Chapter 103: Chapter 103

Bending over on one knee, Sara carefully placed the flowers in the holes she dug with her own hands to form a circle around the bump of soil, careful not to ruin the roots nor to dig too deep, she didn’t want to ruin the flowers so carelessly when it wasn’t easy to find them in the first place, she spent an hour looking for them, for the wild flowers that the little girl loved so much, and eventually managed to find some lupines, violets, daisies, and clovers.

Instead of plucking them, Sara chose to dig them out with their roots, even if it took her more time than what she planned to spare, but it didn’t matter much anymore, she no longer had a reason to be in a hurry to reach the borders, and instead, chose to do this one last thing for the girl, and pulling the whole flower with it roots would ensure that they would last longer, once she was done replanting the flowers, she stood up, unbothered by her dirty hands, her heart was aching as she stared at the little bump surrounded with various, colorful flowers, just like the person they were there for.

It had been a little over a week since that night in the inn, when she saved the little girl from the humanoid monster and took her under her wing, promising to take her back home, even when her home was on the far borders across the kingdom, nevertheless, the journey wasn’t as bad as Sara thought it would be, even when the girl wasn’t the calmest, she would talk for hours non-stop, sing, hum, or just shower Sara with questions, and surprisingly, Sara didn’t mind, she enjoyed the girl’s liveliness, especially since it meant that the girl was no longer scared or terrified, instead she was feeling safe and at ease, with the certainty that her ‘Big sister’ would protect her.

In one of their stops, Sara sent the girl with a few golden coins in the market while she watched from afar, she wasn’t yet comfortable with revealing her existence to people, not that she needed an appearance, the girl managed herself just fine, bargained with the seller and bought everything that they needed, some supplies for their journey, and even some clothes for the little one, a beautiful dress with a coat and leather boots, the girl’s happiness with the new clothes was indescribable and so was Sara’s bittersweet sensation.

She was happy to make the girl happy, that she was needed, that she had someone to take care of, that she felt, important and helpful and of use for the first time in her life instead of being a complete liability, and also happy because the little girl was the one at the receiving end of her kindness, over the week, the little thing became like an anchor to her, the one holding her heart from sinking back in the numbing darkness.

But on the other hand, the girl was dying, and there was nothing she could do, no matter how much she tried.

Beside her happiness with the new clothes, and with her fear and uncertainty gone, and her bruises fading, the good finally looked like a child, a beautiful one, she had that sparkling look on her eyes, one which was filled with enthusiasm towards everything, but mostly toward the fact that she was going to meet her parents at last.

From her attentive listening, Sara understood that the girl lived in a small village at the borders with the Manrast kingdom called Tuba, a small village of farmers, she was her parents only child, the girl told about her little sheep, Snow, her chickens, and the dog that watched over their small farm, Bling, with his golden fur, the boy who came every morning to buy their eggs, Alexander, the times when her father took her to the market, the times when she saw her parents kissing passionately, and the last time she saw them when they sent her with her father's relative, uncle Vernon, the master as he made her call him, the way he and his wife mistreated her, the things they did to her, the things he did to her, hearing that, Sara was happy that she killed the bloody bastard, even when a darker part of her wished that his death was slower and more painful.

There was something Sara couldn't understand though, the girl's parents didn't sound poor nor bad, the girl never mentioned that they hit her or mistreated her, if anything, she was treated like a precious princess, they sounded like a happy little family, so why would they give their girl away to someone like Vernon? Could it be that they sold her to him? Or did they send her to help him with his old wife?

The girl didn’t have an answer, and as much as Sara was curious about the matter, she was more worried about the grey aura that surrounded the girl, the one that became darker and smaller, and even when the girl appeared to be fine with her lively behavior, Sara knew, that it was but a matter of days before she leaves the world.

The thought pained Sara to her very core, death was still a sore spot in her heart as she was still mourning the death of her father, and the little girl, even if she didn’t admit it to her, was somehow able to bring a part of her back to life, back to life.

‘You are the only one who could heal your father’ Sara remembered Eren’s words, wondering if she had some healing abilities, she was able to heal perfectly even when the wounds were the deepest, such as the time she tried to stab and cut herself to join her father, so every night, when the girl would go to sleep, she would raise up her hands, place them on the little one’s head and chest, and focus, for hours, trying to get something to happen, she tried countless of times, each one turning to be a bigger disappointment than the previous one.

''Did you wake up, Little one?'' Sara asked the little girl who was stretching her limbs after her little nap, sensing she was hungry, she offered the girl an orange but the girl shook her head, and Sara felt as if someone was grabbing her heart in their fist and squeezing it, she wanted so damn bad to do something, anything to save the little girl, but with her lack of knowledge about her new powers, there was nothing she could do, no matter how hard she tried to get those damn powers out, it was useless, and it pained her to no ends, to realize that but beside giving the girl some descent final days and a painless death, there wasn't much she could do.

Were her divine powers only there to kill and cause harm? Couldn’t she use it to help someone she cared for, Sara stared at the girl, the pain in her heart intensifying as she thought about the matter, feeling her walls thickening around her again, isolating her in that numb loneliness she felt in the shack once more.

''Tell me, Big sister, why you never smile?'', There was no end to the girl's questions, Sara concluded, she was very curious about Sara's scars and didn't stop asking until Sara told her she fell off a horse, the girl didn't stop at that but asked about anything else until she fell asleep, and now she came with this smiling question? It was a question even Sara asked for herself, at first, she didn't have a reason to smile, not that she had right then but there were times when she wanted to smile for the girl's sake just to find herself unable to, even when she wanted to smile, her face wouldn't, she wondered if it was because of her scars or because of the trauma she suffered.

Sara looked away from the girl to the far village, if she wasn't wrong, she could make it there by midnight and the girl can see her parents, only if she had that much time.

''Big sister...'' Sara was pulled by her thoughts by the girl's weak voice, she looked back at her, noticing how dark it was around her, Sara knew it was time to say goodbye to another dear person, she wanted to cry for the girl, she badly wanted to but there were no more tears in her to shed.

''Thank you, Big sister, for everything, you know, I lost hope back there, in everything and everyone, I thought the world had nothing but darkness in it, but then you came and saved me, and helped me, and took care of me, I wanted to doubt you but I couldn't, That is why I want to thank you, sister, for you really gave me hope, you were my hope, so please, don't lose it yourself... And, remember me, Big sister, as I will remember you always where ever I am...''

''I will, Dahlia''