Chapter 17
"How would you know if there is water down below?"
"I don't know, but I was hoping that your 'ability' would enable you to tell?"
Abigail and Gaara gazed towards the bottom of the cleft.
"I'm not sure … I never … well, I guess it doesn't hurt to try, but maybe it'd be easier if we were down there?"
The pit seemed bottomless. The cleft was very wide and long, but darkness was filling the deep pit.
"Hm … alright," Gaara grabbed a tiny flashlight from his waist bag and startled Aby by putting his arm tightly around her waist. She felt the heat rushing to her head at the contact of her body against his. This time, he had his gourd on, his green Kazekage hat dangling from it. His free hand made a quick gesture while he held the flashlight between his teeth; Sand poured out of the gourd and scooped them up below their feet. He turned to a few shinobis who were shielding themselves against the wind that was picking up. One of them looked up at the empty blue sky, a concerned look on his face.
"Don't worry, the storm will not be coming until tonight. We still have a few hours."
"How do you know, Lord Kazekage?"
"That's a long story. Be ready … if we find something, I'll need you guys."
"Yes sir!" the five of them answered.
Aby felt dizzy as the sand lifted them up and lowered them into the pit. It was like a thrill ride at a theme park. She tightened her grip as they quickly dropped deeper into it. When they did, the daylight rapidly faded around them. The flashlight, eventually, revealed an end to the bottomless pit. Once they touched down, the sand quickly rushed back into the gourd. Gaara let go of her and walked ahead, pointing the flashlight to the ground. Aby, behind him, could barely see where she was stepping. She tripped on something hard; hopefully a rock …
"Are you alright? Mind your step …"
"Yes …" she said while trying to blindly reach for his coat for guidance. "Uhm … there are no … creatures down here, right?"
"Probably …" He discreetly stomped on something and kept walking. She sighed at the vague answer; probably yes? Or probably no?
This time she slipped on something gooey and bumped hard into Gaara's back; he spun around to catch her.
"Sorry, I can barely see anything back here … What the heck was that slippery thing?"
"Probably nothing," he lied. That hairy sand spider he stepped on was the biggest one he'd ever seen … almost as big as his foot. He helped her steadied herself and grabbed her hand. She was glad he couldn't see her crimson face.
"So, what am I supposed to feel for?" Beside the butterflies in my stomach, she thought.
"I'm not sure. A pull, maybe? If it was me, in a battle, I would focus my chakra on the land around me and feel the pull of the sand … it's difficult to explain …"
"But I don't have chakra. It's hard to look for a "feeling" without knowing if it's there in the first place."
"Hm … you said that water instantly reacts to your command?"
"Well … kinda … it's not really a command."
"Maybe you are commanding it without realizing it. Try to imagine that we are surrounded by water, then try to use those hand gestures you did before."
She didn't need to close her eyes to focus, her surroundings were already pitch black, except for the faint light coming from Gaara's flashlight ahead.
"Well?"
"Nothing … let's keep walking."
They kept walking for a few minutes, without talking. His warm hand was still holding hers and she found great comfort in it. She couldn't deny that his presence was distracting her, but she kept moving her free hand around, feeling rather silly. Chris's words came back to memory and she felt a pinch in her heart; was she doing it again? Looking for attention?
"Your gourd," she said to break the silence, "it looks heavy."
"I'm used to carrying it. I practically grew up with it."
"Why can't you use the sand all around?"
He sneaked a smile without looking at her.
"I thought you knew everything?"
"Well … a few things still get passed me," she said with a smirk.
"The sand in my gourd is infused with chakra; it is easier to manipulate than the sand of Suna, which requires more of my chakra. Also, it is mixed with gold dust, which enables me to use magnet release."
Whatever that means, she thought, looking at her feet. Her eyes started to get used to the dark.
"It means I can shape it to pretty much anything and create heavy weapons with it." he added, as if he could read her mind. To add shape to his explanation, he fashioned a small sand butterfly by moving his fingers. Aby watched the wings of the butterfly flutter away; Its wings shimmered here and there filtered by the ray of light that the flashlight was providing.
"Wow! I didn't know you could do that!" she said excitedly. He smiled at her reaction, his head turned back in her direction.
"I mean, I knew you could shape things, but the butterfly … it's freaking moving!"
Gaara grinned in answer, as the butterfly disintegrated back to dust.
"... For dust you are, and dust you shall return …" said Aby.
"What?"
