The Cosmic Princess

Trust

But still, a part of me huffed.

I was here now, and I had to pick up the pieces whether I wanted to or not. I had to address all the problems to move forward so I couldn't just brush away and act like the problems weren't there. I could feel them. I could feel them in the way I longed for my kindred spirit, but refused the bond and him because the wound was still fresh and raw and he would no longer be able to rub salt in it.

"I know I don't deserve it Avril." Ike admitted softly, shoulders dropping. "I don't deserve you, and I know this. I've said it before and I'll continue to say it."

Swallowing, I simply nodded and continued to stare ahead. A part of me just wanted to forget this ever happened, but the much larger, wiser and more self-preservative type couldn't allow myself to forget.

"Maybe you should start being in-tune with how to really treat me and understand. Maybe that was why everything happened the way it did." I piped quietly and lost myself to my thoughts once more as Ike said nothing, which I was thankful for.

Ike and I had just walked back into the village when I was suddenly bombarded by a pair of slender arms. I was propelled backwards by the sheer force, but Ike's hands around my waist immediately caught me before I could slam on the ground.

"Mist!" Ike hissed warningly from behind me, his warmth fanning the back of my neck and making the hair stand on end.

Mist pulled back and, wow such a surprise, tears were evident. "I'm sorry Avril, we're all sorry. Were horrible friends. We were being played the entire time, and we've treated you horribly. I'm so, so sorry." Mist wiped the back of her hand across her face, blinking at me pitifully.

Normally her tears would have done something for me, caused my heart to tighten just a little bit, caused me to emphasize with her a tiny bit more because I knew Mist's heart was pure, but at that moment, I felt nothing. I felt numb. Her tears did nothing for me.

As if she could feel my frigidness, she took a step back and silently nodded like she understood. "Is it okay if I brought you to see the others?" Her tone was timid as she nibbled on her bottom lip, eyeing me solemnly with glassy eyes.

Mutely and a little reluctant, I nodded. I would have to get over this roadblock sooner or later, and I guess I chose sooner. Briefly, my eyes skidded around the village looking for a certain curly haired fairy but sadly could not spot her in the crowd. It seemed that now I felt more comfortable around Ivy than I did anyone else. My observing did pick up on the fact that many of the warriors eyed me with a new, revived sense of curiosity and almost fascination. Slowly roving my eyes over the crowd and then in front of me, I could feel the weight of multiple appraising stares simmering on every inch of my skin.

The approaching figures of three people sitting on a log bench became clearer and clearer the farther we walked to the back of Alem's villa. A slow wariness began to crawl down my back as I approached Aeon, Nydale, and Kaiya, like I was bracing myself to hear their apologies.

They all stood up at once when we arrived, each eyeing me like I would disappear if they blinked.

"Long time no see." Aeon was the first one to break the silence, awkwardly rubbing the top of his head while Kaiya stood reservedly with her arms crossed and Nydale stood with his arms crossed behind his back.

"Th-that is true." I replied, not knowing what else to say to them. Once again nothing felt the same.

Avoiding eye contact, we all stood around each other while Ike and Mist waited patiently behind us waiting for one of us to break the ice.

"Fuck!" Kaiya blurted snapping my attention to her. "I'm sorry Avril. I'm a horrible friend, I know this. I fucked our comfortable friendship up, and I can see it in the way you act like you wished you were anywhere but here." She had a point. "I'm sorry! I know that my apology does nothing for you because the worst has already happened, but I just want to let you know that...I realized I messed up and our friendship does mean a lot to me. Teelah did have a lot of sway in fucking shit up, but...I just want us to go back to being comfortable and what we use to be because I own up to the mistakes I made and I honestly apologize for it. "