Dear Citlali [Completed]

Chapter 7. Citlali

The other floors looked nothing like the first. One needed to pass a beautiful door at the top of the stairs to enter what seemed like another world. Past this threshold, only the wooden floor marked the continuity with the previous spaces.

One bedroom, an office, and a library occupied the second floor and, at the end of a corridor, another staircase led to a second bedroom and a sitting room upstairs. These rooms had been renovated as well, but the design was far less contemporary.

Each room was a microcosm in itself, with a mix of objects from different origins. Kai entered the office while Dovi explored the library. We instinctively occupied the space each our own way at our own pace.

In what seems to be the main bedroom, an artifact caught my eye. I took the jade bracelet hung with other pieces of jewelry next to a mirror.

I used to dream of having one when I was a kid. And it was the first thing I noticed when I met Ameyal. She dressed as nobility. She didn't need any ornament to fascinate me, but the colors of her clothes and the gold and green of her jewelry made her beauty shine even in the darkness. I would never forget this night.

"You recognized something?" Dovi said behind me.

I turned around, the bracelet still in my hand.

"Ameyal wore this one when I met her."

"When was that? If I may ask."

"We met when we were young. I mean, young for people like us. Ameyal was 72, and I was 39. It was at the end of the XVth century, in Tenochtitlan."

"So you've known her for a long time," Dovi said, their gaze lost in the room's contemplation.

"Yes, and no. We were together for quite a few years but then..." I took a deep breath. "The message we received was my first sign from her in centuries."

Dovi searched my eyes. The sternness in their features softened. "I'm sorry you didn't have the opportunity to see her again."

I smiled. "Thank you." After a pause, I added, lowering my voice: "I think Kai is quite overwhelmed. I mean, we all are, of course. But, I don't know, she was really upset when I found her in the garden."

Dovi nodded. "We'll be here for each other."

And I should probably have doubted this affirmation. After all, I knew nothing about them. But there was something in the way Dovi said it, without even thinking, as if it were obvious, that made me believe them.

"I'm glad I'm not alone in this house. I don't think I could even have opened the door without both of you. It's strange, right?"

"I've seen stranger things." Dovi smiled. "And I understand what you mean."