Chapter 1

Unconditional Love

It was finally over. The picturesque view in front of him confirmed the thought: it was over. He was back, back where it all began nearly thirty years ago. He couldn't help but sigh as a bitter smile lurched upon his lips; he still remembered the very thoughts he had on the day of his departure. He remembered the, at the time, the beautiful horn of a ferry, the gentle belting of the wind, and the few faces that came to bid him goodbye.

Ethan had big dreams back then. A rosy-eyed college graduate had ideas and aspirations of changing the world, becoming an icon, eclipsing his peers. He fully believed he was capable of it; after all, all his life here, he was a star, the spangled beacon on the dark isles. He was meant for bigger things, for ideas larger than this island, larger than even the life itself.

“Tsk,” he clicked his tongue audibly, his entire body shuddering at the thought. Even remarkably unhealthy doses of alcohol were incapable of erasing the memories of back-then... and boy, did he want them erased. They haunted him, every single of them: that time he 'realized' he was much 'smarter' than everyone else, that other time when he thought the world itself was waiting for him to appear, and that other-other time he smiled smugly when he corrected Mr. Everson, his fourth-grade English teacher.

And then there was that time, and other time, and other that other time... there were many times and many memories and all of them were eating away at his pride and had been doing so for years. As it turned out, he wasn't particularly clever or smart. In fact, he was fairly stupid, he would come to learn. And what's more... he was utterly, unmistakably, unforgivably... lost. Perhaps he even had a smidgen of talent way back when, but he left the island with big dreams but no plans.

As such, the last six years weren't... easy, to say the least. He'd suffered, but, at least, he was of the full belief that he deserved all that suffering. It woke him up and, layer by layer, shredded all that self-indulgent pride that had accumulated over the years on here.

Shaking his head and dispelling the stray thoughts, he focused back on the view; beyond the concrete jungle that was the port, green hills emerged like giants, rolling like waves in an upward fashion, every few layers panning out into flatlands while coral-roofed houses decorate them all. Fixing the solitary reminder that he had even lived past six years-- the backpack carrying a few sets of clothes, some framed pictures, and all the money he got from selling everything else, he began walking forward.

The six other people that came here on the ferry with him had long since departed, as had most other people was the sun was slowly beginning to cascade down beyond the horizon. Even still, he couldn’t help smiling after a few moments; standing at the beginning of the pier, holding a massive board that read ‘Dumbass’ was a very familiar figure: his younger sister, Flora.

Though he had seen her change over the past six years through pictures, it was an entirely different thing seeing it in person; when he left, she was a twelve-year-old brat who bawled her eyes out. She wasn’t even five feet tall and still thought pigtails were the only hairstyle worth of a lady. Now, however, she was five-feet-five, and the pigtails were gone, replaced by a strange mix of curled and straightened strands that seemed like they were signing two different songs... that somehow went together.

“Hear, hear!!” she cried out as he broached the last twenty feet. “The great one is here! His return-- oh, wait, there’s nobody here! Aah, how have I missed that? Maybe my eyes are going bad?”

“Flo’,” Ethan chuckled, setting down the backpack as he reached her and tossing his arms around her. She didn’t resist, hugging him back. “You can finally hug me back without me needing to bend my spine...”

“Maybe I should bend it for you?”

“No, no, thank you. I very much prefer the painless existence,” the two laughed as they pulled back. “You’ve grown. Almost a woman now. Just a few more decades.”

"Ugh," Flora rolled her eyes at him as she suddenly picked up the backpack and began walking toward hills. "Let's go. Mom's cooking dinner. This all you have?"

“Don’t worry,” Ethan said. “There’s a gift in there for you.”

“What is it?” she asked, slowing down her pace to match his.

“The one thing you’ve been buzzing about for the last two years.”

“... no way.”

“Yes way.”

“But... but I read it was hundreds of bucks! You don’t have that kinda money!”

“Okay, first off: ouch,” Ethan said, pulling his arms back and stretching them as to indicate confusion. “Second off, even if it was hundreds more, it’s for you. I spare no expenses!”

“Liar,” she scoffed. “I remember you didn’t even buy me a lollipop whenever we went for a walk. There’s no way you bought it. Either you’re messing with me... or you stole it.”

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“I’m a changed man, Flo’,” he said flamboyantly. “Wise beyond my years, sagacious even.”

“... thank you.” she said with a serious tone, suddenly, smiling at him. “I’ve missed you.”

“Missed you too, kiddo,” he smiled back, ruffling her hazelnut-dyed hair. “Now it’s your turn to chase your dreams.”

“Eh, nah,” Flora shrugged as the two resumed walking. “Turns out, I’m not much of a dreamer. I just wanna find a nice bloke with a nice house. The rest will fall in place.”

“From what I remember,” Ethan said. “There aren’t many ‘nice blokes’ here. I was actually the only one my generation.”

“Hey, at least that entirely unfounded confidence you have hasn’t changed,” she said. “What do you mean you were the only ‘nice bloke’? Are you kiddin’ me? You were the worst! Practically every girl hated you!”

“Tsk, how can you lie to your brother like that? I’m fully aware that every girl in my class, and even younger and older than me, had a huge crush on me. That’s why I never dated! I didn’t want to break any hearts...”

“...” realizing he was messing around, Flora’s lips stretched out into a beaming smile as her laughter belled out. “Man, you really... aah...”

“This place hasn’t changed at all,” he said suddenly after a few moments of silence. The two had made it out of the port and onto the first ‘hilly community’ as they were called.