"Nothing … something I remembered. In my world, God created man from the dirt, and breathed life into him. So there is a famous passage that basically says that we were made of dust, more like soil or clay, and when we die, we'll go back to dust."
"Maybe you are made of gold too," he retorted without thinking. He looked away, embarrassed. He was referring to the shape of the butterfly made because of the gold dust, but now he realized that it sounded very much like a courting strategy.
"How did you make it move?" she asked in an attempt to break the silence.
"It's simple but takes quite a good amount of practice. I just keep changing the shape of the wings, like a frame by frame movie, until it looks like it's moving. It took me some time to perfect it."
"That's clever! You should do that trick for Tori!"
"Those kids are very attached to you," he said after a pause.
"They didn't have anybody for a long time. It must be such a relief to be cared for at that age. I think it must have been a normal reaction that they cling to me."
"No," he stopped and turned to face her. "Children who have to fend for themselves would rather be alone then follow someone who is untrustworthy. It actually gets harder to trust as they grow up." As he said these words, he was reminded of his own childhood. "I came to understand that the way a child grows up is crucial to what that child will become. These two were lucky to find you. That makes you … well … special," he said, reticent.
"Thanks," she said, looking down at his hand, still holding hers. She could feel his gaze on her, but didn't dare looking up.
"She always carries that bracelet around … oh! That reminds me …"
He let go of her hand and found the charm in his pocket. She gasped when he handed it to her.
"How?!"
"I saw you that time when you did the exchange. Well, I didn't see the exchange, but I realized it when I went to see the lady at the booth. She really liked it and was planning on making some more," he said rolling his eyes.
"What? You don't like it?"
"Why is it fat?"
"It's not fat!" she laughed. "It's a chibi Gaara!"
"What's a chibi?"
"It's a cute, smaller, rounder version of … people"
"Why am I … why is it hugging the gourd?"
"Because it's cute!" she answered between two laughs.
"That thing looks nothing like me."
She looked at him, teasingly, her eyes sparkling. "Do me a favor?"
"No."
"Awwww, come on!"
"I'm not hugging my gourd."
"I won't tell anyone!" she giggled.
"No chance." he smiled and shook his head disapprovingly. "Come on, back to work …"
She snorted some more before looking up at him again.
"Thank you," she said, lifting up the little charm.
"It's coming out of your paycheck," he said with a grin.
"Oh my! You just made a joke!"
"Who said it was a joke?"
She followed after him and took his hand again, by pure impulse, but let it go when he looked at her puzzled.
Shit! I wasn't even thinking! They both got accustomed to the darkness now, so there was no use in holding onto each other's hand.
"I'm sorry … it was, like, a habit I guess. I mean, it's not a habit … I don't do that with everyone …" stop talking, just stop talking. "I mean … sorry." She backed up one step further and looked away. He said nothing and eventually kept on walking, his head facing forward.
"What happens if we don't find water?" she quickly said to change the subject, trying to sound as casual as possible.
"I'll think of some other use … like a septic system or something." he answered after a pause.
"It's a good idea, " she said, forcing a smile.
Why did she have to do that? Why did she have to make it so awkward? More importantly, she felt naked. There was no way he would believe that this was a habit. He must have realized that she was into him now. She couldn't tell what was worse, the awkwardness or the fact that he knew, because she was sure that he did, and there would be some rejection, eventually.
She remembered a lot of anime where there would be a confession, followed by a rejection. They always said, regardless of the answer, that they always felt better after. What a load of bullcrap, she thought. She felt so stupid. What was she doing? How could she let herself fall for a fictional character?!
They are as real as we are, she remembered Akio say. She found herself very confused. Then, her heart stopped and got light headed. Her hand trembled for a second. Her hand … he was holding it … he was holding her hand!
Akio had the book open on the desk; oblivious to the fact that Sasuke and Sakura could see what was inside. It wasn't a secret anyway, not anymore, not to them. They had come to meet him and were startled to see the state of the messy room. They were joined a few minutes later by Shikamaru. Who also wanted to ask Akio a few questions.
"Uhm, I'm not sure …" Akio said, his back resting against the swiveling chair. He was brushing the hair upon his chin. "I can't think of anything big that would have anything to do with the gate; I mean, a gate can be very big, but once it is closed, it's gone!"
"They were definitely hiding something," said Shikamaru. "You don't engage in combat and risk injury and then vanish like that."
