gently tugged on the girl's hand a little, and started to step past the gypsy. "We should really be going to our cabin, I'm afraid, before the boat takes off from port again..."

The mage was going to leave things at that, and just take the experience as another reminder as to why she never bothered sticking her neck out for most adults, when something the woman had said brought an image back to her head. Their cabin. It was in ruins right now... all stained and ripped up... many of the things they had brought with them had probably been lost or destroyed in the struggle with the demon. Mrs. Miller... Cadenza didn't have too much sympathy for, but Tiffany...

"...Wait."

Tiffany spun around right away, wriggling a little out of her mom's grasp. She looked at Cadenza expectantly, her little face lighting up again.

"Here..." the mage said, pulling something out of her pocket that gleamed brilliantly even in the dim hall lights, "...take this. It should be enough to replace... any possessions that you lost during any of the... excitement... on the cruise. I don't need it, so..."

The watch plunked down softly with a little clink! in Tiffany's delicate hands. Her small, warm fingers wrapped around it, smudging the shine as she breathed a small gasp and opened the clasp that kept the inside of the watch shut.

"You're...you're giving this to us?" she asked, her eyes wide in awe. Her mother came to look down over her shoulder at the gift, and gasped a little in a way that Tiffany had obviously picked up from her.

"We... lost enough... to need... a new gold watch, with gems ins--?"

"--don't worry even if it's more than enough. It's not something I want to carry around. Ah... please, just hold onto it for now. If you feel bad about selling it, you don't have to... I'd just... feel better knowing you had something to make up for whatever you lost."

Mrs. Miller was about to say something in return, but the gypsy had already begun to walk off, her boots thudding quietly into the room they'd come out of. She looked again at the watch in her daughter's hands... and saw the tiny needle moving about, shaped like a feather, around the amethyst in the center...

"I... think it's really a compass of some sort, dear."

"It's following her, Mommy. See? It moves where she goes. I think it's magic."

The woman thought back to the feathers... and to the scant few flashes of memory she had of the past few hours... just who had been those people who'd helped them, really? "I... think so too..." she whispered.

When Cadenza came back out of the room, lugging a bag of Rain's things and now bound for the store to retrieve her own, both mother and daughter had already left. She continued on down the empty hall, with a thoughtful look hanging about her just as visible as if it were a cloud over her head...

OoC: This post turned out longer than I realized. XD