POV - Luahn
El cumpleaños de Emilia era en pocos días... y mi cabeza era un completo desastre.
Nada parecía lo suficientemente bueno.
Quería hacer algo especial para ella. Algo que la hiciera sonreír sinceramente, no una de esas sonrisitas que usaba para no preocupar a los demás. Quería que se sintiera feliz, amada, tal como ella me había hecho sentir tantas veces sin pedir nada a cambio.
Pero... ¿qué podía darle?
Una espada.
¿Ridículo? Ya tenía una mejor que la mía.
Flores?
Demasiado simple?
Un collar.
Suspiré, tumbado en el césped detrás de mi casa, mirando al cielo. Una nube tenía la forma de un lobo dormido. Otra parecía un pez con alas.
Nada funcionaba.
Fue entonces cuando recordé algo: Grisel había regresado de su viaje.
"Estás desesperada, ¿verdad?"
"Sí".
"¿Y quieres que te salve la vida?"
"Básicamente..."
Grisel rió mientras mordía una galleta de nueces y se acomodaba frente a mí en el saucedal cerca de su casa. Llevaba el pelo suelto, más largo que antes de su viaje, y llevaba una túnica más formal de lo habitual, todavía con detalles del templo.
"Entonces... ¿de qué se trata este apocalipsis?"
"Emilia."
"¿Le pasó algo?" pregunté.
"No, no es eso... Es su cumpleaños. Su décimo cumpleaños."
"...Ah."
Se relajó, dando otro mordisco con calma.
"¿Y no sabes qué regalarle?"
"Exactamente. Nada parece lo suficientemente bueno. No quiero que piense que me lo tomé a la ligera. O que no me importa. Es... importante."
Bajó la mirada y sonrió suavemente.
"Luahn. No es tan difícil. Solo piensa en algo que tenga valor para ti. Algo que quieras compartir. Lo sabrás cuando lo veas."
"¿Así de simple?"
"Así de simple."
"Eso no me ayuda en absoluto."
"Y aun así viniste a mí."
Hablamos un rato más. Me contó de su viaje al Ducado de Relfort, donde conoció al duque y asistió a una cena formal como parte de su formación como futura sacerdotisa.
"No te perdiste nada especial."
"¿Estás segura? Es Relfort. Dicen que es enorme."
"Sí, sí, hay muchos edificios antiguos, catedrales, bibliotecas interminables... políticos que huelen a incienso. Pero…" "
¿Pero?"
"El tren. Me gustó mucho."
Sus ojos brillaron por un momento.
"¿El tren?"
"Sí. Subir a una máquina gigante que viaja sobre raíles como una bestia de metal. El sonido del vapor. La velocidad. El paisaje desde la ventana. Me hizo sentir... pequeña. Pero también libre.
"Nunca he estado en uno."
"Tienes que hacerlo algún día. Aunque solo sea para ver cómo cambia el mundo a medida que avanzas."
"¿Prepararás algo para Emilia?"
"Por supuesto. No sé si será especial, pero será mío. Emilia y yo... no somos muy cercanas, pero me cae bien. Y es tu amiga. Así que también es mi amiga."
"...Gracias."
"¿Por qué?"
"Por tomártelo así. No sé por qué, pero me tranquiliza que tú también estés en esto."
"No tienes que agradecerme. Además, a veces no se trata de cómo te sientes. A veces se trata de lo que eliges que te importe, ¿verdad?"
"...Preocuparte por ella, sí."
"Entonces el regalo perfecto será lo que salga de ahí."
Cuando nos despedimos, ya era de noche. El cielo empezaba a llenarse de estrellas. Grisel caminó hacia su casa, pero antes de irse, giró sobre sus talones.
"Luahn."
"¿Hm?"
"Ya sabes qué regalarle. Solo tienes miedo de que no sea suficiente. Pero déjame decirte algo..."
"¿Qué?"
"Para ella, ya eres suficiente."
Y desapareció entre las suaves sombras del crepúsculo.
Regresé a casa esa noche con la cabeza llena de ideas, pero con el corazón un poco más tranquilo.
Tal vez aún no tenía el regalo.
Pero sabía que había algo que tenía que hacer.
*
POV - Luahn
La casa de Emilia siempre olía a madera recién tallada y especias suaves. A diferencia de la nuestra, donde predominaban las hierbas de mamá, aquí cada rincón parecía cuidado con esmero. Tal vez porque Leyla siempre tenía algo horneándose, o porque Fortz había construido gran parte del lugar con sus propias manos.
Esa tarde, Leyla me invitó a quedarme un rato más. Emilia estaba ocupada con Liifa en otro lugar, así que acepté sin dudarlo. Me gustaba estar aquí. Me hacía sentir... parte de algo.
"¿Estás nerviosa por el cumpleaños?", preguntó Leyla con una sonrisa mientras me servía una taza de té de hojas dulces.
"Mucho", admití sin rodeos. "No sé qué regalarle. Y me resulta difícil pensar que algo sea suficiente".
"No necesitas competir con el mundo, Luahn", dijo Fortz desde atrás, limpiando un trozo de metal con un trapo. "Emilia no es del tipo que se centra en el valor de las cosas. Mira el gesto detrás de ellas".
"Eso es lo que me dijo Grisel".
