Reborn

6: An Appraisal (Rewritten!)

Breaks:

[L1,2 or 3] represents the beginning of a flashback to one of Elena's past lives. There is more than one past life, which is why I have put up the numbers. Though, these memories are usually told as she sleeps and Elena herself cannot remember them.

[/L1,2 or 3] represents the end of a flashback to one of Elena's past lives.

[P] represents the beginning of a retelling of a memory in Elena's current life.

[/P] represents the end of a retelling of a memory in Elena's current life.

~3~ is just a timeskip

AN: Enjoy the story!

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Cross-legged on the floor to my room and back up against a rounded wall, I worked the same small loom that I had taken with me to watch the beach. (Though, for some reason, I felt much calmer now than I did when I had sat in that tree.) With my loom needle, I wove the weft through the warp with quick precision. It was a calming activity that I enjoyed.

To my left side I had gathered all of the medical supplies that I thought I'd need to help treat Yugo. When I had gone to fetch said medical supplies, a thought had struck me; what if it wasn't only Yugo who had let himself into the Summit Tree?

With that in mind, I had quietly and carefully checked the other rooms in the house. I found that my suspicions I were right. Each bed that was here was currently occupied by a traveler, and I was suddenly left with even more questions to ask when the boy-who-wore-blue would awake.

When I finally went back to my room, I found that said boy was still asleep, and contemplated what to do. I could have simply left, not wanting to interrupt his sleep. But I then realized how I wouldn't know when exactly he would wake. Nor would I possibly be able to get another moment to speak to him without being surrounded by his companions. So with those thoughts in mind, I found myself a seat on the floor a few meters away from my bed and kept my attention occupied with my weaving as I waited.

The idea to use weaving to keep my attention came when I had picked up Yugo's clothes so that my room would be a little less of a mess. That was when I discovered some tears in his discarded tunic. So I decided to repair them quickly with a few stitches. When that was done, I had folded the clothes and set them down on my right. Only then did I fetch my loom and begin to weave.

Set down in front of me was the gifted mask, just within my reach. With every other weave, I would glance at it, unsure if I should wear it or not in the presence of these travelers.

Botan Ficus wanted me to be part of the village again, which was why he had given the mask to me. This would mean that I would always wear the mask, with the exception being with my chosen life partner- and only after we were stamen and pistil, not before- and when I was completely by myself. That was the main rule of the village after all. At the same time... the traveler Amalia had already seen my face. Not to mention how no one in the group of travelers wore masks.

There was also the fact that I didn't live in the village anymore. I didn't have to follow all their rules.

A low sigh left me, thoughts wound so tightly with my emotions; they were like struggling flies that had been cocooned within an arachnee's web.

Slowly, the sun's rays crawled across the bed and made it's way towards me as the morning grew older. Eventually I had begun to hum quietly to myself as I wove the loom (tired of my thoughts loudly filling the silence), but still listened for when Yugo would wake up. Luckily, it didn't take much longer.