A/N: Sorry for disappearing for a month without warning. I've been busy this past month with moving back onto campus and getting back into the swing of classes along with the beginning of my new story "Your Distant Light", to which I have already posted the first three chapters and am currently working on the fourth chapter. Rest assured though, I have not forgotten about Aftermath! Thinking of ideas to write about just takes time and I'm very picky about what I want to write.

In any case, I'm still here and I hope you enjoy this chapter! As always, reviews are appreciated, and don't forget to leave a favorite/follow if you enjoyed reading!

Illness

It was a beautiful day outside. The sun was shining brightly over the waves of wheat that surrounded the village. There wasn't even a single cloud in the sky. It was the perfect day.

Yet, here I was. Confined to my bed as my whole body felt like it was on fire.

"This...sucks." I coughed out.

"Don't talk too much," Dahlia said. "I won't be able to see what your temperature is otherwise."

I could only groan in response as she placed the thermometer under my tongue. A couple seconds passed before she took it and looked it over. It didn't help to see her visibly grimace.

"You definitely are sick. Even without looking at the thermometer, I can feel how hot you are."

"Fantastic..."

She frowned, "I'm sorry, Alan."

"It's not your fault, ma'am. At least I can cross 'getting sick in another world' off my bucket list," I chuckled before getting cut off by another cough.

"At least your sense of humor is still intact," Dahlia smiled.

The door opened and Niko walked in. Her eyes darkened as she took sight of me on the bed, buried under the blankets.

I coughed again before smiling at her, "Hey Niko..."

"Hey..." she responded, moving closer and hopping up onto the bed. She frowned, "So, you're really, really sick?"

I nodded weakly, "Sorry...I know you were looking forward to today."

"Don't worry dear," Dahlia spoke up. "It looks to be just a cold that's hitting him hard. He'll get better with some rest."

Niko glanced between me and Dahlia, "Can...can I do anything to help?"

"Some tea sounds nice..." I rasped out.

Niko jumped off the bed and onto her feet, "I'll get right on it! I'll make sure you get better in no time!"

I couldn't help but smile as Niko skipped out of the room, only to be taken over by another cough. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say she likes me a lot."

I heard a soft chuckle come from Dahlia before the room fell silent. I glanced over at her and stopped when I saw her eyes lock with mine. A swirl of emotions flittered about her face.

"Ma'am?"

She blinked and quickly shook her head, "I'm sorry. I was just wondering when the last time you got sick was."

"Hmm..." I hummed. "It's been a while, I'd say. Definitely before I met Niko."

"How long did you say you were by yourself?"

"...Eight months. Why?"

"You must've gotten sick more than once."

I frowned, "...Sure I did, but I got through it just fine. Took better care of myself than my old family ever did, at least."

I saw her wince out of the corner of my eye. I sighed, "Sorry, it's not something I like to think about, but I just get so...angry when I do."

"Were...they really that bad?" Dahlia asked.

I huffed, "If throwing a bottle of pills at me and forcing me to still work even though I could barely stand on my feet counts, then yeah. They were bad." I chuckled darkly. "It was even worse when my two brothers stole the pills and I had to track them down without getting caught."

The room fell silent again. My cold continued to work its way through my body, but the very thought of my past family made me forget about it. It was anger, not my fever, that now pounded against my head like a hammer against a nail.

"It's alright to be upset about it, Alan," Dahlia said.

I glanced over at her. I was expecting her to be put off by my outburst, but instead, all I saw was a tenderness that still felt foreign to me.

"What's there to be upset about?" I huffed, "I've been able to take care of myself since I ran away after all."

"Alan..."

"I didn't even need them to teach me anything. I taught myself everything I needed to know: how to read, write, count..."

"Alan-"

"I taught myself how to survive on my own. 'Course, I never really had a choice since my real parents dropped me off at the doorstep of an orphanage without so much as a 'goodbye', but I didn't need them either."

"..."

"And despite all that, I'm still here, and I've learned more about how to love someone from you and Niko than they ever could because there isn't a single thing they could teach me about how to love my family!"

Silence filled the room like a blanket of fog. All that could be heard was the sound of tea being brewed in the kitchen, but it was nothing compared to the tightness in my chest. The heartache that I thought I had buried and left behind rose up out of its grave and there was little I could do to stem the tide of tears that fell down my face as I looked up at Dahlia.

"...Why didn't they want me?"

Dahlia said nothing. Instead, she wrapped her arms tightly around me. I tried to pull away to stop her from potentially getting sick, but she refused to budge. Slowly, I relaxed and buried my face into her shoulder as my sobs quietly filled the room.

"It's okay, Alan...It's okay now..." Dahlia whispered into my ear.

She repeated that over and over, letting me release my stress that I didn't even know I still had. It was cathartic, to say the least.

"I'm sorry..." I whimpered.

She shushed me, "You have nothing to be sorry about." She leaned back to look me in the eye. "I know there's no way for me to comprehend what you've been through, but I know just from you being here that you are so much stronger than you think."

I breathed out a laugh, gaining a smile from Dahlia.

"And despite what you may think about yourself, you are part of this family and I know Niko sees you the same way. You're not alone anymore."

I wiped away the last of my tears and smiled at her, "Thank you...I really needed to hear that."

Knocking came from the door just then and Niko walked in, balancing three cups of tea on a plate.

"I have the tea!"

I took the cup she offered to me and smiled, "Thanks, Niko. I can always count on you."

She giggled as she drank out of her own cup. Dahlia grabbed the last cup and stood up, "I have some chores to take care of, so I'll leave you two here. Just be sure to get some rest, Alan."

"I will. Thanks, mom-"

I paused in my drinking my heart skipped a beat. My eyes stayed glued to the cup in front of me while my face became hotter than I had ever felt it. Slowly, I looked up. Niko's mouth hung open with a mix of shock and glee while Dahlia's eyes had widened immensely.

"U-Um..." I coughed as I looked away from both of them. "S-Sorry, I didn't mean to say that."

"I don't mind, Alan."

I snapped my head up to Dahlia, "Y-You don't...?"

She grinned and her eyes seemed to shine brighter than I had ever seen them. Even the room started to feel warmer by her presence alone.

"If I'm being honest..." Dahlia said as she opened the door and taking a glance back at me, "I prefer it over 'ma'am'."

Before I had a chance to respond, she left the room. I blinked and glanced over at Niko. She seemed preoccupied with drinking her tea, but the smug grin on her face said otherwise.

"So..." Niko said.

My face began to heat up again, "Don't say anything about this, please."

One of her eyes cracked open, "Does this mean you're gonna keep calling her that?"

I heaved a sigh, "...I'm gonna take a nap now and not wake up for a while."

Niko laughed as I set the cup down on the bedside table. I wasn't sure if the heat was still coming from the fever or my own embarrassment, but I didn't care as I planted my face into my pillow to block out anymore ridicule that Niko had ready for me over my slip of the tongue.

Although, I was happy that Dahlia was okay with it. It was nice to finally have someone like that in my life; to have a family.