smile. “Oh that, you don’t need to worry about it.” He holds my hand gently. “I’m just glad that the salty water didn’t wash off your brown sugar spots, Sugar face.”

“Dad.” I giggle from knowing that his mood is good enough to refer to the nickname he gave me a while back. My arms wrap around his shoulders and I pull him in a hug with his head resting on my collar bone.

He places a hand on my forearm to embrace me back in short silence. “How’s Zaru and the others doing?”

“They’re fine, Zaru still hasn’t woken up,” I reply somewhat sadly.

“He’ll be fine darling, he seemed like a tough guy.” I smile to his notion before he gently pulls my arms off of him. “You should go check up on Ari. She’s at the back.”

I do so and see her leaning her arms and chest on the railing of the boat as she stares off in the distance. “Hey Ari.”

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No answer. She just gazes at the waters behind us.

I come up behind her and place a hand on her shoulder.

She jolts a little and looks at me. “Oh hey; how’s your friend? He moving again?”

I shake my head. “He’s still out.”

She laces her arm around me and pulls me in firmly with a reassuring smile. “He’ll be fine.” Her gaze then goes back to staring at the waters.

I enjoy watching the waves fold into the ocean and leave a trail of white foam behind us. It’s so peaceful. I don’t know how much time has passed by, but I can sort of tell from the sun sinking deeper into the ocean on the other side of the boat. That’s when I remember to search through a pocket of mine to find my tiny journal of questions. I hang it over the waters just past the railing and gracefully toss it overboard.

“What was that?”

I wrap an arm around Ari under the one she has on me and hold her closer with a little grin of my own. “Nothing important.” I then cease my attention on it and look to her. “I’m gonna go check on Zaru now. Wanna come inside?”

She shrugs her shoulders. “Why not? I’m already done looking at this thing called the ocean.”

The two of us step back inside and I come back to tend Zaru. He still hasn’t gotten out of his coma.

I lay his head on my lap like before and wait for his return. I just want to know if he really is okay, that he’s not in some sort of eternal slumber.

A quiet and breathy grunt rumbles from his throat and he shifts his head slightly. With his face directed to me, his thin eyes slowly open with that comforting green color they’re supposed to have. In a raspy voice, I hear him say my name, “Vila.”

Warm tears of joy blur my vision as I look back down at him and smile. “You’re okay!”