The darkness starts to fade, revealing a scene of Akiko standing in a vast field of white calla lilies. Each flower emitting a soft, glowing light in the pale moonlight, with more falling from the sky like slowly descending stars. “I’m sorry,” she seemingly whispers to herself, her eyes cast downward before slowly turning at the sound of footsteps approaching from behind.

The scene fades from Akiko in the flower bed to a heavy darkness, leaving behind unfamiliar voices echoing in an argumentative tone.

An unfamiliar female voice breaks through the weighted silence, speaking with a wonderous curiosity in her voice. “She’s probably a worker for that Shrine down in Tinder, don’t you think? Thought they’d all quit by now though,” she speculates to another person in the room.

“Who cares?” replies a male with disinterest and apathy.

“I care! A rare find these days, but I wonder what she was doing so close to Bumi on her own like that,” the female voice muses, her footsteps fading in and out as if pacing.

(“They’re so loud,”) Kaori’s thoughts echo in discomfort, unheard to anyone else.

“What does it matter?” the male voice retorts, sounding almost tired of the conversation.

“Well, because she kind of looks like Akiko don’t you think?”

(“I’m not Akiko,”) Kaori’s thoughts protest, knowing they wouldn’t hear her otherwise.

“And? It makes no difference to me.”

“Do you think she’s the one the everyone’s talking about for the past couple of days?” the female voice asks, disregarding the man’s remarks.

“I think you’re an idiot for believing anything the likes of them say.”

“Stay here and keep an eye on her until she wakes up, I’m going to let the Captain know,” she says lightly.

“I’m not a babysitter!”

“Okay bye!” The sound of a door shutting is heard, followed by a long and almost deafening silence.

❀

Kaori winces lightly, rolling over tiredly while seeming uncomfortable before opening her eyes and sitting up slowly, looking around in the dimly lit room. She barely making out that she was on a wooden bed hanging by chains from the side of the wall, with only one thin blanket between her and the bed and another that was used to cover her. She places a hand on her head lightly, feeling a small bump from where she had fallen. “What happened?” She whispers to herself softly, suddenly hearing the sound of the familiar male voice answering her.

“About time you’re awake,” he says quietly.

She moves back in the bed, her back hitting the chains that supported it, placing her hand on her head for a moment in pain. Quickly disregarding how she felt, she starts to speak with fear hidden behind her aggressive tone. “Who’s there?”

He steps forward a little, the details of his characteristics unable to be seen in the lack of light in the room. “You do look similar,” he whispers quietly, almost unheard.

She stares in his direction trying to make out what he looked like with focus in her eyes, until the same female voice from earlier could be heard just as the door opened, letting slightly more light into the room. As such, the light revealed a tall young woman with long, bright blonde hair pulled up in a high ponytail with her bangs flowing down over her forehead lightly. Her dark purple eyes matching her purple tank top that paired with high waisted black shorts and black strapped boots that went up to her knees. Her bright red lips seeming to suit her shining completion as she smiled while walking in happily.

“Tai! Captain wants to see you~” the woman says sweetly to what could now be seen as a handsome young man, appearing to be in his early twenties. His medium-length brown hair covering his eyes from Kaori’s view, with goggles hanging loosely around his neck. Just under a black jacket, he wears a dark, though somewhat faded, shirt and long black pants with several pockets on the legs behind held up by a thick black belt that containing a pouch on one side, and heavy black boots. Draped around his chest was another thick leather strap, holding a jagged, black metal sword behind him. The woman grins mischievously then looks over at Kaori with a bright smile and wide eyes. “Oh, you’re awake!”

“Probably from all your damn yelling,” he says coldly as he exited the room, closing the door behind him.

The woman rolls her eyes as Tai had left, then turns toward Kaori. “Don’t mind him, he’s always rude.” She strains her eyes a bit looking disappointed. “It’s so dark! He could have at least opened the window.” She walks over to a small circular window and opens the wooden shade lightly, allowing strong sunlight pouring into the room almost immediately. “There we go.” She turns around quickly and looks over at Kaori, stepping toward her curiously, placing her hands on her hips as she leaned forward to look at Kaori closely. “Oh, wow... You really do look identical,” she says with eyes wide in amazement.

She moves back a little as the woman moved forward, noticing her vibrant purple eye color even more than before.

