When Ulla came on board, she didn't want anything but revenge, and was willing to cause however much collateral damage she deemed necessary to get it. She didn't have anything she wanted from her life past that, and she was perfectly willing to harm innocent people to get at the people who hurt her. She was also a giant mountain of trust issues.
Lark was the first person to get through to her, when he sang a song that reminded her of Roffe and Signy's betrayal.
Warren managed to reach her right from the beginning, finding out the worst of it before he ever read her file. He connected with her musically, he understood betrayal and rage, and he spent two years (counting the one on Flotilla) chipping away at her protective layers. Like Lark, he assured her that she didn't need to give up on revenge entirely in order to graduate.
Her relationship with Taylor in a breach made Ulla realize the extent of her feelings for Signy, and she was hurting enough to summon up a storm on deck; notably, she still wasn't trying to destroy the ship and everyone on it. She didn't break a single pane of glass on the greenhouse, because she likes it. And what talked her down in the end was Warren getting hurt in her defense. However determined she was, and still is, not to wrap herself up around him as tightly as she did around Signy, there was no denying that she cared for him.
She's still figuring out what to want besides him (and her octopus daemon Hjerte, the only deal she has any interest in asking for), but she wants something good now, and she's also willing to be much more direct in her schemes for revenge, rather than hurting anyone she comes across who seems like they might be useful.
She trusts one person completely, and she's working on extending that to others. She may not offer her heart easily, but when she does, she is intensely loyal. And she has a soft spot for anyone who understands betrayal or feeling like an outsider. There's enough kinship there for Ulla to grow attached, and to be wholeheartedly supportive.
Graduation Summary
Lark was the first person to get through to her, when he sang a song that reminded her of Roffe and Signy's betrayal.
Warren managed to reach her right from the beginning, finding out the worst of it before he ever read her file. He connected with her musically, he understood betrayal and rage, and he spent two years (counting the one on Flotilla) chipping away at her protective layers. Like Lark, he assured her that she didn't need to give up on revenge entirely in order to graduate.
Her relationship with Taylor in a breach made Ulla realize the extent of her feelings for Signy, and she was hurting enough to summon up a storm on deck; notably, she still wasn't trying to destroy the ship and everyone on it. She didn't break a single pane of glass on the greenhouse, because she likes it. And what talked her down in the end was Warren getting hurt in her defense. However determined she was, and still is, not to wrap herself up around him as tightly as she did around Signy, there was no denying that she cared for him.
She apologized to Taylor for being needlessly cruel, and talked about revenge and the future. She continued being furious whenever Warren got hurt. And eventually she had to give in and fully trust him, like Maxwell and Jacobi had urged her to.
But she still didn't have anything to want besides revenge. She was reluctant to even consider it. Until her month of impotent rage on the Clipper, thinking she'd lost Warren for good. Until he asked her to go with him and she said yes.
She's still figuring out what to want besides him (and her octopus daemon Hjerte, the only deal she has any interest in asking for), but she wants something good now, and she's also willing to be much more direct in her schemes for revenge, rather than hurting anyone she comes across who seems like they might be useful.
She trusts one person completely, and she's working on extending that to others. She may not offer her heart easily, but when she does, she is intensely loyal. And she has a soft spot for anyone who understands betrayal or feeling like an outsider. There's enough kinship there for Ulla to grow attached, and to be wholeheartedly supportive.