My name is Lumina Rasica.

The next day, morning arrived with the cheerful sounds of birds chirping outside. I woke up in my bed in a house surrounded by open space.

I tiredly opened my eyes and blinked a few times, as my vision was a bit blurry. A man was currently feeding the horse outside the house.

I sat up and rubbed my eyes while yawning. I recalled a realistic dream, which was also a memory of Tenshi saying that he finally got a job.

I missed him and still had no idea what he had been doing or where he had been for the past couple of months.

***

Twenty minutes passed, and I found myself sitting at the dinner table with a full plate featuring a large piece of meat that resembled an enormous chicken leg.

The person seated across from me was my father, who was eating with his hands. He was the one who was feeding the horse outside. He shared my fox ears and cat tail, along with orange hair and blue eyes.

To my right was my mother, who had more of an elven appearance from her elf ears. She had white hair, green eyes, and a noticeable cowlick. She was eating a bowl of soup but looked down at me with a hint of concern about why I wasn’t eating, and she said, "Lumina, if there's something the matter, you know you can always ask us," she said with a comforting smile.

I shook my head, grabbed the meat, and took a bite out of it.

My father looked up at me and swallowed as he glanced over at my mom. "Don’t worry, it’s normal for her age. She’s probably just hitting puberty now."

She tilted her head. "Already?"

He nodded. "Don’t you remember what I told you? Most demi-humans go through it earlier than others. My type especially."

"Puberty?" I asked, confused, tilting my head as I looked at my father.

"Nothing to worry about. Just keep eating; you’re still growing, after all," he said with a reassuring smile.

My father was named Narvaun, and my mother was named Rasia. Narvaun was a man who hunted beasts to make money, and my mom mainly stayed here, doing most of the chores around the house and taking care of me.

***

Hours went by, and it was late in the evening, and I was looking out the window. I sighed. Just a few more times. He might be there now. I walked back to head out my door, but I would then hear the sound of knocking. I reached up to grab the handle and open the door. I would see Rasia in front of me.

"Hey, sweetie. I just wanted to talk to you and see how you were doing."

I looked up at her and said, "I’m okay; I just want to go out."

She looked at me with a smile. "That's great. Let's have a chat later when you come back, all right? You go have fun with your friend."

I also gave a smile. "Okay, Mama." I would run past her.

She would watch me leave. I’m glad she is already making a friend. I would like to thank him more for what he has done when I get the opportunity.

***

Several minutes had passed, and I was getting closer to the hill, running as fast as I could. I took a moment to slow down and walk, trying to catch my breath. As I reached the top of the hill, I looked down, feeling uncertain that Tenshi would be there.

Unfortunately, my fears were confirmed—he wasn’t there. "Tenshi…" I murmured. I took in the view, feeling the wind brush against me. I sighed and sat down on the grass. "Ah!" I yelped as I felt something poke my bottom.

Looking down, I saw something that looked familiar. "Huh?" I picked it up and discovered it was a wand with a blue crystal on it. Memories flooded back of when Tenshi had handed me his wind to help me cast spells, as well as the times he used it himself.

"This is… Tenshi’s wand…" I said in shock. I carefully placed it back in my pocket and began walking down the hill. "Please be okay… Tenshi…"

***

After several more minutes, I arrived at the house where Tenshi and his family lived. I stood outside the yard for a moment before quickly making my way to the tree that led to Tenshi’s room.

I climbed up the tree and glanced up at the open window. Climbing up easily, I positioned myself on the branch that extended toward the window. "Please be here now…" I whispered to myself. As I inched closer and was about to enter the room, I peered inside and saw Seris next to the crib that Sara and Tara were sleeping in.

Seris was looking right at me, her expression one of confusion. We locked eyes in silence, and I realized I had been caught. "Eeeeh, ah!" I yelped as I started to lose my balance. "Ahh!" I screamed as I fell from the branch, but fortunately, Seris quickly grabbed my hand.

"...Don’t worry, I got you," She said.

I looked down and sighed as she caught me.

***

Several minutes had passed, and it was lightly raining outside. I was sitting on the living room couch, staring down in embarrassment. Seris entered the room carrying two cups of tea.

"It might be a little too hot, so I suggest waiting for it to cool down," Seris said as she set one cup of tea in front of me.

"Thank you…" I mumbled, feeling nervous.

She took a sip of her tea and offered me a comforting smile. "You’re Tenshi’s friend, right? I'm the same person who walked you back home after that little incident. Do you remember?"

I nodded in response.

