Page 28 of Restoring the Ngozii

She pulls a folded letter from her clothes, where the hell she hid it, I’m not sure. She’s not wearing much to begin with, but maybe she had a magic pocket in there. Holding it out to me, she whispers, “Would you give this to Criido and Vahru together. It’s my attempt at explaining and opening the door. I know I can never truly make up for what I did, and Vahru has every right to be angry at me, but I hope that I can find a way to at least make things right, somehow.”

Gently pulling the letter from her, I slip it into the pocket of my pants and smile at her. “You’ll figure this all out in time, I feel it. No matter what, though, I’m here for you, sister.” The use of the term brings a smile to her face, so I lean in closer and whisper my own secret. “I may have siblings back on Earth, but none that truly loved me. You’d be a first for me as well, so don’t feel too lost, we’re all figuring this out together.”

She chuckles with me, our giggles only subsiding when the body is gently carried back through the portal and laid on the pyre the warriors built while we chatted and ate. The air sombers as we prepare to leave, and Tavi grabs me into a hug, whispering another thanks to me as I hug her back. I’ve never been hugged by someone with four arms, so it was odd to feel one body but two sets of arms, it was like I was missing a person in that hug, but it’s a lovely moment between us that I’ll cherish forever.

Chapter 19

Kari

Thedrivehometothe village is eerily quiet, and the unease in my stomach has me questioning more than I should. Vahru was quick to return the body of the man they autopsied, briefly pausing to introduce me to Vyleera before shoving us out the door. Even Jeff and Kosiiba have been silent in the back.

Glancing over at Vahru, his grip on the wheel is tight as he drives along the road, his gaze focused ahead. He refuses to look my way, and I can feel the unease, confusion, and turmoil warring within him through our bond. Now is not the time to discuss it, but it’s eating at me that he feels so conflicted after this success.

Isn’t this exactly what The Guardians wanted us to do? We saved the Ngozii people from the illness plight, we kept our people alive and safe, no war is looming over us now, and there’s a chance to mend a broken family. That sounds like a great success to me.

Glancing back at Jeff, he eyes me gently, noting the question in my eyes. His hair is a bit messy from stressing in the lab, his shirt dirty with fruit juice, but his hazel eyes are as bright and soft as always. He gives me a small, reassuring smile, nodding to me. I take a deep breath and let it out through my nose, making his smile widen before I grin back and turn around in my seat.

Jeff and I have worked together so long that we have our own language at times. We’re damn near soul-bonded in a completely different way. His smile and nod simply told me that I was right in believing we did this the right way, this is what we were meant to do. The conflicting emotions I’m feeling are a result but not because we did wrong in saving people. It’s because there’s still some crisis. One for Vahru and their family, and one for the village itself.

We still have an enemy on this planet that’s trying to stop me from doing good, that’s trying to weaken the people by keeping them separated, ignorant, and angry, dependent upon lifestyles they don’t need to be to be happy. My next task, after talking with Criido and Vahru, is to figure out this culprit and fix this issue, solve this divide, so we can all live peacefully and happily for our future.

My gaze lifts to the bright blue and green planet above as I wonder for probably the millionth time what lives are up there. Is it a human inhabited planet like Earth, seeing as this is basically its sister? Or is it a completely different type of life, one that I’ve yet to meet? Perhaps there are mermaids there or other creatures that I believed only existed in fairytales. Maybe I’ll find out one day.

We slowly slip back beneath the canopy of trees, venturing our way down the worn dirt road to our home. I’m jostled this way and that on the uneven surface until we finally come to a stop. There’s a momentary pause before we all jump out, ready to move on with our lives. Vahru quickly grabs his things from the vehicle and hefts them inside as Jeff steps around the back of the Jeep, as I like to call it based on its looks, to meet me.

“This was hard on him, Kari, just let him think it through. He felt forced to help because of you, because she put you in danger in his mind, and now she wants to just move on like she never threatened you or Criido? It’s not an easy change for him. I’m not even certain how to feel about it.”

I sigh and pull him into a hug. “I’m sorry that you both were so worried, but I understand. The situation was very different for me. I watched the changes happen in her mind, watched her make realizations because of my questions and conversation. Because of that, I know that she means what she’s saying, and she never hurt me, never even tried. Kosiiba was there the entire time to protect me if she had. She was all talk because she felt she had to make threats to get what she needed done. This is all a big mess of perspective.” My eyes drop, and I release an exasperated breath as I pull back from him, contemplating how to help Vahru through this.

Gripping my upper arms, he holds me at arm’s length and looks into my eyes with a grim smile. “Then explain that. They don’t have the whole picture, you might be the only one who truly does.” He glances over at Kosiiba as he jogs our way, pulling me in for one last hug as he whispers, “I’m here if you need me.”

