Chapter 21: What We Are

Sirius pulled me out of my dark thoughts by gently touching my fingers. The twins were already on the table, looking at me. Ursa and Sirius's mother, too, and apparently, they were conversing amusingly about something in their language, something else I wouldn't achieve.

"All good?" he whispered, worried.

I nodded. I had a knot in my stomach, but they would hate me more if I shot out of there, although I did want to disappear. I gathered my courage and went to the table. I loved Sirius, and he felt something for me. They would have to get over it.

I looked at the food, which seemed to be venison stew or something. It smelled delicious and tasted even better.

"Yum," I exclaimed to myself.

Of course, they heard me. I had forgotten their good hearing. The twins smiled; they were alike even in their acts.

"Do you like our food?" one of them asked. "You're awesome."

"Rigel thinks you are pretty," said the other.

"Shut up," Rigel said with a blush on his face. "You said that first."

At least they liked me.

"Deneb said that if you were an evolved girl, he would ask you to form a nucleus."

His brother kicked him under the table because I saw how he held the pain. Sirius gave a short, slight laugh. I looked askance at Enif and Ursa, both eating quietly in silence.

"I knew you'd like her," commented Sirius.

After finishing and rendering thanks, the twins stood up. Deneb grabbed a sofa cushion and struck his brother so hard that the stuffing shot across the room. I was amazed at how fast it had been. Rigel growled at his brother, and I was shocked again. I had already forgotten that they could do that. A pillow war broke out between the two, although it soon became a pillowcase war.

"Men," Ursa muttered.

I looked at Sirius's mother, worried that she was angry at the destruction of the pillows, but she kept her smile and looked at them fondly.

"Well," she said. "I go to sleep. If you are leaving tomorrow, please let me know, Sirius."

"Yes," he replied.

His mom nodded slightly, then turned to me and muttered, "Take care of him."

It baffled me. She stared at me for a couple of seconds with those feline eyes, insisting on something in silence like a cat, and somehow, I suspected that she wanted me to stop him. And if I was wrong, well, neither she nor Ursa seemed like they were going to stop him, so I was the only one left to try.

"Yes, I will," I assured.

She quickly stood up and withdrew.

"Hey, Sirius!" exclaimed one of the twins. Again, I didn't know who was who. "How about a challenge?"

My Sirius stood up, smiling and giving me a sweet look before going with them to the garden.

"That song they played in the plaza is his favorite," Ursa murmured. "We danced it once while the musicians rehearsed it. It was the first time he dared to do it." Low blow. I felt slightly jealous but detected some pain in her tone this time. "Sirius is so rare; he always showed interest in your species, and that always bothered me," the blonde said regretfully. "Poor his mother. In my opinion, she is very patient. Other parents are not like that."

"I have noticed it, and I understand it. You must be very frustrated. But he didn't want to leave me either... It was his decision, as you already said."

"I'm leaving." She took a deep breath, and her tone of voice improved. "I shouldn't be away from home until very late. I'm sure you must sleep on the sofa. Don't be too close to Sirius anymore. Stick to our rules, at least."

The girl left without another word. I sighed. I had to put myself together and start planning to convince Sirius. I went to the garden and heard the laughter and growls of the boys.

"Come on, Sirius! You won't let yourself be defeated by a transitory, right?" challenged one of the twins.

The garden was vast and full of vegetation, mostly trees, but there was a small clearing with short grass. There was Sirius with the other twin, pushing each other by the shoulders, sure seeing who was moving who back further.

"Marien, will you come with me after Sirius leaves?" the boy yelled.

Puzzled, Sirius gritted his teeth and growled at him, showing his fangs, and managed to push him harder, making him fall.

"Don't ever say that again," he warned. "And you could never beat me."

The twin was laughing on the ground.

"Deneb, loser," his brother accused him.

"Shut up. You lost too," he replied, standing up. "Don't show off."

"Did Ursa leave?" asked the other.

"Uh... Yeah," I replied.

"How weird. She likes to fight Sirius."

I pressed my lips together for a few seconds. The twins came out and said goodbye to me, barely colliding their foreheads with mine. I chuckled at that gesture. They went to the living room and left the house.

I looked back at the garden; Sirius was coming to me, making me blush. He took my hand and led me into the garden. I remembered everything Ursa had told me, so I quietly unhanded him and approached a lovely tree. I recognized it. Anthony had given me a flower from a tree like this.

I turned around and was surprised to see him behind me, smiling. He was so handsome and magical.

