Epilogue 1
Home?

Sunlight filtered through foliage danced merrily on the crest of the wavelets. Lonesome leaves swung and swirled wildly on the uneven surface of the water – like Ossë’s storms and his ships… Or was it otherwise?

Raine bit her lips, stemming new tears with all her might. It was the umpteenth time she had to do so. Why was it happening to her now? She had never had a big problem walking away from her new friends before. And she had experienced it many times too – although she wished otherwise – what with her nearly nomadic lifestyle, following her parents in almost every expedition and trip they conducted. What made this lot special to her? She could not fathom the cause; or at least her mind could not. There must be something in her which could, though…

And the lake – How lifeless it was! Harmaluinë had said he was present in such tranquil lakes… But he had never promised her specifically, right? He had not broken any word to her, then.

Somehow, she wished he had, if only for her to be mollified by the cold comfort of vindication. The emptiness around her now was so crushing and frightening; as if she was plunging into an abbis, never to resurface again. She hated the feeling and the helplessness it caused; and most importantly, her self-loathing that she had chosen to forsake that other world, and her friends, for this previously-familiar one. But surely her parents meant more than everything to her? They had—

They were who had prompted her decision, indirectly. Were they worth her hatred? –

No! nonononono… Where had the thought come from?

She clenched her fists and pursed her lips, trying to keep them from trembling with all her might. Her watch, which had worked again – along with her compass – after she was back in the lake, showed that it was nearly evening. Her parents would be expecting her home soon, and they would surely question her if she had bloody lips and puffy eyes. Crying was not something usual for her, and her parents knew it well. She did not want to be obliged to tell them about her new friends—

Her lost friends…

It felt as if her brief sojourn in the fairy land had been a lifetime ago. But it could not be so, could it? It had only been hours ago, surely? Yet indeed she felt that she had been another person entirely then, with all the stark differences between the two worlds. She could not decide which she preferred to live out; and anyway, the choice had been robbed from her.

Had it really been taken away from her, though?

She had chosen to go back here. She had chosen her parents over her new friends…

And it went back to the same point. She had lost track of how many times the circle had been completed during these few hours. She was sick of it, and very exhausted. She just wanted – her parents…

“Mama. Ata.” A small whimper escaped the soft tremor affecting her teeth and lips. She pulled her legs up from the sides of the hovercraft and hugged them to herself. She just barely prevented herself from rocking her own body back and forth in the effort of consoling herself. It would not do, tipping her hovercraft over with all the things attached to it. She was not in the mood of salvaging things and cleaning up. She must find the will and courage to go back to her parents…

She knew she was changed. It was not that she was no longer innocent – or rather, ignorant – of the world around her. (She had realised the fact during her interactions with her angelic friends. They had treated her as fondly and carefully as she would guess they would a very young child – much younger than she was.) She did not really mind it, and after all, she had previously been aware that her parents had gone out of their way to put her in a sheltered life. What bothered her was the senses she had slowly developed around her other-wordly friends, which none of them had purposefully instilled, and the knowledge that came with it. She was afraid it would take precedence over her behaviour and attitude now, separating herself further from her environment. She had been an oddball among her peers, given her interest in scientific journals, history books and other miscellaneous things others would call boring; she could not stand the thought that she might unwittingly alienate even her parents now because of the changes in her view of the world. It was too terrifying to contemplate.

But she would never know if she never even attempted to find out… right?

With a drawn-out, shaky sigh, Raine straightened up and squinted to gauge a point far off. She had sacrificed so much. She had to make sure that it would not go to waste. And after all, it was not like she was going to the house of a stranger. They were her parents! The least she could do was to make sure to them that she was all right. She did not know how much time had actually lapsed during her absence, but she did not want to take chances. (It had been evening when she had parted with her friends, and it had been morning when she arrived at the familiar islet on the middle of the lake.)

From her current position on the bay of the islet, the cottage was a hazy outline on the brown-and-green horizon, obscured by both distance and late-afternoon fog. She could tell that it would rain this evening, and probably tonight. Somehow she could feel the gathering of a large amount of moisture in the sky, and how the clouds moved towards each other to create a sheet; all without scrutinising the sky with her own eyes. It was disturbing, and surreal… and great. In a way, she felt even closer to her friends, believing that they were always there although she could not feel their presence around her. She was not alone. And she had a good downpour to look forward to.

And if everything went as hoped, she would also have two people to cuddle to shortly. She just had to go home, say something about her excitement of the day somehow without attracting too much attention or concern, wash up, eat dinner, and go to bed for the night – preferably with his parents. As simple as that. But why did she have the feeling that it would not be as easy as it appeared?

“There isn’t a thing like the present,” she muttered glumly as she turned on the machine of the hovercraft and steered it out of the bay. She would cross the proverbial bridge when she came to it. Her brain could not suffer more thinking. She was tired; very tired… The fog blanketing her felt like someone’s light, damp hug…

A familiar someone…

Moikahisië?

She blinked and jerked up on the seat of the hovercraft. Ah, she must have been more tired than she had originally thought, then. Definitely home now, straight to the cottage; no tarrying.