She sighed and a wave of homesickness passed through her. "I mean... I loved it. I'm biased, of course, but it was just so peaceful. Our camp was by the water, so we could always hear it. In the summers, we have fireflies that light up the camp. Heavy trees blocked us from scouts and Plaguers. Our children would play in the water throughout the day - all of us were trained to swim from birth - and then they'd come home, absolutely exhausted, but excited about the next day. I spent most of my days in my workshop, building gadgets for the betterment of the camp; a pulley system to fetch water underground in case we needed to stay hidden, alarm systems, rotating tables, you know..." She paused, looking sheepish as she realized she had been rambling. "Ahem. Anyway."
He brightened as she described it, his head tilting in wonder. "Was it really like that? That sounds amazing."
"It was," she said quietly, melancholia settling around her as she reflected on what she had lost, her brows furrowed. "It really was. It's so... It's such a waste that a couple of well-thrown torches ruined it all for us."
He frowned, looking back from the city. "Maybe it can be rebuilt one day. What was it? If we had the right toolbox?"
She paused, blinking slightly before looking over at him. There was something new in her gaze, a new warmth, and affection that hadn't been there before. "Yes," she said after a moment. "Yes, I suppose you're right."
"Emerson wouldn't go for it," she said slowly before shrugging. "Probably rightly so; it might not be the best idea to return to the exact same location within a couple of weeks of having it all be burnt down."
