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Reika paused by the door. “Is she not eating, again?” she asked,
concerned.
Jamine shook her head. “She is, but she seems so listless. I’ve called
the doctor, but he insists and everything is fine, with her.”
Reika sighed, worried about her adopted sister. Something was wrong.
“Do you know…”
From the door, Bian listened in and felt guilty. She hated having Reika
worry about her—although she liked the attention. Taru had been right,
something was weird between them and Bian didn’t know how to fix it.
What was she to do? Tell him that she would never act on her emotions,
because she loved Reika too much? That she had always been aware of how
one sided their relationship was? None of it would help, in the end.
“Cara, mia.” Reika said by the doorway. “Are you feeling better?”
“I’m healthy.” She answered in reply.
Reika hesitated. This was as good time as any… “What’s wrong?”
Bian looked away. She would never, ever tell Reika the entire story.
Because in a sense, there was no story to tell. “Nothing.” She lied,
and then stopped. “I guess…I just need a change of scenery.”
She seemed to have said the right words, because suddenly Reika
brightened. “I’ve got just the thing, then.” She said simply. Sitting
by the bed and reaching for Bian’s hands, she smiled. “Why don’t you
come back with me?”
“Back?” she echoed.
“I have to leave for the Ring of Fire tomorrow anyways. Why don’t you
come back with me?” she pressed. “There’s enough room, and…” she
hesitated. “When Tsuki saw you, that first day.” She said simply. “She
told me that she wanted nothing more than to have you as a candidate,
in a future.”
So what if she was editing the truth a bit?”
Bian hesitated. There was nothing for her, at the Ring of Fire. Yet at
the same time… there wasn’t really anything for her here, either.
She nodded. “Why not?”
***
She arrived at the Ring of Fire as a candidate, a silent, grave young
girl who spent most of the time following Reika around or watching from
the edges. She was quiet, hardly noticeable and although Reika loved
nothing more than to show off her younger sister, neither spoke about
the past or the future. It was so much more peaceful to exist in the
present moment.
Still, sometimes in the dark, a white figure would slip out from the
dorms and find herself running through the open fields, towards
darkness and towards the wilderness that existed just at the edge of
the vision.
She would always return by dawn, and wake up feeling so much more
refreshed, and better.
And hopeful, as well.