"Our thoughts exactly," said Sasuke. Sakura was deep in thought, staring at Akio. He shook his head.
"Akio-San, do you have any idea where you were when they opened the gate?" asked Sakura.
"No … I was blindfolded. The first place I recognized was Amegakure when the shinobis found me."
"You said there were three guys?" asked Sasuke.
"At least. There might have been more."
"The guys we fought … there were three of them," said Sakura. "The whole place was a mess, not just the cave, but the area in general, covering a few miles. Everything was destroyed. Even fish seemed to have flown all the way from the lake, a few miles away."
"Which was not too far from Ame," added Sasuke, seeing where Sakura was going with it.
"That place must be the location for the gate then?" said Shikamaru.
"It could be!" said Akio. "Wait … no … as I said, I only found a gate near Konoha."
"Well, maybe because the gate was destroyed since … oh!" Sakura hit her head with her hand and gasped. "It was the gate!" She turned to Sasuke. "The big thing that got destroyed was the gate!"
"Why would they destroy the gate?" He asked her.
"Not the gate …" commented Akio. "You cannot destroy a gate, but you can destroy its location. I wonder …" He closed his eyes for a few seconds. "Perhaps you are looking at it the wrong way! Perhaps they didn't mean to destroy the location, maybe it was destroyed while trying to force the gate open?"
"Then they just happened to be there when you guys got there," Shikamaru added. "The diversion was probably for someone to escape, someone who wasn't supposed to be with those guys … someone who would blend with us …" He looked at the gatekeeper.
"Mr. Daisuke, about that guy, Chris, would you recognize him as being part of us? From our world I mean ..." Sakura shot him an inquisitive look.
"What? No … not particular, I wasn't the creator of this world, so I'm not an expert," he answered, laughing.
"Gaara and I, we have a strong sense of 'déjà vu' with this guy. We can't say for sure, but there's something about him that's off."
"I'm positive that this young man is from my world."
"How can you be so sure?" asked Shikamaru. Akio stared at him for a few seconds.
"There would be no way! I can't be 100% sure, but the worlds created by writers are in the dark when it comes to gates and gatekeepers! You didn't know anything about it until this happened." He stopped to think. "Perhaps … a writer!"
Akio slapped his hand on the desk.
"It has to be a writer! A newby, maybe! A rule breaker, no doubt, but I can only think of this, a writer who wanted to travel through our different worlds, without a gatekeeper… but for what purpose?"
"Why are you guys suspecting Chris?" asked Sakura as they were walking back towards the main hall.
"I didn't say anything about suspecting him," Shikamaru said.
"He might be a goof, I don't think that makes him a bad guy?" she said, not buying Shikamaru's statement. They were definitely suspecting him.
Shikamaru was deep in thought, frowning, as usual. He knew it was impossible, but he kept thinking that he knew him. At least, he saw him somewhere. He was thinking hard, trying to recall who he reminded him of. As if reading his mind, Sakura broke his thoughts.
"Akio said he couldn't be from our world … that it was most likely someone from his, another 'newbie', he said,"
"Yes, but he also mentioned before that there could have been a loophole and someone from our world could have found out …"
He passed the different rooms and caught a glimpse of a floating dress through one of the doors; that and a sweet humming that made him smile. He changed his course after excusing himself to Sakura and Sasuke and pushed his way through the slightly opened door. He leaned against the wall after closing the door behind him.
"That thing makes you sing now?" he said smiling.
Temari turned to him and smiled back, twirling around, holding an old dress against her chest.
"This used to be my mother's!"
"You remember her wearing it?!" he asked.
"No, but she is wearing it in the portrait beside you."
Shikamaru turned his head to look at it. Temari sat on the bed and smelled the old fabric, with a disappointed look on her face. The smell that was once on the dress wore off through the years. Now, it only smelled like … old fabric.
"I have so few memories of her," she said sadly. "I remember bits here and there; when she died, I felt very lonely. I used to sneak here and hide in the wardrobe. I don't know if it was her scent on the clothes, or the small crowded space of the wardrobe, but I always felt better in there. I think the maids found me sleeping there a couple of times!" she said with a nostalgic smile.
Shikamaru came to sit beside her and let himself fall back onto the bed. He put an arm across his face and the other one stroked Temari's back.
"We need to go back soon …"
"Yes, I know …" she said, lying down beside him, her face hidden in his neck. "I don't know when to tell them; it never seems to be the right time." They heard a knock at the door.
