Breaking Barriers

When I See You Again

Koshi Doxter:

Starting from the time we all got back from the market, no one was willing to open their mouths out of fear that they'd spill our special secret for Min. The plan was to give it to her before we left so we could give her our thanks for all she had done for us, but some of us had big mouths for someone so tiny (hem, hem, Pinto) so we all sat in nervous, eager silence while Min was around and made sure to threaten him with duct tape every opportunity we got.

"You all have been awfully quiet today." Min remarked gently, observing us all with caring concern, "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, everything's fine, Min, thanks for asking!" Masha smiled as Min beamed at us like we were the most beautiful creatures she could hope to lay eyes on, "May we please go outside to play?"

"That's fine, my darlings." She replied lovingly, "Just come back in time for dinner and stay where I can see you."

"Got it Min. Thank you!" Masha called and began ushering us all out of the house.

"Who has it?" She finally asked us once we were out of earshot. We'd been passing the necklace around all day to hide it, but the only issue was some of us were so forgetful, we forgot who we gave the necklace to. Everyone stood there awkwardly under Masha's gaze, unwilling to meet her eyes. Oh, we lost it alright, or maybe...

"Check your pockets." I called to her, and she reached into the pockets of her skirt. Nothing. Everyone else had taken the hint and they too began rummaging around in their pockets, looking for the necklace that despite being an inanimate object, continued to elude us.

"Where is it?" Squirt wondered aloud after looking where he could (he had no pockets to search) (he didn't go into our pockets either; that'd just be weird.) Pinto shrugged as he reached his flippers out of his pockets. 

"Oh, here it is." Nastya announced nonchalantly as she pulled the thin gold chain out of her pocket, "Whoops, how forgetful I am, I know." Nickie snatched it from his sister with a teasing glower.

"Preach, sister." he muttered sarcastically, rolling his eyes as she shot him a dirty look.

"Children, dinnertime!" Min called from the porch, and an electric thrill shot up my spine. Here goes nothing.
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It turns out, we're all a bit forgetful. Once we'd finished preparing dinner with Min and we'd sat down to eat, the necklace vanished with a 'poof' from all of our conscious thoughts, and only reappeared once we'd gathered in Min's living room around the fireplace.

"What do you all think about going to the UK?" She asked us as lightheartedly as she could, knowing for a fact that there was a somewhat high chance none of us would ever be able to see her again. No one said anything.

"We'll miss you, Min." Squirt finally answered quietly.

"I'd miss you all too, my darling." Min smiled lovingly at him, "But it's all for the best. You're not safe here. I wish I could stay with you all, but it's more important to me that all of you live long, safe, happy lives." Her words nearly brought tears to my eyes. This sort of kindness was so rare in the world nowadays, but Min possessed it in tons.

"Min, why can't you come with us?" Pinto inquired innocently. Min looked tenderly at him.

"I wish I could, sweetest, but Inky's prohibited me from going. He's worried about my health. It's quite funny actually; he worries about my health and I worry over his."

"Uncle Inkling says he's already survived a war before. He's tough; he can make it." Squirt sounded like he was trying to convince himself as much as he was trying to convince Min. I softly wrapped my arm around him and he leaned into me.

"I believe he is, my darling." Min's eyes softened and she clasped his tentacle in her paw, "I guess we'll just have to believe in each other for now, won't we?" 

"Oh, Min." Nickie cried, surprising us all as he reached into his pocket. The necklace! We almost forgot about it, "We bought this at the market for you." Min's face both lit up and fell ashen at the sight of the beautiful turquoise pendant on the light gold string.

"My loves, you shouldn't have!" She gasped as he dropped the necklace into her paw, "Why on Earth possessed all of you to buy this?"

"Because you've done so much for us, and we wanted to thank you for taking us in so the adults could figure out what we were supposed to do." I mumbled shyly as Min wrapped me in a bone-crushing hug.

"Any decent person would have done what I did, darling." She whispered, "No need to thank me." Tears pricked my eyes at the thought of leaving her. I felt safe here; we all did, but we'd have to leave at some point. For now, I could stay in her arms, loved and protected by the most incredible woman in the world (minus my mother, Tweak, and Dashi), and I was going to savor every second of it.