Crash Landing on You - Edelweiss Diaries

Part 22 - Homecoming IV

It was proof enough for her that a new reality awaited them.

*****

It was a picnic of sorts, but it wasn't a stroll in the park either.

With Gu Seung Jun's encouragement, they had changed the day's plans and driven to Bhukansan reserve. Now, they were on a hike to nowhere, when they had hardly covered less than two miles in the last hour.

She stepped to the side to avoid a pit. Instinctively, he extended his arm towards her, to gather her back to him.

"I can't count the number of times I have come here hoping I would spot you in the vicinity." Climbing a step ahead of him, she turned around to face him.

"Pabo'ya," he lightly touched her forehead. "Everything that happened to us and the fact that we have lived to tell a tale is only mere chance."

"There is another word for it." She leaned on him fully. "Destiny."

Looking to either side to ensure they were alone, he kissed her. She smiled for a moment, but it soon died out and she rubbed her forehead anxiously.

"I suppose me being alive and you having a part to play in it is destiny too."

"Look," he tipped her chin forward, "we don't have to talk about it now."

"No, I think we should." She shook her head vehemently. "I'm responsible for two other lives now. You need to know that I do value life now."

He took a deep breath. "You are past that stage of life. That chapter is closed. That's all."

"Alright," she drew away from him and sat on the adjacent stone bench. "But you need to understand my reasons too, to truly believe I'm not that pabo anymore."

Giving in, he joined her on the bench. "Omma and appa met at work - my omma was one of the Queen's group operations staff. Appa was already married when they got involved, so obviously, when she was pregnant with me, she decided to raise me by herself."

She closed her eyes briefly and something about the shake in her hand told him that it was the first time she was talking about her mother to anyone. "When I was a few months old, they traveled together for work and met with a car accident, to which I lost amma. You know that appa has a limp. It's from that same accident too."

Oddly, both of them had lost their loved ones to a car accident. Somehow it felt unfair that she'd lost her omma well before she could experience the most precious bond between a mother and child.

She didn't cry then, nevertheless, his hand sought hers and she settled against him comfortably. "Appa was left with no choice but to make me a part of the family. He set up everything to make believe that they were adopting the daughter of distant relatives who had died in an unfortunate accident."

She scoffed. "How well I was accepted in that family is everyone's guess. At that age, I didn't want much else than belonging."

Though she wasn't that little girl anymore, his mind's eye couldn't ignore the images of a little girl having to pick herself up, without anyone to watch her back.

He threw his arms around her and gathered her possessively as if he wanted to shield her even from herself. From the tumult of the emotions that were surely cleaving her insides.

"I thought there was no point going on living if I didn't have anyone to share," she paused briefly and kicked at a stone near her feet. "Sadly, what I didn't know then was that I didn't want to die, but I was merely seeking a purpose to live."