Never Too Late

Clearing The Air

Briggan woke really early that morning. He immediately knew something was not quite right. He was forgetting my something, he knew that much for sure. What the the n by was that he forgot, however, was something that was much more difficult for him to grasp.

He looked at the clock and it read 12:21 am. That's when it hit him. It was getting closer and closer to Christmas! The last few days had been so... erm... eventful that he'd entirely forgotten about it!

He knew there to be no decorations in the garage. He looked the year his parents disappeared, and they'd either been stolen between the time they left and the time he went looking or they'd been snatched up by his parents before they left. There was, however, a small faux tree in the back that could be used for the season. It wasn't much, but it was what they had. The tree had lights in it already, but it still needed ornaments and an angel or a star to go on top in order to be complete.

Briggan slid out from in the bed and quickly got dressed. He left Mastace under the covers and gave the sleeping lion a kiss before sending Khrysta a message, asking to pick him up and take him to a few places in town.

Khrysta and Briggan sat in the car, completely silent. The air between them felt heavy. It was nearly unbearable at this point, so Briggan was the one to break the moment.

"So, how have you been holding up since the incident in the shop?"

"Some days are better than others. Part of me still thinks that that whole fiasco was my fault." Khrysta fixed he gaze on the center of the steering wheel, which she now gripped much tighter than normal.

"You said something happened, and had to do with my family."

"Yeah..." Khrysta did not sound very comfortable with where the conversation was going, but she didn't make a move to shut it down, so Briggan proceeded the topic with caution.

"Would you walk me through what happened, please?"

Khrysta nodded, then told the story. Someone had called their home phone, looking for her so that they could find Briggan. When she answered, she knew the voice immediately.

"I thought I'd never hear that voice again, yet there it was, right in front of me."

"Who was it?"

Khrysta didn't answer.

"Please, Khrysta. I need to know."

"It was your mother. She called me looking for you. She didn't know if you still lived in the same house or not."

Briggan didn't know what to say for several minutes. His... mother. His mother called, looking for him. "What did you tell her?"

"I had no idea how you would feel, so I told her that I hadn't seen you in years."

Yet again Briggan went completely silent for a while. He needed to take the time to really process what he was being told. Khrysta had, in essence, kept him from the rest of his biological family, whom he hadn't seen or heard from in forever. He felt his face get hot and his rage nearly overtook him. Yet, he could understand what she did, and why she did it. It wasn't like she kept them from him out of spite, or or of any desire to see him hurt. She did it because the last thing she wanted to see was that he'd give right back to what he used to be. She cared for him and wanted to protect him, just the same as Mastace wanted to protect him. But Mastace woulda told me when it happened, and not keep it from me.

In spite of his hurt, he found it in himself to calm down and quietly forgive his friend. After all, it was an act of compassion, not bitterness.

"Khrysta, I appreciate the desire to look after me, but this is something that I really would have preferred to know much long before now." His voice was level and soft.

Khrysta nodded. "I'm sorry for keeping you from your family, especially for the time of year it is."

"I understand why you did it, though. I am grateful. I have people that really care about what happens to me and that's what really matters."

Khrysta couldn't help it anymore. She'd been moved to tears. Briggan hadn't hated her for what she did, and instead took the time to understand the motives behind her course of action. When most people would have seen betrayal, he saw unwavering loyalty. Briggan had truly proven that he's one of a kind.