Henley and Mrs. Cortez gently guided her to stand and walked out of the room, Zephyr followed as they guided her down the stairs. They then sat her down in one of the chairs at the dining table and Henley sat beside her. Mrs. Cortez sat across from her and Zephyr grabbed her a glass of water and sat beside Mrs. Cortez.

"Mom, what happened in there?," Zephyr asked his mother as he sat down. Naomi didn't answer and took a sip of water. 

"What were you doing down there, honey?," Henley asked holding her hand. "I... I couldn't find it," she answered as she put down the glass of water. 

"Find what, Mom?," Zephyr asked, looking at her. She then took out an old-looking letter and put it on the table.

"I found this in one of my mails a week ago when I got the time to look through them. It was probably along with the mail I got two months ago. I don't know who sent it but I read it out of curiosity," she started. 

Mrs. Cortez grabbed the letter and scanned through it. "This is... Malina's writing," she said, sounding surprised and turned to look at Naomi.

"At first I thought it was some prank or someone who copied Malina's writing. But I confirmed it was hers when I saw the old print of paper she uses as well as the old seal stamp she uses," she continued.

"I hope this letter finds you well, dearest Naomi. If your reading this then I guess it would be a few years from now that I passed. I'm sorry I wasn't able to say goodbye, for leaving early. I had a great time after meeting you despite my failing health," Mrs. Cortez started reading the contents of the letter.

"Although I'd like to say more, I'm writing this letter for a different purpose. My dearest and sweet Nalani. I don't ask for much, Naomi. But when the time comes, when she's already grown and before that, don't let her find my journal that I left with the rest of my things. It is the only thing I can do for her. That child... will become a great person so I hope you'd get to see her grow. Until I see you again, Naomi," Mrs. Cortez finished as was already in the midst of tears. Zephyr stroked her back to calm her down as she cried.

"I don't know what the reason was but all I could think of was to find that journal. That's why--," Naomi covered his face with her palm and started to cry heavily, "--I wanted to come as soon as possible the moment I red it," she added while Henley tried to calm her down and squeezed her hands. 

"Let's.. talk about this later. Come on, let's get you back to bed," Henley said and stood up from his chair. Naomi took a deep, shuddering breath, her tears slowing as Henley helped her to stand. She leaned on him, clearly exhausted, and together they moved towards the stairs.

"Evangeline, you should get some rest too," Henley said softly to Mrs. Cortez.

Mrs. Cortez nodded, still holding the letter. "I'll stay for a bit then get back to bed," she said, her voice shaky but resolute.

Zephyr leaned down and kissed Mrs. Cortez on the head. "We'll figure it out in the morning, Nana. Don't worry."

She nodded, giving him a grateful smile as he followed his parents up the stairs. Once they reached their room, Henley guided her back to bed, tucking her in gently.

"Rest, honey. We'll talk more in the morning," Henley said, brushing a stray hair from her face.

Naomi nodded, her eyes closing almost immediately as exhaustion overtook her. Henley sat by her side for a moment longer, then quietly stood and left the room, closing the door softly behind him. Zephyr was waiting just outside.

"Is she okay?" Zephyr asked, concern etched on his face.

"She will be," Henley replied, his voice heavy with worry as he closed the door behind him.

"Has she been always like this? I've never seen that kind of fear and panic in her eyes. Just like that night when we left here," Zephyr said to his father. 

Henley sighed and said, "It all started.. that night. She woke me up in the middle of the night saying we should hurry and leave the house. Back then and until now I never tried to ask her the reason or about that night. I assumed it was simply due to stress because of her pregnancy and Malina.. she was not... well so I tried to understand. I just decided to wait until the day comes that she can tell me about it herself, when she's ready," Henley explained. 

This made Zephyr think. "I wonder why Aunt Malina doesn't want Nalani to find that journal," he thought. 

Henley gave him a pat in the back so he turned to look at him. "We'll talk more about it when your mother is ready to tell. I could see how she was hesitant about it, carrying all that guilt of not being of much help to Malina by herself. So let's wait for her, son," he told Zephyr.

Zephyr nodded, understanding the weight of his father's words. "You're right, Dad. We'll wait for her."

Henley gave Zephyr a reassuring smile. "Good. Now, let's try to get some rest. We have a long day ahead of us."

As they both headed towards their rooms, the house felt quieter than usual, filled with an air of unresolved tension. Zephyr lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, his mind racing with thoughts of the letter and the mysterious journal. Sleep was elusive, but eventually, exhaustion claimed him.

****

Three days later, they all gathered in the living room after giving Naomi some time to take a breather and to make herself ready to tell, she finally decided to step in. 

"Mrs. Cortez, did anyone move her old things from her room or was there anyone who went in there who might've took that journal?," Naomi asked Mrs. Cortez. 

"Not that I remember, dear. I haven't moved her things since then. I only ever clean it after a month but I don't touch her things. Nalani was not home often so it was only me and Giovanni here," Mrs. Cortez answered her and was slightly thinking as well. 

"That's strange. Malina said it'd be in her room and we looked through everything unless...," Naomi thought hard.

"Unless it's already with Nalani," Zephyr immediately answered that made everyone turn to look at him.