|| ×3 FEATURED || When the ever-skittish, homesick, twelve-year old Fralith accidentally-on-purpose stops a kidnapping, no one knows what to think--especially Fralith. Newly stranded on a planet not his own through a misdirected HomeKin portal, wher...
Tears welled behind his eyelids, brimming at the corners. How could flowers smell like all that? It was— it made his heart shiver and tremble, but not in fear or confusion or cold, but...in joy, in truth, in being known in something as simple as a scent. It was like he was smelling a HomeKin—his HomeKin; an actual part of himself.
The thought settled in his chest, taking root and sprouting leaves. And...he knew. Somehow, he was smelling his HomeKin. Somehow, he was smelling himself, at the core. Somehow, it was real. Opening his eyes, he let his gaze fall on the flowers before him.
They were mostly flowers from RuthMom's garden, pale pinks, creamy whites, soft yellows, and healthy greens. But in the middle, tucked between seven white flowers, was a soft, blue, four-petaled flower fading into a deep magenta blue in the middle. From the middle sprouted three stamen, tipped with yellow pollen. As he turned the bundle in the light, the blues of the flower shifted and shimmered from light, morning blue to twilight to teal then to summer green, magenta, sparkles of white and black, and so many more.
It was him, in a flower. It was his HomeKin.
But...how? How could it be his HomeKin? He— he hadn't died! He was still here, alive, and— and— holding his HomeKin. A flash of memory hit him, Father's voice echoing in his head.
"You don't have to die to have HomeKins." Father folded his hands behind his back, gazing at the history carved into the wall in front of him. "Their seeds lie inside our blood. To bloom, they need a lot of blood spilt— an almost fatal amount."
He looked up at Father then at the flowers and men engraved in the wood before them. "Almost?"
Father nodded, pointing to the carving of a man holding a bleeding side, flowers sprouting where the blood hit. "Yes. You must lose so much of your blood that you almost die to gain HomeKins. It's rare to survive and have HomeKins, but not unheard of."
He'd almost died, hadn't he? He flicked his gaze to the thick, hard bandage over his injured shoulder. Blood, flowing from him. Too much, too fast. Life fading with the flow. Darkness. But had it been enough to make HomeKins sprout?
It...must have been. But that meant— that meant— His grip tightened around the bundle of flowers, a lump forming in his throat and a space opening up inside of him.
He could go back to SecondHome.
He had the key— the link between the worlds. And he was alive. He could go back. It was possible now. But do I want to? Do I want to leave? The space inside of him grew wider, bringing a wave of squirmy shadows.
Do you wish to return to SecondHome?
I want to see Davith and Drao again.
Do you wish to stay where you are?
"B-eep..." Looking up from the flowers to RuthMom, he frowned, brows twisting together over his eyes. Could he leave her? And BlueShirt, Ray-chel, and Zee? A fist squeezed his chest, making his heart throb. He— he— didn't want to leave RuthMom. He didn't want to leave any of them.
"What's the matter?" RuthMom tilted her head, drawing her chair closer. "Is it your shoulder?"
He shook his head, clutching the flowers to his chest. I don't want to go! But to never see Davith or Drao or SecondHome again? His breath hitched in his throat, tears building.
RuthMom's brows tilted and she reached over, drawing him into a hug. "Oh, my precious boy. Are you missing the outside?"
Grasping her arm and pressing himself into her embrace, he buried his face into her shoulder. Warmth, flowers, and dust filled his nose, shaking the building pressure inside of him. I don't want to leave you! I— I— love you!
But he loved Davith. He loved Drao. He loved Ailith and Sylith and— Mother and Father and even Fenzl, too. Shouldn't he go back and give them one last hug? Shouldn't he go back to his home, his bedroom, and be with them proper? Shouldn't he?
Why— why didn't he want to stay with them forever? Why— why did his heart squeeze so tightly and tears burn so much at the thought of leaving BlueShirt's family? He loved two worlds, two families, and he— he couldn't choose! But he had to, didn't he?
Now that he had HomeKins, he could stay or leave. He didn't have to be a HomeKin transplanted to this word. He could go back. But he...didn't want to go back. Not forever. But he didn't not want to go back, either. He couldn't just leave all of them like that— forever thinking he was dead or worse.
Where to go? What side to choose? The pressure inside of him grew too much and tears burst from him, followed by sobs.
RuthMom rubbed his back, whispering soft words in his ear, but it made him cry all the harder. It was so loving, so warm and caring, and nothing at all like Mother's embrace. How could he choose?
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