Then a yawn puts a break to our conversation.
"Are we there yet?" Aiden asks.
"Yeah sleep for another six hours and we will be right there-in our hotel that we booked in Noboribetsu," Levi scoffs, "like you didn't even close your eyes for a second... You yawning seal!"
"Ugh! Guys!"
Then we hear the announcement again.
"We're about to land," I say, "I want you to call Nero. Aiden, can you do that for me?"
"Sure thing." He asks, "But are you sure his phone isn't going to be unreachable or out of service..? I mean it's Nero..."
"I believe so. As I suggested earlier, none of us has reached out to him since he left."
They share a similar look.
"This will put his mind at both ease and doubt. Nobody knows his exact location but if he picks up, we can track his call. But I know he won't pick up if we call him with our numbers. So we'll have to use a phone booth." I lay out the plan.
"So you want me to talk to Nero," Aiden restates.
"Well... it depends. If he's ready to talk then try to convince him to give us his location. If not, then comes the second option."
Levi's okay with my plan too even though he looked a bit abstracted when I was talking. Guess everyone can feel lost sometimes.
"And now?"
"I thought... uh nevermind. Let's head to the hotel first."
••••
When we get to the place everything in my body complains.
Aiden tried calling Nero earlier when we were on our way here but it was not in the network area then.
Just as I'm about to come out of my room to ask him to try again he runs into me.
"Loretta it's ringing! Here!"
"Whose phone is it this time?" Levi who's already in my room pacing back and forth for five minutes now, asks.
"Hush... He might pick up any moment," Aiden cautions him.
"It's probably one of the staff's phone," I whisper.
I sign Aiden to put it on speaker.
"Hello."
Nero's voice reaches me and I feel a sudden escalation of my heart.
"Who's this?"
"Nero."
"Aiden..?!"
"We... are in Noboribetsu," he says calmly.
A long silence lingers from his side after that.
"Why?" Nero asks finally.
Is he drinking something? It feels like that.
"To let you know all three of us are here. Me, Loretta, and Fussy Fawcett."
"Hey! Who are you calling fussy you sloth seal..."
I fetch the phone from Aiden's hands rolling my eyes at them.
"Nero..." I curl my fingers at my sides drawing in a trembled breath. "I want to see you... please."
Aiden takes Levi away from my side creating some space for only us.
"Fine." When he speaks his voice sounds hoarse.
I take a seat on the couch. The feelings all pile up as tears at the last ends of my eyes. "Are you alright Nero?"
He coughs a little. "Yeah... just a bit cold."
"You came to a vacation place full of hot springs... only to catch a cold? Nero, we are coming. Every one of us wants to..."
Suddenly Levi comes back in the room again taking the phone from me. "Come on Nero... even I can't deny it! We miss you."
Aiden follows him inside as well. "I don't think it'll be a bother when all of us wants the same thing-to unwind as long as we're here."
"Aiden's right," I say.
"We have missed you Nero. You're such an idiot... and selfish too! Could you not have asked us for this trip too?"
Wow... I never thought Aiden would give him a piece of his mind.
Hearing his silence he shouts, "Don't be quiet Nero! Send us your location. We can have a couple of day's fun before going back. You wouldn't want to miss her concert by staying here forever, right?"
"Alright," says Nero.
He ends the call.
"Alright? What does the foolish depressed artist mean by that?!"
Aiden's been saving all that up for today huh...
"That... went surprisingly smooth?" Levi quirks his surprised eyes at me.
I say nothing. Nero didn't really want to escape. He felt what I felt... Fear. Sometimes a little push goes a long way.
"Now what do we do?"
"Wait until he messages us the location."
As soon as I finish that sentence Aiden's phone pings with a message.
"Here's the thing," he says. "Loretta?"
"Of course we're heading out right now."
"Right," Levi grins mischievously. "Can we let him have all the fun by himself? Nope."
"Haha... Let's go."
••••
Seeing Nero they lunge at him violently.
"Ah slow down... Let him breath."
"We are the ones breathless here Loretta! This guy..!" Levi pounches on him.
Aiden smacks Nero. They give him a fierce hug making him stumble.
Nero waited for us outside the apartment where he's been staying.
His eyes fall on me. "Loretta."
That faint serenely beautiful smile lingers on his lips.
"Nero how have you been..." I close the distance between us. He just tilts his head. That's his way of showing he's fine.
"Come in," Nero gestures them.
Levi and Aiden drags me inside with them. Sometimes I need reminders through moments like this, that we're young. Sometimes a bit reckless and impulsive but hearts brimming with pure vibrance.
It doesn't matter how they are to others... They are good to me. You cannot be good to all the people of this world.
"This room is big!"
"Were you able to enjoy yourself after you got here?" I ask Nero.
"That's downright sarcasm Loretta," Aiden remarks.
"Ah yes... we didn't give you a chance."
Nero shrugs. "Mm hm..."
"He's okay with it. That's my bro," Levi brings one of his hands over Nero's shoulder.
