Across the Globe [COMPLETE]

Poroporoaki

PART 4

THE EMERGENT LAYER

Poking above the canopy

arise the strongest of trees,

as the emergent layer, my dear,

is not for the doubtful or weak.

If you make it to the very top

you'll reach the most sun and see,

how far the world stretches,

so fly high darling, and live.

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23RD OF JULY

Samantha

The past eighteen to twenty hours are a blur of motions and words I barely remember saying. After mine and Tane's return to the observatory, we tried to explain to Emma everything that happened, but we were exhausted, and I'm not even sure what we told her. Tane was so drained of energy, he could barely walk, so we headed straight back to our rental. Em drove us all to the cabin, made us hot potato and leek soup, and after we ate a little, we all crashed for the night.

I slept curled up by Tane's side, my head resting over his chest the whole night, listening to his subtle heartbeat and wondering if it was all real, or if I was trapped in a dream. I kept waking up in the middle of the night, too scared he was going to be gone; but every single time, his steady breathing calmed me until I fell asleep again.

Thankfully for all of us, Emma drove us all the way back to Christchurch in the morning, while me and Tane slept again for most of the drive. I guess saving the world does take a toll on you.

When I woke up, we were entering the city center, and Em and Tane were talking in hushed whispers not to wake me up.

It felt weird to be so mundane as I went into the lawyer's office later on that morning, making it in just in time for my appointment. I had dreaded that moment for the whole trip, but sitting in the office with Emma by my side, and Tane waiting in the reception, I felt calm. I signed a few papers and committed to come back to New Zealand within the next year to figure everything out with the properties and decide what I'd want to do with each of them. Sell them, rent them, live in one of them? I didn't really know what I wanted to do yet, but the lawyer explained everything to me, and promised to stay in contact and let me know once everything was released to my name, which would still take a few months.

It's just past midday now, and I'm finally in the place I've been meaning to visit since the day our plane arrived in New Zealand.

"Hi dad," I say in a whisper, feeling a bit weird talking with a slab of stone. I kneel down and rest a single flower on top of his grave. Emma and Tane are standing a few steps behind me, giving me space to talk to him.

Since the day mum told me about him, I've been trying to understand why he would run away with me the way he did, how he could hurt mum so badly. The same way I've been trying to understand how mum could keep him away from me for so long, deny me my heritage. During this whole trip, I've had so many mixed feelings about it, from anger to sadness while I considered why the person I love most in the world could have lied to me for so many years.