The End of Everything

Worth The Wait

Reyna's POV

Thia was as clueless as Thalia. I didn't know what I expected. It was almost comical really, but I couldn't laugh. That would make her upset.

"So you told her you were taking everyone else with you and you'd be gone for a year?" I asked, trying to summarize what she'd told me.

"Yeah," Thia nodded eagerly.

"Don't you think that's a little insensitive?" I questioned, taking a sip of my drink.

"No. I was being upfront and forward," Thia shrugged, running her thumb over the handle of her mug.

"Let me put it this way instead." Thia tilted her head in curiosity. "Don't you think that if Jaxon, Grey, Maria, Sol, and Emily all decided to do something without you for a whole year you'd be upset?"

Thia puzzled over my question for a moment. "I guess. It depends though. If they kept in touch it wouldn't be that bad."

"Alright. Now what if they didn't plan on coming back? They went from one place to another for a whole year again." Thia frowned taking the opportunity to think while drinking her hot chocolate.

"I suppose I'd be upset. Would they be coming back after?" Thia questioned.

"No, they keep going," I explained. "One place to another. They Iris message occasionally, say hello in a letter or two but that's it."

"Well that would be horrible. I mean, we are cousins." Thia frowned, a part of her forgetting it was a hypothetical scenario.

"Now forget the hypothetical and replace it with you and the others." Realization seemed to slap her in the face.

"Oh man. I get it now," she groaned, leaning back in her chair. "I'm so stupid!"

"No, just a bit naive at times but you'll learn," I assured her.

"How do I fix it? It's not like she's gonna listen to me." Thia leaned forward resting her forehead on the table. Rolling my eyes I patted her on the head.

"Give it an hour or so then try again. If you have to, recruit Andy for help," I suggested. Thia sighed loudly. "Don't wallow in self pity."

"More like self stupidity," Thia mumbled, sitting up at last and giving me a glum look. "What if that doesn't work?"

"Then you try again. Eventually, if she really wants you to leave her alone she'll have to say so." Thia didn't seem to like that answer any better than the original one.

"I can't do that," she shook her head. "I'll just let it be."

"Thia..." She was already getting up and hurriedly set her mug in the sink.

"It's okay, really. I can write and Iris message." Thia shrugged, heading for the stairs. "Thanks for the talk!"

Part of me wanted to laugh but the other part of me was equally frustrated. Thia was always so afraid of conflict it was almost always impossible to make her realize that it was sometimes a necessity.

I let the clock tick away a few minutes as I finished my own hot chocolate before going up the stairs. Knocking lightly on her door I heard her sigh before opening it.

"Alright, kid. Sit down. We're really having a chat now," I decided. Thia seemed a tad confused but flopped onto her bed as I shut the door behind us.

"What's the topic this time?" She asked, looking at the dragons that still hung from her ceiling.

"Same as before,",I smiled, sitting on the edge of her desk.