Nakietra

Fai had started a small fire while ago and was cooking now. No one was talking to me. It's not very weird considering no one ever wanted to talk to me because they know I don't like to talk back. I could see what he was making or smell it. I closed my eyes and let my eyes rest at least a little.

I remember what summer used to feel like. It was impossible to go outside because the sun was so extreme. The workers in the fields wore heavy cloth to protect their skin and the plants had shelters built over them so they wouldn't burst into flames. Food was harder to come by in the fields, but the fish were plentiful from the rain that came every few days as well as the resilient herbs outside the castle. The white men never left the palace grounds in the summer. I remember cooking eggs for dinner on our hot rocks that we baked in the sun. We loved the heat though. It meant life, it meant the white men were trapped away from us just for a few months. Whenever Hiro was home, we would take the younger children and go to the river. Most other children our age worked, but this was my work. I watched the children for the mothers.

The current was almost non-existent at the river and it emptied into a sort of small lake that was an hour's walk away. We loved the lake. We never took the children there though. That was our special spot that no one else was allowed to know about. I remember Hiro carrying at least two children on his back on our walk home because they were too tired to walk.

I turned my face into the grass as my face scrunched up in pain. I want to be home. I want to go to the lake with Toya and Hiro. I want to sing at dinner and wear my familiar heavy sun dresses. I want to walk bare foot again and sleep under the adobe roof of any house in the village. I want to walk home soaking wet with just my skirt and my brother's shirt on.

But…I can't go home. I'm dead there. I can never go home again….not that there's anyone there that cares…except…Toya.

Fia started shaking me, "Nake! Nake!" He kept saying over and over again. I moved my arm and rubbed my hand over my face. It was damp with sweat.

"What?" I ask, pushing his hands off me.

"Drink," He said simply and put the cup into my hand. I sat up and stared into the cup.

It was a sort of white liquid. I brought it up, and sniffed it. It smells like vanilla and something else. A kind of herd my mother used to use. I inhale deeply again and close my eyes. She used to make tea with it to help my body stay strong. It was a slightly bitter herd, but if you add some vanilla or cinnamon it would be blocked out. I took small sips like I remember doing as a child. This was the worst thing Fai could give me right now. I bring the cup down and cover my face. I miss my mother most of all. She was harsh and strict mostly, but she was my mother.

"Nakietra, what would you like to eat?" Sakura asked nicely then. I bring my hand down and see her with a smile on her face. I smiled too. It makes me happy to know that there is another Sakura that is still living and breathing, and is also happy.

"Just give me whatever you have made," I respond. I'm not picky with my food, but there were a select few times where I refused to eat what was in front of me just because it had oranges or coconut. Those were two things that were rare in my home country and they weren't things I liked at all. People always say the rare things are the best, but that's not always true. In truth though, I wasn't even hungry. I know I'll need the energy though.

"Alright," She says and hands me a half slice of bread with some meat and green mushy stuff on top that could have been anything. I guessed it was this thing called 'avocado' that we picked up in some tropical world. I ate it without a comment.

My body felt a lot better than it had before I noticed as I started to get up. My legs felt strong and sturdy, as well as my arms. I flexed my fingers and made everything in my body worked as it should, and wasn't any more damaged than the parts that I already knew about. Fai could have hurt me somehow and I didn't feel it.

I glance around and noticed that I lost Nero. With tigers, giant spider, and their smaller cousins, I don't want Nero far away from me. I call him in my head and watch him come out from the forest. There are flecks of blood under his chin so I know he had done his own hunting. I hope he was done because we have to move on. I look at the group, but I stop myself from telling them to move. They were all eating. I have better things to do. I go sit by the edge.

"Nake's being nice today!" Mokona announced happily as he jumped around everyone. I shake my head and grab my bag and Hiro's book from where I left them.

"Yes she is," Fia said smiling. I don't need to be told when I'm nice. I already know when I am.

I look up at the sun. The sun is still rising, but we don't know how far the feather is though. I don't want to be out here when dark comes. I hang my legs over the edge and pull out my knife. I need to make sure I'm not caught defenseless again. I start carving ruins.

"We're ready to go Nake!" Mokona announced six ruins later. Slowly, I hop to my feet and sheave my knife. My right shoulder feels much stiffer than before. I roll it around and get ready. I need to concentrate on rebuilding this bridge.

