Kitsune in the Shadows

Chapter 73 – A Promise for Next Time

What’s happening?!

I had just woken up… at least, I thought I had woken up.

Ovia and…

Ava?!

My eyes quickly darted from one to the other, trying to figure out which one I was imagining.

How has-…?

This isn’t…

Is it-?

Before I was even able to finish that thought, I was hugged from both sides, with Ovia on my left and Ava on my right.

“Hey, it’s okay,” Ava whispered into my ear, “No need to panic.”

I instinctively grabbed onto both of their arms to see if they were really there.

“… Is this… a dream?” I asked hesitantly.

“No, this is very much not a dream,” Aria suddenly walked into view from behind me.

If I hadn’t been held so tightly, I probably would have jumped out of bed from the surprise. It seemed like everyone I knew was showing up in this one room.

…

Does that mean-?

I looked off to the other side, hoping that maybe Mom would appear just like everyone else had… But, unfortunately, that didn’t happen.

…

“Morning, Kierra,” Ovia said as she hugged me a little tighter.

“… Morning,” I replied reflexively.

I don’t understand…

All of this… it’s…

…

“… Are you sure it’s not a dream?”

Even though Aria had already told me that it wasn’t, it was just too hard to believe.

The temple is all the way back in Casgolau…

How could I get here?

…

How did Ava get here?

Wait!

Ava is here?!

She found out about Ovia?!

My breathing gradually quickened as I slowly started putting everything together piece by piece in my head. So many things that I hadn’t even imagined happening were playing out in front of me.

“I-It isn’t a dream,” Ovia said, “I can guarantee it.”

“I think it would be difficult for you to disagree with the Goddess of Dreams about this,” Aria came a little closer, “But unfortunately, you don’t have too much time left with her. You spent most of your time sleeping peacefully right here.”

Sleeping?

“Now, the two of you probably want to make the most of the time you have left, so,” Aria extended a hand out towards Ava, “I’ll take the little crow with me so you can have some time alone.”

“I don’t think I’m in any position to argue,” Ava said as she released me and grabbed Aria’s hand.

The two of them then quickly left the main room with the lights that were hanging in the air following close behind them, leaving me and Ovia sitting on the bed… alone… in the dark…

“Ah!” Ovia released me, “You’re probably still tired! Why don’t you lie down?! It will be easier than sitting up like this!”

I wasn’t given the chance to answer as Ovia carefully made me lay down before pulling the covers up over me.

“Is that better?” She asked, “If you’re uncomfortable, just tell me. I’ll do whatever I can.”

“Mhm… but…” I strained my neck to look up at Ovia as I spoke, “It’s a little hard to talk to you like this…”

“Oh, um… I know!” To my surprise, she lifted up the covers again before laying down opposite me on the bed, “Is this any easier?”

…

I… I thought she was just going to walk around to the other side…

…

But… I don’t dislike this…

“Mhm,” I responded.

“Good! Um… I had some things planned for today… but we… don’t have enough time left to do them…”

I admittedly didn’t pay much attention to what she was saying, as even though I had heard her voice many times before, there was something about it that felt different at that moment. Maybe it was just because of how close she was to me; maybe it was just because I was still feeling a little tired… maybe it was because of something else entirely…

…

Did you always sound like this?

…

It’s just so… soothing… smooth…

…

That’s when I suddenly realised what it was that was different.

“… You… didn’t stutter…” I accidentally spoke under my breath as the thought went through my mind.

“I didn’t-” Ovia stopped herself as if having to check for herself, “I… I really didn’t… Kierra I… I’m not stuttering!”

The smile that spread across her face was infectious, and I soon found myself doing the same.

“After meeting Ava earlier… talking like this… with you… really isn’t that bad.” She said.

“Mhm.”

I couldn’t quite put it into words, but hearing her say that made me feel a little warmer inside, but that might have just been from the covers.

“But, never mind that. I had put together a list of things I wanted to ask you,” She just continued speaking as if nothing had changed, “First, I wanted to ask about what happened during the last two days… I wasn’t watching… and even though I could ask for the records… I want to hear it from you instead.”

What happened over the last few days…

…

My mind was immediately brought back to the wagon ride and the wolf that had appeared, but by far, the thing that stood out the most in my mind were those bright blue eyes that I had only caught a glimpse of in the forest.

 “Okay,” I said as I started to recount the events of the last few days to her.

I told her all about the night when the wolf appeared and about how Joran had gone to stop it, but the wolf had somehow managed to slip past him. I told her all about how the wolf and I were stuck in a standoff before I got distracted by a twig snapping in the distance. I told her all about the tree branch that knocked the wolf out of the air and the vines that then crept out of the bushes to pull the wolf away.

The whole time I was speaking, Ovia’s eyes were locked closely on my face. As I explained what had happened with the wolf, I was sure she was going to grab onto me and pull me close at any moment, yet she never did.

I finished the story by telling her about how we raced through the forest and how strangely quiet it was the whole time. I even told her what it felt like when we finally got into the town and how Joran and Elwyn had recommended an inn to us before leaving to continue on their own journey.

As I finished recounting the events to her, she just stayed silent, keeping her eyes on me.

…

“Are you sure you don’t want to sleep some more?” She asked, “It sounds like a lot has happened to you. I don’t want to keep you awake if you’re still tired.”

