"No, no you don't understand," she says plaintively. "I don't want to celebrate with anyone else. I want to celebrate with them. If I can't be with them when Spring comes then I'd rather live in Winter."

It's a ridiculous, childish thought - and one she hasn't shared with anyone until now.

She sighs and slowly lowers her hands from her face after one last wipe of her eyes. There's still tears there, but she can't do anything to stop them at this point. "It's not that I think celebrating with you would be bad. I just... I wanted this one tradition from my home to stay with me. My birthday... it was how I always knew that Spring had come. The whole family would come together, just to be together, and that's all I ever wanted." She wipes at her eyes again in vain before looking up at him. "Last year was different. We held a huge party to celebrate the family becoming noble. But it... didn't end the way I wanted it to." The sigh that escapes her is soft and sad. If he remembers anything of her dream, he'll have some understanding of what she's talking about.

When she speaks again, her voice is barely above a whisper. "I'd just rather not have a birthday than deal with the pain of not having my family with me that day. And I... I'd rather not have my heart broken twice in a row on my birthday."