The lake glistened under the late afternoon sun.
Rior talked about a sword that flew from his hand mid-swing and knocked out a goose. Sirus sipped tea, unfazed. Herua sat behind me like a shadow with wide eyes and tightly clasped hands.
I didn't speak much. I just... watched.
Watched their expressions.
Their laughter.
The easy way they spoke.
The way their warmth didn't feel like a trap.
Not this time.
---
After a while, Sirus stood to walk toward the edge of the water. I didn't follow. But Herua shifted beside me.
> "Elarion," he whispered. "May I ask something?"
I turned slightly.
> "You may ask. I might not answer."
He nodded nervously. Then asked:
> "When I saw you after the Trial, you didn't flinch, never got scared of anything that came towards you. You didn't blink. Not once. You just… watched."
> "So?"
> "I want to be like that. I want to be someone like you."
I stared at him.
He didn't mean it like a child would.
There was awe in his eyes—but also pain. The way you look at someone who became something because they had no other choice.
> "You don't want to be like me," I said. "But if you're going to follow me, don't break easily."
He nodded with unusual seriousness.
Herua's loyalty wasn't loud. It was quiet, childlike devotion. Not out of fear. But respect. Maybe even hope.
> He sees me as something unreachable.
I hope he become someonw I amcan truat my back to, without worrying.
---
Later, I found myself walking beside Rior as we headed back.
He kept glancing sideways at me.
> "What?" I asked.
> "I just... keep thinking about something."
> "Then say it."
He scratched the back of his head. "Back when you were little—you know, before you left for training—I used to leave snacks outside your door."
I paused.
> "You did?"
> "Yeah. You never ate them, though.Did you hate them."
> "I didn't even know it was you."
He smiled a little. "That's okay. I didn't do it to be thanked."
Then he looked at me—eyes honest, vulnerable.
> "I just wanted you to know someone was there. Even if you never opened the door to your heart."
Something cracked.
Not loudly.
Not enough to collapse.
But enough for the wind to get in.
---
[FLASHBACK – PAST LIFE]
I remembered Rior knocking on my door, asking to play. I remembered Sirus leaving folded messages—poems and stories he'd copied for me. I never replied. Never opened the door.
I assumed they were part of the trap—like everyone else.
One day, I saw them fighting with another noble child who mocked me.
I still didn't thank them.
I thought it was a trick.
> They were never lying.
I just never believed anyone could be real.
> Maybe because I wasn't strong enough, and this was the only way to protect myself. My defence mechanism.
---
That night, I sat on the windowsill of my room.
Herua had fallen asleep curled like a pup at the foot of my bed.
I held one of Danny's memory stones in my hand—this one had a little sun drawn on it.
I turned it over in my palm.
> Warm. Honest. Persistent.
Sirus, Rior, Herua. Even Danny.
They are all trying.
And for the first time… maybe I will too.
But just a little.
Not enough to bleed.
Just enough to breathe.
---