I was surprised by how late it had gotten. It was twilight when we arrived at the graveyard, which made it creepier than I thought it would be. Kero walked a little quickly so it was hard to keep up with him. "Kero!" I called.

Kero stopped and turned around. "Yes?" He asked.

"Slow down, please." I said, rushing to his side.

"Sorry." Kero said as he started to walk again, this time slower.

"Thank you." I guess he was nervous, or maybe even scared.

We eventually arrived at burial vault. I bit my lip. "Is that your family's' tomb? Is your mom buried there?" I asked.

Kero shook his head. "My mother's family abandoned her when she married my father, so they didn't want her to be buried in their tomb."

"No way!"

Kero nodded. "And since my father wasn't there, they couldn't bury her in his family tomb."

"Wait... your father came to the funeral, right?" I asked.

Kero snorted. "No."

I felt my heart get heavy. "Oh..."

"So, where was she buried? Why are we here?" I asked.

Kero turned his head and looked at another burial vault. "That's my father's family's vault." He said. He then walked towards the vault and stopped at the steps, he looked down.

I followed his gaze and looked down and the black, pretty jar which was sitting on the step of his fathers' family tomb. It took me a second to realize that it was a cremation urn. I put my hand over my mouth. "Is that..."

Kero sighed, and nodded. "It was in her will... she wanted to be cremated and wanted us to place the urn on the step of my father's family tomb."

"Why?" I asked, shocked.

Kero took a deep breath. "She wanted to wait for that damned man." Kero said. "She wants to be buried next to him when he dies. I don't think she knew that the man wouldn't even show up to her funeral."

I felt my eyes tear up. "Your mom-"

"Never gave up on him." Kero said, cutting me off. "She never thought that it was true. She thought that he would come back." He sat down next to the urn.

I bent down and put my hand on his knee. "I'm so sorry..."

Kero shook his head. "Don't be. Apparently she was always stubborn." He sighed. "We got into a fight a few days before she died." He said. "It was because I told her that he wasn't coming back. You know what she told me?"

I shook my head.

"She told me to never throw away the faith I had in him, she told me to never throw away the love I had for him. She said that he would come. She swore on him that if I do throw it all away, I would never forgive myself when he does come back." He looked at the urn. "It's too bad that I already threw it all away. I threw away all my hopes and all my dreams the second he walked out on our family. Everything. There was nothing left in me. I forgot what I wanted to do with my life, I didn't even know if I wanted anything anymore. Actually, if it weren't for Jasmine... I might have been some useless boy walking around with no goals and no reasons to live."

I thought of Jasmine, the girl the broke Kero's heart. Huh. I thought. Maybe there was some use to her. I got up and sat next to Kero. "What was he like?"

Kero looked at me. "My father?" He seemed surprised with the fact that I was asking.

I nodded. "Do you remember Jason?" I asked.

Kero looked confused. "Your ex-best friend..."

"Do you remember what happened between us?"

"He betrayed your trust by telling his girlfriend, who hated you, things about you. And then that big problem started between you and him..."

I nodded again. "Yeah... the reason I'm saying this is because after that, I was so broken because not only did I lose a best friend, but I lost my capability of trusting everyone else. And then, my brother came to me and told me to tell me all about him, good things and bad things. He said that it always helps to talk about it with someone." I smiled at him. "And he also said to think of the positive things that came out of it... for example, if that problem didn't happen, Jacob wouldn't have had a reason to stick up for me and the fact that he stuck up for me is one of the biggest reasons towards why he's my best friend today. And now I know how much my girls love me. Jason's girlfriend told me that all my friends hated me, if she hadn't said that, my friends wouldn't have had a reason to cuss her off and tell her that I'm one of the greatest people in their lives."

Kero nodded. "Yes... I remember."

"So, why don't you tell me about him?"

Kero hesitated, but nodded. "He was... great." Kero frowned. "He was an excellent father and at the time, and amazing person. You would have never thought that it would end up like this. He taught me everything I know. He was an amazing warrior and he was smart too... everyone loved him."

"Well, if that's how he was... why didn't your mom's parents like him?"

Kero hesitated. "After my father left, Master Odysson was the one who trained me. He explained a lot of things too me, and what he told me was that it is almost impossible to become the King of Warriors unless it runs in your blood."

I looked at him, confused.

"My mothers' father was the King of Warriors before my father." Kero explained. "He was upset because all his kids were girls because traditionally, the name is supposed to pass down to the King of Warriors eldest son. Eventually, he realized that it was okay and he decided to train his eldest daughter, my aunt.

"My father was also a student of my grandfather at the time, and Master Odysson told me that it was his dream to become an excellent warrior. Soon, he fell in love with my mother with only that one dream and no intention of being the next King of Warriors. Apparently, it was after he fell in love with my mother that he found out he would have all the rights to become the next King of Warriors."

"Why is that?" I asked, confused.

"Because, if you're the student of the King of Warriors and you marry his daughter you are given the right to become the next King of Warriors. The title is traditionally passed down to you. You may not be bound to the family by blood, but your now bound to the family in other ways."

"Oh! So you're grandpa didn't want your dad to become the next King of Warriors. He wanted your aunt to become the... Queen of Warriors?"

Kero nodded. "So he told my mom, you have a choice, leave him and be a part of this family, or marry him and leave. He told her that he would never want to see her face again."

"Your mom chose to marry him."

It wasn't a question, but Kero answered it as if it were. "Yes. That's right. And after all that trouble... my father leaves her behind and lets her die."

I sighed. "Have you met your aunts?"

Kero snorted. "They hate my guts. Especially the eldest one."

"Why?"

"Because I'm his son. That's how it is to everyone. I'm not 'Keroshan'. I'm 'the son of Aarvind'. I hate it, it picks at my nerves and I feel like breaking something."

I put my hand on his shoulder. "How about you think about it this way. One, if it weren't for what happened, you would have never found out about how Jasmine really felt about you." I said.

Kero nodded.

"And worse... you might not have even met me!"

Kero grinned at that. "I don't think that's a bad thing."

I punched his shoulder and he laughed.

He took my hand in his and got up, pulling me up with him. "It's getting late, let's go home." He then pulled me into a hug. "And thanks..."

I smiled and wrapped my arms around his waist. "If you ever need anyone to talk to, you should know that you always have me."

He nodded.

Before we left, I went down on my knees in front of the urn and prayed. 'It was nice meeting you...' I said to myself. I then looked at it and wished with all my heart that her soul, somehow, was resting in peace.