I stepped out of the inn, recently arriving in a strange town-- Vergas.

Never been here before, didn't know what to expect. Looking around it seemed like a decent place. I took a bit of a walk around the general area to familiarize myself with the layout since I'd probably be here for a couple days. It was a quaint place, but well-kept and the people would wave at me as I passed through. They picked a nice town, at least if the town officials weren't lying to me.

I walked back to the inn to take a look over the wagon. Fortunately this inn had a location to park such a thing and the animals that could pull it. It was a bit expensive, but should I not leave this place empty-handed it'd all be worth it.

Of course, that's a big "if". Whether or not I left empty-handed was, unfortunately, not entirely up to me.

With a small map in my hands and a very special letter in my pocket I navigated my way through this new territory. Some people were kind enough to keep pointing me in the right direction and ultimately lead me to an unassuming shop-like house. The front advertised some clothing and tailoring services juxtaposed with food and cooking advertisements, names and recipes of which I'd find quite familiar. It was a weekend so the opening hours were later, and hopefully, too, everyone would be here as it was summer.

I figured I'd try a slightly different approach and try the side door. From what I was told that was attached to the living quarters and not the storefront. I walked up and onto the small porch. Taking a deep breath and preparing myself for the worst I gave the door a firm knock and waited, hoping for some kind of response.

Before long I'd hear footsteps, and several of them. After a few seconds the door would open and a familiar face would look down to me, pale eyes wide and confused.

"Howdy," I said back up at him.

"...D...Daniel?" he stuttered.

Another familiar face poked out from behind him. Her warm brown eyes widened in a similar fashion, though with less confusion.

"Is, uh, everyone here?" I asked the two. "I hate to ruin your day, but--"

"H-How did...How did you find us?" the pale-eyed one asked.

"Riv, honey, please calm down a bit," I said from below. "Come here, you look like you need it."

I opened my arms while still standing on the porch. Riv looked back down to me with confusion, hesitant to make any moves. Finally after a few seconds he relented, my wrapping my arms around the much taller man and giving him a firm, warm hug.

It'd been a long time.

The one behind him, Sura, was quick to take a repeat offer. I rubbed the side of my face along the side of hers, so happy to see these two again after so long.

"Yes, everyone is here," Sura said, taking over for Riv. "How...did you find us, though?"

"Well, I'd like to tell you, but I'm wondering if I'm welcome to come inside," I scratched my head. "I'd understand if not, but it'd be easier to explain things with everyone in the same place."

Sura took my hand to lead me in, but I could tell Riv was conflicted. To comfort him I took his hand with my spare, doing what I could to reassure him that all was well and to not be afraid. I knew my being here would be stressful, at least for a short time, but...there was a lot that needed to be said and a lot more that needed to be explained.

I was led into a modest house and into a sort of central room. In that room sat the other three I was looking for, plus a couple more I hadn't met before. Funnily enough I knew who they were, though we'd never met. They were all sitting down and eating breakfast when I was led in. Immediately a yellow-eyed one took notice and it took a minute to completely parse that I was here. She stood up and approached me while the two youngest ones started to do the same, all of them taking a turn giving me a hug to make up for all the time we'd lost. It was hard not to cry at this little reunion, though the remaining two still sat at the table just watching. I didn't want them to feel left out so I motioned to them to come join. The little girl did so happily but the little boy was more reluctant. Giving them both a fair squeeze the boy relaxed a bit, understanding that I wasn't here to cause any trouble.

"Daniel, how did you find us?" the yellow-eyed one asked, perplexed.

"Well, I'll get to that, but I wanted to talk to everyone all at once in the same room, if I could," I said. "I know it's jarring seeing me after this long and what all's happened, but I'm...hopefully not here to ruin your day."

Everyone took a seat, but Riv had a hard time looking at me. The green-eyed one, Harley, was quite interested in what I had to say, though. I couldn't really blame her given what went on.

"I'm glad to see that y'all did well with what you had," I said, looking around the home. "You kids were always so headstrong and I couldn't be more proud with how far you've come."

"...Please just get to the point," Riv said, turned away.

"Of course," I sighed. "Kids, it's...been three years, give or take, since y'all left the foster home. I'm not here to force any of ya to come back or anything of the sort, so please relax a little bit. Rather, I have a proposal that I'd really lika ya to consider."

They all looked back to me, even Riv turning his head. His expression was one of vague tension. For some reason this struck me as unusual-- not so much the expression itself, but what it seemed to hint at to me.

"I've...got a letter from your father with me," I said, bracing myself.

