The Winds of the Past [Rune Factory 4]

Chapter 72

“Chanda! Hey, Chanda, come back!” We all turned to look at Dylas, startled by his outburst as he jumped up. He dove for the door and pulled her back in. “Listen, I don’t know what happened—I was asleep, then there was an explosion or something that woke me up, and all I could tell was that Avani was mad at you about something—”

“Damn, you are a sound sleeper,” I interrupted, shaking my head. “Chanda tried to make love to Avani. While she was asleep. I woke up just seconds before Avani did and caught her at it, but before I could do anything, Avani woke and blasted her across the room.”

“Yeah, well… okay. Definitely not cool, Chanda. But listen, guys. She’s here—we’re all here—to protect Rishi. Well, she can’t very well do that if she’s asleep in another room, can she? And besides, cut her some slack. She’s had a helluva day. Avani, you have Leo to turn to for comfort. But who does Chanda have? You’re all she has, you know. And she’s only just found you again after thinking you were dead for years. So… while I can’t say I like what she did or approve of it, I think I can kind of understand it. So come on, Avani—you two are lifelong friends. Can’t you just… I dunno, I guess just forgive her this one time or something?”

I just stared at him in surprise. Dylas was so obtuse that whenever he managed to hit the nail on the head, it caught me by surprise. Yet he had a point. Thinking over what he’d said, I could see the sense of it. Chanda’s world had been turned upside down and inside out more times and in more ways in the past few days than I could count. And as Dylas had pointed out, she had no one to lean on when things were confusing or frightening or otherwise upsetting—no one except Avani, that is. Still….

I looked over at my wife, who sat motionless on the bed, staring at the wall, deep in thought. After a few minutes, she said in a terse voice, “Maybe you’re right, Dylas. I don’t know. But it’s not that easy. It was… it was so much like what Bhima used to—”

“No,” Dylas interrupted, shaking his head angrily. “That isn’t fair or true. It’s nothing like that, and you know it. Bhima did what he did because he liked to—he liked hurting you and controlling you, and he wanted to break your spirit. Although I don’t really know for sure why Chanda did what she did, I do know one thing—she didn’t do it for the same reasons Bhima did. She loves you and cares about you, any idiot can see that—even me. And she’d never try to hurt you… I think. But maybe she just didn’t think things through. You know, there were lots of times I hurt you, too. Not because I wanted to or meant to, but just because I… well, I guess because I’m just a klutz. I couldn’t express myself as easily as you could. And I didn’t always think about things—okay, usually didn’t think about things—before doing them. But I never wanted to hurt you, and I think Chanda probably feels the same way.”

Avani looked over at Chanda, who stood naked and red-faced, staring at the floor. I think she likely would have bolted for the door if Dylas hadn’t still held her arm in a firm grip. “Is that so, Chanda? Is what Dylas said the way it is with you, the way you feel?”

Chanda hesitated a moment, then nodded, still staring at the floor. A moment later, she looked up, and there were tears in her eyes. “I… I didn’t mean to scare you or upset you. I just… love you so much, and I just couldn’t bear it anymore. You’re everything to me—family, friend, and lover, or at least I wish you were my lover. I’d always hoped that someday you’d feel the same way about me, but then you… you disappeared, and I thought you were dead. And then yesterday, when you really did die for a little while… and then today when I nearly died … I felt like I just had to… to try. If nothing else, the past few days have shown me just how uncertain life is… and I wanted more than anything to take that chance, in case maybe…. But you really don’t, I guess. I… I’m sorry.”