"Oh! I'm sorry!" Sofia quickly turned around, thinking she was disrupting a moment of intimacy.
"It's ok! We were just resting! What's up?"
"I was just wondering if you have seen Abigail?"
"She must still be with your other friend, no?"
"Aw man, it's great, but I haven't had a chance to take a look around … and I'm hungry! Hey! You guys want to hang out?"
Temari sat down and looked at Shikamaru. He nudged her.
"Go," he said to Temari. "Get Kankuro with you and catch up while you can!"
"Ok," she smiled
"Wooooaaaa! Dishish sho good!" said Sofia with a mouthful of candied fruits., walking backwards so the wind wouldn't whip her teal hair in her face.
"Isn't great? Those are hawthorns!" Temari said while chomping on one of her own.
"They're sweet and sour at the same time!"
"They are called 'Tanghulu'," Temari said pointing at the skewered fruit snack she was crunching on, while sucking on a candied strawberry.
"They are so yummy!"
"Girls …" whispered Kankuro to himself, while rolling his eyes.
"Here,"
Temari shoved the stick in front of her brother and he chewed a slice of dragonfruit from it.
"Hey, Kangaroo, what's that creepy thing you carry all the time?" Temari snorted when she heard the name.
" .ROOO," he said annoyed. "It's a puppet." he said after a pause. Sofia gasped and watched him with bright eyes.
"You do puppet shows?!"
"HAHAHAHAHA"
"Only for enemies," he smiled.
"Oh!" She turned to Temari. "And … I don't suppose that thing is for dancing?"
"Only with enemies" she replied, touching the giant fan on her back.
"I have a feeling you don't just hit them with that."
"No; more like, I blow them off!"
"They usually move 'downwind' afterwards!" Kankuro said, which made Temari giggle.
"And he gives them a free show! No 'strings attached'!"
"We are always 'blown away' by her skills …"
"HA HA, awww you're such a 'doll'!"
"I'm your number two 'fan'!"
Sofia watched them throwing puns at each other back and forth. She looked to the left and caught a glimpse of the cleft. It was stretching pretty far. She could see farther, a bunch of guys sitting beside it, seemingly waiting for something.
"That's got to be a pain …"
"Yes," Temari said. "People are extremely inconvenienced by it. They can go around it, but it can take a long time."
"Gaara's working on it," said Kankuro, his hands behind his neck. Sofia looked gloomy, which was not unnoticed by Temari.
"Gaara's a good man you know?"
"Good men, where I am from, do not try to kill good girls …"
"Ok, I don't know what happened exactly, but I'm sure he had a good reason!"
Kankuro hissed between his teeth. "Actually, I don't think he was himself back then …" he said.
"I think my brother has a crush on your friend," she whispered, as a secret. Sofia stared back
"He has strange ways to show his affection!"
"You know, now that I think about it, all his close friends and allies, he tried to kill at least once!" Kankuro said laughing.
"Okayyyy, now I feel much better," she replied sarcastically; but her face softened. "Well, he did save her life …" I'll have to watch that anime when we get home, she thought.
Abigail was standing still, looking around the rock walls. Gaara studied her silently; his face full of hope. That feeling she had … it was new; she walked around with her hands up, slowly moving from side to side. There was a pull … she couldn't describe it to him, but it was there. When she waved her hands, nothing came out of the ground; but she felt something … like a tingling in her fingertips. She moved her body around some more and felt the tingling stronger, until she stopped and put her hand on the dusty ground.
"Gaara?"
"Is it there? Are you sure?"
"I think so …" she said with a surprised voice. "But I can't make it flow … I wonder if we have to dig a hole?"
"Stand aside!"
He made a few hand gestures and crossed his arms in a quick, sharp movement. The sand from his gourd poured out in a long string, creating some kind of sharp javelin.
"SAND DRILL!"
The long javelin shot down to the ground and disappeared. A minute passed without anything happening.
"I'm sorry, I thought I felt something, I guess I was mistaken."
"It's alright. It was a long shot …"
He offered her his hand with a gentle smile, presumably to start ascending to the top of the pit. She stepped forward but her shoe was suctioned into some liquid. She gasped when she looked down at her foot. Water was coming out of the hole made a few minutes ago.
"Gaara! Is that water?!"
He approached and lowered himself to the ground; He touched the liquid with his fingers, smelled it and smiled.
"It is!"
