the front porch light was on at 5 AM
              she sat on the steps for another hour chasing herself
            ring the doorbell to her own home, or just walk in?

                  a flurry of hair erased both questions
           and a mug of coffee was in her hands suddenly
                         the silence between them was more than anything
                 Ysolde could have hoped for;

     her sudden excitement turned to caution as the morning rose
            though the cat’s vertebrae kept getting stuck in her hair
                             the purrs a quiet rattling
                       she didn’t realize she had missed home
           they were careful, a brush against a sleeve
                   a hairbrush passed over gently

                        it was the dishes that made them quit,
            a broken glass opening an old wound for the raven girl
                            the soft weeping of a misunderstanding crumbled
                     and the walls of the guarded flung open its gates,
                         satisfied that the payment had been made

Prompt: Guarded