God, they are so freakingcute.
I waved at them as we kicked off and went up into theair.
‘Bye.’I sent them a mentalfarewell.
‘Goodbye, blue-haired human,’one said tome.
‘Her name is Kit,’anotheradmonished.
I smiled. I would miss sky home, but I was going to see my friends. Things were lookingup.
* * *
It was a quick twenty-minute flight,and then I saw the expansive lake come into view. Flying over the Dream Wars was a simultaneous thrilling and horrifying thing. You were safe, but you also saw the untold horrors of the Dream Wars from a vantage point where you couldn’t help. Not everyone had the plasma bands yet, and those who didn’t were fighting for their lives, andlosing.
As Dawn started her descent, I scanned the edges of the lake for my friends. They would never be out in the open. Luckily, I didn’t see any of the giants when we’d flown, so I figured we were out of their smellradar.
As she got closer to the surface, I spotted Maxine’s bright red hair, stationed among a small grove of pods trees andfoliage.
‘There!’I told Dawn and described where theywere.
As she flew closer and landed on the ground, my eyes landed on a familiar figure, someone I hadn’t expected to bethere.
“Master Aki!” I whisper-screamed and leapt off Dawn, running toward my mentor. He was wearing his typical black shirt and loose-fitting pants, two samurai swords poking out from behind his back. He was short at five-six, but make no mistake, he could lay an ass whooping when he wanted to. His salt-and-pepper hair was cropped short, and a grin tugged at the corner of hismouth.
I’d known this man since I was twelve years old. I’d screamed at him, cried, threw fits, laughed and every other range of emotion a human had with someone close to them. We had an unspoken bond, and he was like a father figure to me. He wasn’t much of a hugger, always stoic and rigid, but I didn’t give a shit. I crashed into him, nearly knocking him over as I wrapped my arms around him. His chest rumbled underneath me as he chuckled and squeezed metight.
When he pulled back, I could see tenderness in his eyes. “I hear you have a little problem,” hestated.
My happiness wore off then. “Yeah. I’m stuckhere.”
He frowned. “That’s one way of looking atit.”
Here we go.Yoda’s about to start speaking riddles.I put one hand on my hip. “How else would you explainit?”
He circled me slowly, looking me up and down as if seeing something I couldn’t. “You don’t look stuck tome.”
My typical anger and frustration that he knew just how to bring out of me wasrising.
“You know what I mean,” I pressedhim.
He put his hands behind his back and shrugged. “Have you tried toleave?”
This man pushed every button I had, multiple times. “There is no ‘trying to leave,’” I told him. I knew he wanted me to see something I couldn’t, but it was just pissing meoff.
“I say there is,” he declared, and left it atthat.
Great, lessons. Always lessons.I would forever be a student when it came to my relationship withhim.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” Damien said, from behindme.
I spun and stepped into his open arms, reaching up on my tiptoes to give him a kiss. The past twelve hours had changed me. I was so grateful for what I had, who I had. I didn’t want to hide any of my feelings. I was living life like Maxinenow.
“Thanks for coming,” I toldhim.
I gave Ronnie, Maxine, Brisk and Nox each a hug. I assumed they’d left Jeremy back home with Mr. Hansen and Josephine. I’d complexly forgotten about Lucy until I’d hugged Ronnie and the tiny kitten hissed at me from her little evil pouch. I gave her the stink eye and then called Dawnover.
“Master Aki, you remember Dawn?” I reintroduced them. They’d met a few times over the pastdecade.
