Visions
The first time she sees him is when her mother passes away from grief. The house Hama lives in is too big and empty for a ten-year-old girl like her and the world is too vast and lonely. She falls into the bed that she shares (shared) with her mother and pretends not to notice the emptiness of the space beside her. She cries herself to sleep, wondering if she is doomed to solitude for the rest of her life.
He comes to her in her sleep. Actually, that's not true. She goes to him. She's in a place she doesn't know, surrounded by people she doesn't know. Except for one. This one is one year old with blond hair like Mother and purple eyes like hers. He is grinning into the sky, stretching his chubby arms toward a young woman with hair like flames. "Lala!" he says, giggling. And his laugh is like music to her ears. Then the vision is gone.
This is the first night in a whole year where she sleeps so soundly.
Hama is a gifted Adept. Her Psynergy grows faster than anyone in the village had seen for a very long time. Soon, she begins to have premonitions of the future, both good and bad. She sees secrets within walls and hears whispers of souls. Truth is clearer to her than many of the elders. The villagers are talking about how she will be the one to attain power known only to the ancients. Hama is a prodigy, a godsend.
"One day, Hama," they say, "You will help change the world."
She nods her head and agrees because it's always about the prophecy. Always.
She doesn't tell them about the times spent calling upon visions of a boy with violet eyes and messy blond hair. She doesn't tell them about his first sword lessons, or the first time he heard the voices of the people's hearts. She doesn't tell them about the days he feels alone and abandoned. She doesn't tell them about the nights where she cries for his loneliness.
She doesn't tell them about how she watches him grow.
Sometimes, she sends kisses into the wind and wonders if it will ever reach him.
She shall move to Lama Temple because there is a part of the prophecy that she needs to fulfill. Not because she's his sister or that he's her brother. Not because they think she deserves to see him or that he deserves to know her. But because she has a prophecy to fulfill and she is the only one—with her powerful Psynergy and accurate premonitions—who can pull it off.
The villagers have doubts. Will she interfere in his life more than she should? Will she bring him home and prevent the prophecy from coming into fruition?
No, she tells them. She doesn't know her brother so therefore the prophecy means more to her than he does. (This is truth, she thinks.)
The villagers visibly relax. Good, they say.
Then again, they never knew of Hama's visions, of how she follows him in his childhood. Of how she clings to him in her heart and loves him as fiercely as the moon loves the sun.
She had practiced Ki for a long time in Contigo and was already almost a master of the art by the time she moved, so it is no surprise that she is the one chosen to succeed the previous master of Lama Temple.
Hama knows that Ivan will begin his journey very soon.
Hama knows the prophecy.
Hama knows her brother.
She closes her eyes and knows in her mind that she will always choose the prophecy.
(In her heart, though, she will always choose her brother.)
She likes his companions. The courageous leader, especially. He is stalwart and true, determination and conviction in his eyes. The other two members are also quite commendable. The loud warrior is fiercely loyal and the gentle healer is infinitely compassionate. They are a good group and Hama is thankful for their company.
Hama prepares herself for the day they meet.
When they meet, it is anti-climactic.
Hama doesn't gather him in her arms. She doesn't kiss all the burdens away. She doesn't bury her face in his blond hair.
The unfamiliar gaze he gives her is sobering and even though she feels like shouting into the wind, she meets his eyes, briefly, before turning toward the Earth Adept, smiling serenely.
"So, Isaac, you and your Adept companions have finally come."
When she lays her hand on her brother and shares her Psynergy with him, she wonders if he can feel the love she sends his way, if he can possibly understand that he was never abandoned, not in her heart. She wonders if she can ever be his sister or if she will ever become a part of his family. He is receptive to her and their Psynergies dance together in harmony as he acquires the power needed to continue forward.
When they open their eyes, there is an uncertainty in his gaze, a confusion, but he grins up at her anyway and thanks her.
She takes his smile and plants it deep in her soul, her breath catching in her throat. Ivan and his companions leave, but not before Ivan sends another confused glance her way. She simply smiles in return. As he turns his back to her, she silently kisses him goodbye. Her heart burns but the decision was made long ago.
Her part of the prophecy is fulfilled and he was never hers, anyway.