“I won’t hurt you,” she says after backing away a little and raises her hands innocently. “Promise,” she adds with a pleasant smile.

“Can you tell me where I am? And why I am here? And most of all who you are?” Kaori asks softly.

“Oh, sure! Follow me if you want to know,” she says playfully, walking to the door only to turn around and look at Kaori. “C’mon, I bet you’re really curious,” she says with a playful wink.

She looks at the woman for a moment, reluctantly getting up and following after her down a dark hall, noticing everything around was made from wood that was creaking gently as if swaying back and forth. “This must be a ship or something. I guess I was closer to the ocean than I thought.” She turns her attention back to the woman as they stopped at a door down the hall.

She listens for a moment as if trying to hear what was going on inside the room on the other side before giggling a little to herself and opening it revealing a large control room of machines that were surrounded by wooden supports. A large glass window that wrapped around the front area in an outward curve is covered in a sunlit, grey haze, obscuring the outside view. “The girl as ordered Captain,” she says toward a tall man who looked to be in his early thirties in his face if not younger but his hair a long soft mixture of ash blonde and white that drew attention to his deep, emerald eyes. He smiles kindly at the sight of Kaori, showing that behind his slightly loose black pants and dark long sleeved black shirt hid a gentle man.

Kaori watches the man for a moment before looking away uncomfortably. She barely notices Tai who stood leaned up against the wall in the corner with one leg resting on the wall while he crossed his arms, keeping his gaze down with his hair hiding his eyes, but not his irritated aura that surrounded him.

“Welcome aboard,” says the kind man after a while, breaking the silence in the room. “I am Keiji, captain of this vessel, and I believe you’ve already met Breeze and Tai,” he says calmly. “And might I assume you to be Lady Akiko?”

She furrows her brow a little in slight irritation at the comparison, about to speak until Tai’s voice interjected.

“You’ve pissed her off. I told you it wasn’t her.”

“We’re ignoring you now, remember?” Breeze says childishly. “Ever since you ditched me earlier your word has become unwanted.”

“If you stayed out of my way there wouldn’t be a problem,” Tai says standing straight and off the wall.

Breeze places her hands on her hips scoldingly. “You’re always saying ‘stay out of my way’,” she replies mockingly. “But you knew damn well you needed my help.”

“You helping me is being as far away from me as possible,” Tai replies coldly.

“I’ll give you far away when I push you off the deck!” Breeze yells threateningly.

Keiji clears his throat lightly, causing the two to fall silent, then looks back at Kaori. “Have I mistaken your name?”

Kaori nods, looking at Keiji boldly, despite her rising anxiety. “Yes. I’m not Akiko. My name is Kaori.”

“Kaori...” Keiji looks over at Tai with the same calming smile. “You were right.”

“She’s useless then... Might as well get rid of her. And I’m not just talking about the new one,” Tai says gesturing toward Breeze.

“Meanie,” Breeze mumbles bitterly as she crossed her arms and turned away from Tai.

“I would like to know where I am now,” Kaori say toward Keiji with the confidence in her voice starting to waiver.

“It depends,” he answers thoughtfully. “You are on the Airship Moa, yet we fly over Bumi forest. Not very quickly I might add but efficiently none the less.”

“Airship...” Kaori whispers softly to herself in amazement, her eyes wandering to the window just as bright grey clouds parted and the beautiful blue sky could be seen as birds flew by. “In the sky?” She stops as she realized something and looks directly at Keiji. “You must be the Sky Bandits, correct?”

“The one and only,” Keiji says with a sense of pride about him.

“They told me you weren’t alive though.”

“The Temple followers do love stories don’t they?” Keiji says with amusement in his voice. “Well since you are not Akiko, Tai is correct; you unfortunately provide no incentive to us in keeping you on this ship.”

“So... You’ll kill me?” Kaori asks, as she backed away lightly.

“Sheesh, what are they telling people down there?” Breeze asks looking offended while shaking her head in displeasure.

“You’re Y- Yaban right? Vicious said I’d likely die in your hands,” Kaori’s gaze wanders worriedly. “Is it not true?”

“Idiot,” Tai says hatefully, then turns away from everyone and walks out of the room letting the door slam hard behind him.

Breeze sighs a little as she shook her head then focuses on Kaori. “So you met Vicious? Shomei too huh?”

