Lightning flashed outside of the living room’s large rectangular window. The curtains were never drawn, so there was a perfect view of the gray, cloudy morning. Rain fell relentlessly, sounding as if the droplets were the size of golf balls, or at least had the force of them as they struck the glass and walls around them. The sky lit up again and thunder cracked fiercely outside, rattling the building. The forecast from the previous day called for rain, but if Anita remembered correctly, they did say a light rain. This was very, very far from a light rain. For her, this difference didn’t matter much. She might get a bit wet on her way to school, but other than that, she’d be perfectly fine. In fact, she loved the rain. She enjoyed the sound of it, and she always liked seeing the sky with a bit more gray in it from time to time.
Though, while she would be fine, her partner wouldn’t be. Weather like this, if bad enough, could be debilitating for Ferain, and this was one of those times. Anita didn’t know if it was because of her recent training sessions, or if it was the race from the previous week, or if it was just that bad of a storm, but Ferain could barely move without collapsing this morning. When she first woke up, she noticed that Ferain was nowhere to be seen throughout the apartment, not in the kitchen, the bathroom, or the living room. She knew at once why, and she knew instantly where to find her partner. She knocked on Fera’s door and a second later, when Fera answered it, Anita saw how unwell she looked. Her face was pale, her eyes were repeatedly dimming and brightening, as they always did whenever she was having difficulty keeping her abilities in check, and then, there was an instant lack of balance. Fera tried to take a step forward and nearly fell over. She would’ve if Anita hadn’t caught her with a light gust of wind.
Now, Ferain was lying in her bed, resting until the storm finished its rampage and passed over them. She had a terrible fever, and every now and then, random sparks would crackle around her, burning her sheets a bit each time. Anita found a small white bottle of tablets that she’d been keeping in her room. Truth be told, she forgot she even had them. Shortly after their holiday break started, they came in the mail from Cross Key. They were his alternate solution to the cigarette-like suppressors he’d given Ferain, seeing as she despised the action of smoking them. After fetching them, Fera swallowed two and almost instantly, her powers began subsiding. Anita sighed in relief and stayed by her partner’s side for a time. She’d be a bit late but Ferain always came first. She even waited for her to fall asleep before finally leaving.
She took an umbrella with her and began her journey between districts, arriving at the school nearly an hour late. Unfortunately, Anita’s umbrella didn’t really do much in the way of keeping her dry. By the time she walked through the entrance of the main school building, her shirt and skirt were soaked through. With a subtle, aggravated sigh, a funnel of wind appeared around her as she held her hair down with both hands, trying her hardest to avoid ruining it. It was a short process to dry herself off with that, and afterwards, she continued towards her classroom on the third floor. Quietly, she slid the wooden door open to see that the class was full, and the older man teaching the class was currently in the middle of a lesson. He had a small amount of graying hair left to him, and a beard that covered only his chin. His narrow eyes, which stared at her like a hawk as she entered, were a soft shade of amber, and they always had a piercing quality to them.
“Ms. Caswell, you are late,” he said sternly.
“I know, sir. Sorry.” Anita said, bowing her head slightly.
“Is there a reason for your tardiness?” he then asked.
“My partner, sir. She gets unwell during bad weather like this. I was making sure she was okay before leaving.”
“Hmm. Very well. You may take your seat, Ms. Caswell, and then we’ll continue with our lesson.”
“Of course, Professor Point.” she said, giving a final bow and walking towards her spot, which was in the back of the class, and only a column away from the window. She went to set her bag down but then remembered that she didn’t have it. With the morning being what it was, plus being late on top of it, she forgot to grab it on her way out the door.
“Here.” came a voice from beside her. It was a boy’s voice, though it was softer than most of the other boys she knew. He had flaxen hair and soft emerald eyes that had a kind gleam to them as he held out a spare notebook. “You can borrow one of mine for your notes today.”
“Thank you, Lim, I appreciate it.”
Anita reached for it with her left arm, which was exposed enough to reveal some of the thirteen white scars she carried on the underside of her forearm. Lim had already known about them since late last year so he didn’t mention them as she took the offered book. It was another thing she appreciated about him. When she first stopped hiding her scars, he was one of the first people to accept and understand her. He didn’t judge her for what she’d done, but instead comforted her, and made the whole process of letting them go much easier.
“How’s Hirigaya this morning?” asked Lim, resting his chin in his raised palm.
