Water Touched - A Dragon Tribe Origin

Chapter Thirty-Nine - Darien

Things were going good for a change. He still thought about his father often. When Darien needed to ask Orion a question, or he'd think about whether or not he'd get scolded for making the wrong decision, were the moments he forgot his father was dead. Then he'd remember, the frustration would return, followed by the sadness. Frustration was becoming more common than sadness. The anger stage of the grieving cycle.

Late at night he sometimes dreamed about the Inero attacking. Most of the time, the dream was an exact replay of that horrific night. Every so often, the victim would be his mother or Tai or one of his brothers. The only way he could avoid the dreams was to only sleep when he was too exhausted to keep himself awake any longer. Not a smart decision, but it would have to work for the time being.

Pouring his all into helping Tai, again, was the only thing pushing him forward instead of allowing all of his burdens to smother him. Helping Tai was the furthest thing from a burden as he could get. She was more fascinating than he imagined, and that was saying a lot because he'd already thought she was the most interesting person on the planet to begin with. Her guard was still up even though her hostility levels were down. Slowly, he would show her that she could relax as well as trust. He did have her trust, though, and that meant a lot.

"You're doing that thing where you're so lost in your own world, I'm not sure if I can pull you out again," she said as they walked through downtown Oceina City. She'd wanted to see the tallest of the skyscrapers there. It made for the perfect last "date" before he left for the council—again—the next afternoon.

Darien glanced over at her. "As much as I'd always love to be a chatterbox with the perfect things to say, most of the time, I'm kind of at a loss."

"We don't always have to talk. I do want to make sure you're okay." She glanced at him and their gazes met.

He mustered up a small smile that he hoped was reassuring. "Okay? Yes, I am. Adjusting will take time."

"I know," she said.

"I know, you know that all too well," he mumbled. "It's another reason why it's good we took all of this time focusing on us and where this is going. Which seems to be in a positive direction." He lifted up their hands, which were linked together, as proof. Their fingers were flat, not intertwined, but they were still touching each other.

Tai shrugged. "I like you. Can't quite decide how much just yet. Friends, maybe: could get a crush." She smirked. "Holding hands is, like, a small, simple test to see how right it feels. Does that make sense?"

"Whatever you need," he said.

"Anything at all?" She raised an eyebrow.

He peered at her. "There might be a few reasonable limitations. I won't kill or harm a cute defenseless animal in the name of love, and I don't want either of us to be taken advantage of. Respect is one of the things I want in our foundation along with trust and love."

"Fair enough." For some reason she seemed disappointed. "Does that mean that when you're gone, you're going to trust me to leave on my own?"

"Why wouldn't I?" He motioned at all of the buildings around them. "You're getting a feel for the city. I still wouldn't recommend you go too far away just yet, but with the transition done..." He gave her hand a squeeze. "Find places that make you feel at home. Decide if you want to take classes. Figure out what you're passionate about. Want a job? Okay, go for it! I don't want to hold you back. Y-you said you wanted control over your own life, right?"

She nodded. "That'd be nice, yeah. Take it back." She laughed. "Who am I kidding, just knowing who I am in the first place would be great. I mean, can you lose control over yourself if you don't know that?"