I can't say why some of us stayed, or what drew some of us back, time and again. We each had our own excuses and rationalizations. Rowen's was the library. He'd lock himself in there for hours or days at a time, if it was a weekend, pouring over every scroll and hand-bound book the old man left behind. I think Mia was glad to see that someone else could appreciate the man's obsessions…or, as she called them 'passions.' It also taught her to leave the library door unlocked at night, as there were times the nightmares would awaken him, forcing him to read his way back to Morpheus again.

Cye's were never excuses, at least ones he would admit to. It would always be 'I was in the area' and that was that. Sometimes he stayed, most times not. It's the collective thought that he's afraid Mia is lonely with just me and the tiger and occasionally the boy to look after. Nevermind that all three of us have been looking after ourselves since we got here. More often than not, he'd have food with him, and if there was food, chances are Kento would wander in at some point. I have no idea how he seemed to know every time Cye made something. It's like his stomach was psychic.

I'd like to think Kento saw his visitations more as vacations, as the moment he walked in the door he'd say how nice it was not to have ten kids underfoot and a million order slips to fill. Apparently the family restaurant had gotten more than a little notoriety since the 'incident' at his uncle's in New York. People come in around dinner hoping to catch a glimpse of the boy who single-handedly defeated a horde of starving ninjas. Funny how stories like that get distorted down the line; but it's not like the family complained. Would you if your son was transformed into the main draw over night?

Sage, for one reason or another, had stayed away the longest. When we first parted ways I remember how worried the boy was at how final his 'good bye' sounded. I didn't think much of it at the time, but it's been four months. More or less, he seemed to be exhibiting a more severe case of Cye's behavior, as if the distance can't just be physical; it has to be psychological and emotional as well. Rowen was the one who took it upon himself to keep in touch, a memento, perhaps of the years spent living with a vagrant family. Someone had to keep the home fires burning, and he's the designated Burning Man. It's a comfortable role for him, so no one complains.

As for myself, I like it here. It reminds me just enough of home not to get home sick and I'd be lying if I said I was alright with leaving Mia alone with the boy. We sort of migrated together after the others left, the three of us. Although why the tiger stays is anyone's guess. I'm as much his master as he is my pet; although I sometimes wonder if he doesn't feel a certain guilty responsibility for the boy and me. There's no denying he's a lot like I was at that age. So maybe that's his rationalization for staying; really no less valid than Rowen's, or Sage's self-inflicted exile. There really is no way of saying why some of us try so hard to stay, or try so hard just to stay away.