Their collective eyes widened, but interestingly the only one who recoiled any was Riv. Most of them, instead, just seemed very unsure of what to think or feel. I couldn't blame them; this was quite a ball to drop on their Saturday morning. Instead of reading it aloud I handed it to Sura for all of them to see for themselves so they knew I wasn't just bullshitting.

"Children,

It has been a long time, hasn't it? I'm not sure if this letter will ever reach you, but it's important that I at least try.

I am very sorry to breach your privacy, but I could not stand leaving so many loose ends, leaving everyone without true closure. For the past three years Daniel and I had sent out surveys to every town we could find on our map, hoping and praying to find you again. I know that you will not like receiving this letter and I don't blame you for that, but I do hope you understand that I'm doing this in an earnest attempt to reach out and put together some of the pieces you've been missing. After all, that was your life, too, and you deserve to know the full extent of what happened here at the foster home.

Enclosed is a sum I have worked hard to save. It should be enough to cover the transportation expenses, the time missed from your work, various incidentals, and your housing cost during a two-month absence. I would not be surprised if it covered more, depending on your area. I am inviting you to come back to Huot, with Daniel, for a temporary stay. Only temporary, as I am in no way asking or trying to force you to come back to this place.

I know you are likely still upset, confused, and angry. I would absolutely understand if this were the case, so while I would truly love to see you again and put forth the missing information to your puzzle I cannot and will not try to force you.

I am sorry I could not be a better father to you. I understand if you hate me, but please let me try to make things right, make things make sense, how ever I can.

No matter how you feel about me, children, I love you all very much and the only thing I could ever ask for is to see you one last time.

-S.G."

With my hands behind my back I waited for their responses. It was a tense moment and my pulse was pounding, hung up hard on the next few minutes as that would determine if the past three years had all been futile.

"I'm...not sure what to say," Sura said. "Riv?"

"...I'd really rather not," he said, standing up to head outside.

His head hung low. There was more to this; something was bothering him.

"I'd like to go," Harley said, making Riv stop in his tracks.

Riv turned around to face the smiling girl across the table, dumbfounded.

"You...want to see him?" Riv inquired. "Did...Did you forget what happened?"

"No, I didn't," she replied, frustrated and shaking her head. "Did you?"

"Excuse me?"

"You know what I'm talking about, Ari," she snapped back. "I remember what happened. I was there."

"Harley, he hurt you!" Riv raised his voice. "How could you ever want to see someone again who did something like that?"

"Because I know it wasn't on purpose," she said with a glare.

Something about this struck Riv and I had no doubt he was remembering his own little ordeal from way back in the day. He just grit his teeth and turned away, unsure what to say from here.

I sighed and rubbed the back of my neck.

"Look, I'm not askin' for a complete, solid answer today," I exhaled, retrieving an envelope from my pocket. "I'll be in town for three days at a nearby inn if I'm needed, but I'll give you that time to think about this and decide--"

I set the envelope on the table.

"--But even if you choose not to, he wants you to have that at the very least."

"You don't want to stay here?" Saffron, the yellow-eyed one, asked.

"It's less that I don't want to and more that I don't want to put more pressure on ya than I already have with all of this," I turned back toward the door. "I think my bein' here would just add to it so I'd rather give you the time and privacy to decide amongst yourselves. I've already got a wagon should you decide to come and I don't mind leaving early regardless of the answer. Just let me know."

I took a few steps before turning my head back around.

"Riv," I called, "if you've got a few minutes, I'd like to talk to ya if you're willin'."

Surprisingly he didn't contest it, choosing instead to silently follow as I left the house and entered the overworld. With the door shut and the privacy of the brick wall we could ease out whatever this might be.

"Why are you here, Daniel?" he asked. "You think a pretty letter and a handful of bills is going to make this all better?"

"Riv, you're no idiot but you're certainly acting like one," I snapped. "You know damn well what actually happened to you but you're dredging it up as some awfully convenient bit of trivia. We both know what happened and we both know why it happened-- just like Harley said, it wasn't on purpose."

He froze up.

"Kid, what is the actual problem here?" I asked, my hands on his arms. "I'd understand if you were still mad, but that isn't what this looks like to me. You're chewin' on something, but I don't think it's about what he did."

I thought I caught something strange in my line of sight, so I reached up to grab his face and pull it down so I could better get a look into his eyes.

"...And whatever this is, it's been eatin' at ya pretty badly for a while now," I continued. "I hate to say it, but with how pale your eyes are I can see the start of a red ring. Please, kid, tell me what's botherin' ya."

