"Solar! Where you going?"
"Just taking a break."
"...alright."

I bite my lip.

"Maybe we should stop for the day."
"Oh, okay."

She looks down.

"So, I have to leave tomorrow. There's been some business up there and I really tried to stay longer-"
"It's fine, Mom. Really."

She sighs.

"I have to go tell your father."

Her voice cracks on the last word, but she teleports away before I could respond.

Long distance relationships weren't easy, but this one was... different.
I know that Mom feels bad for everything, but she really can't help it. She became a goddess to see her family.

~~~

"Oh, you're leaving tomorrow?"
"I'm so sorry... I-I just..."
"It's fine. Really."
"I don't know how you manage to be so patient with me."

No one knows how my dad is so patient.
Not when my mom is barely here.
Once every, what, two months?

I just... why did she leave?

To face off one guy? To destroy one guy?

To stop a war.

Just that small glimmer of hope under a veil of darkness.

Small, tiny, inconceivable.
But it's there.

But is it so wrong that I want it gone?

~~~

"Vapor?"
"Hey! What are you doing here?"
"Wanted to hang out with my best friend."

Storm, Vapor's sister, ran into the room.

"Sunrise!"
"Hey, Storm!"

She hugs me.

"Why is she nicer to you than me?"
"I'm obviously the superior person."
"Why am I friends with you again?"
"You know you love me."

I stick my tongue out.
So does he, but I see a small brush creep up on his cheeks.
I was definitely going to make fun of him for that later.

"Alright, so you want to go?"
"Yeah, sure."
"Wait, I want to go!"
Storm pipes up.
"Sorry, kid. You can go next time."
"Yeah, you can play with Aster."

She changes her mind and decides to play with Aster.

"Isn't Samara babysitting Aster?"
"She's taking care of two 7 year olds now."
"She's going to kill us later."

They both shudder. She could be very scary if she wanted to, not to mention that she was a hybrid.

"Well, let's go."

We hook arms together, jokingly. Then we journey into the forest.

"So, what was that blush about?"
"What blush?"
"You blushed earlier, what was that about?"
"Oh, nothing."

I get really close to his face and I see the red come back.

"Ha! You're blushing again!"
"Give me a break, I didn't get all up in your face."
"Technically, both our faces were really close to each other."

He grabs my face and gets really close.
Too close.

"Ha! You blushed this time!"
"You got way closer than me! That doesn't count!"
"It counts as long as I don't kiss you."

He pauses.

"That sounds wrong."
"Definitely."
"Let's never speak of this again."
"Agreed."
"You know what? You can be just as flirty as Phoenix if you want."
"No one is as flirty as Phoenix."
"We'll see."

Wait, what does that mean?

~~~

"Next time you see your sister, kill her for me."
"Babysitting duty?"
"Yup."

I don't know why, but every time I was with Sam, I felt happier. I felt better. We were best friends, I guess, but Sunrise never looked like she felt this way with Vapor. They're just as close as me and Sam! Maybe even more.

"I'll just hang out with you here then."
"Happy to have the company."

She smiles at me.
Suddenly, I feel a lot better.