The sound of her light exhale fluttered in her ears as did her shy footsteps as she made her way through the stone path. She reached out her hands and felt a tickle at the tips of her fingers as she caressed the flower petals on the way. A faint smile spread across her lips. The taste of honey still lingered in her mouth. She had thought the granny's tea too sweet at first, but it had grown on her. She would tell her that once she was ready for her "I told you so". She trusted that she would warm up to the old woman with time. She was an acquired taste much like her tea.

She was truly growing to love the place. The calming trickling of water, the freshening scent of flowers, and the warm, humid air of the greenhouse mixed with the outer mountain air. It was like a dream. The best she'd ever had.

Liv heard footsteps from the shop's entrance. Big and firm ones. She could've recognized them anywhere. Her smile widened as she turned. "Inu?"

"You look well," Inu's gentle voice put her at ease. He sounded happier than ever. The last time they met, he had thanked her for reviving his purpose. She had been shocked to hear of a change like that in him and one that she had inspired nonetheless. Now, however, it was evident in his speech. There was something behind his words. An inherent liveliness in his presence.

She let out a chuckle as she carefully walked the stone path towards him. "I wish I could say the same."

Inu kissed his teeth and gave an exhale of disbelief at her. "I'll never see the end of your vulgar jokes, will I?"

When she was sure of the distance, she jumped on him and wrapped him in a hug. "I surely won't," she said, voice muffled as she pressed her cheek against the tall man. He was surprised, but she didn't feel awkward at all. "SEE the end of them, I mean." Inu gave off an amused sound before covering it up and wrapping his arms around her as well.

"The clothes suit you," Inu commented.

"Yeah, I like the granny's traditional wear. But it's a little heavier than what I'm used to," Liv said. A calming silence followed where they could both just enjoy each other's company. But then it grew a little eery. "Is something wrong?" Liv asked while still pressing herself against his regular robes. "Is that why you came?"

"No, nothing like that. Everything is fine. You have no need for worry," Inu said and brushed the top of her head.

She 'looked' up. "Did you just pat my head like I'm a child?"

"Of course, not," Inu said in his own jestful manner. "I pat your head like the grown woman you are."

She could still see his sheepish grin in her mind. She couldn't suppress her own smile at the memory. She had safeguarded the pictures in her mind ever since she lost her eyes. They were all she had, but it was plenty. Having the eternal smiles of the ones she loved was everything she could've ever asked for.

Inu let go of the embrace and took her hand. "Talking of grown women, where might Mrs. Firena be? I ought to pay her a visit."

***

"Oh, but I assume Liv has been an overall positive influence around the flower shop," Liv said, his voice pleading to the old woman.

"Hah," the old timer had a creaky laugh in her creaky chair and slurped down some tea. "The girl is just atrocious. She is lazy, conceited, slow, sleeps too much, and is too in love with nature." She knocked on the wooden table to emphasize her point.

"But— but isn't that a good thing? To be in love with nature when working with flowers."

"Hah, good thing," the old woman laughed and slurped some more tea. Then she just stayed silent while Inu waited for elaboration.

Liv scratched her nose in the awkwardness. "You are aware that I'm sitting here, right?"

"Of course, I am. I'm not blind. You are," the old woman said with a few sharp exhales through her nose. "It's good that you're here. You ought to learn from the words of your elders."

Inu cleared his throat. "Mrs. Firena, if you find Liv to be a burden, I could take her—"

"You stop right there, young man," Mrs. Firena knocked on the table harder. Oh, she was truly furious this time. Liv put a hand on her mouth to keep herself from laughing when she realized she had called Inu a young man. "What kind of man comes into my shop and tries to steal away my helper? Have you any idea of the value of this young woman? You would not take her over my dead body!" Sometimes she sounded like she was casting ancient folk magic when she spoke.

Liv could imagine Inu's confused nodding as he shrunk at her imposing presence. The granny was clearly an enigma out of his league.

Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

"Did you hear that, Inu?" Liv asked, ganging up on the poor fellow. "You have no idea of my true value."

"Oh, shut up, you arrogant little missy," the granny snapped, breaking the alliance as fast as it had formed.

That time it was Inu containing his laughter. Liv could hear it spewing from his mouth. Then he broke out into a chuckle. It was rare to hear him laugh so light-heartedly.

When she thought about it, she didn't remember ever having heard him laughing like that without a care in the world ever before.

***

"It's cozy," Inu commented as he ducked to enter her room.

"It is," Liv said with pride before collapsing on her mattress. "Especially the bed."

Inu sat down on the bed beside her feet. "Actually, there was something else I wanted to talk to you about."

Liv rose, propping herself up with her hands behind her. "What is it?" A notion of negativity had lingered in her mind even after Inu's initial denial. "Is it the capital? Jakaan?" She paused. "Does he know where I am?"