"You knew the flower of this tree," I told him.

"Yes, I always thought it was special. It accumulates liquid in its log, resists the dry weather, and blooms pink at certain times. It always seemed strange, different from the others, but beautiful."

I smiled. I was dying to hug and kiss him, but I couldn't. How could the evolved people live like this without expressing their feelings? It was frustrating. Of course, once they formed a nucleus, I supposed the elders would explain other subjects. But now I was in his hometown and couldn't break their rules. I should act maturely and respect their strange customs.

"Let's go inside," I asked.

"Sure."

We went to the house. I picked up the backpack, previously abandoned in the living room, and stopped to remember what Ursa had said. I couldn't sleep with Sirius; it would be another lack of respect.

I pursed my lips.

"Is something missing?" he questioned.

I reacted.

"No... well."

He smiled.

"Come this way."

Maybe they had another room or something. I doubted he would think of breaking their rules, but I also suspected he would let me sleep on the couch, so I followed him. We continued down a corridor, which, to the right, had a large window overlooking the pretty garden.

We enter a room. There was a mattress with cream-colored sheets almost at ground level, a shelf with hand-crafted books on the far wall, and another vast window overlooking the garden. There was a dark wood desk with a lovely yet weird rectangular lamp.

I got curious and went to the books. I took one that seemed to speak about some legend and walked to the bed to sit down, flipping through the pages to see what the book was about. Anthony sat next to me.

"It talks about our supposed origins," he explained.

"Interesting. Have you read it?"

"Of course." He smiled.

I looked around.

"Is this your room?" I asked, somewhat nervous.

"Yes."

"Oh." I cleared my throat a little. "And what else does the book tell?"

"It is more like a legend. It tells that the luminous beings from the sky came and created the first evolved person from humans, copied their process in different parts of the world, and watched the race spread in secret. They left them living here, settling down, until it could no longer be a secret, of course. But it's a legend, as I said. The elders tell it."

"Woah, it seems like a story similar to human origins."

I was intrigued. The legends used to come from real things, and this explanation made sense. Their excellent and rare characteristics couldn't be the product of a long evolution process or something like that.

I closed the book and stood up to put it back. I looked at Sirius, who was still sitting on the bed.

"Where will I sleep?" I asked.

He looked at me, confused as if my question was not logical.

"Here," he replied. "I'll go to the sofa, don't worry."

I got nervous.

"But... No... It's your house. I have to go to the sofa. I must respect the rules of your society while being here."

He stood up, looking concerned.

"You don't have to. It's not your obligation to respect the rules of my society, and I don't want you to. I want you to be yourself, to act as you please. I like you like that. I like everything you do."

I pursed my lips. I blushed after hearing him say that, but I still felt bad.

"Anthony. I mean, Sirius... Listen to me. You are young and somewhat rebellious to your society... That is why I'm sure you don't understand, but you are making a mistake."

"Not at all."

"You cannot let yourself die, and I will not be calm in the capital if I know that I won't see you again."

"You'll be safe."

"You said I'm your friend, right?" I looked at him with discomfort and pain. "Escape, do it for me."

"I will not run away like a coward."

"In my world, you can choose what you want to be, who to be with, and everything. In my world, you would be free, not a coward."

He looked at me, confused and frustrated at the same time. Why didn't he understand?!

"It is what I must do. I deserve it for betraying and letting Orion transform me into a wild beast."

"Do you really want to die?"

"Of course not," he muttered, "but I have betrayed, and that is the punishment I accepted a long time ago. Don't you remember I asked you not to be distressed if I died?"

"Yeah, well, I didn't think you meant this!"

"Okay, I'll ask you again then. Please don't be upset."

I lowered my gaze. How would I make him understand? It was somewhat difficult. I looked up, and he was looking at me sadly. I pursed my lips again. Now, what had I done? He frowned a little.

"You don't want me to be with you. I wanted to make you happy these last few days, but it doesn't work..."

"I would only be happy if you stayed safe," I answered right away. "Or better yet, if you don't want to come with me, I want you to leave me and go and tell Orion an excuse, lie to him even if necessary." He began to deny it with a slight and sad smile. "Sirius. I'll see how to get to the capital; you no longer have to worry about me. But please, live, think of your mother, your fiancée..."

"My what?"

"Your family."

"No, I don't want to."

"Sirius," I replied.

"I'm older enough. They'll be fine without me. I've already decided to abandon them and save you. I wanted the life that you were showing me. I wanted you by my side." He approached me. "I feel like we have something, something special."