Kaori nods lightly. “Yes. They took me to a place called Tinder Shrine and I met a man who lived there who thought I was this Akiko girl as well.”

“Curious,” Breeze glances over at Keiji. “Isn’t it?” She asks with a knowing smile.

He nods understandably. “So, if you were with them, how is it that my crew found you alone about to be attacked by a demon of the Child of Sorrows?”

“Child of Sorrows?” Kaori asks in a confused whisper to herself her expression lost for a moment before shaking her head somewhat irritated but refusing to let it control the atmosphere of the room. “They wanted me to visit each shrine and planned to lie to me about going, knowing all I wanted was to return to the only place I can remember.” She clenches her fists at her sides, her nails digging into her palms while she struggled to keep her emotions in check at the thought. “They didn’t explain anything else to me,” she continues, her voice becoming quieter with each word. “They just pushed me into a path I don’t understand without listening.”

He looks at Kaori seriously, his expression reflecting it as if he didn’t seem that way often. “And where are you from?” He asks in an almost cautious tone.

“I’m not... Sure... Shomei said they had found me in the ocean. All I can remember before that is a city I think. It was an all-metal building with loud sounds of machines and people.” She shakes her head looking frustrated as the thoughts escaped her. “I can’t remember much else, but they seemed to know what and where it was.”

Keiji’s contemplative gaze shifts from Breeze’s worried silence and moves to the expansive view beyond the window, maintaining a curious silence of his own.

“The man at the shrine said the only way there is by this airship and if I am of no use to you then would mind just taking me there? I know I’ve been an inconvenience to you but, please? I don’t want to go back to someone who wants to use me for their own reasons.”

“That place... Is a place that people tend to avoid,” Keiji responds reluctantly toward Kaori’s gentle plea.

Kaori stays silent for a while, not completely understanding. “So, you won’t take me?”

“If we did, it would take a while. Maybe you can think about it on the way, reconsider,” Keiji replies, his tone unchanging.

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“Why would I reconsider?” Kaori asks with skepticism.

“We just wouldn’t want to risk your safety,” he replies, almost as if trying to reassure her.

She furrows her brow, wanting to say something in response but stops as Breeze gently interjected.

“You know, you look really uncomfortable in those clothes,” Breeze says lightly, changing the subject quickly. “If you want you can change into something else. Just go down the hall we came from ‘kay? I’ll come find you in a little while.” She smiles eagerly as she started leading Kaori out of the room.

“Okay but-” She is cut off as Breeze closed the door on her and sighs lightly. “What did he mean by that?” She turns away and looks around, forgetting where the room she was supposed to go. She wanders aimlessly until she found herself in a long hall with only a single door at the very end. “Wonder where that goes...” she mumbles to herself, approaching the door in curiosity and reaching out to open it until her body is suddenly pulled forward just as the door was swung open before she could even touch the handle. She closes her eyes as the gust of wind hit her, unintentionally colliding with Tai, revealing that he was the one on the other side.

He pushes her away from him hard, causing her fall to the floor. “What are you doing?” he asks coldly, his goggles hiding his eyes as he wore them, protecting himself from the high winds caused by the open door and narrow hallway.

“I was just-. I mean, I thought-” She gets up slowly, shaking her head and looking up at him with a resentful glare. “You didn’t have to push me you know,” she says seriously.

He stands above her silently for a while, the wind blowing her hair around her body and nearly reaching him. “Right,” he says absentmindedly as if talking to someone else then grabs Kaori by her collar, pulling her close to him hard and closing the door behind them. “C’mon,” he says tonelessly as he led the way up a flight of stairs to the top of the airship, Kaori not too far behind.

She looks past Tai, her eyes wide in amazement of the beautiful combination of pink, purple, and orange clouds glowing in the sunset. “Oh wow...” She smiles peacefully at the beauty before her, unknowing that Tai was watching her as she walked cautiously ahead of him.

He watches Kaori go over to the front of the ship as he went to sit down against a large mast with his knee up and his arm resting on it just after removing his goggles from his eyes. He looks up for a while until Kaori had walked over to him and sat down not too far away. “What?” He finally asks in an exasperated tone after a while, looking directly at her for the first time; now apparent that his eyes were two different colors; one a piercing, deep ocean blue and the other a dark, yet soft, brown.

“His eyes...” She stares at him in silence for a moment, not noticing he was getting irritated with her.

