Alyx looked at the hills beyond the institute. Only a few more minutes and the night would have arrived and she had to go in for dinner, but it was so pleasant outside that she didn't wanted to go in. She took in a deep breath, trying to recognise the perfume of the flowers that had already bloomed. She felt peaceful and calm... she wished she had felt like that in other occasions of her life. Her eyes locked themselves again on the words on the diary, to the several short entries.

"Sunday, June 30th, '93

Dear dad and Gaudi,

I'll now write to you instead of writing to the diary, know that wherever you are, you can read this. Mom and I arrived to the reservation eight days ago. She's not depressed anymore, or at least, doesn't seem to, though she still cries at night. I can hear her every night. I don't like it here much, I don't have any friends. The other kids look sideways at me, call me foreigner and a mestizo just because I'm a Cherokee with blue eyes. Uncle Joe says not to listen to them, they'll forget about it soon.

I'm doing great at school, the thing I truly adore. It's so different from the German school... I like to learn this way, they teach us to respect nature. Did I say that this place is beautiful? Has loads of trees and animals! The Cherokee bread horses and buffaloes. Uncle Joe told me he'll teach me to ride soon... oh dad, I wish you were here... I'd so much happier.

With love, Alyx."

"Wednesday, November 5th, '93

Dear dad and Gaudi,

The weather is colder now, but this place remains so beautiful, dad. Mom is perfectly fine now, she knows that you're on a better place, you and Gaudi. She can smile again and she's so pretty when she smiles, like you used to say...

I'm getting the highest grades in school! Uncle Joe has been helping me out and even my English is getting better! I also have a couple of friends now: Carla, Jason, Vinie, Elsa, Mike and his little sister Cary. Mike makes me laugh a lot, he's a nice guy and even helped me out, when some older guys started bulling with me.

I'm starting to like this place...

Missing you both, Alyx!"

"Wednesday, December 31st, '93

Dear dad and Gaudi,

In a couple of minutes I can wish you both a Happy New Year! Sorry I took so long to write you, but I had so many things to do... The Tribe prepared lots of traditional events, I never saw anything like that! It was excellent! The costumes, the dance... wow, I never saw nothing like that and I want to learn. Mom said she'd teach me. I liked best the dance of the spirits, the men were dressed like animals. Uncle Joe was a wolf and scary he was! They try their best to keep their traditions alive, mom says it will be my heritage.

Though it was so cool, it was our first Christmas without you. I miss you both, the games we used to play until midnight and your gifts daddy. I miss those, not because you gave me something but because you always made your gifts to me. So after the celebrations, we had a traditional Christmas, like the ones we used to have... six months ago. I can't believe all that time has passed already... I left you and Gaudi a present. I hope you like it.

Oh! It's midnight! Happy New Year dad and Gaudi!

Love, Alyx!"

P.S. – Guess what mom and Uncle Joe gave me? A HORSE!!! He's an Appaloosa white male and I shall call him... hmm... Pawnee! Uncle Joe said it means horn, because if he had one, he'd be just like a unicorn!

Alyx smiled. How she missed the old faithful Pawnee, her beloved horse. She used to ride on the fields, chasing after wild horses and almost flew as the strong horse jumped creeks and rivers... and he always knew when she was sad. He used to rub his nose on the neck when he knew she was sad... He had died long years go during a terrible storm. She remembered she had cried day after day during a week because of it. Pawnee was one the things that helped to fit in on the tribe.

She remembered her life had not been easy, being a mestizo. She was only six years old, had lost her brother and father, had been parted from everything she used to know... besides, other kids used to bully at her, because she was little and frail looking. She even took some Kung Fu classes in the city near the reservation for some time. She wished to protect herself from them. She was already hurt enough, why did why wanted to hurt her even more? It wasn't fare! But after some time she had enjoyed the change and she embraced her Indian heritage. She wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.

Of course that under all that she still missed her dad and brother, but she seemed to had come to terms with their deaths. She was young, used to believe in many things, like the people that she loved and that were dead were always with her, watching her from the stars at night. Alyx smiled at that thought. She still believed in that. Her friends also helped her a lot then. The caring Carla, the strong and the oldest of them all Jason, the totally crazy Vinie, the beautiful Elsa, the funny Mike and his sweet little sister, Cary, all of them pureblood Cherokees that always made her fell like one too. Carla was her best friend, the person she most trusted in the world and Mike... Mike was her secret passion. Soon all of them had turned inseparable as they grew up.

And was due to that inseparable friendship... that the worse had happened. Alyx frowned as she skipped a couple of pages that she didn't find very interesting. She started to read the diary entries of 2004.