Chapter 79

Lake: I saw her fight to keep her tears at bay. She sniffed them in and wiped her eyes with the back of her palms. By the goddess, I wanted to scoop her up and take her with me, hold her in my arms, and make all her problems go away. That was a lot of fondness for a ten-year-old I had just met. "Thank you." She replied, before fixing her eyes on the floor again. I turned away from her and followed her directions. I walked to the end of the corridor and took a left turn, only to find Jojo seated on a bench at the end of the wall. She had her hands squeezed together. A lady beside her, one I could oddly recognize, squeezed her palm gently. Once again, my heart squeezed in my chest. Something warm and seemingly soft gripped my heart and massaged it, I found myself swallowing hard, before docking behind the wall, just to watch her from the shadows. I did not realize how much I missed her until now when she was sitting barely meters away from me. I wanted to move to her, take her in my arms