“It’s rude to stare,” he says hatefully.

“Oh. Sorry...” She says with embarrassment as she turned away to hide her now flushed face. “Can I ask you something?” she says after a while of silence between them.

He looks away from her and out at the distance, waiting for her to speak.

“What is a Yaban?” Kaori asks quietly.

“We are people the Temple call ultimate outcasts of the heavens, but our people seem to believe that we have been bestowed powers of guardians to protect Noroc. Whoever you want to believe, we’re still not welcome anywhere by anyone,” he says carelessly, the thought of his words meaning nothing to him.

“Is that what your friends are as well?” Kaori presses further, seeming genuinely curious.

“Far from friends,” he replies dully. “Keiji and Breeze are two of the very few left with pure blood.”

“And you?” She asks softly.

His expression becomes hardened, a flicker of anger passing through his eyes. “I’m the first of our kind... Half human, half Yaban.”

“Is that... Bad?”

“What is with you? Why don’t you know any of this yourself?” His irritation grows as he directed his question toward her.

She frowns a bit in response, speaking regretfully. “I don’t, but you don’t have to be mean to me about it. I was just curious.”

“Then what do you know?” he asks bitterly, his patience wearing thinner the longer they were talking.

She looks out at the sky, lost in the vague memory of her dream. “I remember a dark place, loud enough to hear people and machines but not loud enough to know anything that was said. I remember a man in a glass room looking like he was tired...”

Tai’s gaze immediately sharpens, his attention fully focused on what she was saying with a sudden intensity in his expression.

“I don’t remember anyone, but I feel like it was important to know them,” Kaori continues, her voice tinged with a sense of desperation. “And that’s it. I told everyone about this and found out that the only way to get back there was by this airship. Your captain thinks I should reconsider going though.”

He looks down a little, his gaze appearing distant once more before he meets her eyes again. “Will you?”

“Why would I?” Kaori responds, her voice revealing a hint of defiance.

“It isn’t safe there.”

“Why shouldn’t it be safe?”

“Because you look like Akiko,” he replies bluntly.

“So what?” Kaori retorts sharply, her frustration evident. “I’m not her. I have nothing to do with her. I just want to find out what happened and where I came from.” She brings her knees to her chest and places her head down.

“That city is a place that will kill you without mercy,” Tai says with a sense of grave warning.

“I’d still like to see it for myself,” she mumbles lightly after a while, as if processing what he said. “There has to be something there if it’s all I can remember, and no one else seems to be eager to help me out,”

He shrugs carelessly. “Whatever, if you have a death wish then who am I to stop you?”

She pouts a little, looking irritated with him. “You’re mean,” she says suddenly, catching his attention.

“What are you, a child?”

She glares at him childishly then stands, looking tired of speaking with him. “No, but you should be nicer to people you’ve just met,” she says bitterly, then turns away from him and walks back inside the ship.

He watches as Kaori had left then turns his attention back to the horizon.

Kaori walks down the halls quietly, her expression frustrated until she ran into Breeze. “Oh. Excuse me.”

Breeze smiles happily. “There you are! Tai said you were up on the deck. See anything interesting?”

“The view is very pretty,” she says with a slight smile. “I don’t think I’ve seen something like that before.”

“You still haven’t change yet, c’mon I’ll take you to my room and see what we have okay?”

She follows after Breeze obediently. “Is he always so harsh?” She asks suddenly, unable to stop herself.

Breeze laughs a little. “You mean Tai? I guess you two had a little talk, huh? Was he not on his best behavior?”

“He’s a bit rude.”

“I can’t say if he’s always been that way, but he has been since we met him,” she says thoughtfully.

“Have you all known each other long?” She asks with interest.

“Keiji and I have known each other for... Close to two hundred years now I believe, and I’ve heard of Tai before but only met him about five years ago when he joined our crew.”

She tilts her head a little as she looked down, not understanding something. “Wait. Two hundred years? How is that possible?”

“Wow, you weren’t joking. You really don’t know much, do you?” she says lightly, continuing walking at a slow pace down the hall with Kaori. “Yaban age different from humans, our change in appearance is different for all of us, so some of us look very different across all ages, and the oldest known under normal circumstances has lived up to three hundred and fifty about eight hundred or so, but that was years ago.”

