That was it, then. The answer he was looking for—the truth behind what Eme was doing, and ultimately why she left him. It was all that he went in here hoping to know. So… why was he still so unsatisfied?

  Jasmin and Kiara had practically insisted that the two of them stay for a few days—especially since they traveled that far—so he had plenty of time to think about it. And… by think about it, he meant letting it keep him up all night, to the fact he found himself simply staring out the kitchen window.

  “Oh, you’re up this late, too? I thought you went to bed a while ago. Back home, you always seemed to fall asleep as soon as your head hit the pillow…”

  Astyu looked over his shoulder to see Loraena standing in the doorway. “I guess I could ask you the same thing. Couldn’t sleep..?”

  She let out a bit of nervous laughter. “It’s hard for me to sleep in unfamiliar places. Being near water or being able to talk to my aunts helps, but even if there’s water, I don’t want to bother anyone with a song…”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Hm? What for?”

  “Dragging you out here. You went practically halfway across the nation for me, just to end up with next to nothing to show for it. This wasn’t what I thought it would be. Even after everything, it doesn’t feel like anything’s changed. Except now, I’ve wasted your time, too.”

  “What? No! You’re not wasting my time at all!” She took both of her hands on his, and forced him to make eye contact. “I was the one who decided to come with you—I made that decision for myself. You didn’t make me do anything, and you don’t have to feel responsible for anything.”

  “This wasn’t what I thought it would be. I thought… I thought I’d feel better, having the truth in front of me, knowing exactly what happened. But something must be wrong or missing, right? Because it doesn’t really feel like anything’s changed. I know she left… and she’d wanted to protect me, but… she still hurt me. And I thought it would make more sense, but it doesn’t, and it still hurts…”

  “It’s okay to not feel fine about all of this. In fact, I’d say it’s perfectly normal. You got your answers, and… maybe they weren’t what you were hoping for them to be. But… that could also be a sign that you never really needed it to begin with. You’ve already made peace with it in your own way. And that can only be a good thing.”

  “But that doesn’t change the fact that we went all the way out here for what amounted to nothing.”

  “This wasn’t for nothing. You learned something new, didn’t you? Something that could help. And, maybe tomorrow morning, you could talk to them a bit more. Maybe a simple answer isn’t what you need, because you’ve already made one—and it’s alright to desire more. We can stay here until you think you’re ready to go.”

  “What about..?”

  “Don’t worry about anyone or anything else. This is all about you. Just do what you think is right and listen to what your heart’s trying to tell you. I’ll go where you go, because I want to. There’s nothing to feel bad about. I don’t even want to hear you suggest something like that again, okay?”

  The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  A bit taken aback, Astyu nodded. Even though a part of him still wanted to argue—still thought that it wasn’t enough—he knew that she was right. Just like he knew what had happened, and had already processed that on his own terms. Or, at least, he was in the process of it, and there were plenty of people who could guide him along the way to that.

  “Yeah,” he mumbled, “you’re right. Sorry.”

  “You don’t need to apologize for that, either. Just try to get some sleep, alright? Maybe you’ll feel a bit better when you’re able to talk to Jasmin and Kiara some more. You have plenty of time to ask them more questions if you think you need those answers.”

  “Alright. You try to sleep, too, okay..? I know they’re strangers to you, and they’ve dealt with dangerous things before, but… Jasmin and Kiara are good people. You don’t have to worry about them. We’re safe.”

  …

  After eventually falling asleep, Astyu woke up the next morning and started thinking of everything he felt was left unanswered. He knew that Loraena meant what she said about staying longer, but he really didn’t want to keep her here and away from home for so long. To a degree, he just wanted to go home, too, but he knew he had to be careful with the chance he had now.

  Somehow, he got the feeling that this opportunity was never going to come again. He had to make the most of their time here.

  “A morning person, are we?” Jasmin prompted as she walked into the living room. She came in with a cup of what smelled like coffee, and had walked in on him scribbling down whatever questions he might’ve had remaining. “Or are you just working on something important?”

  “I… want to figure out what I’m missing,” he mumbled. He figured he might as well be honest about it. “I want to make sure I leave without anything left unanswered. I couldn’t really organize everything in my head, so I started writing it down on paper…”

  He thought that she might’ve tried to look over, just to get a peek at what he was trying to do. But instead, she completely avoided it, walking over to a chair on the other side of the room and staring out the window as she sipped on her coffee. Astyu got the feeling that she wasn’t just doing it in order to avoid having to talk to him—she was giving him space, time to sort it out on his own before he spoke it all out loud.

  After a couple of minutes, though, she did ask something. “Do you think you’re making any progress?”

  At first, he wasn’t sure that he knew the answer, so he looked over everything he’d written down. Seeing it all, some parts of it started to come together… and he nodded. “Yeah, I think so. I should be ready to talk a bit more soon, if that’s alright with you.”

  “Of course. Kiara and I want to make sure you’re completely ready when it’s time to go. We owe that much to you—you’ve been left in the dark for far too long.”

  “Let’s wait for Loraena and Kiara, then we can talk. I’ll figure out what the really important stuff is in the meantime…”

  “Take all the time you need. I don’t expect you to be ready to leave right away—you don’t have to go anywhere until you’re completely ready for it.”

  A bit surprised, he looked up at her. That was… familiar, and a comparison he didn’t really expect to make.

  She must’ve noticed, even if she was still looking out the window, because she prompted, “Is something the matter?”

  “No, it’s just… Loraena said something really similar last night. I guess I didn’t expect to hear the same thing from you.”

  Jasmin sighed. “I couldn’t protect Eme and I nearly failed to protect Kiara. Brynn… perhaps she was already too far gone by the time I knew her, but the fate she had was partially because of my influence on her. Eme left with regrets. We all did, I think. I don’t want you to return home with anything left unanswered. I’m sure that friend of yours feels the same way, as much as someone from the outside can.” She took a sip of coffee. “You know… she’s a good girl. I’m sure Eme would have loved her. Keep her close to you, alright? Knowing you aren’t alone… perhaps it’ll bring us all that sense of peace we’ve been lacking.”

  “Yeah… I don’t know where I’d be right now if it wasn’t for her. I owe a lot to her. I just… don’t know if I’d really ever be able to make it up to her…”

  “If you really care for each other—and from what I can see, you do—I believe you’ve got nothing to worry about. I think you’re what each other needs, even if you don’t realize it.” Jasmin managed a smile. “Eme would be proud to see how much you’ve grown. Keep up the good work—I can’t wait to see what you become.”