Authors' remark: this chapter is dedicated to one of my followers, The Fallen1ne. We had an exchange of ideas about the nature of relationships, how they are give and take, and how forgiving someone doesn't necessarily imply you're going to let them back into your life. This chapter also contains a reference to the late Indonesian literary legend, Sapardi Djoko Damono. Yes, my story is set in the very distant future but I would like to think that his works will never be obsolete. After all, if Chairil Anwar could say in his poem that he wanted "to live for another thousand years", then Sapardi's legacy might as well be timeless. I want to highlight Nardho's Indonesian side. As we progress we will see more of his Papua New Guinean side (which I need to research more since I've never been there). By the way, the Little Trees tribe mentioned in this chapter is partly inspired by real tribes in Indonesia called Baduy Luar and Baduy Dalam.

Lastly, this chapter would be more fun if you listen to Jar of Hearts first.

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Moira's head stayed on Nardho's chest for a lingering moment before she finally pulled away. The two were quiet, still processing the fact that they were now a step above just friendship.

"Nardho, I don't know much about religions, but when did you start becoming religious?"

"I've always been, it's just that I'm pretty reserved about it. Not many people worship anything anymore, you know? Plus, it's not my place to tell people how to live. I just want to love and be loved, which is why I'm glad I will get to explore a new relationship with you. I want to know what love really is, how it begins, how it blossoms, and how it makes you feel belong."

"How do you know when you are in love with someone? What is love? How do you usually express love?" Moira wondered aloud, not sure what to expect from Nardho now that they were officially a couple. Nardho thought for a minute and finally said that there are many different types of love, like the one he had for Nardhia and for his parents and Mother Mary, but he was not sure yet what to call the feelings he had for Moira. It was more than just butterflies, which was pretty much all he knew at this point. Moira nodded, looking at him with newfound admiration. Nardho looked back with a tender expression.

"If and once I fall hopelessly and desperately in love with you, Moira, I want to make it real simple. I want to love you simply, with all the words that are left unsaid by the woods as the fire turns them into ashes." Nardho sighed with a sense of yearning.

"That's really poetic. I didn't know you can be such a poet. What does it mean, though?"

"I'm not a poet, I was quoting a line from a poem of bygone days from my great-great grandpa's culture. It just means that I would be willing to protect you and to sacrifice some things to be with you because when I finally am in love with you I figure you will be such a huge part of my life that I can't imagine having it any other way. For now, though, let's enjoy spending time together and taking care of each other."

"Are we going to tell the others or just keep it between the two of us?"

"Oh, we will tell them. But with Nardhia, though, let's not shove it in her face. Also, I know she probably told you that I have a bad temper and will fight to defend her when provoked or something, but honestly now that we are in college I can't keep on being a knight in a shining armor. I know she'd always think of me as her hero, but now I'd like her to learn how to solve her own problems. I'd still be here if she needs me, like a brother should, but that's all."

Moira and Nardho made their way back to campus, hand in hand, talking about their classes and their first impression of college life so far. When they reached Nardho's room, they were met with an unfamiliar sight. A student they've never seen before was installing a dry erase board on Nardho's door. They couldn't be another resident assistant now, could they? Moira thought.

"Oh, hi, we've never seen you around. You live here too?" Moira greeted the student.

No answer. Instead, the student made guttural noises, then gestured to the dry erase board.

There were some words already written on the board: Rain Qatari. They/Them. Born Mute. Here to take Wyatt's space. I use sign language but sometimes use text-to-speech. Don't pity me. Use this board to leave me messages whenever you like, I love getting silly notes.

"I see. Well, good to have you here, Rain, we will get along just fine. You have to teach me basic signs, though, I barely know any!" Nardho extended a hand and Moira followed suit.

Rain shook Moira's and Nardho's hands, then motioned for the two to follow them, looking like they wanted to show the couple something. Once inside, Rain handed them two jars of candies. The candies were light caramel in color. Moira noticed that what Rain gave her and Nardho were chewable coffee candies. That was new to her since she had only had the hard, non-chewable type. Rain raised their eyebrows and Moira said she liked the candies.

"You are really sweet, Rain. I like you already. I'll keep the jar on my study table!" she said.

The next day, classes resumed as normal, except that Nardho had swapped his mid-morning Fundamentals of Essays for an early evening section of the same class just so he could be with Nardhia in the Honors Brave Explorers' class. So much for not being a hero, Moira thought.

Ayumi and Lee started the class on time, saying that today's lecture would focus on group presentations and they have an hour to prepare a presentation on what set the indigenous inhabitants of Golden Valley, the Little Trees tribe, aside from the rest of Red Sycamore. To ensure that each student pair was unique and there would not be a similar topic that got presented twice, Ayumi randomly distributed questionnaires to the class.

Moira was paired up with Rain, who seemed to have spent last night collecting secondary resources on the Little Trees beyond just their textbooks. When Moira asked if they were always this studious, Rain wrote not by choice, I have to pre-type everything I'd like to say in class discussions so that my text-to-speech would be ready to go whenever I am.

One by one, student pairs presented their brief research about the Little Tress, until Ayumi called on Rain and Moira, saying Rain could go first. Their device lit up and hummed a welcome tune.

"The Little Trees tribe was a sub-group of disabled individuals who managed to escape the confinement of interplanetary facilities and sought refuge in the jungle of a tiny village. They were the most sustainable and self-sufficient marginalized society on Red Sycamore, still are, as they turn their waste into electricity by having advanced setting for their landfills where methane and other potentially toxic greenhouse gases were channeled through underground pipes to storage tanks to be converted into energy, thus the electricity in Golden Valley was and still is one hundred percent renewable energy." The device stopped and Rain motioned to have Moira took over from here. Moira turned on the hologram tool to show a map of Golden Valley.

