Chapter 179Rest to Fill

Lights turned on in the house and someone rushed down the stairs. Some noise with keys being picked up from a table and pushed into the lock somewhat drowsy. Then the door opened, showing a woman in a nightgown looking with surprise and distrust at my face. She was just about to speak when the girl spoke.

"Hi mom."

The mother immediately hugged her daughter, her expression changing to joy with tears springing in her eyes. "Rain! Where have you been?"

"I..." She looked up at me for help.

I smiled kindly. "Apparantly she wanted to say goodbye to her sister. I heard her crying in the graveyard at the grave and walked her home."

The mother sighed deeply, obviously feeling guilty. "I'm sorry, Rain. We should have told you... I was just... afraid you would hurt too much. So we wanted to tell you later."

Rain tried to push her mother away a little. "But you caused me much more hurt now, it felt like you didn't care about her at all!"

The father, or at least I presumed he was, came down the stairs, rubbing his eyes. In surprisingly ghastly bright teal pajamas of some slightly shiney fabric. It looked horrible. At least he tried to calm the situation down a little, however haphazardly.

"It was kind of my idea, we tried to act normal so you wouldn't ask what's wrong. But we never wanted to lie to you, so when you ask... we had to say it."

"That's stupid!" Rain's voice loud enough to echo.

"It's alright." I leaned down next to Rain, "Try and remember, they meant it for the best and your mother is definitely happy to see you back."

I turned to the mother. "If you've called the police to notify her absence, you should call them again, that she's been found."

She nodded silently, a bit overawed I thought. It was kind of funny, she looked more than twice my age. But she was listening. The father however, in those eye-twistingly bad pajamas of his, simply shrugged and turned around dutifully, heading for the phone. I decided not to stay around for this, the police might come back to ask questions later and I did try to stay away from them as much as possible.

"Rain?"

She turned around to me, some hidden tears in her eyes. "Yes?"

"I have to go now, people are waiting for me."

She nodded. "Thanks for everything."

I opened my arms to allow a hug and she let go of her mother to accept the offered hug. With her ear so close to mine I found a way to whisper so softly her mother or father would not even be aware of what I'd say. 'Please don't tell them.' I asked, but I didn't even have to. Her reply came swift, soft and honest. 'I know.'

With that and a smile I left them to themselves. They hopefully didn't even really noticed me leave. Stalking the streets, away from all of this but feeling surprisingly refreshed, I made my way back to Hitori.

But I didn't walk.

Feeling refreshed I actually longed to slide through the air like a feather, drift on the wind like a leaf. It was the last bit of freedom I wanted to feel before seeing him again. So in a comfortably dark alley I let myself rise into the air and headed toward Hitori. I wanted to hold him, but this time I didn't feel sad, or alone, or restless. I wanted to hold him to thank him, to let him feel how much better I felt.

The air was my dress as I moved through it. My arms felt as if they stretched out to infinity, caressing the land with the darkness. Like a goddess, gentle and divine, my being coursed over the city. It was wonderful.

The weight of my body when I once more touched down on the street was almost disappointing. But my mind was on other things, making sure no one would see me was at the top of my list. But I managed.

Waiting for the door to open at Hitori's house was a sort of pleasurable torment. On the one hand I felt proud of what I'd done and how I fixed it, on the other I would be glad to be near Hitori again. There was so much I still needed to do that an honest, un-expecting hug would be nicer than a thousand year sleep. The door opened and it wasn't who I was expecting.

Somehow I thought Anka or even Nuru would come down to open it, but it was Hitori himself, smiling gently as he noticed my surprise. I jumped forward and hugged him intensely, wrapping my arms around him and enjoying the warmth of his cheek against mine. He simply laughed softly and hugged me back, stepping back to close the door behind me.

Hitori went and lead the way up the stairs, with me closely following. I had a big smile on my face that caused a little smile on his face, every time he looked around. Upstairs I was half-surprised to notice neither Anka nor Nuru were in the living-room. Silence prevailed for now.

"Both of them have gone to bed hours ago. You should too."

I nodded, I could feel the dawn nearing, but it was gentler as it didn't creep up on me as much as it used to. We both headed to the bedroom and undressed to our underwear. I felt prettier than normal and went into bed with a smile, inviting Hitori to lie down, closely.

We snuggled together, teasingly and playfully. In the meantime I whispered my story, told him whom I had met and what had happened. I didn't tell him her name as I wanted to keep her existence safe from mine, but everything else was his to know. He held me so nice and dear, caressing my hair and my face, patiently letting me share my words until finally it was time to sleep.

Hitori spoke only two words as we laid there together, two words laced with happiness and ... love?

"Welcome back."