“Not well.” Anita answered. “She’ll get better though. Once the storm passes, she’ll be as good as new.”
“That’s good to hear. And, how are you?” he asked her.
“A bit tired, but I’m fine otherwise.” Anita then leaned closer to him. “So, what did I miss this morning?”
“Excellent question, Ms. Caswell.” came Professor Point’s slightly hoarse tone. She looked over and saw him staring at her from the front of the room. “We were discussing emotions, and how they can both negatively and positively affect our abilities.” He turned to the digital board behind him and used a finger to draw a dot near the top left of it. “Can anybody name some?” he then asked.
“I can, Professor.” said a girl from the front row. “Depending on our abilities and our personalities, different emotions can make them weaker or stronger, as well as making them easier or more difficult to control.”
“Exactly right, Ms. Yono.” said Point, writing out a few of the girl’s spoken words next to some more bullet points he drew. “A person may feel stronger by delving into more negative emotions, such as anger or fear. Others might have a stronger reaction to love and a desire to protect. This works the other way around as well. Should a person with a more kindred, positive relationship with their powers be having a particularly hard time of it, they may find it more difficult to draw on them, or to fully keep them controlled. This is because our powers can become attached to a specific aspect of our character, or even an emotion that we have a more intimate bond with. This can, of course, always change over the course of time, just as people do, but for the most part, this is a rare occurrence. Our powers are believed to be a more physical manifestation of our truest selves. They come from within us, and thus, represent who we truly are as a person. Our natures, in other words, help to shape our abilities. This is why it is rare for our powers to change over the course of time, because even if our personalities develop and change as we grow, our truest natures hardly ever do. Deep down, a person may always be exactly what they always have been.”
“But what if a person doesn’t like who they are and works really hard to change?” asked a boy from elsewhere in the room.
“Then they may achieve it, or they may not,” said the professor. “As I said, it is a rare occurrence for a person to change so drastically that their true selves reflect it. I’m not saying that a person can’t change at all while keeping their nature as it was. You will all undoubtedly be different people tomorrow or the day after that than you are right now, and this is because life is an ever-changing adventure. Every day, one can only hope to learn something new about either the world or about themselves, and thus, you will be changed by this new information. However, as we continue to grow in that sense, there will still be things that remain the same.” The old teacher thought for a second as he stroked his barely existent facial hair. “How best to explain this.” he said quietly. “Say you were a kind hearted child, yes? Say that as a youth, you would help your mother bring in groceries or you would try to help her with other problems as well, like chores around the house. Now, imagine that as you grew older, you became more rebellious, more independent. You stopped helping as much, or you began to create some distance from her. Despite this new attitude, deep down, you would still care about your mother, yes? If she really needed help, you would more than likely still offer it. That is because your true nature, that kind heart, would still be there, despite your outward attitude having changed.”
He then stopped for a moment and looked directly at the boy who had asked the earlier question.
“That could also be equated to later stages in life as well. As that kind hearted child grows older, leaves their adolescent rebelliousness behind, they become a more mature and conscious adult. As that happens, you would have changed once more, yet, you might still consider helping a homeless man on the side of the road with a bit of spare money, or you would help your mother again, though this time, possibly without her asking. That original nature would still exist, despite you having matured and aged and changed over the course of time. That is the best way for me to describe that. As for somebody who really wanted to change their inherent natures, it would be a difficult task, which again, is why I said it was rare. It takes a drastic event, something undeniably significant, to make such a deeply rooted change. For instance, say that kind hearted boy was walking his mother home one night and she was injured by a robber in front of him, possibly even killed. That might inflict a deep enough change within them to change their nature. This might result in a temporary change in their powers and how they draw on them, or it might be permanent. Sometimes, certain types of damage and emotional distress can't be reversed or dismissed, especially with the more negative emotions, which bury themselves deeper than any other. Anger is a good example, as it can be quite easy to indulge in it, and it is hard to get rid of.”
“Can a person still be happy if they had a lot of anger at one point?” asked Anita, raising her hand to speak. The teacher gave her a curious look. “I mean, if something happened that made a person so angry that they seemed to be an entirely different person, could they possibly just go back to being who they were before?”