"Now we'll be able to have fun together," Aiden says gleefully.
"I don't think I've ever seen you guys this pleased. No, not pleased. Exhilarated."
All three of them eyes me nervously then laughs out together.
"That's because we never had a trip like this before. With you... us." Nero lowers his gaze.
Really? That girl never spent time with all of them together? That saddens me. Okay now's my chance to fix all the previous errors.
"How about today then?" I propose.
"Aren't you tired? We need to unpack and freshen up." Aiden stretches out.
"You slept the entire flight you sloth!"
Aiden delivers a light punch on Levi's arm. "Stop being annoying you spoiled brat!"
"I give up!" I raise my hands in exhaustion. "We're eating out tonight. Let's keep tomorrow for the real fun."
"Alright," all three of them say together.
They return to their rooms.
But what am I gonna do all afternoon?
I jump on the huge bed in my room. It's soft and velvety... But nothing better than home.
Home? Is that what you're calling it now? The Knight Mansion? My subconscious snaps.
Stop it! What else? Even though it was Arkan's decision, I'm finally starting to see the picture more clearer now. Darn it! If I stay one moment alone with my thoughts I'm gonna be crazy.
I finalize to go to Nero.
The door to his room was open.
He's bend over something. Is he writing something?
I stealthily step into his room. Now I'm just behind him few steps away.
But somehow he realises my presence cause I see his hand shaking for a second before he turns to me in a hurried way.
"Loretta..?"
"What was that you were doing..?"
But he already shoves it under the stack of pillows. "Nothing."
"Come on Nero... let me see?" I lunge at his side trying to pull out the thing.
He tries to guard it with his arms and in my clumsy attempt I land on his body.
He grunts faintly and together we laugh out. Although his laugh doesn't feel genuine.
The momentary awkwardness vanishes in the next few minutes.
"Do you really want to see it that bad?"
"I do."
My straight answer surprises him and he takes out the notebook from under the pillows.
A sketchbook? Doesn't he always paint?
In that page where the pencil rested I see something familiar-not completed but still beautifully drawn-my sketch. Unblemished piece of perfection-done in black and white shades.
I keep the pencil on the bed then instinctively turn the previous pages finding more of me. Different styles, different poses, different moods. The date and time mentioned at the corner along with his signature. N. Augustus.
"Nero... You're..."
His skin below the ears turn flushed as he closes his eyes.
"Why only me... in all the pages?" The words escape my lips before I can stop them.
His knuckles harden around the pencil as he turns his head in the opposite way. "You... are my masterpiece Loretta."
His reluctant yet unhesitant answer gives me goosebumps but at the same time I feel a different kind of joy bubbling in my heart.
"Then why don't you let them see? A masterpiece for the world to capture the intricating beauty of your hands?"
This time he turns to me. "I will. I will... Loretta."
"If you ever get the chance of going back in time, what would you do Nero?" I don't know why I asked that but his lost face gets replaced with a peaceful smile.
"I'd maybe want to be someone with no regrets. To live free-with no burden."
An empty silence hangs above us.
I think of asking him about his parents but the silence makes it difficult.
"You want to say something Loretta."
How does he..? "I.. it's... I don't think it'll be appropriate for me to ask you right at this moment."
I look down, feeling how it would have felt for him back then. And people say time makes us forget, but does it really?
"I insist..." He takes my hand.
I try to relax but a crease forms on my forehead. What if my question triggers his past trauma?
He draws an invisible flower on the back of my hand with the pencil. His greyish green eyes remind me of the untended snowy miss at the far end of a frozen lake, and I feel the urge to feel all his feelings in my heart.
"How did you...end up in Nowe's Orphanage?"
He lets go of the pencil now laying his hand over mine. But his face shows no visible emotions of sorrow.
"You never asked me-about my past before Loretta and..."
"Sorry. I shouldn't have..."
"No, don't apologize. It surprised me. That's all. But I'm somewhat relieved too..."
"Wait, you're not mad or disappointed?"
"At you? I could never." He gives me a half smile. "I don't want to call him my anything... But yes, he was the man who left me."
"And his name..?" I ask.
"Brian Augustus. I never said a word of him to anyone. Cause I did not want his shadow scarring my mind anymore. But I was wrong. Because I grew up with a head capable of imagining things-as he did."
I don't know what he means but the name Brian Augustus does ring a bell.
"Why does it sound so familiar like I have heard it before. Ah it can be a mistake."
"No Loretta. It's no mistake." His face becomes stern. "That name itself is a mistake."
Now that he says... I think I read that name in a local newspaper, about six years ago.
I take hold of his arm. "What did he do to you Nero?"
He scoffs sarcastically. "He abandoned me. And he did a good job by doing so. I could no longer live with that man for whom I lost my mother."
I want to hug him-so tight that he won't have to feel the burden. But I'm scared-of losing him, and this delicate moment, if I do so... What if he feels that I'm pitying him?