'Let's go then," I say and take a deep breath. I close my eyes and concentrate on my new Rebuild ruin. I feel the same familiar pulse, but this time I don't have to touch anything. I', already on the bridge it seems.

"Good job Nake!" Fia exclaims happily. I open my eyes and there was a brightly glowing golden bridge.

"Let's go then." I say stepping onto the bridge. I need to keep concentrating this time because it's bigger. I walk slow so it's easier, but I need them to go faster.

"Get to the other side as quickly as possible," I tell them. They run. They don't try to wait for me, not even Nero. I guess they're tired of pissing me off today. I watched them stop on the other side. I walked faster then. This ruin was draining my energy quickly. I let my concentration go and ran the last few feet. I barely made it.

"That was close." Syaoran said with sigh. I was in control though.

"Let's keep going," I say and move on. Kurogane took the lead, Sakura and Syaoran were right behind him, and Fia behind them. Me and Nero brought up the rear while we communicated through our minds. Nero was expressing his worry for me, I was trying to reassure him. Something was wrong with me he felt. I wasn't so sure.

I looked at him with an angry expression. He snarled at me. He wanted me to say something about my stiff shoulder. I said no. He growled. I told him to make me.

"Stop it!" Sakura said suddenly between us. I was just as shocked as Nero. My eyes glanced to the side. I saw that everyone was looking behind at our little spout. I glanced to the opposite side, ashamed.

"What's going on?" Kurogane asked.

"Nothing," I respond. I walk away from Nero, toward the front. I take the lead now and Nero stays at the back, alone. I set a fast pace and I barely glance at our surroundings. We're going through an old temple hallway with moss covered walls, and green coming out of everywhere. Vines are handing from openings in the celling, grass is poking through the stones underfoot, and ferns are growing from odd angles on the walls. No one's been here in hundreds of years.

I start thinking about Nero. It's not the fact that he cares, it's the fact he want me to reach out to these people. I'm going to be dead by the end of the year, why should I put them through the torture of getting to know me when they're just going to have to watch me wither away?...I'd rather torture myself with loneliness and separation.

"You alright?" Kurogane's voice suddenly came from my right. My head jerked right and I saw him walking right next to me. I didn't hear him come up next to me.

"Yeah," I answer quietly. It doesn't matter if I am or not at this point. I'm dying, nothing can change that. I can't believe I snapped at Nero like that. He shouldn't have reacted like that either, but it's both of our faults.

"Why do you lie to us when you're in pain?" He responds quietly, his eyes glancing toward me. I quickly glanced behind me. Everyone else was farther back and they were playing some kind of game. Even Nero was participating. Nero deserved a better partner than me. What will happen to him once I die? If we never go home, he'll never get back to his pack. It would be all my fault.

"Why do you care?" I ask quietly without realizing it. I want to hear his answer though. Everyone always lies, but who really cares about they lie? Sure, people ask, but none of them are actually curious. They're just looking for place to blame.

"You think you distance yourself from us, but the only thing you're doing is showing us that there's something you don't want us to know," He said softly. My eyes caught his.

"Everyone here has their secrets. I'm no different," I said. He broke his gaze away first and stared ahead.

"Yes, you are," He responded. I didn't question it. I looked forward then. There was straight sunlight ahead. I breathed out in relief. I was starting to hate these little patches of light we kept passing.

Then I find another ledge. It covered with a roof and there's a courtyard forty-five feet below us I can see and it's fully in the sun. To the right is a sort of platform connected to a pulley system. That must bring us safely to the ground. Also it's completely even with the floor. Everyone else gather's and looks around at the beauty I've already established while I stare at the main part. Directly across from us is a statue, gigantic in size and over a seventy feet tall I'm guessing and maybe fifty feet across.

He's a man, a god I'm guessing. He's standing on eight arms with his legs folded Indian style in the air. His face is twisted around to look normal to us and I can easily see its mockingly evil smile. I've seen that smile before. He must have something to do with the feather.

I move to the platform and look around. There's a stitch to release the break I assume. Up above are a series of pulleys and ropes all of which are thick and strongly built. The group starts filing onto the platform. I think they've figured it out. Nero comes over to me. This platform is much bigger than the other ones.

"I'm sorry," I say softly to him and wrap my arms around his neck. In his own way, he apologizes to me through pictures and emotions. His pink tongue slipped out and gently licks the side of my face. He and me both reacted too sharply. Neither of us needed to be that cruel, and now we know that.