Heroes of Dreamland Rewritten, Book 2: Stars in Far Places

Chapter 19

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"C'mon, Blossom, wake up," I plead as I shake her still form slumped on the floor. When Forest and I got home from camp last night, we didn't even think to come check on Blossom just because we were so tired. Instead, we both just crashed at my house. Then, of course, this morning, there were chores for me to catch up on, and Forest offered to help out. Father wanted me to jump straight back into my apprenticeship, but Mother talked him into giving me a day off.

I should have noticed the fact that when I asked if anything interesting had happened while we were gone, Father just smirked and Mother hesitated just slightly before assuring me that everything was as boring as always. I should have noticed the weird looks we got on our way out of town toward the library.

But as it is, we didn't come here until well after lunchtime, only to find the place completely locked up. When nobody answered no matter how many times we knocked, I flew upstairs to try and check through the windows, only to find that all of them were covered by curtains despite it being the middle of the day.

Forest, unsurprisingly enough, knows how to pick locks, so he let us into the main library. I knew where Blossom keeps the spare extra key to her apartment in case of emergency (the secret compartment in the top stair, of course), so I was able to let us inside.

I don't know what exactly I was expecting to see by that point, but Blossom slumped on her back on the floor, with a frying pan still sitting empty on the stove and a stack of dishes in the sink, was not one of the results I was hoping for. The nasty bruise on her front right forehead, bright blue, doesn't help either.

Forest is giving me an 'oh Shotzo what do we do' sort of look. "You're the one with some basic medical training; what are you supposed to do when you find someone who's been passed out for 'ho knows 'ow long with that sort of knock on their noggin?"

Taking a deep breath, I say, "You're supposed to attempt to return them to consciousness first, but that obviously hasn't worked. I mean, it's clear that she's breathing, at least... What hit her? Did someone come in here and attack her?"

Forest shrugs at me, still looking rather panicked. I'm beginning to feel like panicking myself.

Blossom stirs, and I instantly fill with a great deal of relief, even more so when her eyes flutter open a moment later.

"Blossom," I sigh in relief, only to feel very afraid when her reaction to seeing us is to burst into tears, burying her face in her gloves and sobbing.

I stare at Forest, unsure of what to do now. He stares back at me, clearly even more panicked by the presence of a weeping girl than he was by the presence of someone who'd passed out.

Taking a deep breath, I slowly help Blossom into a sitting position and squeeze her arm very gently. "Hey, hey, is your head hurting? What's wrong? We can get some ice on it; what happened to it?"

I can barely understand her reply through her sobs, but what comes out sounds like, "You two... don't have to... pretend anymore. You don't... have to..."

Forest raises his eyebrows at me, still looking rather panicked. I shrug back at him, not anymore sure of what's going on than he is. Turning back to Blossom, I say gently, "Pretend what?"

She throws my arm off and stands up, backing away from us and leaning against the fridge. She finally takes her face out of her gloves and looks up at us, only to make us freeze a bit with the expression they hold.

I've never seen her eyes full of that much sorrow and hurt. Of course, I've never seen her cry like this, either, but that look of utter loneliness and pain...