“No!” I blurted out, “I’m… alright… I don’t want to waste the time we have…”

I thought I wouldn’t be able to do this again…

I’m not going to waste it sleeping any more than I already have…

…

“… Can you tell me what I missed?” I asked, and while I was curious about Ovia’s meeting with Ovia, I mostly asked because I didn’t want Ovia to stop talking. Without any stuttering, there was an underlying smoothness to her voice, which was almost addicting.

“Well… I don’t think it will be as exciting as your story was…” Despite what she said, she didn’t hesitate to tell me about the last few days.

She started by talking about how Aria had surprised her yesterday by saying that I would be visiting on the day of the new moon and about how Aria had hidden that feature of the pendant so it would be a surprise for both of us. Ovia had then spent all this time trying to come up with ideas for what we could do, but when the day actually came, she was somehow greeted by an even bigger surprise, with Ava and me showing up on the floor while still fast asleep.

When she spoke about how Ava’s stomach started rumbling as soon as she woke up, I realised that I was also quite hungry. Thankfully, Umbra quickly brought out some jerky for me to eat as Ovia continued to tell me all about what had happened.

“… And now I’m here telling you all about it,” She said, “… Although… there isn’t much time left in the day now… so we can’t really do what I had planned…”

“… But… there will be a next time… won’t there?” I asked… just to make sure.

“Yes! Of course there will be a next time!” She replied immediately, “If you want… we can even decide what we’re going to do next time right now… Would that be okay?”

“I… would like that…”

If we decide on something to do… then there will definitely be a next time.

There has to be…

…

I know she wouldn’t lie to me…

“Then… um… what do you want to do?” She asked as a tendril of darkness brought a notebook over to her.

What… do I want to do?

…

I… I don’t know…

What do I want to do?…

…

I… I just…

…

Isn’t seeing Ovia enough?…

“I don’t know…” I admitted.

“Then… how about… what do you like doing? Whatever it is, I’ll do my best to come up with something we can do.”

…

Is that… any easier?…

…

I… guess… I like drawing…

But… do I really like it?…

I’ve never really thought about it…

It’s just something I realised I could do well…

…

“Do we… need to do anything?” I eventually asked after not being able to come up with an answer, “I just… I just want to spend time here… with you…”

“No. No, we don’t have to do anything. It’s just…” She paused for a while before continuing, “We always sit together and talk… but now that we can talk whenever we want… and I can’t see you as often… I thought it would be a good idea to do… more… but if you don’t want to…”

I saw the smile on her face fade ever so slightly, and my heart sank.

No, that’s not what I meant!

I just… I can’t come up with anything…

Seeing you is enough for me… even if that doesn’t make any sense…

I don’t want to ask for any more than that…

…

But… I don’t want to see you like this…

…

“… What do you want to do?…” For some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to look her in the eye as I asked her, “Maybe it could give me some ideas…”

Her face immediately lit up, and she started flicking through the notebook.

“I have lots of things I want to do with you!” She said excitedly, “But there is one thing in particular I really wanted to try doing… although Ellaria said I should ask you first, so I couldn’t do it today… but now maybe we can!”

“Mm.”

“Well… I noticed that you always wore the same thing when you came to visit me… and…” She brought a hand up to her hair clip, “I remember when you put this on for me… So I wanted to… give you some clothes to try on… Once I started thinking about it, I just really wanted to see you in all sorts of things…”

…

I… don’t mind…

…

But… I don’t want you to be disappointed…

What if I don’t look as good as you wanted?

…

I’m… I’m not like you… you would look good in anything…

I know it…

Anyone who sees you would know it…

…

If you dressed up instead…

At that moment, an idea came into my head.

“… If you are going to give me some clothes to wear… can I give you some clothes too?” I asked while avoiding eye contact.

This way, even if I don’t look that good, at least she’ll have some new outfits to keep…

…

I do want to see Ovia wear some different colours…

“That…” She paused for a moment, “… is a great idea!”

She started frantically writing things down in her notebook.

“We can bring clothes for each other and then show them off! I love it! I get to see you in new outfits…” She suddenly went quiet, “And I also get to see what kind of clothes you like.”

Hearing Ovia’s comments, I suddenly felt very self-conscious.

…

“B-But… when I’m picking out clothes… can you look away?…” I asked while feeling my face start to heat up, “S-So it’s a surprise!”

I didn’t want to admit that it was actually because I would be embarrassed knowing that Ovia was watching me pick out the clothes that I wanted to see her wear.

“But what if-” She stopped herself, “… Can I ask Ellaria to watch you instead?… Just to make sure nothing happens… after your story, I’m just a little worried…”

…

But that’s-

No…

I can’t argue with that…

“That’s okay…” I said, “But she can’t tell you what I pick out.”

“I’ll tell her that… I promise.”

As she smiled, I felt an all too familiar feeling come over me.

Already?

“Oh, it’s… already time…” She awkwardly shuffled across the bed before wrapping me in a hug, “Goodbye, Kierra… for now… I’ll make sure we can do what we planned next time, definitely.”

“Mm…” I wrapped my own arms around Ovia’s body, “Until next time.”

As those last few words left my mouth, I felt her presence gradually slip away.