Counting my steps

Chapter 6

*Mellon's POV*

We race home as soon as our feet hit the ground. I can tell Spirit is pushing herself to go faster than she is able to, but I can't tell why. By the time we get to the edge of Spirit's family territory we hear a low, serious voice.
"Why are you two out so late?" We both turn our heads towards the voice, immediately recognizing it as Spirit's uncle. He has natural grey hair, pitch black eyes, pale, and is very tall. Not much family resemblance as Spirit has hair that is red at the base that fades to orange then to yellow and goes down to her waist, ruby red eyes with diamond pupils, tan skin, and is very short. It's no wonder, I mean she takes after her dad.
"Sorry uncle Midnight! We were hanging out and lost track of time, but look!" Spirit said, pulling out the bouquet of flowers. "We got Mama flowers from a Nala tree! Now she won't be as stressed all the time!" Midnight just sighs in response, his facial expression softening.
"You better get those to her quick then, she has been worried sick. You know how she feels about you staying out past dark. Now, both of you girls' parents should be in the dining room, clean up then go there." We both nod as Spirit grabs my hand, dragging me into the forest.

. . .

"Finally! Home sweet home!" Spirit sighs as we approach the entrance of the cave. On the outside it might look small but once you go in you start to realize just how massive it is. We go through several familiar tunnels till we get to the bathroom. I notice that there is already two outfits laid out for use with a note placed by them.
"Change into these before going to dinner. Knowing you two you're both covered in dirt and sweat. -Dash" Spirit reads aloud looking at me. I give her a forced small smile as I look what Dash chose for us to wear. Mine was a light pink long dress with short sleeves and the usual circlet made of crystal roses. Spirit's was a pastel blue that faded to pastel pink, her two favorite colors, dress that just barely showed her knees. She had her sunset hair pinned back with her usual crystal sunflower, her and her mother's favorite flower, hair clip.
Once we wash up and get changed we head deeper into the mountain towards the dining room.
"Remember when we would close our eyes and go through the tunnels just to see if we actually memorised where to go?" Spirit asks me, her smile is soft as she looks at me. I just nod remembering those times.
"We would always end up with bruises afterwards and our parents definitely weren't pleased with it." I reply softly.
"You have to admit that it was fun though." She said, her smile growing.
"I wouldn't know." I guess she forgot about my condition. Both of my parents had it as well so it's no surprise to anyone that I got it. I can't feel any emotion whatsoever. Believe me I have tried to feel something other than emptiness but nothing has worked. Mom and Dad both say it's one of the many conditions a person can get in order to find their soulmate. Like Spirits being that only her soulmate can drive out the spirits and voices living inside of her. My parents have told me that when I meet my soulmate I will have a strange warm feeling in my stomach. That I will want to smile, laugh, and I will start to gain more and more emotion while near my soulmate.
We walk for a few minutes in a comfortable silence.
"A coin for your thoughts?" Spirit asks, looking at me curiously.
"Soulmates." Was my only reply. Spirits eyes go big with excitement.
"I know right?! I can't wait to find mine! Though I hope he doesn't get rid of all my spirits, I actually like some of them. What about you? Do you want to find yours?"
"I want to be normal, but at the same time I don't know what the big deal is." I tell her, shrugging.
"Finding your mate is a big deal! Mama says that for some species if they don't find their mates before a certain age they will die. Other species will cling to their mates once they find them for a certain amount of time. I am really glad we only have a small condition in order to find ours." She says happily.
"Yes but at the same time your soulmate could be anyone in the entire five realms."
"True but I'm positive we will find someone someday! But if you want I could try to teach you how to express yourself. Even if you can't really feel it you might find it easier for people to understand what you mean by showing emotion, even if it's fake. What did the humans used to say? 'Fake it till you make it?'" She stops and looks at me seriously awaiting my response. I think it over for a few seconds and decide that it wouldn't hurt to try.
"Sure why not?" I say my voice monotone as usual as she looks at me excited and suddenly embraces me in a tight hug.
"YAY! Thank you! I'm so happy!" She says before letting go a starts skipping towards the dining room as I follow behind slowly.
How is she always so hyper all the time? We get to the end of the hallway walking into the dining room where both of our parents are waiting. Spirits mom and dad rush towards her, hugging her. I continue walking towards my parents as they stand up. My dad lifts me up, hugging me as both of our moms start asking questions.
"Where were you two?!" Spirits mom, Nightmare, asks.
"We went to hang out and got you these!" Spirit says happily handing her the bouquet of flowers. I turn to see Nightmares face softening as she smells the flowers.
"While that was very sweet of you, please come home before dark next time. Your mother and I were worried sick!" Spirits dad said sweetly.
"Well how was the view at least? Did you see anyone there? Did you have fun?" Mom asked, her voice was soft and sweet.
"It was pretty. We met a male naga that Spirit knows, his name is Teo. I think Spirit had fun talking to him." I told her. My dad puts me down and both of my parents sit down, leaving a chair in the middle of both of them for me. I sit down and Spirit sits across from me.
"Teo? How was he?" Nightmare asks Spirit, sitting down across from my mom.
"He was good! He said to tell you he said hi!" She replies energetically.
Soon Dash, my parents robotic servant, comes in and brings the food out. My parents thank him and we all dig into the food. For the rest of the night we just talk and enjoy each other's company.