"The two upstairs are my daughter and my sister's daughter, Sara and Tara. It was quite surprising to see you come out of nowhere. Maybe next time, try knocking on the door, all right?"

I remained silent, continuing to look down. I tapped my finger on my leg, feeling anxious, and mumbled, "Is Tenshi still here…?"

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Sorry?" she replied, not quite catching what I had said.

I looked up at her, continuing to struggle to make eye contact. "T-Tenshi… Where is he?"

Seris's smile slowly faded as she set the cup of tea back down. "...So, no one told you?"

"Huh?" I replied, quickly looking directly at her, sensing that she actually knew something.

The outside door swung open, revealing Taren and Ria. Taren turned to Ria and said, "Listen, just a little longer; he’ll be up by the time we know it. He's not dead, alright?"

"Alright, if you say so," Ria replied. Both she and Taren glanced over at Seris and I, and we were looking back at them.

"Welcome back, you two," Seris said, scratching her lip.

"Uh…" I stammered as I glanced up at both of them. My gaze fell on the sword handle peeking out from behind Taren's scabbard, and I quickly looked away.

Ria's expression turned serious as if she sensed why I was there. "Oh dear," she said.

Seris would grab her cup of tea, stand up, and look over at Ria and Taren. "Well, I’m going to go check on Sara and Tara now." Seris would walk out of the room, but before she could, she stood beside Ria and whispered, "It’s about Tenshi…" She would then walk away and walk upstairs.

***

A few minutes passed, and Ria took a seat on the other couch where Seris had been sitting earlier while Taren leaned against a wall in the distance.

Unsure how to begin the conversation, Ria smiled and said, "So, Lumi, right? Tenshi has mentioned you often; it's nice to finally meet you properly aside from... you know?"

"Where is Tenshi?" I asked, getting straight to the point.

Taren looked over at Ria and said, "I think it's best that you just tell her, Ria; she’s going to find out eventually."

Ria looked up at him. "Please just let me do this my way."

Taren sighed. "All right, go on."

Ria looked down at me and said, "So… Tenshi is currently at his new job, which means you can both go to the university together once he comes back. Isn’t that sweet?"

"I know, but where is Tenshi? When will he come back?" I asked, starting to feel a bit worried.

"Well, Tenshi is… He won’t be back for a while, but that doesn’t mean he’s gone forever. You’ll still see him again," Ria said with a reassuring smile.

"How long is ‘a while’?"

Ria’s smile slowly faded. It was hard for her to tell me the full truth, but she wanted to find a simpler way to explain it.

"Lumi," Taren called out. I glanced back to see what he wanted. "How old are you?"

"Taren..." Ria whispered, trying to indicate that she had this under control. But Taren wasn’t paying attention and waited for my response.

"Uh, almost eight," I answered.

Taren thought for a moment before saying, "He’ll be back by the time you're twelve or thirteen," he said casually.

Ria sighed and facepalmed.

I looked down at my fingers and began to count. "One, two, three, four, five..." My fox ears drooped down as I was shocked to realize that it was four to five years, which felt like an eternity.

Ria went on one knee in front of me and stopped me from counting to hold my hands, and she said, "Listen, I know it’s going to be a few hard years to wait, but Tenshi is going to come back one day, I promise. Please, Lumi, be strong for him.

"Look," Taren said, "There was no other way for both your wishes and his to come true. There was only one job that paid well, so I sent him there. I know he would have wanted this," He said as he got off the wall.

My hands shook as tears streamed down my face, and I felt on the verge of sobbing. "Y-You... you did this… no goodbye..." I quickly stood up, aiming my hand at Taren. "YOU DID THIS!" In my anger, I hurled a sharp earth magic stone at him, but he dodged it swiftly, and the stone crashed through the wall.

"That’s enough!" Taren shouted as he rushed towards me, gripping my arms tightly to prevent me from using my magic.

"YOU DID THIS! YOU DID THIS! YOU DID THIS!!!" I shouted as loudly as I could in tears, trying to kick him, but my legs couldn't reach him.

"Taren, please be gentle!" Ria pleaded as she stood up. Taren reluctantly released me, hoping I would calm down, but in my fury, I used air magic on him, and he fell harmlessly to the ground.

Ria moved behind me, trying to comfort me. "Lumi, please just calm down." Ignoring her, I dashed past Ria and ran out the door in tears and I didn’t care that it was raining harder. Ria took a step closer to the door, intending to come and get me as she shouted, "Lumi, wait!"

but Taren said, "Wait..." He grunted as he got up. Ria turned to see what he wanted. "Let her go back to her family. I’m not sure why they haven’t told her, but I’m sure they will now."

