Oh. He didn't know how badly he needed that until her arms are around him. And then he returns the gesture as tightly as he dares. Tomorrow he'll regret everything, but now he feels incredibly light. Sonia's doing so much just by listening to him without staring at him like he's completely crazy.

"I don't know," he says after a moment, turning his head to one side so that he can speak. "I might go back to the moment I left. And find that future unrecognizable. Or - simply go back to nonexistence." He personally suspects it will be the last one. Do all this work, find a way home ... and simply cease to exist.

But there's a more important question. That he can answer more clearly. "Yes," he says. "There are some things I'd change, but - the Barrayar I know now is a better one. One I would give almost anything to protect."

Except, maybe, his family. But he doesn't know how to disentangle them from Yuri without derailing the whole thing.