Chapter 25: A talk

Kipo was lying on the ground next to Zet, she was swimming with her dad and Sarah in the lake, but she decided to be with Zet instead, she didn't want to tell him why, but he knows that she doesn't want him to be alone.

Zet : so what do we do next ?

Kipo : why are you asking me ?

Zet : you're the one who the race right...go ahead.....this is your prize.....choose what do we do next.

Kipo : now I'm regretting that I won.

Zet laughed.

Kipo : um....we can go gather fruits.

Zet : alright....say the word and we go.

Kipo : I don't like this.

Zet chuckled.

Zet : I don't know what are you talking about.

Kipo : you're making like a queen of the day for some reason.....I don't like to tell people what to do.

Zet : and why is that ?

Kipo : I just don't like to control others....even if it's fine with them.

Zet : huh.....what if one day you had to lead 7 wonderkids.....would you do it ?

Kipo : there is no way I'm leading our team.....I much rather for you to be our leader instead.

Zet : why me ?

Kipo : you're going to be a good leader.....you're a great teacher....a leader isn't going to be hard for you.

Zet : I know I can lead....but I just don't like to care too much....for 7 people to be precise.

Kipo : come on.....tell you what.....be our leader on our next mission....give it a shot...maybe you'll like it.

Zet chuckled.

Zet : wow....you really don't want to be a leader huh ?

Kipo : I'm just scared to take responsibility for things my crew did.

Zet : so you're afraid of messing up ?

Kipo : yes.

Zet : one day you'll overcome such a stupid fear....but for now....keep telling yourself whatever you want to hear.

Kipo : stupid fear ?!

Zet : you are afraid of making mistakes....you are a human too....making mistakes is a part of what and who you are....it's fine to make mistakes....as long as you learn from them.

Sarah and Leo then came out of the water.

Sarah : hey love birds.....we're done if you want to do something else.

Kipo and Zet : we're not love birds !

Sarah : yeah yeah sure.

Zet : so....since Kipo is the one who won the race....she gets to decide what do we do next.

Kipo : how about we go gather some fruits.....I'm hungry.

Leo : yeah...I'm hungry too.

Zet : alright...let's go.

They all started wandering around the woods to look for fruits.

Sarah : we should split up....we need to gather as many fruits as we can.

Zet : I'll go with Leo....Sarah you take Kipo....now we are all protected if any mutants see us.

Leo : we can go east.....you go west.

Sarah : alright....we come back to the tent at 2.

Zet and Leo then went in a direction and Sarah and Kipo went the other.

The silence between Zet and Leo was getting awkward to Leo, he had to do something about it.

Leo : so.....how are you doing ?

Zet : pretty good...thanks.

Leo : so you care to tell me why Sarah called you and Kipo love birds ?

Zet : do you really want to know ?.....I don't think you'll like it.

Leo : yes....I'm sure.

Zet : well....let me tell you the short version of the story.....Kipo somewhat you can say she fell in love with me....and I didn't.

Leo : she what now ?

Zet : she kissed me.....but I have....issues....so it didn't work out.....she's not the problem...I am....so now we're really close friends....Sarah keeps calling us love birds because she knows the whole story.

Leo : is this all ?

Zet : yeah....that's all you would care to know.

Leo didn't reply and looked at the ground, Zet noticed him.

Zet : you're not mad.....aren't you ?

Leo : no no I'm not....I'm just.....

Leo sighed.

Zet : mad ?

Leo : alright fine.....why would she just kiss someone she doesn't know a lot about.....no offense to you.....but I consider this so irresponsible of her.

Zet : ok listen.....as you might have heard....I'm an ace....I'm just not good with relationships.....and two....no one knows about me more than Kipo does...even Sarah who lived with me for 4 years....doesn't know me as much as Kipo does....you need to stop making her choices for her.....I know I'm the wrong choice for her....but that doesn't mean she did anything wrong....she didn't know...Sarah wasn't even surprised when she knew.....apparently it was obvious.....she's way stronger and more independent than you know.

Leo looked at the ground.

Leo : maybe you're right.

Zet : you don't need to take my word for it.....all I ask from you is to watch her work under pressure.....you can see who she really is when she wants to show it.

Leo : you said you didn't like her ?

Zet : that's the long part of the story.

Leo : is it the sad part too ?

Zet : yeah....that's why I never told anyone about....but her.....in fact I do like her....but not in a loving way.....she's now my best friend.....she's the only person I ever cared about.....she's a great friend.....I really advise you to not miss your daughter and father's relationship with her....she's way better than you think.

Leo : maybe you know her more than I do.

Zet : no...that's not true.

Leo : huh ?

Zet : I might be close to her.....but I will never mean to her more than what her father will....I'm pretty sure you have a lot that you know about her that I don't

Leo : well....yeah I do know many things about her...it's just what's bothering me is that I don't know enough.