He hugged me around the waist, leaned in, and brushed his nose close to my ear, making me vibrate.

"Hey..." I whispered, smiling.

"I like having you close and sniffing you. You smell so good," he muttered, and I giggled. I never thought someone would say something like that to me. "I just want to make these things with you," he continued. "We have something, right? Do you feel it?" My heart was beating fast. He separated from me, looking somewhat concerned. "Maybe you don't feel it..."

I hugged him tightly. There was nothing better than being able to do that.

"I won't be able to forgive you or think about what I feel if I know that you are going to die, just as you said that if something happened to me, you were not going to bear it... Why don't you put yourself in my place? It hurts me too much that someone special to me died. You will intentionally leave me as lonely as my parents did."

I had missed his strong arms. He buried his face in my neck, holding me tight.

"I'm sorry. I don't want to hurt you anymore."

"Stay with me then," I whispered. He took a deep breath and stroked my hair. I enjoyed his aroma. "I want to be with you and show you so many things... Remember that you are alive. See what you will do with what you have now instead of accepting punishments that would not solve what is happening."

It was kind of the same as he had told me before.

"Well," he seemed to accept. "Okay... As you say, miss." I sighed in relief. "Now to sleep. We must get to your capital to stop a kind of war, right?"

I chuckled, even if it was not a topic worth laughing about. He pulled away from me.

"Well, I'm going to take my clothes and let you rest, okay?"

I also wanted him to stay with me for the night, but again, I tried to respect his customs. I watched him go around for a few minutes, preparing some things. I was aware of how much that evolved young man attracted me. I didn't lose any of his details.

"Good night, miss," he murmured before leaving.

"Get some rest."

I was in awe of the way the evolved people viewed the world. It was so rare. The youngsters grew up without any malice practically, albeit wild. For them, I was the human who was corrupting the boy, so Ursa saw it that way. But whatever it was, it was done.

"Sirius," I stopped him, my heart starting to beat faster.

He turned to look at me before walking out the door. I stood on the tip of my feet, feeling my cheeks heat up, and took his face.

No, I shouldn't kiss him. I couldn't do that and confuse him more. He felt something for me, but he was only twenty years old. He could be feeling many things...

My mind went blank when he rubbed his forehead with mine, took my chin, and gave me a soft kiss on the cheek, very, very close to the lips. His nose caressed mine again, and our lips touched, but he didn't move away a millimeter. My heart skipped a bit. I had closed my eyes, enjoying him. His warm breath and tempting lips moving calmly over mine made me fly.

To hell with the rules.

I possessed his mouth and felt him freeze for a second before he began reciprocating in a still, demure way. However, the next second, I felt him smile barely, pressing me against his hot body and giving himself to me in an intense but slow kiss.

His lips were luscious, soft to bite, perfect. My memories didn't honor them.

The stabbing pain in my lower lip made me stop suddenly. "Ouch," I complained, although smiling.

"What?"

"Your fang," I chuckled softly.

"Oh man, I'm sorry...!"

"It's fine." I circled his neck, giving him another soft and short kiss. "It's okay..." I whispered, giving him another kiss.

He smiled widely, but his expression suddenly changed.

"You're not saying goodbye, are you?"

I laughed, and I went back to kiss him.

"No." Another kiss.

"Will you give me more?"

"Uhmm..." I purred against his lips. "I don't know, find out."

"You only had to do this to convince me of anything. You know?"

"That would be taking advantage."

I loved seeing his sexy smile so close.

"I'm going, Mom," he said, looking down the hall like she was right next to him.

I froze. Heck, could she hear us?!

"Sorry," I whispered away, now blushed with embarrassment.

"Why do you apologize? She just called me. I'll see what she needs. Get some rest. The bathroom is at the end of the backyard if you need anything. Just be careful. We have some chickens in the back. I'll show you..."

"It's fine. Don't worry. Thank you."

He left, although I wanted to continue by his side. But the happiness didn't fit inside me, knowing I had convinced him to stay with me in the capital. I sighed in relief after closing the door.

They had such good hearing that they didn't need to shout from one end of the house to another. I laughed silently and went to bed. I hugged the pillow even though it was somewhat hard for my taste, but it had his delicious scent there.

I realized another detail: there were no lights, so when night came, everything was dark, and I understood why. Since they could see well and had a good sense of smell, they didn't need light. They could do their regular activities at night as well as during the day. I was amazed.