As Seris was upstairs trying to put Sara to sleep as she carried her in her arms, she looked outside to notice me running outside in the distance. She was curious as to why, but she thought it was just because it was raining, so she shrugged it off.

Ria glanced back out the door to see that I was already gone, and she sighed as she closed it. Turning back to Taren, she looked at him with a very serious expression. "That was uncalled for, Taren. I had it handled."

Taren sighed, genuinely feeling remorseful for what he did. "...I know. I went a bit too far, but all we can do now is hope for the best for her. I’m sorry."

***

Several minutes passed as I kept running and sobbing, getting closer to home. I felt cold, but my sadness overshadowed everything else. When I finally reached my room, I opened the window and climbed inside. Leaning back against the wall, I continued to cry even louder. "Why?! Why?!"

A few moments later, Narvaun burst into the room, exclaiming, "Who’s in here?!" He looked down and noticed it was just me crying. "L-Lumi? What happened?"

Rasia rushed over, and as she looked past Narvaun and saw me, she shouted, "Lumi!" in concern. She quickly knelt beside me and hugged me tightly. "Oh dear, what happened to you?"

"Tenshi! Tenshi!" I sobbed on her shoulder.

"Tenshi?" she asked, looking confused. She knew he was my friend, but she wondered why I was talking about him.

Narvaun had a good guess about why I was mentioning him and scratched the back of his head, unsure of what to say.

Rasia sat with me as she continued to hug me and she glanced back at him, noticing his anxious expression. "Narvaun, what’s wrong?"

Narvaun remained silent for a moment before saying, "The boy… he’s gone off somewhere and won’t be back for a few years, apparently."

Rasia stared at him in shock. "You should’ve told me."

I stopped sobbing on Rasia's shoulder and turned to Narvaun with anger. "You knew! Why didn’t you tell me?! Liar, Liar!"

"Lumi, it’s okay," Rasia said gently, continuing to hold me as I looked up at Narvaun, feeling somewhat betrayed.

"I was going to tell you both, but there was a lot going on! I…" he replied defensively but didn’t know what else to say but feel guilt.

Rasia turned back to him and said, "It’s all right. Can you please just close the window?"

Narvaun walked over with a sigh and closed the window behind us.

***

A couple of hours passed, and I was sitting up in my bed, unable to sleep, as thoughts swirled in my mind about what had happened just before I left Tenshi's house. I felt a twinge of guilt, but I couldn't shake the resentment I had towards Taren.

Suddenly, the door to my room opened, and Narvaun stood there, looking at me as I gazed down, overwhelmed with sadness. He walked closer and peered down at me. "Lumi...?" he whispered.

I remained silent for a moment before murmuring, "You lied..."

Narvaun looked at me with regret, feeling bad for forgetting to inform both me and Rasia. "I didn’t… No, I’m sorry, Lumi. It was stupid of me to forget something so important. I should have told you and your mom, but I didn't, and I forgot. I’m very sorry for that, but…"

Narvaun went quiet for a moment and would sit on the side of the bed and look out the window as it continued to rain, but more lightly now. "I don’t want you to think I hate the boy. How could I ever hate the boy who saved your life? I would love to meet your friend, and your mom does, too. Maybe when he comes back, we can all have dinner with his family if you’d like."

I wouldn’t say anything but continued to look down, but I still heard him out.

"Lumi… you don’t truly understand yourself. You are stronger than you realize, the strongest girl your age I have ever met. The fact that you are still here and managed to escape from whoever tried to kidnap you is marvelous. It serves as a symbol to encourage you to keep moving forward. I have faith that he is waiting for you. Please, Lumi." He looked down at me, holding my hands as I met his gaze. "Don’t just be strong for us, but for him. Would he want you like this?"

I shook my head.

"Then stop it. Stop being weak, stop being soft. Let me help you become stronger, better, and more confident so you can protect yourself now that he’s gone. When he returns, you can be there for him instead of him always being there for you. Do it not just for him but for yourself. One day, you will look back at this version of yourself and feel disappointed, so please, Lumi, let me help you bring the true you out."

I felt a bit of shock inside for him saying that, but it felt like what he was saying was right: I am weak. I thought back to the number of times I cried over the stupidest things, and the time when Tenshi dropped his sword scared me. I nodded and mumbled, "Okay…"

He smiled and hugged me. "You’ll be okay."

I would also put my arms around him and hug him tight. I can wait…

***

Tenshi was sitting on his bed and holding up a painting of an outline of me with a smile. Just a few years, he said to himself.