6. P R O D I G A L : Redemption

CHAPTER V

DAY FORTY

"UNGH!"

"AGH!"

"OW!"

"YOWCH!"

Tián rolled her eyes as Addison writhed and moaned in the stream. "Focus," she commanded. "Without focus, you won't balance."

"Set your mind on something calming!" Xiao Lang called from where he sat in a tree, cradling 1349 (whom they'd taken to calling "Baby Barakoa", or "B.B."). "Like chilling on the roof with Tián last night!"

"Shut up, Xiao," Addison grumbled, getting to his feet as Tián's face blazed bright red.

"How do you know about that?" Tián asked hotly, glaring up at her best friend.

"B.B. told me," Xiao Lang replied with a grin, holding the baby in the air.

"B.B. can't talk," Addison pointed out.

"Are you sure?" Xiao Lang held B.B. to his ear. "Tell me what you told me last night, B.B."

"FFrllmmmmaaa," B.B. burbled.

"Uh-huh... mm-hm. Okay. Yup. That's what he said." Xiao Lang nodded sagely.

Tián rolled her eyes. "Come on, Addison. Try again," she said, gesturing to the rock in the middle of the stream.

As Addison attempted to balance on the rock again, Tián turned back to Xiao Lang. "Seriously, Xiao—how'd you find out about it? Were you spying on us?"

"No. But I found you guys sleeping up there around five," Xiao Lang replied, the cheeky grin still on his face. "I decided it'd be best not to disturb you. I'm sure you had an exhausting night." He bobbed his eyebrows.

"Nothing happened, Xiao," Addison growled, his face turning red as well. "We were tired, so we just slept. That's all. We slept."

"Right. And B.B. can fly—whoooAAAA, HEY!" Xiao Lang cried as B.B. suddenly sprouted wings of white light and flew out of his grip, burbling with laughter. "No-no-no-no-no...!"

Tián and Addison watched in amazement as Xiao Lang took off after the flying baby in dragon form, yelling, "B.B., wait! I didn't mean that! You can't really fly! Come back!"

The two of them looked at each other and then burst out laughing—which, of course, caused Addison to slip and fall into the stream again.

-

DAY FORTY-SIX

This time, it was Addison who was up on the roof first and Tián who found him there. "Hey," she greeted him, sitting down on his right. "You okay?"

Addison let out a long, slow breath and then replied, "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine."

"Nightmares again?" Tián guessed.

"Seems to be a recurring theme in my life," Addison confirmed with a dry smile.

Tián put a hand on his back. "Was it Vision?"

Addison nodded, working his jaw. "Every night," he muttered. "His voice, his actions... they just keep nagging me. It's not... not him, y'know, but... echoes of him. He's still suppressed, but when my subconscious is vulnerable..." He trailed off, sighing again.

"I think..." Tián paused and thought about what she was trying to say. Finally, she said, "I think you're going about this the wrong way."

"What do you mean?"