“Doubtful,” said the professor. “A person is as fluid as water, Ms. Caswell, and they, as well as their natures can be influenced and shaped multiple times throughout their lives. However, some things don’t fully disappear, they are merely being suppressed or buried. This is even more so the case with wielders, who, as I mentioned, use their emotions as a catalyst of sorts for their abilities. A person that lost themselves to rage, and had used their abilities to their fullest with those intentions in mind… Well, I find it hard to believe that something like that would disappear so easily.” Point then gave Anita a softer glance, almost in a pitying sort of way. “However, this doesn’t mean that a person like that can’t be happy. It just means that they have to work a bit harder to achieve it.” He turned to the rest of the class with a grim expression on his old features. “Does anybody else have any questions before we continue? No? Okay, then.” He turned to the board once more and began writing something else out. “Now, back to the topic at hand. As for the positive effects–”
Anita, at some point, zoned out from his lesson. She thought on his words to her for the rest of the class, thinking of Ferain back home, and wondering if she had really changed, or if she still harbored that anger she developed within her. She didn’t really seem like it now. In fact, if Anita had to guess, she’d say this was probably the happiest Ferain had been in her life. At least, Anita had never seen her smile so much before, even during their holiday together. But, Anita did recall small moments here and there recently. Fera could still be a bit aggressive at times now, much more than she used to be. While they sparred, for instance, sometimes Ferain would get a bit excessive, a bit carried away. She’d start throwing stronger blows, stop holding back so much with her powers, things like that. She would catch herself and apologize, but the look in her eyes always sent a shiver of fright through Anita’s body.
They had a wild, uncontained fierceness to them, like some sort of inherently feral aspect resided within her and it was trying to break out. There were also a few times where she’d get frustrated with something and she’d break it or throw it. Normally, Anita would write that off as something most people did. She once got annoyed during a studying session and threw her book across the room. But, her concern arose because this was a recent development for Ferain. She’d never done it before the whole situation with Itani started. Anita didn’t like the idea that her Ferain had changed so much, but she supposed there was probably nothing to do about it. At the end of the day, she seemed happy, and she was still Ferain really. Maybe Anita was just worried for nothing, and had to accept the fact that a small part of her friend was a little different, but that it was okay.
During lunch, Anita didn’t feel like going to the cafeteria. She typically enjoyed the company of her other friends, but today, it just felt weird without her partner. Really, every day without her felt off now. Since meeting, there was rarely a time when they weren’t together, except for the start of this year, where Anita was alone more often than not. Maybe that’s why being without Ferain now made her feel this way. Maybe it brought back the moments where she worried her partner was lost to her. Anita went to the library for her break between classes. It was a warm atmosphere, and since it took up a decent enough portion of the third floor, there was plenty of room for those that wanted some privacy.
Inside, there were the smells of scented air-fresheners, though they smelt and looked like candles, just without the real flames, and the old aroma of aged books. The shelves also gave off a wooden sort of smell that only added to the atmosphere. Add that to the faint fire-like glow of the few ceiling lights and spread out table lamps, it all combined to make one of Anita’s favorite places on the campus. Her most favorite spot in the library was a small corner in the back that was made for relaxing. There was a desk with four chairs, a couple of bean bag seats, and a large circular window that, at the moment, gave her a perfect view of the gray, stormy sky. She listened to the soft tones of a piano playing quietly over one of the many speakers set up in the room, and watched as the rain ran down the glass.
It was then that she felt the black band around her left wrist vibrating as the screen lit up. She gave a frustrated glower at the word ‘Mom’ that appeared on the screen, and then ignored the incoming call. She brought her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, staring out at the rain. Soon enough, her watch ceased, and she was left in peace again. That is until she heard a heavy thud and several crashes suddenly filled the room from nearby. Her head instantly swiveled in that direction, and without much effort, she heard voices coming from an aisle not far from her.
“You need to learn your place, kid.” said a boy’s voice, one that wasn’t familiar, but it sounded mean and antagonistic.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“And you need to brush your teeth.” said a much younger, much more feminine voice. For all of the ferocity that came out with the words, Anita also thought she heard a slight whimper as well, as if their owner was in pain. Putting the pieces together, she rose from her seat to investigate.
“You need to keep quiet.” the boy snarled, and Anita heard a sharp gasp, followed by another hard thud. The shelf quaked and a couple of books fell off the opposite side.
“Leave her alone!” shouted another tone, but this one seemed ambiguous to Anita. She couldn't tell if it was a boy or a girl speaking. It was higher pitched, but really, it could have belonged to either gender. That was when Anita was sure she heard a cry of pain come after yet another crash.