The men took some time to reach them but the giant sand arrow that Gaara fashioned made it easy to be found. The men were all earth and wind users and created a wooden style pipe that would soon be replaced by metal pipes that would branch into the plumbing system of this part of the village.
Aby looked admiringly at Gaara talking with the men as they were working on the project. He turned to her and walked her way. As he did, so did Sofia and his siblings.
"I need to close that thing … brace yourselves."
"Wait, you are gonna close that?!" cried Sofia.
"Yes, it will be faster."
He rose up high with his sand so that he could have a better view of the whole thing. He brought his right fist in his opened left hand and closed his eyes. A low grumble came from the ground and Aby felt it trembled. People put their hands on their ears and screamed, thinking another earthquake was happening. The separated grounds moved slowly but steadily towards each other as it closed up. Gaara lifted his other hand and the sand of Suna obeyed his command, filling the remaining gap. Aby and Sofia held onto each other, mesmerized. Gaara was as still as a stone, while his tunic furiously waged battle against the wind.
"This guy is a freaking wizard!" cried Sofia, trying to cover the growling roar of the earth.
When all was done, Gaara came back down and let himself off the sand who went straight back in his gourd. Aby noticed that, although he was still dignified, he let out a few signs of exhaustion. His shoulders were not straight up and his torso was slightly bent forward. She remembered what he told her about using the sand in his gourd versus using the existing sand of the Wind Country.
He must have expanded a lot of chakra to move and fill such a huge cleft!
"Are you alright?"
"Yes, just a little tired."
"Here!" Sofia kindly offered a Tanghulu to Gaara who was startled by the sudden change of attitude towards him, but as expected by his siblings, politely refused the sweet snack.
She then gave it to Abigail who chewed on it right away. As they all walked back towards the Kazekage's office, Aby smiled at the sight of people gathering to where the cleft used to be. Children were jumping up and down on the ground, daring each other to test the surface. A big shadow suddenly enveloped the area and an older man urged the kids to head home, pointing to the sky. A huge, dark and threatening wall of sand was slowly making its way towards the village. Aby felt a chill in her spine. Sand storms don't seem frightening until you see one with your very eyes, heading your way.
"We should hurry!" she said, concerned.
Gaara, who was ahead with Kankuro and Temari, turned his head in her direction, but kept walking.
"Don't worry, we have plenty of time to reach home; although it doesn't look like it, it is still pretty far."
Aby grabbed Sofia's hand and squeezed a little. She paced slightly, still feeling nervous.
Being stuck in a sand storm is bad enough, being chased by giant monsters is too much. She swallowed the candied hawthorn and eyed the two strawberries on the skewer.
"Uhm, Gaara?" asked Aby shyly, remembering how it went the last time she tried to force food on him. "I think you should have the two last pieces …"
He felt uncomfortable. Didn't she hear him say no to her friend? He juggle the words in his head, remembering how it went the last time she tried to force food in him.
"Look, thank you, it's just, I don't—" 'like sweet stuff' is what he would have said if she didn't cut him off, apologetic.
"I know, I know … it's just, I know you are out of chakra from what you just did and you must feel rather weak right now … these are not much, but it will give you a little boost! Please, have them!"
Sofia snorted as she saw her friend bowing while extending the skewer as if offering it on a silver platter.
"Hey bud, for her to share sweets with you, you must mean a lot to her…" she reminded him with a frown. "Take it!"
He paused and took the skewer. "Thank you,"
Aby smiled and he turned around, he chewed the fruit twice and swallowed it whole, with difficulty. He did feel a little better after the second one. Temari silenced her giggle as Kankuro's mouth opened wide.
"Oh my God!' he whispered. "He's really fallen head over heels for her!"
They finally got to the residence and entered the active common room.
"Is anyone outside?"
"No Lord Gaara; all the staff is inside."
"And what about Shikamaru? And the children?"
"Inside as well!"
"Good"
"Should we serve dinner, Lord Gaara?" asked a young maid.
"Yes, Thank you"
They all went into the common room, while Gaara went back to his room to change, followed by Kankuro.
"Well, well!" his brother said, teasingly. "Two whole strawberries! Covered with candy!"
Gaara removed his dusty tunic and shook it out of the window, before closing it until the sandstorm passed. He did not answer, but shot him an inquisitive look.
"You never saw someone eating strawberries before?"
"I thought I've been thrown into a genjutsu!" he continued, ignoring his brother's sarcasm. Gaara looked at the cactus flower that was slowly withering away.
