Revelations

Being back was the strangest thing. As cliched as it is to say it, so much of what I was experiencing felt like a dream. Being in Sunset Valley again was half of the reason why I felt like that, of course. Then there was the other half that was me having a hard time accepting that the past several days had actually happened. My proposal had been up in the air for months now. Ada, naturally, had given my idea instant approval. The leader of the southern land had come around quickly as well. The leaders of the northern and western lands had been the stubborn ones. I had convinced Erien to convince her father to convince the northern leaders, so there was that. The rest of my efforts went into making appeals to those in the west. Because they were the furthest away from the humans geographically, they had the least amount of interest in interacting with them again due to that great distance.

When Anoriand, the son of those leaders, suddenly spoke up and said he wanted to participate in the first trip, the whole thing switched around rather rapidly. That had occurred at the end of summer. The last few weeks had been preparing all the technicalities and paperwork for our visit. Due to Pemir's words that first time I consulted with him about the idea, I made sure that ada made sure to provide plenty of protection for our group. It was only Pemir and I who knew that government officials were dressed up as normal citizens to act as our secret bodyguards while we were in town. They were so good at blending in that even I forgot they were there. I was free to stand and stare without being disturbed to my heart's content.

A Proposal

It was an odd thing. Not too long ago the park where festivals and parties were held had been full of people. Now there were only a scarce few remaining. It was to be expected for a early afternoon celebration. They did not usually hold the grandeur of the parties that began around supper and lasted until the next morning. An all night celebration had been what ada had been planning, but my stubborn insistence that I would not attend such an occasion frustrated him to the point where he agreed to move my welcoming-back event earlier in the day. It was the lone way he was able to get me to come. One could otherwise not throw a party if the one it was for did not show up. The result didn't make ada happy, but I was satisfied. My people had thankfully realized that my mood was not particularly cheerful. I was welcomed by all, but everyone was content to leave me be for the most part. Some did strike up a conversation. I began conversations as well. However, the fear I had that I would face more insensitive words became something I didn't have to fear at all. It was true that many of the party-goers expressed their thoughts of me surely being glad the order was over, but that was the extent of what I had to handle.

Most of the discomfort that was experienced was a result of the still awkward air between Galith and I. I had sought her out that morning to reconfirm that I wasn't upset. She had asked to be forgiven, and I had forgiven her. It was when she acted as if that had never taken place when I did begin to grow somewhat upset. In truth, I had already moved on past the whole issue. Galith's comment had hardly been the first inappropriate thing that had ever been spoken to me in my life. It was more frustrating to have her linger on the matter than the actual matter had been. I had hoped to speak more about it to her, but with her and Rendion being the two in charge of providing music for the party there was not a moment to talk.

Home

I felt both nervous and calm as I stood there. My body was certainly hesitant. It was frozen like a statue.  My mind and heart, however, well, perhaps I was panicking so much that my heart was racing so fast that the constant hum was the source of the otherwise empty feeling within my chest. Whatever was going on with me, I actually didn't want it to stop. That morning had been the first morning in weeks where I hadn't woken up sobbing. It was the first time since my life utterly fell part where I felt relatively sane. The sight of what was before me was causing a state of surrealism that was blocking out the heartbreak that had been plaguing my existence.