Talking about Bellum in the past tense was almost painful. It meant she had to accept that it was really gone. Taking a slow breath, she nodded tersely. "Yeah. Was."
Looking down, she scratched self-consciously at the back of her neck. "Good," she said, looking up at Hannah. "Take care of yourself, okay?" She paused, tongue tripping up on itself. "You deserve it. Even though I don't know you well, I...I know enough that you deserve to do well." Feeling her eyes burn, she straightened up. "So you go do that. Go take the whole fucking world by storm, Xena." She offered a tight smile, nodding tersely.