"What do you want?" he asked Kankuro.
"To counsel you in the ways of courtship!" he said in a professional tone, his hand on his heart.
Gaara pushed him back outside.
"I'm fine thank you!"
"You are not! You tried to kill her once and apparently, almost left her to die alone in the desert!"
"She was not alone and why does everybody keep bringing it up!"
"By the way, everybody you are close to, you tried to kill at some point!"
"That's …" Gaara gasped at the realization. "Oh …"
"Ok, STEP ONE! Comb back your hair and put some fixative to keep them slick!"
"What?! No! It's stupid and not my style! I'll never do that, ever!"
"STEP TWO!"
"Stop it!"
"Save her life!"
"I already did that!"
"Awww see? Making progress already! STEP THREE!" Gaara pushed him out towards the doorway.
"Give her some excitement!"
"What?"
"You know! Thrill! Take control! Fake something like a pursuit or something that's dangerous!"
"You want me to deliberately put her in danger?! What's wrong with you?"
"I said 'fake it'!" Gaara closed the door as soon as Kankuro stepped outside. "Chicks like exciting adventures Gaara!" Kankuro yelled through the closed door.
Gaara sat on the bed and rubbed his eyes. He let himself fall back and sighed deeply. An arm above his head and the other simply resting on his forehead, he stared at the ceiling and let a smile sneak in. He couldn't deny it anymore.
She moved him in every possible way. She was breaking every little barrier he had left. She put a breeze in his core and it somehow turned into a whirlwind that messed up all his senses. His defenses were breached and weakened; so was his composure. Her face and laugh came flowing in his mind and he found himself indulging more and more in the distraction, disturbing the flow of his scheduled routine. He closed his eyes at the shameful thought. He was actually enjoying her company more than his duties as a Kazekage.
"You can't do that!" he told himself, out loud. "You carry the weight of hundreds of people in your village! You can't do that!"
She needs to go! The weak little voice who dared to speak in his head was crushed by the army of emotions coming from the south.
He didn't want her to go. He wanted to keep feeling all of this. He wanted to feel his heart race, feel the blood rushing to his head. He shut his eyes hard and reddened at the thought; He wanted to hold her again, she was so small! He wanted to protect her and keep her for himself, no matter how many candies and cakes he'd have to eat …
He laughed. Choking on a dozen candied strawberries would be the sweetest death if it meant seeing her sparkly brown eyes, not that her eyes would sparkle if he was dying … hopefully.
He looked at his right hand. He wanted to hold her hand again. Just like Temari and Shikamaru, and Naruto and Hinata. He looked at the flower that was starting to finally show signs of withering.
She is like a night bloom, he realized, sadly. Beautiful, pure and fragile; She just got here and she already has to go …
A loud bang pulled him out of his reverie. He sat right up like a spring and looked at the source of the commotion; A very out of breath Akio was staring at him, with dark circles around his eyes. Gaara glared, not knowing what to make of the sudden apparition.
The man stared back, eyes wide open. His mouth opened and closed several times, as if he had many, many things to say, without knowing where to start.
"WHERE IS SHE?" he finally blurted out.
Gaara had a strong feeling he was referring to Abigail.
"In the common room, downstairs … probably wait—"
"COME!"
Akio had barely finished yelling the word that he had Gaara by the arm and running within the hall.
"EVERYONE COME IN THE COMMON ROOM RIGHT NOW" shouted the gatekeeper/writer. Gaara thought he was unsurprisingly informal in his presence, and also quite bossy …
A few maids raised their unconvinced head at the cry.
"Us too?"
"Oh! No, not you ladies … you may keep at your duties …" Gaara smiled politely, while being dragged.
They both stumbled in the room within seconds.
"YOU, I found something!" He looked around at the puzzled faces. "I discovered something ! I know … where are you?! I know! I figured it out! Where are you?!" He looked around, with excitement and anxiety at the same time. "Where is Abigail?!"
"I'm right here!" They all turned back towards the grand staircase, where Gaara and Akio came from a few seconds ago. She was in her room when she heard the commotion; she had stepped out to inquire about it but Akio was already dragging Gaara down the winding stairs and out of her sight.
So there she was: still at the top, her hair still wet from the shower, and very much the center of the attention that Akio created. She looked down at the gatekeeper, curious. What did he possibly find that drove him seemingly mad like that?!
"I figured it out!" He said with a face beaming with joy.
"I know what is happening to you and what you are!
