Lucidity

Chapter Twenty: To Live

Warning: Emotional Rollercoaster

Everyone could feel the tension at breakfast. Junior had made a conscious effort to sit as far away as possible from Yaz and the latter hadn't attempted to close the gap. From across the table, several group members caught Yaz staring at him, eyes brimming with emotion, whereas Junior always avoided her gaze. Not a word was spoken from one to the other.

The only person who remained oblivious to this silent communication was the girl Junior had seated himself next to: Anwyn. She was unenthusiastically stirring her porridge, rather than eating it, the other hand running through Nokia's fur. Even Junior couldn't ignore her foul mood.

"Are you alright?", he asked, not mustering the energy to frown.

"Of course," Anwyn replied, "Why wouldn't I be? It's not like anybody died."

An expression drifted over Junior's thought, it was hard to say exactly what he was thinking. It left, however, and he flashed her a small smile, "Doesn't that give us more reason to enjoy life while we're alive, though? Enjoy our mortal existence by sucking the marrow out of life? Taking a chance with whoever we might want to?"

Anwyn's eyes widened a bit as a rosiness painted her pale cheeks. The circling of her wrist came to a halt. Nokia poked her hand with his wet nose, upset by the fact that she had stopped.

"Right, we need to decide on how we're going forward," said Hjalmar, dropping his spoon in his porridge. "Junior, I know you're against it, but you know what the man said. If this Kilian Opsworth has the information we require, it would be wrong to ignore it."

"I just don't want anyone getting hurt," said Junior, shooting a calculated glance towards Anwyn. Yaz felt her fist clenching under the table. It was so obvious what he was doing. This was all an attempt to make her jealous just because she had turned him down. She would warn Anwyn, right after breakfast.

"We're strong. I'm sure we can handle it, even if it's a trap!", said Kosa.

Junior sighed, then nodded. After all that had happened, he just didn't care that much anymore.

"We set off in two hours. Just to give you guys enough time to get supplies and whatever. Don't be late."

< | ■ | >

Yaz knocked on the door to Anwyn and Kosa's room, her hand hovering next to the surface afterwards. The first response she heard was Nokia's barking, then Anwyn opened up.

"Oh, did Kosa ask you to come about possible birthday plans?"

"Uh, no...?", said Yaz, "Is it her birthday soon?"

"No, but remember, it was Hjalmar's, you know, the day..." Anwyn's voice trailed off as she let her hand drift across Nokia's back. Ever since Dale's death, he'd been quite a therapeutic help to her.

Yaz nodded, then sat down on the girl's bed, while Anwyn closed the door behind her. "How are you faring?"

"Oh, you know, he believed in me and it cost him his life. Or I guess he didn't believe in me. He thought I needed protecting."

Yaz sighed. "I had a conversation with him once. We both thought you were the chosen one."

"Really?"

Yaz nodded, a warm smile appearing on her face. Even though Yaz was the same age, she felt this almost motherly or big sisterly attachment to the pink haired girl. Seeing her eyes light up like that touched her heart.

"You're not like the rest of us. You think outside the box. I think you have the ability to inspire people in ways the rest of us just couldn't."