"Entonces deberías creerle. Es inteligente, esa chica". Fortz sonrió levemente, pero era sincero.
Hubo un silencio cómodo. El tipo de pausa que no es incómoda, solo deja espacio para respirar. Así que decidí aprovecharlo.
"Fortz... ¿puedo decir algo un poco raro?"
"Depende. ¿Qué tan raro?"
"Raro en el buen sentido", dije con una media sonrisa.
"Adelante".
Leyla put her cup down, curious.
"I know I'm not your son. And that I'm just another kid at the academy. But... sometimes I wish I could call you Dad."
The room fell silent.
Fortz looked up. His face showed no surprise, no annoyance. Just a kind of gentle, profound shock.
"I'm not saying this out of pity. It's just that... I never knew my own father. And Mom... she does everything for me, but I know she feels lonely sometimes."
I took a breath.
"I don't know if Emilia would tell you this directly. But she needs you. Even if it doesn't always seem that way. Sometimes strong people just want someone to say, 'I'm proud of you.'"
Leyla looked at me with an expression that was difficult to decipher. A mixture of tenderness and respect.
"I... think she's like you," I continued. "And that... is a good thing. Because I respect you, a lot."
Fortz stared at the rag in his hands, squeezing it without realizing it. Then he placed it carefully on the table.
"...Thank you, Luahn."
He said no more. But it was enough.
A little while later, as Leyla accompanied me to the door, she stopped me gently.
"Do you know you just did something no one has done in years?"
"Talk to Fortz without him glaring at me?"
"Ha... sort of."
She smiled. But this time her smile was different. It had real weight. As if she had been waiting for this moment for a long time.
"That man carries more silences than words. But you made him think. That's more than many achieve."
"...I just said what I felt."
"And that's why it was worth twice as much."
Leyla came closer and gently ruffled my hair. Something only Mom and Emilia did.
"Thank you for loving her so much, Luahn. In your own way. Without noise. Without demands."
"She... was always there for me. Even if she didn't know how to show it."
"And you are there for her."
I looked up at the sky for a second. The sun was setting through the branches, turning the roofs golden.
A distant memory popped into my head. Not from this life. But from the other one.
The smile of a tall man. His voice. My laughter as a kid, when I was still called William.
I wondered if that dad would also be proud of who I was becoming.
Maybe someday... I would remember him completely.
But for now, I just wanted Emilia to be happy on her birthday.
And maybe, just maybe... helping her reconnect with her father would also be part of my gift.
*
POV - Emilia
There were only four days left until my birthday.
Ten years old.
I should be excited. Perhaps impatient. As a child, I dreamed of this age as if it were a magical frontier: the moment when one stopped being a little girl and began to understand the world.
But now that it was near...
I felt a knot in my chest.
Not because of the party. Not because of the number.
But because I didn't know what my parents, Luahn, or Mrs. Olivia would do.
"What if they don't do anything?"
"What do you mean, nothing?" said Liifa, shocked as if she had uttered blasphemy. "You're Emilia, the number one in our generation! Of course they'll do something!"
"What if they don't?"
"Emilia!" Selena interjected with a laugh. "Only you could think that with such a serious face! Your mom has probably already knitted magic pennants and baked half a mountain!"
"My mom maybe. My dad... I don't know."
They both fell silent for a second.
They knew.
They knew that Dad and I didn't talk as much as we should. That even when we did, I felt his words were like stone, not because of their harshness, but because of the fear he carried inside. Fear of losing me like he lost his father. Fear of seeing his reflection in me.
And I... I wanted us to understand each other. But I didn't know how.
That afternoon, as we wove ribbons to decorate the square, I tried to clear my mind. At least they would be there. They both confirmed they would come early.
"So what do you expect Luahn to give you?" Liifa asked with a suspicious smile.
"What?!"
I almost dropped the ornament between my fingers.
"Come on, Emilia, you're looking forward to it more than the fireworks."
"That's not true..."
"Yes, it is," Selena chirped, biting her lip to keep from laughing. "I bet you even dreamed about it."
"I didn't dream about anything!"
"Then why are you blushing so much?"
"I'm not blushing!"
"You're the color of a wild fruit in the middle of summer," Liifa teased, nudging me.
I sighed and looked up at the sky.
"I just... don't know what to expect. It's Luahn. He could give me a star-shaped stone and I'd still..."
"And you'd still what?"
"...Nothing."
I lay down on the grass as the sunset tinged the clouds orange.
What did I expect from him?
I didn't know exactly.
But I did know that I wanted to see him that day.
I wanted him to look at me the way he always did: without judgment, without fear. With that calmness he had even when the world treated him differently.
And maybe, deep down inside...
I wanted him to be the first to say "happy birthday" to me.
That night, Mom found me tidying up my things more slowly than usual.
"Is something wrong?"
"No..."
"Emilia."
I sighed.
"...On my birthday. I don't know if Dad will be there. I don't know if he cares."
"Of course he cares. He just... has a harder time showing it than others. But he'll try. I know he will."
"And if he doesn't..."
"We'll be there. And someone else." She winked at me.
I remained silent.
"Luahn?"
"...Maybe.
And you want him to be there, right?"
I covered my face with the pillow.
I didn't deny it.
I couldn't.
And silently, as I closed my eyes, I wished with all my might that that day would be perfect.
And that he would be there.