"The Little Trees people, who are for the most part matriarchal and follow a matrilineal line of succession, can further be classified into two categories, Outer Trees and Inner Trees," Moira started, "Outers means they live closer to town and have done away with most of their ancestral rites of passage, such as hunting deer for meat, and would for example enjoy the luxury of having meal kits delivered to their homes. Inners is the opposite, they embrace their ancestral rites and have many festivals, such as the festival of decorating the Gaburs every eighth day of the eighth month of the year to commemorate the moment Gaburs were brought by scientists to the village. They still regard the Gaburs as the beloved pets of goddesses, rejecting the idea that they were created through a feat of genetic engineering and believing that the goddesses created the Gaburs from flocks of their rainbow hair and bones of the fallen gods."

"Exquisite presentation from Rain and Moira!" Ayumi clapped. "Everyone else did well too, I am so delighted to have hard-working students this semester. Keep it up, class! By the way, I was born an Outer but spent a big chunk of my childhood moving between the two communities, hence I have vivid memories about the Gaburs Decoration Day and if you want to see pictures from my childhood just come to my office after class. Next week Lee will start the class by giving you a lecture on how the Gaburs and the Little Trees co-exist, but before that he has an assignment for you. Lee?"

"Right. I actually want you to also find articles about the rare occurrences when the Gaburs and the Little Trees did not co-exist and analyze why. If you need more resources, my nephew Kenta from the Writing Center will be the right person to ask for help as he can teach you how to navigate the extensive college database of academic journals. That's all for today!"

Moira had not even left the biochemistry building when her phone vibrated. Johan had sent a group message to the dormitory residents, something about organizing a party. It read:

Hey, kiddos, how were classes? Just thought we should throw a surprise party to welcome our new member Rain. Vannie had volunteered to keep them busy by taking them to see the Spoken Words and Free Verses club, weird choice considering who Rain is, but whatever, maybe they like listening to poetry performance. Hey Nardho, I heard you like poetry too, so maybe this club will interest you. Anyway, what do you kiddos think about baking cupcakes in the dormitory's common kitchen? Kenta and I would like to go get the ingredients, we can carpool to the store together. Let me know if any of you have allergies and we would accommodate that.

Soon Moira's phone was flooded by torrents of messages saying everyone would like to help with baking. This made Moira think of Neesa, she would have loved to take part in this, especially since Kenta would be baking too. Neesa had outgrown her crush on Kenta, but the two still maintained good friendship. Nothing else could make Moira happier, except maybe Nardho's poetic pickup lines and their obscure meanings. Neesa would have hated those sappy lines.

The shopping list was pretty short, save for some types of icing since everyone had their own preference and so Kenta ended up buying all flavors of icing imaginable. Moira's preference was raspberry with a hint of lemon, while Kenta and Johan shared a preference for blueberry icing.

Moira helped brought the yet-to-be-decorated cupcakes to the oven, while Nardhia helped Johan wipe the counter and Nardho helped Kenta put some balloons on the ceilings of the common lounge. The other students moped the floor, put up a banner, and curated songs for a playlist.

Vannie and Rain returned just as Kenta pulled trays of cupcakes out of the oven to be decorated. Rain's jaw dropped as they read the Welcome Home to Our Newest Member, Party On banner.

Thank you, I love you all so much, they signed in rudimentary Red Sycamore Sign Language. It was a pretty simple sign to understand. To say love Rain had formed both their hands in a circle above their chest and to say thank you they had blown kisses.

Once the cupcakes were ready, Johan counted how many people were there and divided the cupcakes accordingly, taking into account who preferred which icing. Everyone munched on happily, dancing to the beat of the collaboratively-curated playlist. Then someone who was the last person on everyone's mind walked in and all eyes were on him. It was Wyatt.

"You! What are you doing here? I thought you were told not to step foot here again!" Johan scolded. Wyatt just waved his hand dismissively and walked up to Nardhia. Nardho was ready to give him a piece of his mind, but Kenta stopped him, gesturing that Nardhia had walked toward Wyatt herself, not seemingly afraid. Nardho was still on edge but did not do anything.

"Nardhia, I've come here not to cause a ruckus. Lee's detention gave me a lot of room to think about my view of how boys should act around girls and I realized what I did was nothing short of harassing you and Ayumi, well, technically the whole class. I apologize. I will treat you right from now on and will not give out compliments too freely while I am dating you. Would you have me back, Nardhia?"

The girl stared at Wyatt, staying silent until she eventually said firmly, "No."

"Why not? I said I was sorry, didn't I? What more could you want? A kiss?"

"No. First of all, what you did could not be called compliments, they are unsolicited cat calling and degrade women. Second of all, you are very entitled if you think an apology would make me think you have miraculously become a decent person. Third of all, I want to stay single."

Wyatt's face turned red. "You are trashy, do you know that?" he flipped Nardhia the bird.

"What insolence! You wanted me one second and then insulted me the very next!" Nardhia shouted. She ran to her room and slammed the door shut.

"Wyatt!" Nardho called. When the brat turned, the Indonesian-Papua New Guinean punched him hard on the face. Wyatt stumbled back and, embarrassed, dashed toward the door. Nardho smirked. The whole room clapped and Johan shook his head. Classic hero complex, he thought.