Find It! The Wishes Hidden in Winter #2

Chapter 20: Our Future

Kameko woke up. So warm, so sleepy, she didn't want to open her eyes, seemingly pondering whether she should go back to bed or officially get up.

She moved, feeling something soft wrapped around her. Kameko felt around, fluffy, soft, and a bed. A bed?

Heart thumping, Kameko tried to remember what she had been doing beforehand. She heard loud animal sounds from somewhere far away.

Were those the sounds of birds?

Struck by lightning, or in this case, the very thought of birds, Kameko opened her eyes and sat upwards, all of the memories pouring in. She looked around.

Morning sunlight streamed in from the pale curtains. She looked around, taking in the small room she was in.

A closet, dresser, and table close by, nothing too fancy. A sitting room converted into a bedroom. Plain walls, Kameko was strangely reminded of a hospital room. At least it didn't have that smell of antiseptic, hospital smells.

A thick armchair stood a few feet away, sitting on it was an elderly man dozing off, chin on his shoulder.

Kameko noticed him stir slightly, opening his bright pink eyes and shook his white-ginger hair. "You're awake Kameko."

"Where's Emiyo and Lisa?" her face was a thin line, she wasted no time in speaking out. Julius didn't stop her, he understood.

"They're nearby." was all he said. "Makeshift rooms from houses in the Noble Kingdom. You'll see a few adults here and there so they won't be hard to find."

A certain look passed his face, watching Kameko stand up, swaying from side to side. He tossed her a black cane. Taking a closer look, it had to be handmade. Julius had to have spent some time making it.

A question arose,"How long did I sleep for?"

"Nearly a week."

Kameko walked out the door, even faster now, the last thing she heard was a,"Be brave Kameko, be brave."

Her eyes stung, in all the commotion she'd lost her glasses. They weren't in the room, Kameko would've seen them if they were.

Luckily, Kameko still had on her belt and emblem on. Maybe that's why her lower abdomen started to throb. Kameko's eyes focused on her blurry surroundings.

She recognized her blurry surroundings. The simple cottages, stone houses, trees here and there, and tall skyscrapers. As if nothing bad had ever happened. Were they really able to recreate this entire planet themselves?

Headache pain reminded Kameko of her task, discovering that Julius was right. People were walking around, kinda like ants clustered together in a colony.

They were in her way, she didn't care if it looked rude, shoving people was the only way to go.

Pushing the first set of people aside, she noticed how no one complained, making not a single pep. And most weren't much taller than her.

"Kameko, my baby!"

She recognized that voice, blushing scarlet, lifted upwards into the air. Buried deep into her mother's chest, listening to the rising and falling of her breathing. Every intake, every exhale. The sensation of Sakurako's trembling shoulders, her raspy voice.

But how was she here?

The people then...they were----

Their voices rang out, Kameko felt her head spin as she tried to decipher who's voice belonged to who. Horace, Ivory, Xi Bao, was that Maude?