She looked so familiar, yet so, so different.

The look of defeat in those cold, dead eyes gripped at the cage her heart had grown so accustomed to. But it was the smile that had often strained her own face that pulled. It gripped the bars that had no doubt turned to rust, and pulled away the protection she had relied on for so long.

Pain.

Fiery hot agony tore through her. It exploded in her head with a blinding whiteness. Writhing it’s way through her, she wailed. The pain like ice hot needles tore it’s way through her skin, scorching the walls she had put up so long ago, turning them to ash. The beauty she had tried to protect for so long fell apart.

But just when the pain was it it’s worse, it dissipated, like fog clearing off of a lake. And when her eyes focused, she realized where she recognized the cold, lifeless eyes, and the strained smile. It was the same person she saw every time she looked in the mirror.