“So that’s the power he was talking about then, isn’t it?” Kaori asks curiously.

“One of many. You see we are all very different from each other and we all hold very different abilities.”

“Like what?” She asks with growing interest, and a bright look in her eyes.

“Keiji has the ability to see possible outcomes of the future, peer into the minds of others, and create barriers of protection,” Breeze explains, her voice carrying reverence. “I can harness elements; mold and adjust them to whatever I want and encase them in a sphere. My hobby is potions too but not necessarily a power, and Tai...” She looks up as if trying to think of a specific way phrase what she wanted to say. “Tai is very special.”

“Is he not able to do anything because he’s half human?” She asks cautiously.

“Really the farthest opposite,” she says quietly, almost in a concerned tone. “Tai can summon and control forces beyond this world, has the strength and stamina no one has ever possibly thought of, and even manipulate reality itself. I once heard that he has the power to alter a person’s memories and will to drive them insane. He is the strongest of our kind in all of history.” She looks down in discomfort, quickly disregarding the feeling as she continued. “But he’s done nothing like that in a very long time though so it’s hard to tell if he’s even capable of it anymore.”

“Oh... I guess I shouldn’t make him mad then,” she replies quietly, regretting asking the question.

“It’s okay, he’s always mad,” Breeze remarks with a grins as they stopped at a faded purple door, the paint slightly chipped off but still maintaining a certain charm about it. “Maybe you can help keep him in line. He’s got an attitude for his age that he hasn’t grown out of yet.”

“I guess,” she replies in an unsure tone.

“At least while you’re here,” Breeze laughs a little and opens the door, revealing a circular bed in the corner of the room near a large window looking out at the now darkened sky. “Hold on let me get a light so you can see.” She walks in and places small spheres in glass jars around the walls of the room then snaps her fingers causing them to all light with a small fire. “There we go.”

“Amazing,” she says with interest.

“Thanks,” she replies with a proud giggle. “Let’s see what we can put you in, huh? You’ve got to be tired of those old looking robes.” She walks to another corner of the room where a large old treasure chest was sitting next to a paper screen that separated the corner with various clothes and pieces of cloth hung messily around it. She opens the chest showing a pile more of clothes that seemed to be thrown inside. “Go ahead and take a seat while I look, okay?”

She nods lightly and goes to sit on the bed, admiring the fluffy purple sheets, until her eyes wandered to the white silk canopy hanging over the bed, draping down the side until it reached the floor.

“Hm... I don’t think you’d be comfortable in a dress...” Breeze says thoughtfully as she went through the chest, carelessly tossing things to the side.

She smiles a little, completely comfortable with being where she was. “She’s so kind when she doesn’t have to be.”

“Oh!” She exclaims excitedly as she takes an outfit out and hides it behind her mischievously, quickly turning to look at Kaori. “Want to change for me really quick?” she ask playfully.

Kaori stands with a hesitant nod and goes behind the screen with the handful of clothes Breeze shoved into her arms.

“If you need help, I’m here,” she says kindly.

“Thank you,” she says from behind the screen nervously. “Are you sure it’s okay to wear this?”

“Absolutely. Unless you want to stay in those robes all day.”

“Hm...” She looks down at the clothes in her hands before touching the robes she was wearing.

“Hey, I hope you don’t mind me asking but.” She walks around in a circle slowly as she spoke, her hands behind her back as she looked up thoughtfully. “Well, you have to know by now about the city right? What will you do if there isn’t where you’re from?”

Kaori stays hidden behind the screen, changing clothes with slight difficulty in a thoughtful silence until she spoke. “I haven’t thought that far yet.”

“Well how about you stay here with us? I’m sure Keiji wouldn’t mind having you as part of our crew,”

She peeks around the corner of the screen curiously. “Even if I’m of no use?”

“Tai thinks you’re useless,” Breeze replies with a corrective tone in her voice.

“Then he really wouldn’t want me around.” She goes back behind the screen for a moment while Breeze continued talking.

“Who cares what he thinks. He hardly hangs around here anyway; besides it would be a lot better here than with Vicious, don’t you think?”

“I’ll consider it.” She steps out from behind the screen wearing a sea-foam green colored mid-sleeved light jacket that only buttoned up snugly around her mid-section and fell long near her calves, but not touching the floor, over a black undershirt, black slim fit pants that reached over her thighs and just above her knees, and black short boots that only went as far as her ankle. “Is this okay?”

