Starsong

Part II - Friend

FIVE YEARS LATER

"There's someone watching us," Tam says, yet another book – this one on airships, it seems – in his hands, his tone so matter-of-fact that Allioni almost wonders if he heard wrongly the first time around.

"Huh? Wait, what? Where?" Chia says, glancing around wildly, hair whipping about her face while Allioni settles for a simple, confused "Eh?".

"You didn't notice?" Tam raises an eyebrow, and Allioni shakes his head. "And Chia, keep it down, you're being too obvious."

He nods slightly, towards where the hill is, with its singular oak tree and an old tire-swing that they fixed up a few years ago. "Over there."

Chia stands up, shading her eyes and peering at the tree while Allioni sets down his plane model on the grass and turns his head to look, both completely abandoning any notion of stealth or subtlety. Allioni spots her first – a girl only about their age, dressed in elegant clothes, the type the richer families have. She ducks behind the tree almost instantly when she notices they're looking at her.

"Who's she?" Chia asks curiously, turning back to them.

Tam shrugs. "Beats me."

"Hmm," she frowns for a moment, before her face lights up and she turns again towards the girl behind the oak tree. "Heeeyyyyy! You over there! Come join us!" she yells, waving her arms overenthusiastically and nearly whacking Tam in the face, who just sighs and ducks out of the way, having long-since grown used to her antics by now.

The girl peeks out again, her hands clutching the rough bark hesitantly. "I don't think I should..." she mumbles, her words floating across the wind to them, barely audible.

Chia bounds over enthusiastically to where she is anyway, sticking out a hand to introduce herself. "Yo! I'm Chia, and that's Tam and Allioni! I haven't seen you around here before, are you new? What's your name? If you're not busy, come join us! It's nice to have a new friend anyway!" she chatters on, while the girl blinks, disoriented, confused, and thoroughly overwhelmed.

Before any of them have any idea of what's going on, Chia has already dragged her all the way to where they are and plopped down on the grass cheerfully, all while shooting rapid-fire questions at the girl like an overexcited puppy.

"Chia," Tam taps her on the shoulder. "You might want to back off a little. You're going to scare her."

"Ah – I'm sorry!" Chia bows her head apologetically. "It's just nice talking to someone new, and sometimes I get too excited when it comes to these things, and I –"

"It's fine, really," the girl says, hands out in a placating gesture, her voice soft, yet with a melodic lilt to it. "I'm Kaya. It's nice to meet you," she offers, smile small and uncertain.

"I'm Allioni, as Chia already introduced me," Allioni replies.

"Tam," Tam says with a curt nod before going back to his book – never a people person, which once again, makes Allioni wonder how he's best friends with Chia, who might as well be the complete opposite.

"Can I be your friends?" Kaya blurts, suddenly, before turning red. "I – umm – sorry," she waves her hands in front of her. "Forget I said anything, I – I'm not sure how this works, so –"

"Sure you can!" Chia chirps, smiling with the full force of the sun.

"I... can?" Kaya blinks.

"Why not?" she says. "Always nice to have more friends, right? The more the merrier!"

"Sure," Allioni says, while Tam simply shrugs again with an "I don't mind."

"Just... like that?" Kaya says.

"Just like that!" Chia affirms with a nod.

And so their group of three become four.

__________________________________

They're arguing again.

She knows – she can hear them shouting just beyond her closed door, tiny bits and pieces of words slipping through the crack under the door.

"Don't listen to them," Yara says, running a brush through her hair. "They're always... disagreeing anyway."

Kaya looks up in the mirror, then back at her hands in her lap. "I know. It just – it feels like my fault sometimes," she says quietly. "Maybe I shouldn't have... done that today after all."

"Hey," Yara says, gently squeezing her shoulder and offering her a small half-smile, the ice in her eyes thawing a little. "You made friends. That's a good thing. Staying isolated like this isn't good for you, you know."

"I know, it's just –" she blows out a breath. "Mother told me not to talk to anyone, and I disobeyed. And now..."

"Then that's her problem, not yours," Yara replies, setting the brush down on the dressing table. "You're allowed to have friends if you want. This is your life, after all."

Kaya hesitates, biting her lip. "Maybe," she relents. "Hey, Yara?" she asks as she makes to leave.

"Hmm?"

"Thanks."

She smiles, bowing slightly. "Always, Lady Kaya."

__________________________________

The lights go out as the next clap of thunder rattles the house, causing both Kaya and Allioni to jump while Chia screams and ducks, hurriedly covering her ears with her hands and yelling "Thunder-gods-please-have-mercy-on-us" without stopping for breath once.

Tam, however, only makes a vague noise of annoyance at the house having plunged into near-total darkness, unshakeable as always. "Great," he grumbles. "Now I can't read. Better go find a candle or torch."

He hops off the stool, leaving the kitchen, somehow managing to not bump into anything at all despite the lack of light.

Kaya blinks.

Tam, she has learned, seems to never be able to be surprised at anything at all – always serious and poker-faced.

Another flash of lightning and another loud boom has Chia diving underneath the kitchen table with a shriek and a blanket pulled over her head. "I... uh..." Kaya peeks under the table, her hands lingering by her sides, unsure what to do. "... How do I help?"

"She's scared of loud noises," Tam explains as he comes back into the room, an oil lamp in one hand and a pair of mufflers in the other, and Kaya blinks again because how did he get back here so fast? "Which is contradictory, I know, considering Chia is, well – Chia. So, well... usually we just do this," he says, setting the lamp down on the table before crouching, lifting the blanket and stuffing the mufflers over her ears.

She tackles him in a hug with a muffled "thank you" at what Kaya considers to be the speed of light.

"Yes, yes, I've got it, now please let go before you suffocate me," Tam says, managing to yank her off and standing up. Chia pouts. Allioni coughs. Kaya gets the feeling that this is a regular occurrence. "Chia," Tam says, "is also a hugger. And I, am not."

"Ah," Kaya says, not sure how else to respond.

It's strange – bit by bit she's learning new things about them: that Chia is scared of loud noises, that she loves hugs, just about smothering people in her affection, and that Tam does not – and yet it's a good feeling, full of warmth and happiness.

Tam sits down to read his book, and Chia, utilizing the distraction to the fullest, lunges again, not having given up yet. Despite his split attention, this time he manages to dodge, the corner of his mouth lifted up in a brief smile that Kaya almost thinks she imagines as Chia huffs and Allioni laughs.

This time, she can't help but smile too.