“I’m going to get Jeff back home to Willa and come back, you head inside with Vahru and stay there where you’re safe. I won’t be long.” Kosiiba bows to me politely before tucking loose hair behind his ear. I chuckle and wave as I head for the porch, absorbing Jeff’s words.

He may be right. I may very well be the only one with a full perspective on this situation because I was able to see both sides of it. This entire thing sucks, it’s not easy to mend a broken family. Hell, I couldn’t even figure out my own family, and we were blood!

“Vahru?” I call out as I walk through the house, glancing around the kitchen and living room before heading into the bedroom. Pausing in the doorway, I find him shucking on some clean pants. He then turns and drops onto the bed with a huff. I slowly step in and grab out some clean clothes for myself, a knee-length skirt with beads decorating it and a matching tank top.

I change quickly and then step up in front of him, leaning down to catch his eye as my curly blonde hair dangles down my right shoulder. It’s really getting long. I wonder if I should cut it…

“Hey. You want to talk?” I nearly whisper, keeping quiet in case he’s in no mood.

He sighs heavily before looking up at me. “I just don’t understand it, Kari. She was the enemy, there was no doubt about it, but then you go and stand by her side, call her sister, treat this entire thing as if she’s just some broken child throwing a tantrum! What happened to always having my back?”

His brows bunch in anger, his eyes wide in confusion, as he takes deep breaths through his nose and stares at me. I take a slow, deliberate breath and answer the best I can. “She was the enemy when she poisoned Criido, when she declared war, but looking at her history, seeing as she was an only child to a woman who deceived any man she could to get her pregnant, I realized that if her mother was cruel enough to do that to a man, what would she have done to her child? I took a chance that shewasa mere child throwing a tantrum,” I use his wording and let a smile tip my lips just a bit, “and hoped I could get through to her because it was the peaceful way. War and fighting is not always the answer. Sometimes it takes a simple conversation, one personlisteningto the other and understanding the circumstances to cooperate on a solution. That’s what I did.”

I pause and stare at him, hoping he’ll understand, but he’s still unsure of me, and I can’t let him doubt me. Losing him would mean losing everything for me, and I’ll fight till my last breath to keep him in my life.

“Look, I know it doesn’t make sense, but I felt it in my heart that this was the right call. It was. When I got the chance to be alone with her, to truly talk to her, she told me about her childhood, not all of the details but enough to get the picture. Her mother was harsh, unfeeling, cruel. She wanted power and nothing more, so she pushed Tavionna everyday to her limits to learn all that she could to take over as priestess one day. I’m pretty sure her mother even assumed she would be more powerful than her, and she hoped to use that. Tavi was isolated, picked on, and manipulated. She was told that her father was a no one who never mattered and to forget about him, being priestess was all that mattered, learning her powers was all that mattered. When her mother died, she had no one to guide her, no idea what she was doing, she’d not learned all she could about the extent of her powers. Going after her father, getting the answers she sought for so long, seemed like the best way to go. If he could give her answers to her burning questions, maybe she could find herself and figure out the solution. But she let the anger get in the way. Her mother taught her to be fierce and do whatever it took to save her people, even if it meant taking out a village to do it. She lashed out in fear and anger, insolence. She was stupid. She knows that now. I saw the realizations she made about her mother, about her life, about herself and her powers. She’s blessed by her goddess because she’snotlike her mother, she’s not power hungry, she’s love-starved. She wants a family and a happy colony, that’s all.”

Vahru’s head hangs, his hands on either side of it as he breathes. I’m not sure that I’m getting through to him, but I know there’s something that just might. Turning, I find the pants I removed and dig into the pocket, pulling out the parchment that Tavionna gave me with their names written on the front. Holding it under his nose, I tell him to read it.

He gently takes it and sits up, staring at it. I crawl up beside him to read over his shoulder as he opens it slowly until we can both see what’s inside.

Criido and Vahru,

First, let me say how truly sorry I am for what I’ve done. Words will never be enough to express my sorrow. I can sit here and tell you that my mother’s harsh words, punishments, and manipulations are to blame, but I had a say in my actions as well. Her actions led me in a certain path, one that I hated, yet I followed it when she passed because I believed it was the only way.

You and your young captain have changed my life, opened my eyes to the truth. There is always a choice, and I’ve made mine for the better now. I see that I was deprived of the love and family I always wanted, deprived of friendships and help, therefore I believed that I had to do everything on my own and be as ruthless as possible. The truth is, I can be a priestess of love and compassion.

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