Echoed Lullabies (Lunar Chronicles x Reader)

Chapter 120

I was sitting on the top step of the porch. The chipped wood was rough against my pants. I watched the citizens on the residential streets, talking and laughing, with bitterness. How could they just go about their day like normal, oblivious to everything around them? Oblivious to the fact that, at any second, they could get turned on their head and be thrown into the world of the unknown?

They didn't just find out that their life was different than everything they'd thought it to be. That they were lied to about the circumstances of their birth. That not a single member of their real family was alive.

"Hello."

I didn't look at Jacin as he came to join me on the porch steps. He rested his elbows on his knees, leaning forward slightly.

"So I lived in the same house as you for a while, huh?"

He nodded once.

I smiled dryly. "Did you hate me then, too?"

"I could never."

My brow creased at the unusual response. At the unusual amount of emotion in his response.

"Y/n."

I turned to look at him in surprise. That may have been the only time he's ever called me by my real name.

"I didn't—I don't...hate you. I mean, you were practically my..."

The unspoken word hovered between us two.

Sister.

Tears pricked the corners of my eyes. "Then why didn't you say anything?" I whispered.

"Because you didn't need that at the time. You were so focused on trying to find Isaac, that I didn't want to tell you the two of you came from different mothers."

For a moment, we said nothing.

"So...you, Winter, and I...we were friends?"

"The best."

I leaned forward to mimic Jacin's pose. "I'm sorry I can't remember."

"It's not your fault. Besides...I think Winter is looking forward to the time she has with you now."

"And you?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Don't press your luck."

I grinned and wiped my eyes right as the front door swung open behind us.

When I spotted Isaac in the doorway, I shot to my feet.

He cocked his head. "What's going on out here?"

"Nothing," Jacin replied coldly, back to his usual self. Within seconds, he stood and had brushed past Isaac to enter the house again.

Isaac looped his hands through his belt loops. "So."

I leaned against the wooden handrail and dropped my gaze. "So."

"I guess now we know why you were always jealous you didn't have me or Mom's eyes."

I nearly winced. "Yeah."

"What are you going to do now?"

I looked up at him in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you just found out you're...Lunar." He gestured to me with one hand. "Are you going to get the device removed so you can use your gift?"

I folded my arms. And for a minute, I thought about it. What it would be like to be able to manipulate the bioelectricity of others. How powerful it would be. How useful it would become in battle, should I ever need to use it.

Then I shook my head. "No."

Isaac's eyes widened. "Why not?"

I shrugged. "I think it's just...better this way. Besides, it makes me feel more..." I swallowed around the unexpected lump in my throat. "Earthen."

Even speaking the word felt like a lie.

"Hey." Isaac took a step forward. "We're still family. Even if you were born somewhere else. We grew up together. I'm still your brother, okay?"

He held out a hand. I took it, and he pulled me into a hug, wrapping his gigantic arms around me.

"Not so little anymore," I said, though it was muffled by his shoulder.

Isaac's arms tightened around me.

Then they loosened. "I think you have a visitor."

I detached from the embrace and looked over my shoulder to see Kai walking in our direction from across the street.

"Your Majesty?" I said, when he was close enough to hear. I walked down the front steps until we met in the middle. Isaac came up next to me.

I put my hands in my pockets. "What are you doing here?"

He jumped right in. "Thorne, Scarlet and Wolf are leaving in less than an hour."

I kept my face impassive. "Oh."

Meanwhile, on the inside, panic seized my heart. Less than an hour? Less than an hour? They were supposed to be departing the next day! And now they were leaving in less than an hour?

"Oh?" Kai questioned incredulously. "Scarlet and Wolf and Thorne, the people you have spent the most time with as of late, the people whom you have bled with are leaving, and all you have to say is 'oh?'"

I nearly recoiled. "Well what exactly do you want me to do?"

"Say goodbye to the people you love! Or go with them, for Stars' sake!"

I shook my head. "I'm needed here."

"And you're doing what, exactly? Supervising the building of a new training center for this sector? It won't be that hard to find a replacement."

"You don't understand!" I exclaimed. "I can't go. Not even to see them off."

Kai folded his arms. "Why, exactly?"

Because if I do, I'll never let Thorne leave. And he has a job to do.

But all I said was, "I need to be with my brother."

"You don't have to look out for me anymore," Isaac told me. "I'll be fine here. Training civilians isn't that life-threatening."

I screwed up my mouth. My brow creased.

"Y/n." Isaac's massive palm landed on my shoulder. "Go."

I looked down. "You're asking me to leave on a mission that might take months."

"And I'll be here waiting when you get back. You deserve this after everything you've been through. It's okay to be selfish sometimes, you know."

It's okay to be selfish sometimes.

The words brought back a hurricane of emotions—yearning, dejection, vulnerability, exhilaration.

Determination.

A muscle in my jaw jumped before I sighed. "Okay," I said, relenting. I turned to Kai. "Let's go."