\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Fortenra! I found you!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Tali tackle-hugged the boy, who was still in his suit.
\nOf course, it was ragged, wrinkled, and much dirtier now, but Tali still considered it to be formal. When she was done with her hug, she waved her hand around.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Whew,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You smell a bit, you know?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Fortenra rolled his eyes. It had been about a week, now. He needed a shower. Standing in the rain hadn’t done much for him. But that was beside him. He eyed Tali. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It’s… Interesting….\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Fortenra relented, quickly changing the subject. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Tali, we need to talk about what happened when–\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n Hirun, who had been standing near the both of them, finally spoke up, interrupting Askasa. Tali threw up her arms, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Oh yeah? I thought so too! It’s terrible how they treat us. We’re the future!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Hirun looked down briefly before going in to hug Tali. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Yeah, well, you paid ’em back for me,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said softly. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153So Fort!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Tali hopped. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I got us a house!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Tali ushered the both of them into her new car and five minutes later she was in the driveway of a very fine looking house. There weren’t even any burn marks. The fiery-haired girl led the two boys inside and started to show them around. Trying to get Askasa more involved, she said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Look, I even bought you new clothes!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d as she pulled her boyfriend over to the walk-in closet, which was filled with suits, all in Fortenra’s size. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153This is awesome, Tali,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Hikari replied, wishing he were as lucky as Fortenra. But Askasa was strangely silent on the matter.<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153So,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Tali pried, looking to her boyfriend. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153What do you think?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n Fortenra bit the inside of his lip, hesitating. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Tali,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said softly. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You stole all of this.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153What?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Tali growled. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153How can you say that? I worked for this! I did it for you! I changed who I was for you!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Tali jumped forward to rush after him, but Hirun grabbed her hand and pulled her back. Hirun pulled Tali into his arms, hugging her tightly. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You don’t need him.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153What… are you wearing<\/em>?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he questioned.
\nTali normally wore jeans and a tanktop. She was somewhat fashionable, at least. But right now, the sixteen year old was wearing some sort of oversized fire fighter suit, yellow reflectors and all.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153You like it?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Tali grinned and twirled around, her hands and feet covered by the material. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It’s a fire resistant suit.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Yo, Tali, I heard what you did to the city! I think that’s pretty cool, putting people in their place like that!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\nShe shoved Hikari, her hand to his shoulder playfully. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Especially you, Hikari. It’s horrible how you have to live.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\nFortenra reached over, but stopped himself from touching either of them when they released eachother from their embrace.<\/p>\n
\nFortenra brought his hands back to his sides. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153What?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153A house! C’mon, you’ll love it! You too, Hikari!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153And this is the living room, and the kitchen…\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she began.
\nWith each passing room, Hirun grew more excited while Fortenra became more withdrawn.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153… And this is my and Fort’s room!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Tali finished, bringing them into a large bedroom. <\/p>\n
\nHe gave her a weary, forced smile as she pulled him to the main room again, patting herself on the back for how she had decorated this room all by herself, just to impress Askasa.<\/p>\n
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Who cares?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Hikari interjected.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153But I did it all for you,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Tali whimpered. Fortenra took a step back.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The apartment we had. That was ours. I paid for it. We earned it,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Askasa said.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We earned this<\/em>!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Tali pleaded.
\nFortenra shook his head.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I worked hard for that apartment. And you burned it all to the ground. This? You didn’t work<\/em> for this, Tali. You never work for anything. You took what other people worked for and claimed it as your own.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\nFortenra stepped back again again, full of remorse. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153No you didn’t, Tali. You didn’t change at all. I’m sorry.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\nAnd with that, he shoved his hands in his pockets and he left.<\/p>\n
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153He doesn’t understand you,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said, bending his neck to look into Tali’s bright eyes. She needed someone.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153But–\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\nHis eyes glared at the empty hallway Fortenra has used to exit the home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"series":[30],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cc.khat.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cc.khat.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cc.khat.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cc.khat.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cc.khat.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=519"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/cc.khat.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":576,"href":"https:\/\/cc.khat.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519\/revisions\/576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cc.khat.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cc.khat.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cc.khat.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=519"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cc.khat.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fseries&post=519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}