I Remember

Goodbye, again

"Dad, I'm going out to buy groceries!" I call through the house.
My dad walks down the hall shuffling a stack of papers. "You sure you don't want me to go, after what happened yesterday."
I smack my forehead upon remembering how I completely wrecked my sister's car. She is so going to kill me for that.
"Shoot, can I take your car?"
Without looking up he tosses me his keys. "Be careful!"
"Alright, see you in a bit!"
I open up the garage door and back my dad's car into the street. As I drive down the maze of streets that make up my neighborhood, I can't stop thinking about earlier events. I'm so deep in thought that I don't notice I'm going through a stop sign until a car honks and I am jerked into reality.
I shake my head a bit, trying to stop my heart from pounding.
As I head home the sun has just about reached the peak in its cycle. I turn into my street but then I spot something in the corner of my eye and stop.
A slumped figure is sitting by a pond at the nearby park. I walk over.
"Hey."
Leo looks up startled. "Oh, it's you."
"Mind if I sit?"
He scoots over to make room on the bank. A pile of tiny rocks lie next to him, and as I sit down, he scoops one up and tosses it into the pond.
Leo lets out a long exhale before speaking.
"The real reason I came back here was to find a forge that my dad may have left abandoned. I had no idea if one would even be here, but it would make sense...I don't know where else my mom might have met him."
Dad? Forge? I decide not to ask.
"I-I visited the warehouse...where my mom...s-sh-she died."
I stay silent as he wipes his eyes quickly .
"Does this have to do with you telling me that you're dangerous?" I ask.
Leo tosses another rock into the pond.
"Leo, whatever it is, you can trust me."
He looks me in the eye.
"I believe you."
Then, he holds out his palm. All of a sudden a tiny fire bursts to life. Soon, flames are dancing across his hand.
"Can you see it?" He asks.
"Why wouldn't I be able to?"
"Oh, I wasn't sure if the mist would just cover it up or not."
"Missed...what?"
"Never mind," he extinguishes the flames. "What I was going to tell you is...it was me who started the fire."
"Oh Leo, I'm so sorry. I know my situation probably doesn't compare, but I never knew my mom...I know you're lucky to have had such a great one."
He smiles, but sadness rests in his eyes.
"You're taking this really well for a mortal."
"You say that like you're not."
"It's a long story."
We talk for a few more minutes before Leo stands up to leave. I brush my clothes off.
"So, this is goodbye?" I ask.
He nods.
"Well, go kill some monsters for me." I playfully punch him in the shoulder.
"Yeah," he says, as if the thought pleases him. "I'll see you around Marina."
That's when we part our separate ways.