“I’ve had it with you two.” said the boy. “You think you’re so tough? You’re wrong. You’re nothing but a couple of freaks with mouths too big for your own good.”
“They didn’t say anything to you.” said the young girl’s voice. “I’m the one that called you a dog-breathed moron. Ah!” she cried, after having hit the shelf again.
That was when Anita turned the corner into their aisle. She saw a larger boy, though much smaller than Victor, who made any person in the school look small. He had short dark hair, average features, really. In his raised hand was a small girl, one with blue and black hair, though the blue that took up the majority of the palette was difficult to really distinguish from the black in the room’s current lighting. Sitting on the ground, their back against the shelf, was another smaller person, who, like the small girl, was wearing a girl’s uniform. She had short black hair with a large quantity of red mixed in. Her fearful, tear-soaked eyes seemed like a glossy black, though they might’ve been a sort of brown. As for the smaller girl, her eyes were wincing, so Anita could’t entirely make out their color, but they seemed to be in the purple range of the color spectrum. They all had a single stripe on their uniforms, showing that they were all first-years.
“Hey!” Anita called out, catching the boy’s attention, as well as the two girls’. “Leave them alone.”
“You mind your own business, girl.” said the boy, staring at her angrily.
“No.” Anita said in response. “Let them go or I’ll make you. How’s that sound?”
“Sounds like you’re next on the list after I deal with these freaks.”
Anita scoffed as she began walking towards them. The boy dropped his victim to the floor as she approached, and as he began to prepare an undoubtedly powerful punch for her, he was easily thrown off of his feet. She didn’t even have to wave a hand to do it. A sudden gust of wind brushed past her and threw him onto his back.
“Are you okay?” she asked the girls, smiling at them without paying the boy any mind.
“I could’ve handled him.” said the smaller of the girls.
“Kitari, that’s rude to say.” said the sitting girl. “Thank you, miss.” she then added, grinning painfully up at Anita, who felt terrible that they’d been hurt like this.
“You two need to go see the nurse. I’ll take you there.” she offered, before turning to see the boy rising to his feet.
“That was a cheap shot.” he called out.
“No, that was a warning shot.” she replied. “Leave now or I’ll hit you with your own personal tornado. Imagine it for a second before you take a step closer. Imagine how it would feel to be stuck in a wind tunnel full of blades that would cut you to ribbons in a matter of seconds.” She saw the boy hesitate after his first step towards her. “Got the picture now? Get out of here or I’ll make good on my words.”
“This isn’t over, freaks. You won’t always have this second-year around to save your asses.” he snapped.
“Suck my d–”
“Kitari!” shouted the sitting girl.
“Don’t ‘Kitari’ me, Sam, I wasn’t going to say it.”
“You were to.”
“Whatever.” said Kitari, her arms crossed over her flat chest. “Come on, I’ve had enough of this place.” she said, walking past Anita, who reached out and lightly grabbed her arm. “What?” Kitari snapped.
“Nothing.” said Anita, letting her go. “I just think you should go to the nurse’s office.”
“I’m fine, and so is Sam. Next time, why don’t you just keep your nose out of it, yeah?” said Kitari, before storming off.
“Sorry about her.” said Sam, rising to her feet.
She brushed off her skirt and then held out her hand for Anita to shake. That was when Anita took in the sight of her whole body. Kitari, like Fera, was petite. They had a lithe figure, agile and maneuverable, and while Fera's wasn't always noticeable, it was there. Sam, on the other hand, almost looked like a boy, in the way that they really didn’t have any feminine figure whatsoever. Her chest was completely flat, and she didn’t really have the usual curves that Anita expected from an average highschool girl. Still, her face was definitely more on the feminine side, and so too was her voice, so Anita figured that maybe she was just unfortunate in the body department. Anita even liked smaller girls, given her interest in Ferain, but at least Ferain still had something to touch and stare at. Maybe it was shallow of her, but she thought this Sam girl would have a hard time finding an accepting lover in the future, though there was somebody supposedly out there for everyone.
“It’s fine.” Anita said, smiling and accepting the offered handshake. “I’m Anita, by the way.”
“Sam.” said Sam, grinning. “Thank you for helping us. That boy’s been a thorn in our side since the first day of class. Kitari keeps arguing with him and telling him off, but it never seems to do much. She’s even hit him a few times but he only gets angrier. Bit of a brute, really.”