"Don't worry, you're safe, Liv," Inu assured. She believed him. His voice had a calming certainty to it. Somehow, it told her that Jakaan didn't know. He was putting everything on his own shoulders again.

She felt a pang of guilt, thinking that whatever trouble she had caused, he would work to fix. Stabilize Stratum, decide how to handle the Shadow of Quinheart, lessen the stigma around the King's Eyes. All on the shoulders of one man. Aomon.

"Thank you," she said, bowing her head. Her voice came out quiet, so she repeated. "Thank you... for everything," her voice broke. She allowed it to. He had to know how much it meant to her.

"No, thank you, Liv," Inu said, and she knew that he meant it. Liv didn't understand how he could. He just did. "I went to your old village."

Liv leaned back and shivered. "What?"

"I heard Zyra wasn't completely destroyed, so I thought to go there when some time freed up. And I found your home by the description you once gave me. It had only been half destroyed. And I found a letter." Liv could hear as Inu took out a paper of some kind. "It seemed to belong to your father. It was addressed to 'my sweet princess'."

Liv's entire body was struck numb. She let her upper body fall back onto the bed. The words were like a key to a closet in her mind that she had kept tightly locked. She put a hand over her mouth as memories flooded her. All the good and kindness in her childhood that she had shoved into a corner of her mind when she thought it was what she needed to survive. All the times when her parents had cherished her. All the love they had once given her. And all the raw pain that losing them had caused. Her breathing turned irregular as if she would break out into a sob but calmed fairly quickly.

Liv sensed something amiss. "B— but my father couldn't write."

"The letter has the signature of a scribe. Probably one that passed through Zyra. They were people who took the stories of people and converted them into letters at a price," Inu explained.

Liv wasn't sure if she believed it. "My father was always strict with money. He wouldn't spend it on something like..."

"Some things in life are truly so important they make us forget our principles, Liv." She heard Inu wave the letter. "This is one of those things. You want me to read it to you?"

Liv raised herself a little to nod profusely. Inu cleared his throat and Liv laid down to listen.

"As you read this, I will be eating dirt as you like to say. You may have a bad opinion of me. Of your mother. We have not been the best parents for you. We have sometimes treated you as others treat you, and I realize now that I should've hugged you tightly as a child and never let go. Now I feel there is a drift between us that I can't cross. Not because of what I feel now, but because of what I once felt. You probably think I'm afraid of you because I once was, but I'm not. I simply do not see any way of proving it to you anymore. You've grown fast and you're already living a life detached from me and your mother. What I am afraid of is pushing you further away by trying to pull you closer.

So I tell you now. You are not a monster. You don't deserve any of the treatment you've received. When you were pummeled I wanted to kill those brats, but I restrained myself to try and set an example for you. I hope you didn't think that I don't care for you.

My lone desire was always simply for you to live the best life you possibly can. So please, even if you don't always want to, even if it's never easy, even if you hate me and your mother sometimes, even if you do it just because of this letter and only to please your ever-imperfect father, live, Liv."

When Inu finished reading it, Liv had turned away and was holding a hand to her mouth. Not another word was spoken in that room.

***

Liv walked with Inu to the exit of the shop and entered the familiar mountain air, brimming with an energy she hadn't felt ever before in her life. Something about existence seemed so vibrant.

Inu had allowed her to keep the letter. Though she couldn't read it herself, just touching the paper would be enough.

Inu removed his hand from hers, but before they parted, he hugged her. This time it was she who was late to return the embrace.

"I will be back again in the near future," Inu assured her before his footsteps began to grow more distant.

Liv grasped her hands in front of her before calling out to him again. "Inu!" She heard him turn back and hesitated for a moment. "Will my past come back to haunt me?" she asked, her chin tilted down.

"We have both made many mistakes, Liv, but we have been given a chance to put those mistakes behind us. We have come out on the other side. I think that's because life still has many things in store for us. We are both still needed even if Mrs. Firena may not always admit that to you. The world is changing. I would like to think it's for the better, but in any case, we are meant to live with it." She heard as he turned and his footsteps started to grow distant. Then, in her mind, she could see him wave goodbye as he walked away with a few last words. "So just live, Liv."

Liv listened after him for quite some time before tilting her chin up. Though she could not see the stars anymore, she could still feel them somehow. Like they were a part of her in a sense. Like she was a part of them. That feeling was the gift she had been given.

Liv took a breath through her nose and for a moment she felt as if she saw the world more clearly than ever before.

A peaceful existence, it was. One that would eventually end. However, until then, she would appreciate every second of every sensation. She would live as fully as she possibly could. If that path of hers was overturned, she would conquer life and seek the best once again.

With that, she made a promise.

"To the very end, I'll treasure the life you gave me."