Page 22

Feels Like Home

Amaia

“Hell of a day, Pops. You have another speech in you, or can we all relax now?” I asked Prescott, grinning widely at the beautiful woman next to him.

I adored Luna. She was good for him. Was practical enough to keep him from getting lost in daydreams but tender enough to dream with him. Between him and Jax, someone had to help me bring them down to earth. Today had been fun, though. Long, but fun and certainly worth the food.

It had been a year since war had erupted around us. Put us at the center of chaos and destruction. In our year of peace, came a heavy weight on our souls. Peace was not free. It came at a cost. A high price of no longer recognizing who you had to become to survive. The sacrifices we’d all paid to ensure we could keep all that we’d built—all that we’d hoped to achieve. It was time to celebrate—the people here deserved it.

While this place had become home for me years ago, it was finally beginning to feel like it. The people that surrounded me day in and day out had become something of a family to me. I’d been an only child, never experienced the smothering joy of the large family I’d grown up wishing for. This, the two sisters and brothers at my side, Jax, Prescott, and Luna—it all seemed so … right. Comfortable. Their presence was a breath of fresh air that made me think I was safe enough to rest.

Luna’s arm wrapped around the back of Prescott’s neck and he looked at her like a lovesick puppy. She shook her head, speaking softly into his ear with a childlike giggle.

Reina gagged off to the side. “Bleh, y’all please keep those feelings to yourself.”

“What, old people can’t have sex?” Tomoe smirked as she bit into her sandwich.

Her humor hit home as Seth coughed a laugh, a matching glimmer in his sea-blue eyes as he met her stare. She glanced down nervously, fixing her posture under his watch. Reina’s face lit up with joy as our eyes landed on each other, picking up on the same cues we all had since Tomoe had joined the group a few months ago. The crush those two had on each other was juvenile, at best. Fun to watch at a distance since they both didn’t appear intent on acting on it anytime soon.

“Actually.” Prescott cleared his throat, the red finally fading from his cheeks and neck. “We thought you and Jax could make the closing speech.”

Jax kissed the corner of my mouth, whispering he’d be right back. I glared at the back of his head, then over to Prescott, before settling on Riley for a plea of help. He fought off a grin, the words of defense forming on his lips as Prescott held up a hand to stop him. Riley shrugged, nodding toward Jax in amusement. His auburn hair blew in the wind as he took off toward the building, ducking underneath some kids playing frisbee. They chased after him and I watched on with a smile at the chase. The group weaved in and out of families sprawled across the lawn, the kids' little legs trying to tag him to no avail.

“It’ll be good for morale. There will be a day where I won’t be here anymore and someone has to take care of this place?—”

“Yeah. A million years from now and after an election,” I interrupted Prescott. Public speaking made me queasy. Becoming the general of the damn place was already a lot. Easier than Prescott’s job given soldiers had to do everything I said no matter what, but still overwhelming.

“An election that will probably begin and end with the two of you,” Luna added, pushing her long black hair behind her golden ear.

“Not if I can help it,” I said under my breath as I looked to Tomoe to free me from the conversation.

“Lovely picnic chat,” Tomoe said with a mouthful of food. “We should do this more often.”

Reina sighed, laying back to admire the sky. “Death this. Death that. God, y’all are so morbid, I don’t know how we’re friends.”

“Considering there ain’t anyone around here begging to be your friend, I’d expect more appreciation for the group.” Seth removed his hat, brushing back his red hair slick with sweat before replacing it on his head.

“Come on,” Riley nudged me, a small smile breaking his usual neutral expression. “Live a little. Go. I got your six.”

Reina rolled to her knees, cheese and salsa smeared around the edges of her mouth. “Wait, I’ll come with you. Just let me finish this taco.”

We’d gone all out for the event. Harvesting everything we could spare, we had encouraged our residents to gather in The Kitchens early this morning and challenged them to make the meals they missed the most. Ingredients allowing, of course. The tacos had been a big hit, Reina eating at least five on her own.

“I think the taco is finishing you more than anything,” Prescott teased.

“What?” Reina asked, the situation having gotten worse as she stuffed the last half into her mouth. Luna reached over with a napkin, wiping Reina’s face while choking back a laugh. “Okay, I’m ready. Off we go, lovebug.”

“Hold up, not without a photo. Get close. Ladies first,” Jax called, making his way back to us with an old camera we’d found on our last trip outside the walls.

“Ew, no. My hair is crazy,” Reina said, toying with her long brown hair and smacking her cheeks gently until they turned a rosy pink. She stopped and took in Tomoe before reaching over to fix her braid. Tomoe smacked her hand away playfully before leaning away and forcing Reina to sprawl against my lap. “Get back here. You need to look good for the camera!”

I scowled at the camera. Jax peered over the lens. “Smile pretty, Mai. The world needs to see it.”

The sound of a teasing gag sounded by Riley and Prescott. They exchanged a knowing glance as I bit down my grin. Seth pushed to his feet, lifting Reina upright by her shirt as he walked off toward the tables full of festival foods. Taking a look around, it was hard to contain a true smile. In truth, I was happy to be here. Happy for all I’d survived, in all I’d created, and what the future had in store. Forever. This was the forever I had to look forward to.

Everything from before didn’t matter anymore. Who we all were, what we had become after … that was all I could focus on to keep moving forward. There were two Amaias. The Amaia before the world ended; the soft one, the one that laughed carefree, the Amaia who cared about trivial things like wedding colors and finding the next trendy restaurant to try. Then there was who I’d fought to become. Killed to become. The Amaia that did what she had to in order to survive. There was no going back. There were two versions of us all. Who we were Before and who we’d become After. In The After, the only thing that mattered was keeping the people around me alive and happy. Doing what we could to build anew.

“On the count of three.” Jax held up a finger to count down. “Everyone say ispíní.”

Reina kept a smile but peered over at me from the corner of her eye as I fell into a fit of laughter at a joke that had become our own. In that moment, I was grateful for the blinding flash of the camera, capturing a memory I wished I could live through a million times.