As though by magic his eyes started to tear up and he couldn't stand to look at me, even with my hands holding his face. It'd been so long since I'd seen a sight like this and it just crushed me. Just like when he was young I gently combed my fingers through the long fur on his cheeks and rubbed my snout over the top of his head. It wasn't long before, just like those old days, his ears would slowly recline and he'd finally begin to relax.

"Riv, I know you're not too thrilled to hear from either of us again, but I wouldn't come all the way out here if it weren't in good faith," I quietly said. "You know me, and as much as you want to tell yourself otherwise, you know him, too."

He sniffed.

"I think you're tryin' so hard to tell yourself that you're still angry at him over what he did when you've known why it happened," I said, continuing to scratch his cheeks. "Even the things neither of us could explain at the time, I think you knew that he wasn't the direct cause. Honey, why are you tryin' so hard to be angry? What is this doing for you?"

Still no response.

"And it looks to me that Harley understands that what happened to her wasn't intentional, either," I pressed on. "You know that there's a lot of things that just don't add up, Riv. I was there for them and I know a lot more than you think. The whole point of this is to give you the half of the story that you're missing, the context you never knew."

"...Then why isn't he here?" he mumbled.

"Because the last thing he wanted to do was make you feel cornered in your own home just like how he felt in his home for so many years," I replied.

"...What?"

"Exactly," I let him go to stand back up. "Riv, even though you were there longer than everyone else, you were still a child. There's a lot you don't know and that's why I'm here. Thing is, there's a lot that he, himself, needs to explain that I cannot do for him, so if you want that truth you'll find it where he is. If you'd all rather I just head home then I'll do that, but not only would I really rather not, I think you don't want me to do that, either."

One of those tears finally trailed its way down his tan face. I think I made a point.

"Like I said in the house, you have time to think about it, but I'd like to know what this is that's got you so bent because I don't think it's the easy answer."

"...I don't...think I can face him, Daniel," he finally relented, rubbing his arm.

"Pardon?" I asked, surprised. "Why?"

"...Because of what I did before we all left."

"Would you believe me if I told ya he's never once blamed you or been upset about that?"

He just frowned harder, unsure how to take this news. I pulled him in for another hug, swaying from side to side just like back then.

"For now you'll just have to take my word for it, Riv, but not a day in his life has ever passed where he loved you any less than he always has-- were that the case I wouldn't be here. He never blamed you for what you did, but I think it's fair to let him tell you and show you this, himself."

"...I...I really..."

"Hm?"

"...I really...want to see him again."

"Are you sure?" I asked. "As much as I'd love to take ya and as much as he'd love to see ya, this has to be a genuine decision on your part, okay?"

"I know...and I want to."

"Well then," I slowly let him go, "if everyone else is in agreement, then I'll take you as soon as tomorrow. Just be aware that it'll take a while, but certainly less time than you spent to get here on foot. If you still want time, as I said, you got a few days."

I put my hands in my pockets and turned to leave, heading back to the inn.

Once I returned I sprawled out on the bed, happy to finally be on a mattress again. The beds up here were larger, similar to the one at home, and it was a nice change from the ground. Before I knew it I passed out, exhausted from my trip.

---

A knock on the door woke me up. I stretched and sat upright, scratching my head and finishing the routine with a yawn. Walking over to the door I opened it to see a crowd of familiar faces, everyone accounted for.

"We all talked about it..." Sura said.

"...and we'd all like to go," Saffron finished.

"Are y'all sure?" I asked, looking primarily to Riv and Harley.

"I want to tell him that everything is okay," Harley said. "I didn't...really understand it when it happened, but the more I thought about it the less things added up."

"Are you willing to hear him out, Harley?" I asked further. "You won't be uncomfortable being there, will you?"

"I want to know what happened because it came out of nowhere and I think that's what scared me the most," she answered. "Even though it scared me, I don't think I could be uncomfortable. If you're here, that means things have gotten better, right?"

Smart kid.

"And you, Connor," I said to the boy stuck to Sura's side. "How do you feel about seeing him again?"

"...I miss him," he simply said.

I looked past them to the two I'd barely met.

"And you must be Xhias and Xhianei," I said, putting my hand on their heads. "I'd like you two to come with, too."

"...Okay," Xhias said, his strange eyes wavering in their gaze.

Xhianei just smiled and nodded.

I finally looked back up at Riv and he looked back down at me. It was clear he was still very apprehensive, but I was happy enough that he was willing to take a step in this direction. It was time for everyone to finally tie those loose ends and get the full story.

We'd leave tomorrow morning.

---