Reconciliation Is a Dance

Chapter 4: Opening Up

Jesse surveyed the area, looking for a good place to put a portal to the Underneath, so travelers didn't have to land so uncomfortably when they arrived in the Overworld. She thought it would be a good idea to place it near the houses built by the Fred's Keep residents who were staying permanently in the Overworld. After mapping out an area, Xara directed the Redstonian citizens on how to construct the portal. She was glad for the help this time, since constructing it last time took her a lot longer. Jesse lent Xara her hair clip once the portal was finished, in case Xara needed something to return to the Overworld. Xara walked through the portal and came out safely into the remains of the Oasis. A few Romeoburg citizens waved at her once they saw her, and she waved back before testing the portal on her side.

Xara popped back into the Overworld where Jesse and the volunteers were and returned Jesse's hair clip. Now that everyone could travel back and forth with ease, Jesse and the volunteers began searching for an area where a large amount of dirt could be taken without worry. Xara walked back into the portal with Romeo to explain to the Romeoburg citizens what was going on. A few more people, citizens of the Oasis, immediately recognized Xara and were excited for her return. They seemed relieved to find their leader was alright, and Xara explained what had happened to her. The residents of the Oasis turned to Romeo with hostile glares, and he began backing up in defense. Although the Romeoburg citizens knew what he did was wrong, they were quick to defend their leader from Xara's people.

"That's enough. We're not fighting each other. We have work to do, and we'll need everyone's cooperation to get our cities back in order," Xara scolded.

"He kept you in prison!" Shouted someone from the crowd.

"He attacked our town and left us without a leader!" Another one protested.

"He's the reason you're no longer an admin!" Came another voice.

Xara nodded, "You have every right to be angry with Romeo for all he's done. However, we have more important things to worry about right now. If you all want to continue living down here, then we're going to have to work together to get everything fixed up. I myself still have many issues to work out with him, but we won't be able to do anything productive by arguing. Otherwise, it'll take a lot longer to get things done."

The citizens of the Oasis muttered and grumbled for a few moments, but they realized that Xara was right. Despite shooting hostile glances at Romeo, they shook hands with the Romeoburg citizens in preparation for the work that needed to be carried out. Jesse and Lukas walked out of the portal with Olivia and Ellegaard following close behind and stared into the cloudy ruins of the Underneath. The two leaders of Redstonia were shocked to see there was a lack of proper sun, but they supposed using alternative light sources would still work. Ellegaard seemed intrigued by the ruins of former redstone contraptions that lay in the Oasis. Xara and Jesse began divvying up tasks to the volunteer groups and citizens of Romeoburg and the Oasis.

"Xara?" a familiar voice called out.

Xara turned around to see Binta standing in front of the portal.

"It is you! I'm so glad to see—"

Xara cut her off with a tight hug. She didn't know Binta as well as Fred had, but this woman was one of the last connections she had to her old friend. She felt a little embarrassed as she started crying again, but she couldn't help it. If anyone could help her open up to people again, aside from Jesse, Binta could do it. Binta was surprised at how immediately Xara had latched onto her, but she reciprocated the hug as she felt Xara crying into her shoulder. Xara wanted to just spill everything at once, but she knew there were more important things at hand. There would be time to talk later, and Binta was probably feeling awkward having an ex-admin crying all over her.