Into Taleria

Chapter Eleven

Aduil's grasp of English was growing in leaps and bounds since the day on the balcony, but there were still some things he had trouble with, and never was that so clear as the day they wandered the garden and he asked, "What makes you weep?"

To her eternal embarrassment, Kate didn't catch on right away and, after a—somewhat surprised—moment's thought, answered honestly.

"Well, it... it's kind of silly," she said. "Where I come from, it sometimes seems like everybody's just out for themselves, like 'if you can't do anything for me, I'm not going to do anything for you', you know? Survival of the fittest stuff. There are so many stories out there of people who were attacked or hurt in some way, and other people saw what was happening and just kept walking or turned a blind eye—and a lot of the time it's because they're scared that if they stepped in, they might get hurt too. And I get that, but it just... it still hurts, you know?

"But then there are other people, the kind who care so much that they will go out of their way to help someone in need, and it doesn't matter that they don't know the person, and it doesn't matter that they might never get anything out of it for themselves. It doesn't even matter that they might get hurt. They just do whatever they can because it's the right thing to do, because they honestly can't see any other way to act. I don't know, it's stupid, but just the thought of that—that kindness without question, sometimes... it just fills my heart so much I want to cry."

Aduil took a quiet, thoughtful moment before he asked, "This is why you weep over the... flowers?"

Kate stopped in her tracks.

"What? No, I thought you meant—oh, dag nabbit!" Her hands shot up to cover the blush burning across her face. "Made, Aduil, the word is made. What made you cry, past tense."

Dag, what had she been thinking? Why would he be asking such an intimate question? Use your brain next time, idiot!

She sucked in a deep breath and slowly let it out before letting her hands slip. Okay. Enough of this. Time to be a big girl. She opened her eyes and forced herself to face Aduil, plastering on a smile.

"Okay, well that was really stupid," she started.

"Forgive me, Kate, I—"

"Nope, it's all good, we both screwed up. Let's just—let's forget about it, pretend it didn't happen, okay? Okay. Now come on, it's a bright, sunshiny day, let's not waste it standing around making fools of ourselves." She swept past him down the path, silently willing him to play along.

She hadn't gotten far when he joined her, easily matching her quick stride.

"I do not think you a fool," he said quietly.

"Now, see, that's not forgetting it, is it? That's talking about it." She looked over before adding, "Thanks, though. That's sweet of you to say."

Aduil grinned and Kate, despite herself, had to laugh.

"I really should have used another example," she said. "You're never going to forget that baby thing, are you?"

"No, I do not believe I will," he cheerfully agreed.

Well, at least it wasn't as humiliating as 'what makes you cry'. Oy.

Kate gave her head a small shake before turning her attention to her hands, idly picking at her fingernails as they passed through the dappled shade of a towering aspen. The question was still coming, she knew; Aduil had grown quiet, but his silence, and the searching expression he wore, spoke volumes.

Well. Best to get it over with.

"It was my mom," she said, dropping her hands with a sigh. "The flower thing. Snowdrops are my mom's favorite flower, and when I saw them, it just made me think of her and... and I got homesick. I just, I wanted to go home." She shrugged.