Standing in front of a house, he nervously looked around. He was forced to come here in the end. Kairen rang the doorbell and waited.

Clack

The door opened soon afterward. A man stood there with a smile on his lips.

“You are late!”

“Sorry…”

“Come on in!”

Kain moved away from the door for Kairen to enter. Kairen entered the yard. It was a tiny yard with some chairs placed here and there. The grass was cut short and a cat was playing in its walls.

The house’s door was open as Kaid had exited it just now. Kairen moved towards the door while observing the yard.

WOSH

“UNCLEEEEEE!!!”

Before Kairen could even enter the house, a kid jumped on him. A small boy clung to him and hugged his feet excitedly.

“Uncle! Hello!”

“H-hello.”

Kairen’s stiff answer didn’t seem to bother the kid at all as he smiled happily and hugged him even harder. Kain placed one of his hands on his hip.

“See! I told you uncle would come to see you.”

“Hehe.”

The kid giggled and moved one step away.

“Come in uncle. Comeee!”

Then Ariyan grabbed Kairen’s pants with his small hands and tried his hardest to drag Kairen inside. That was really cute. Kairen followed suit and went inside.

“Ah dear, you have arrived.”

A woman greeted Kairen as soon as he set foot in the house. She had a warm smile on her lips. Long blonde hair tied in a ponytail and brown eyes, she had a beautiful face.

“Hello.”

Kairen greeted Kain’s wife politely and moved into the house. The house wasn’t that big but it had a lovely atmosphere. Small toys could be seen here and there and the drawings of a kid were on the walls.

The little boy that was beside him polled his sleeves this time.

“Hug! I want a hug!”

“Ah!”

Kairen bent down to hug him. He could see Ariyan’s face better now. He seemed to be around 5-6 years old. Blackish dark-brown hair and white skin with chubby cheeks. He was adorable.

‘How cute!’

Kairen moved his hands to hug the kid but suddenly stopped. Round and shiny dark gray eyes were looking at him excitedly. Kairen blinked a few times and looked again at the kid’s eyes. Dark gray?

‘No No.’

Kairen had been really sensitive about anything that was dark gray these days. He shook his head and embraced the kid.

He was then reminded of what he had read in an old notebook a few weeks ago.

[I keep seeing it… in my dreams… that dark gray light… dark gray eyes… beautiful, those eyes were… clear and beautiful…]

“….”

Why was he thinking about stupid things now of all time? Ariyan is Kain’s son so of course Kairen 1 would know what color his eyes were! That previous Kairen was a little bit crazy so it was no wonder he wrote something like that in the notebook.

“Uncle! I can’t breathe!”

Kairen let go of the kid after hearing his cries. Ariyan jumped up and down excitedly, seemingly too happy to see Kairen after so long. He ran around gathering his toys and placed them in front of Kairen.

“Let’s play. Let’s play.”

“….”

‘Kiddo, what do you see me? How am I supposed to play with you?’

Kairen stood there without moving. He had zero experience in playing with little kids. Kain rescued Kairen by grabbing the kid and placing him on a chair.

“You should let uncle rest, Ariyan.”

“EEYY!”

“Don’t EY me! Mom has prepared dinner for us. We should eat first.”

“Ok…”

The kid was persuaded easily with food. He sat on the chair and picked up his spoon, waiting for the food.

Kain’s wife placed the food on the table. Steam was rising from the hot pot and the house soon was filled with the pleasant smell of food. It has been too long since Kairen had experienced this kind of situation. A warm food, the nice smell rising from it, and everyone eating together at the table. He smiled unconsciously as an unknown warmth filled his heart.

He wasn’t really familiar with these people. He only met Kain around a week ago and it was the first time he was meeting with his family, but he felt really close with them. It was the same feeling he had around Reyan and Serria. Were the previous Kairen’s feelings affecting him or something? Kairen wouldn’t get an answer no matter how long he thought so he just decided to focus on eating.

After eating the delicious food, there was no other excuse for Kairen to run away from Ariyan. Ariyan brought almost every toy he had in his room and placed them in front of Kairen asking Kairen to play with him.

Kairen didn’t really know what he was supposed to do. He just sat there, stiffly, and watched the kid play by himself. Well, Ariyan seemed satisfied with just that as he didn’t ask anymore and happily played alone.

Alessia, Kain’s wife, and kain himself also sat by his side. They all chattered while watching the kid play. Ariyan was strongly against his parents “stealing” his uncle so he pouted and started nagging.

“No! Uncle came to visit me! You two go away!”

“I am jealous! My son loves my Lil’ bro more than his dad.”

Kain said, with a fake sad expression. Ariyan hesitated for a moment after seeing his father, but he just ignored that and continued showing his new toys to Kairen.

“Ariyan, it’s time to sleep.”

Alessia said that after one or two hours. Kairen, who was thinking of ways to escape from the kid who was now sitting on his lap, was really glad to hear that sentence. Ariyan himself was sleepy, his eyes were droopy and he was visibly out of energy, but he insisted on playing more.

“Ok, I’ll go but uncle should tell me a story before I sleep!”

That was the final result of the negotiations.

“….”

‘What story? I don’t have such kind of abilities!’

Despite his unwillingness, Kairen was dragged into Ariyan’s bedroom by force.

“….”

Sitting beside the bed, he looked blankly at the kid. Kairen couldn’t even remember the stories his mother would tell him when he was a kid.

“…..”

“…..”

Ariyan polled his sleeve again.

“Tell me a story. Please uncle, please.”

“O-ok…”

‘Anyway, why is this kid so obsessed with his uncle? What have you seen in that crazed man, boy?’

There was nothing he could do. Kairen started telling any and every nonsense that came to his mind.

***

Alessia dried the last plate and placed it in its place.

“He hasn’t gotten better, has he?”

Kain shook his head at that question.

“He doesn’t talk about it, but it is obvious just by looking at how he acts.”

Alessia looked at the door of his son’s room, where Kairen was struggling to tell a story, and sighed.

“It was as if he met us for the first time.”

“That’s right…”

It wasn’t only Kain, Kairen was a little brother to Alessia as well. They had known each other for a long time. For the couple who were both orphans, Kairen was their only family member. Her heart felt heavy whenever she thought about what happened to him.

“But he seems better in some other ways.”

“He seems to have forgotten everything that was making him suffer…”

Kain nodded at her words. Kairen now was… well… a little bit stupid you can say? He seemed more carefree and honest now. He was different from the Kairen that they knew. But that was nice. They all wanted him to smile more often and takes things easy.

“I guess I should go to his rescue again.”

Alessia smiled at kain’s words and watched him move towards the room.

He slowly approached the door. Once Kain arrived behind the door, he could hear Kairen’s voice from inside.

“But everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked.”

“….”

‘Oh? He is really telling a story?’

Kain was surprised and slowly distanced himself from the door not to disturb them, unaware of the suffering that Kairen was going through.