THE following days after Juan's funeral, Kainda came outside every single day only to escape her own house that was now an empty void to her. She hated it and wanted nothing more than to move away from this place and its awful memories. But a voice inside her head said she couldn't make it. Her father wouldn't have wanted it and neither would have Bard. The two became awfully close friends after they wrote multiple letters to each other about -mostly- their pain and memories about deceased loved ones. Wait... How did Bard pop up in my mind? , Kainda thought with a small smile as she sat down on the wooden floor to look out over the water of the small town. It was quite foggy so early in the morning, not to mention chilly.

As her thoughts drifted away for a while, a her pen pal Bard came up to her and placed a hand on the deaf girl's shoulder. He said some things Kainda even could not understand, standing behind her back. As soon as the bownan took a notice of that he frowned and sat down next to her, trying to face her.

With a small smile the brunette looked up to her friend. "I am deaf," she explained with a small, shaky voice, not knowing if she said the right words. "I can not hear you, nor do I know if I tell you the right words."

Bard did not reply for a while to take all the words in. Then he smiled weakly. "Ah I see. That is nothing to be ashamed of, you know?" he told her, making sure she could read every word on his lips. "I know people are afraid of you, but I'll rather go off on what I see than rumors that people spread."

His comments made Kainda smile brightly, knowing now she found a true friend. In a moment of bluntness, the girl wrapped her arms around the other. "Thank you," she whispered in a breathy voice.

Surprised by her bluntness, Bard could not help but chuckle lowly and embrace her as well. "Any time. You deserve it."