“That’s not true-- we actually got our first McDonald’s and even a cinema!” Flora exclaimed. “We’re modernizing.”

“Yes, yes-- what do I spot with my little spy-eye, is that a Fiat from 1982? Oh my, well if it ain’t--”

“Oh, shut it, big city boy,” Flora growled. “What do we need to change for, anyway?”

“... you’re right,” Ethan nodded. “This place really shouldn’t change.”

“Alright, let’s speed up. You know how mom gets if we don’t eat meals when they’re perfect temperature.”

“She’s still like that?” Ethan asked, somewhat surprised.

“Yuuup,” Flora confirmed. “Even dad’s been getting frustrated, especially because we usually have dinner during a game.”

“Wow, the old man’s still torturing himself? Didn’t the Pirates win like two games last season?”

“C’mon, you know it’s not that bad.” Flora sighed. “But I did see that man shed a tear last year.”

“First time for everything,” Ethan chuckled. “Maybe he’s a masochist, who knows.”

“Like father like son, I guess...”

“Oi, what are you implying over there, missy?”

“If I ran, would you be able to catch me?” Flora suddenly asked, smiling wryly as she glanced back at him. The hill in front of them was fairly steep, the road paved at a slanted angle with the red-roofed houses arising at the sides. Ethan frowned, corners of his lips twitching.

“W-what do you mean? Of... of course I would...”

“Yeah?”

“Y-yeah...”

“You sounded more confident claiming you would have bagged at least seven movie stars last year,” she said. “And that’s saying something.”

“... you’ve become mean, Flo’. I don’t think I like you like this.”

“Oh, shut it. You love me.”

“Aah, I really do,” he chuckled, catching up to her. “But please don’t run. My muscles are already beginning to cry from the walk alone.”

“Seriously, did you work out at all in the city?”

“I went to the gym twice,” Ethan replied.

“Twice a week?”

“Na, just... khm... just twice.”

“Twice? As in... twice in--”

“Yup.”

“Oof. Dude.”

“Hey, I was busy!” Ethan exclaimed.

“With what? Bagging movie stars?” she grinned.

“Oh shut up...”

As her laughter belled out, Ethan smiled. He missed it, he realized. Not just her laughter, but what that laughter stood for. Unlike him, Flora, surprisingly, hasn't changed much. She was always an outgoing, outspoken girl, wearing her heart on her sleeves. In her eyes, he still saw the brimming desire for life, what everyone in the city would have called 'naivety'. In a way, yes, she perhaps was naive. But... was it such a bad thing that she was never exposed to life's realities? Was it that wrong to be born and grow old in a bubble? Experiencing what he had, Ethan at least believed it wasn’t.

The closer he drew to his childhood home, the more did the memories of this place surge. That time he snuck into old Aron’s orchard and ate a good few pounds of cherries, getting really sick for a whole day after. Or that time he sat onto a bicycle and sped down the massive slopes, barely surviving a major roll-down after he flew over a fence he hit. Or the time Flora got lost within one of the caves on the shore’s cliffs, where virtually the entire island got up on their feet and stormed the shores, searching for her.

This place hasn’t changed... but he has. Long gone were the days of the glitter-eyed child looking out into the world and expecting it to expect him with open arms. He wasn’t, however, broken. He’d gone out and chased after what he believed he wanted to do... and he burned out. Day after day, for years on end, little by little, he was beaten down by the city and its life and its people. And now, he had nothing else to give... so he returned home.

When he informed his parents that he'd be coming back, he expected them to launch into a three-hour-long lesson... but it didn't happen. His mother only said 'I'll make your favorite' and his father said 'I'll make another rocking chair by the time you come back'. That night, after they hung up, he cried-- for the first time in over ten years.

“Ah, home at last,” Flora exclaimed as the two landed onto a flattened ground. He immediately spotted the cozy-looking, two-stories house sitting at the far end of the street, fenced-off with wooden poles, a small garden to the side shimmering in the bountiful colors of the flowers. Just like the island, his home hadn’t changed. Wood-framed windows still looked a bit crooked and the roof was still too slanted and that damned dog was still there, barking already, as though she had sensed his return. And there, on the front porch beneath its roof, two people, a man and a woman in their late fifties, stood up suddenly, walking toward the gates.

Flora opened the simple, old, and worn-out gates and walked in, lining up with the two aged figures and smiling gently. Suddenly, the three spoke out at the same time as he crossed the threshold:

“Welcome back, Ethan.”

“... I’m back.” he smiled back, the man and the woman walking forward and hugging him tenderly. “God, I missed you guys.”

“We missed you too,” his mother, Eliza, replied as she pulled back and tenderly stroked his hair. “You look so thin! Have you been eating at all? You said you got the veggies we sent you, but did you eat them? I don’t think he ate them, Ray. Look at ‘im. He’s so skinny!”

"Oh, give him a rest, woman," the old man, Ray, growled. "It's a new style and such. Women like it, I hear. Right son?"

“... right, right,” Ethan nodded, chuckling. They hadn’t changed either, at all. “Women really like it when they can inspect your bones by just touching you. I don’t get it, honestly.”

“Alright, alright, save your sophistry for later,” Eliza said, urging everyone into the house. “You two are already a few minutes late-- what if the dinner gets cold? Huh? Come on, come on!”

Under the urging words of his mother and the pushing arms of his father and the encouraging smile of his sister, Ethan stepped up the stairs to the porch and toward the doors of his childhood home, his thundering heart suddenly calming. He failed... but he was forgiven and welcomed back with open arms. That’s all that mattered. That’s all that mattered.