“Great!” She turns to face Kaori and smiles victoriously. “It looks good. Do you feel comfortable?”

She nods with a slight smile. “I prefer this in comparison,” she says contently.

She clasps her hands together. “I’m glad! You can keep it okay? It looks good on you.”

“Thank you very much. I mean, not just for this but for helping me in the forest too. I meant to show more gratitude earlier.”

“Oh, don’t thank me for that. Tai was really the one who found you unconscious with that wound on your head looking worse than it does now just before that demon was about to devour you.”

“I should thank him soon then.”

“He’s usually out around this time, maybe in the morning huh? If he comes back.”

“Right,” she says with a relaxed tone.

“I’ll show you to your room. It’s not much since it was just storage before but if you decide to stay we might be able to change it.”

Kaori follows Breeze out of the room and down the hall a little.

“At the end of the hall here is Keiji’s room, remember mine with the purple door, okay? Tai’s door is the one on the left over there. Yours is on the right across the wall from mine.”

Kaori nods understandably. “I’ll remember.”

“If you need anything you are more than welcome to see me at any time.”

“Thank you.”

“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then. Get lots of rest,” she waves a bit as she walked down the other end of the hall away from Kaori, leaving her alone.

She looks over at Keiji’s room door noticing a single sphere-shaped indent in the wood then at Tai’s door looking as if it was hardly used with a thin line of dust around the floor. She turns and goes back into the room she had woken up from earlier that day and lays down on the wood bed, reluctantly falling asleep.

❀

Akiko stands at top of a cliff looking out at a barren valley. “I never thought this is what it would be like,” she says to herself, her voice heavy with sorrow. Sensing Vicious’s presence beside her, she turns slightly, meeting his somber gaze with her own.

“Akiko,” he says softly, the weight of their situation evident in his tone.

“It’s ironic isn’t it?” she asks, her eyes drifting downward. “The Temple prepared me for this outcome my entire life, yet the pain feels just as if I were hearing it for the first time.”

Vicious shakes his head, resolve reflecting in his eyes. “I won’t let you die,” he firmly asserts. “I’ll figure out something so don’t worry about it anymore alright?”

She looks over at Vicious, tears shimmering in her eyes as she offered a grateful smile. “Alright,” she replies, a flicker of hope in her voice, yet doubt still lingering in her eyes.

In a tender gesture, Vicious pulls her into a tight embrace, his determination and sadness wrapping around her tightly. “I promise I’ll protect you,” he vows, his embrace offering a fleeting moment of solace in the bleak atmosphere around them.

❀

Kaori shifts restlessly in her bed, the remnants of her dream clinging to her consciousness as tears silently streamed down her cheeks. As she wakes, the weight of her emotions linger, leaving her heart heavy with sorrow, yet with a hollow sense of uncertainty. “What was dreaming about? And why is it making me feel so badly?” With a resigned sigh, she rises from her bed, knowing sleep was no longer an option for her at that point. She silently slips out of her room and wanders down the familiar corridors that were now darkened with the night until she found herself standing before the door leading to the deck. Opening it cautiously, she steps out into the cool night air, feeling its gentle embrace soothe her troubled mind. Gazing up at the star-strewn sky, she finds herself captivated by the beauty of her surroundings. “It’s so beautiful here. It’s easy to feel at peace. Maybe I should stay with them if I could see this every day. But I want to see the city from my memories. If someone there can give me some answers as to what happened,” Lost in thought, she remains completely unaware of Tai’s presence, closing her eyes for a long moment. “What will I do if there’s nothing there though?” She opens her eyes looking directly up just as tears fell down her face. “Uhg...” She sighs heavily to herself in frustration as she shook her head and cleaned her tears away. “Why am I still crying?” She asks herself in an exasperated tone.

Tai quietly walks up, instantly noticing her crying and sighs silently as he put his hands in his pockets continuing to walk forward; stopping at her side while he looked out at the horizon just as it started to grow warm from the glow of the rising sun. “You’re up early,” he says quietly.

She blushes with embarrassment, sniffing lightly before turning away from him, about to leave as a way to save face.

He looks over his shoulder as she walked past him, causing her to stop as he spoke. “You can stay if you want,” he says quietly, knowing she had stopped even as he looked back ahead of him.