A few days passed and it was the same, Terry sat with Rei reading books and having general laughter. A week passed and there still was no change, however there was not talk about the mystery either. The days passed and Terry had not picked up on the search once more. Rei had noticed and at first was worried but her usual cheer had thrown her off. Atem noticed the lack of drive on her end, noting the subtle change in her and he was not happy about it. He tried his best to make it work, but nothing worked. She kept up the act of being normal.
The anxiety of being in a similar situation again loomed heavy over her head, dampening her mood. She refused to let it get to her completely, keeping her usual energy up for her friends and father. Aslan was hardly fooled by this, able to see something was troubling his daughter. It made him wonder if it was something a mother or sister would be able to help her with and the lack of her having one made him feel a tad guilty.
"Ter-bear, you know you can speak to me about anything right?" He spoke up one night, Jonouchi out on a trip with the football (soccer) team.
"Huh? Yeah, I know." She brightly smiled at her father. "What has you saying that all of the sudden though?" She frowned at the sudden choice of topic.
"I think you know very well why I'm saying it," he sighed and placed his hand on her head in a comforting manner. The weight of his large calloused hand bringing her security. "I've noticed for a while now that you've been a little out of it. Did something happen-no, what did happen?"
Terry stared at her father, tense and worried that if she told him he would take her out of school or cause a scene. She thought she was doing well on hiding her worries, but now it was clear her father had noticed for some time now. She pursed her lips as she thought over what words to use, not wanting to worry him more but not wanting to brush him off either.
"Something happened at school…I know I should be used to the dynamics by now, but there's a bunch of things that keep popping up and I'm just…I feel like I'm lacking in some ways." She sighed, just letting the words come as they may. "I don't regret my life, I'm happy we travelled so much and I'm happy you brought me back to have one year of school like an ordinary student. I'm learning a lot and I've made a bunch of friends. I just…I'm just trying to navigate through something that was a little too left field for me. Does that make sense?"
Is this her roundabout way of saying boy troubles? Aslan wondered as he observed his daughter carefully to see if there were some clues he could find in her behavior. That would be a sister or mother topic. He frowned a little to himself as he crossed his arms. "Well, whatever happened…you should definitely think through it before you do anything. It, many things will happen in life that we just don't know what to do…but so long as you keep honest to yourself you should be fine. Remember, you aren't alone. People deal with this sort of thing all the time. You don't need to worry too much about it." He said after a moment of trying to be vague enough so that she did not feel embarrassed. She doesn't want me to know because I'm her dad and I knew this day would come. "You can ask your friends for help and me, though you'll probably feel more comfortable with them at this moment."
"I don't want to worry anyone though." She frowned visibly as she glared at the table.
"People worry because they care. That's something you need to start to realize Terry. Just like how I love you, your friends love you as well. Just like how I'm glad when you come to me for help, they'll be just as happy to help you as well. If you come to them in need of help, they feel happy. Don't you feel happy when I ask you to help me? Why wouldn't it be the other way as well?" He pointed out to her. Terry thought over this for a moment, realizing the point and feeling a little foolish for not saying anything to anyone before.
"I'm sorry…I should've said something sooner." She mumbled, shoulder slumped. Aslan chuckled softly as he pulled his daughter into his arms.
"Now, now, there's no need to apologize. This is when you say, 'thank you for listening' or 'thank you for helping me'. Apologizing just makes the other party feel troubled." He ruffled her hair a bit until she began to smile. "That's my girl, now on to the next topic. We have guest coming over to dinner tonight so go get washed up. The foods already done. I'm going to go get changed as well." He stood from his seat and pat Terry's shoulder to do the same. "They should be here in about thirty or so minutes."
"Guests? That'd explain why you had us make so much food…huh. Alright, I'll go get ready."
Just as Aslan had said, the doorbell chimed in roughly thirty minutes. Terry shouted that she would get it as she hopped down the steps. "Good eve-Marik?!" Terry gaped as she opened the door. There stood her friend from Egypt with his family. "Ishizu and Rishid too! I, what are you guys doing here?"
"Marik was selected to be a transfer student from his school and we found out through talking with you father that the school he's transferring to is yours." Ishizu answered as she pulled the shocked Terry into a hug who happily reciprocated the hug and hugged the other two as well.
"That's amazing! My dad didn't say a single thing though!" She puffed her cheeks as she turned to look at her father who was now standing behind her.
"You've been so out of it, I thought you may be a little homesick and this was a surprise that just fell on my lap." He laughed, patting her head before he greeted their guests and motioned for them to come in. Closing the door behind them, they lead the Ishtars into the house towards the living room.
"I told him to keep a secret since I knew you were a bit off." Marik said vaguely enough, the only one who knew anything outside of Rei and Atem. "What, not happy that I'm here?" He laughed as he noted she was still pouting.
"Of course, I'm happy you're here! Ugh, I wish you told me though!" She whacked his arm lightly before they all sat and talked about their travels and what Marik should expect in the school. The time passes quickly and soon enough they were all happily chatting some more over the home cooked food that was a mix of Arabian and Japanese foods.
"It's great that you both found jobs here in the mean time! Where will you be staying?" Terry asked, looking between everyone.
"Well, they'll be staying here with us. We have more than enough room since my job got us quite a large house." Aslan answered which Terry grinned with glee.
"That's so great! Oh, you'll get to meet Joey soon! He lives here with us right now too but he's out for football (soccer)." Terry frowned.
"Oh, that's too bad. I really wanted to meet him." Marik frowned a little at this. "But he'll be back soon so that's probably better for me since I'll be jetlagged for sure."
"You better get yourself sleeping as soon as we're done here. You have school starting tomorrow with Terry." Ishizu sternly spoke to Marik who grumbled a little at the babying.
"I know, I know…geez! Oh, I'm in your class too it seems! The school had said that I'm not the only person from Egypt in class and I figured that had to be you!"
"That is definitely me! That's great! I'll help you out with whatever you don't get!" She grinned, the worries from earlier long gone as her attention was now focused on her old friends now house guests.
The night passed quickly with little trouble, the Ishtars settled into their rooms. The next morning Terry walks out the door with Marik towards the train, a text from Joey stating that he would be home tonight and that he crashed at Atem's since they came so late. Marik stared at everything as they passed, taking in all the differences and asking questions galore. They spoke Arabic for the time being, practicing his Japanese a little though he was good enough in it.
"Hey, Terry!" Jonouchi shouted and waved to her as Atem walked over. He stopped at the sight of Marik, raising a brow at him.
"Oh, hey guys! I'd like to introduce my friend Marik! Him and his family housed us while we were in his village. Marik, meet Jonouchi and Atem." She motioned to each before turning to them both. Atem noticed her smile was genuine and any worry that had been there was nowhere in sight. He frowned a little from the fact that has unable to bring it back, but was glad it was back all the same. They exchange some simple greetings before stepping on to the train. It was a little awkward at first, but soon enough the boys were lost in some conversation about sports and things with Terry silently listening as she made sure they reached school on time. The conversation is cut short as Marik is made to introduce himself as Terry had and was assigned a seat next to Rei.