“Yeah, I can tell. Picking a fight with a second-year that he doesn’t know, that takes a brutish sort of stupid to even try.” she said. “Will you two be alright now?” Anita then asked.
“We should be. And don’t worry about the nurse’s office. I’ll convince her to come with me. She seems cold but she’s a real softie when it counts. She won’t leave my side if I ask her not to.”
“That’s good to hear. Well, stay out of trouble, then, and if you need some help again, don’t hesitate to ask. Worst case, I have a friend that’ll have him running from the school in a heartbeat.”
“Great to know,” said Sam, before skipping away and waving. “Bye-bye. Hope to see you again.”
Anita waved back as the girl followed the smaller one out of the library, leaving her alone again. For the remainder of her break, she picked up the fallen books and returned them to their proper places before heading down the hall for her next class. When the final bell rang, Anita left with the rest of her classmates, relieved that the day was over and anticipating the frozen beef and rice bowl that she had waiting for her in the freezer, seeing as she skipped out on eating lunch. While walking towards the entrance, her watch began buzzing again, which turned out to be another call from her mother. With an exasperated groan, she dismissed it this time and sighed.
“Why is she doing this all of a sudden? She’s never tried calling me at school before.”
“Maybe she misses you.” said a familiar voice. She looked over and saw the headmaster coming her way. To her curious expression, he tapped his head. “You were thinking of your mother.”
“Ferain did mention that you like to invade our privacy like that.” Anita said with an accusing tone. “What if I was thinking of something private, hmm?”
“Then I would’ve apologized. In fact, I will anyway.” said the headmaster. “Sometimes I can’t help it. It’s an unfortunate side effect of the power, I’m afraid. It doesn’t exactly have an off switch.”
“I don’t believe you.” said Anita, before smirking. “Well, Dad, are you wondering how Ferain is doing?”
“Dad?” he asked her.
“Oh, well, if you’re Ferain’s real dad, and she’s going to be my wife someday, doesn’t that make me your daughter-in-law?”
“You are correct in that, though I hope it’s still a way’s off before you two say your vows. I understand that you love each other, but something as serious as marriage should be heavily considered and–”
“You’re not married, are you?” she interrupted.
“No.” he said.
“I can see why.” she said, grinning. After a second, she remembered that it was the headmaster she just insulted, joke or not, and instantly apologized. To her surprise, he laughed.
“I can see that you’re already growing comfortable with the idea. I’m fairly loose, as the kids tell me, but I’m still not typically privy to that sort of conversation. Not many of them insult me like that.”
“Again, I’m sorry, sir.” she said.
“No need to apologize, Ms. Caswell, as I’m sure there is some truth in your words. Now, as to why I am here. Yes, I was curious as to what Ferain’s condition was. She did not arrive today, so I assumed she had taken off due to the storm. Is she well?”
“She’s hanging in there. She had a pretty bad fever this morning though, worse than last year’s. I think she was just tired, so I gave her some power suppressors and helped her get to sleep. Hopefully, she’ll be well rested and not as zappy when I get back home. Do you want to visit her?” Anita asked, accompanying her words with a faint tilt of her head.
“No need. I’ll see her tomorrow morning so for now, it’s better if she rests undisturbed. Thanks for your time, Ms. Caswell. Try to stay dry on your walk home.” He turned to walk away before stopping after a couple of paces. “Oh, and I would recommend answering at least one of her calls. From the limited amount of conversations I’ve had with your mother about your enrollment, she doesn’t seem like a patient woman.”
“She’s far from it.” Anita said. “I’ll think about it. Bye, Headmaster.”
“Farewell.” he said, before leaving her to her own devices.
During her walk home, the rain had lightened tremendously, going from a monsoon to a faint drizzle. Even with the de-escalation of the weather, the afternoon sky was still as dark as if it was late evening. It was amazing, what just a few clouds could achieve. While walking into her apartment, she hoped that she would be met with a much healthier Ferain. It didn’t normally take her too long to recover after a storm eased up, but she still might be a bit tired from the ordeal. Anita would never know how hard it was for her partner to fight back against such weather, but the agonized look on her face gave her a big enough hint to imagine it. She slid out of her boots while creating a small breeze along her hair to help dry it. The first place she went after setting down her damp umbrella was Fera's door. After a few light knocks, Anita turned the knob.
“I’m back.” she said softly.
