Sometimes people come and go in the blink of an eye. It's not because they want to leave; sometimes these things are just hard to predict.

[That's not particularly helpful, though. He should probably add something optimistic, if only because this is a little girl...

He takes a deep breath, and then adds--]

It doesn't mean you'll never see her again. People do come back, and there's a chance she'll be back as soon as the next cycle. Until then, I don't think she'd want you to cry, Elicia.