“Hey.” Fera whispered. She was still in her bed, her messy brown hair falling over her pillow around her head. Most of her body was covered by her dark sheets, but she had her hands free as she held her phone over her face. “How was school?” she asked.
“Lonely.” Anita answered, moving to take a seat on the edge of the bed. As she did, Fera scooched over to make room atop the mattress. Anita smiled as she laid down beside her, resting her head in the space between Fera’s neck and shoulder. “How are you feeling?”
“A bit better.” Fera replied, tapping something on her phone. Anita saw that she was playing one of her mobile games, which was essentially just a dating sim where you paid money for the chance to get cute girls and you could go on dates with them across the world. Anita tried it, and was the one that got Ferain hooked on the game, but unlike her partner, she got bored of it. Ferain, however, fell in love with it instantly and hadn't stopped playing it since. “The storm died down and I got some sleep, which probably helped more than anything.”
“Yeah, you’re working yourself too hard again,” said Anita.
“I know.” Fera muttered. “I got a bit carried away. I know Senna might seem sort of… younger, but she’s kinda like an older sister. I was a bit excited.” Fera then shifted so she could look into Anita’s face. “I hope you’re not mad that I’m training again.”
“Never.” said Anita. “Besides, it’s not like you’re doing it with that creepy teacher anymore. I think your ‘sister’ is an okay alternative. Just take it easy a bit, okay? It’s a rough time of year for you and if you keep wearing yourself out like this, you’ll be in this bed for the rest of the year.”
“I know.” Fera said. “Thanks for looking out for me, Anita. I really do need somebody like that in my life. I’m glad that it’s you.” Ferain nuzzled up against her while tapping some more options on her phone. “You know, I had a dream during my rest,” said Ferain.
“Oh yeah? Anything good?”
“Yeah. It was during our graduation. Victor and Maple were there, and my mom was there. Most of all though, you were there, right by my side.”
“How was I?” she asked.
“Crying, but you looked so happy,” said Fera.
“It’s probably because I was with you.” Anita said, hugging her as she snuggled closer.
“That’s probably why I was smiling too.” Ferain said.
There was a short period of silence, except for the quiet noises coming from Fera’s mobile game. After a while, when Fera had set her phone down and both of them seemed to be close to falling asleep, Anita asked her a question that had been on her mind for a couple of months now, but now it seemed more relevant than ever.
“Ferain? Why did you give the headmaster another chance?”
Ferain didn’t open her eyes, but she did sigh and nod her head, showing that she was awake and listening. “I don’t really know.”
“That’s not good enough, Fera. I’m serious, I need to know why you did it.”
“I’m not lying or trying to leave you out of some big secret, Anita. I sort of just… did it. I felt like it was the right thing to do. But… if I had to guess why, I would say it was because he was trying. I saw how hard he’d been trying to make up for what he did, and how much it seemed to mean to him. I felt like that sort of effort deserved a bit of my own in return, you know? Why do you ask?”
“My mom.” Anita answered. "She’s been calling for a couple of weeks now but I’ve been ignoring them. I'm sort of afraid to answer. I don’t know what she wants, and I don’t really know what I want.”
“What do you mean?” asked Ferain.
“Like, I don’t know if she is calling to fix things between us, and I don’t know if I even want things to be fixed. They’ve ignored me for so long, so I sort of feel like ignoring them only seems fair, right? Maybe she’ll see how much it hurts to be forgotten about.”
“But there’s a part of you that wants to forgive her.” said Fera, sounding like she could read Anita’s heart like an open book.
“A small one.” Anita agreed. “Do you think I should try?”
“I think that sometimes, taking a chance can change everything.” said Ferain. “I took a chance in coming here, and despite all of the bad things, it really did change my life for the better. I think that maybe taking a chance on something is worth the risk. What’s the worst that can happen anyway? If things don’t work out, you’ll be right back here, right back where you started. If things do work out, maybe you can fix your relationship with your parents. If it was my call, I would say that it’s a chance worth taking, but only you can make that decision.” Ferain rolled onto her side so that their noses were almost touching. “I hope that helped.”
“A little, I think. Thank you.” Anita kissed her on the nose and laughed. “I love you.”
“Love you too.” said Ferain, before closing her eyes again. Both girls fell asleep there, beside each other, and feeling comforted by the other’s warmth. For Anita, what really set her at ease were the soft, quiet breaths of her Ferain, the person she loved more than any other.