Zet : let me guess....your "enough" means everything ?

Leo : pretty much.

Zet : look.....no matter how close you can be to somebody....you can't just expect them to tell you everything.....some things may be too personal....or just not for the right person.

Leo : what do you mean by not the right person ?

Zet : you're actually expecting her to come up to her father and say "dad I kissed this guy" ?.....she won't tell you stuff like this....these are the things that you have to discover by yourself....and when you do find out about them....you accept them.....they're a part of who she is....you have the ability to change them....but if they're not bad....never choose the option to control someone's life....no matter how much you have authority over them.

Leo : so what do you suggest me to do ?

Zet : act like you don't know....just give her time to become brave enough to open up to you about things she's afraid to share with you.....never act differently with her.....just start looking at her the way she wants you to see her.....she wants you to see how much better of a person she became.....and she wants you to love her for it....and be proud of her...I mean she saved your life.....didn't she ?

Leo looked at the ground, he closed his eyes and sighed.

Leo : alright....I will try....thanks for this.

Zet : to be honest with you....you have a lot to catch up on.....It's not your fault that she changed.....I'm on your side on this one.

Leo : so why did you refuse her if you see her this way ?.....I don't get it.....she obviously likes you a lot....and you do too.

Zet : It's just that I'm not the person to date....or love....it's not anyone's fault....it's me...I'm just emotionless.

Leo : emotionless.....that's a big word to describe yourself with.

Zet : I am...I just no longer feel emotions anymore.

Leo : but you like her....that's an emotion.

Zet : I said I like her....not love her.....it's just that she has a thing that affects me deeply.....I just don't like to talk about it...If you want the answer to this question.....you'll have to ask Sarah or Kipo.

Leo looked around him.

Leo : oh.....we forgot why we're here !

Zet : oh yeah....gathering fruits...right.

They started walking around the trees and picking the apples from them.

Leo : you know.....I'm glad that Kipo has a friend like you.....you're very wise for this age.

Zet : thanks....all are just experiences.

Sarah and Kipo were walking through the woods, they were not finding any sort of fruits near them.

Kipo : we've been walking for 20 minutes and we didn't find a single fruit.

Sarah : someone must've been here.

Kipo : a mutant ?

Sarah : I don't think any human would need all this fruit....so yeah probably.

Kipo : let's change our direction....maybe we'll find something.

Kipo and Sarah then went north, they started looking for trees on the north side of the woods, when they went in that direction they started seeing apples on trees.

Kipo : there we go....back to normal trees.

Sarah : gather as much as you can carry.....we won't do this again in a long time.

Kipo then used her shirt to carry the apples.

Kipo : so....Sarah.

Sarah : hm ?

Kipo : I had this question on my mind for a long while....it's a bit personal....so you don't have to answer it if you don't want to.

Sarah : sure....go ahead.

Kipo : how come you don't know a lot about Zet....you lived together for 4 years....and it seems like you don't know each other enough.

Sarah : we weren't really that close.... we're just a kid and a girl trying to survive together....we both know we needed each other....but then stuff happened.....and we left each other.

Kipo : you mean the fight ?

Sarah : he told you ?

Kipo : yeah....if he didn't tell me I wouldn't forgive you for lying to me when we first met him.

Sarah : so you do know about my past too ?

Kipo : yeah...he told me everything....he had to.....he's the reason why we're still together.

Sarah : can I ask you a favor ?

Kipo : of course.

Sarah : don't tell anyone about it...I rather if it stays a secret.

Kipo : don't worry....it's safe with me....but can I ask you questions about it ?

Sarah : sure.

Kipo : have you ever came back to your old burrow ?

Sarah : no....it's a chemical wasteland there....there is no way anyone can get in there and come out alive.

Kipo : how did you meet Zet in the first place ?

Sarah : when I was younger...It was when I started sneaking out of the burrow to the surface....I just loved to explore....one day...I was walking and I saw this human kid who looked terrible.....he was starving....afraid....hurt...I had to help him....he was the first human I saw on the surface....when I saw him from behind some trees I shouted.

young Sarah : hey !

Sarah : he got scared and started to run away....but he was so tired and weak to run far....he collapsed on the ground and started crawling away from me....he was so scared thinking I want to kill him.....when I approached him.

young Sarah : hey....it's ok....I don't want to hurt you.

Sarah : he looked at me and saw that I was human....he felt a bit comfortable.....I had an apple in my backpack...I gave it to him....he couldn't resist it.....he was so hungry you can see his bones through his skin....he didn't eat in like 5 days or something.

Kipo : so he was definitely going to die if you didn't help him ?

Sarah : yeah pretty much....there was no way someone as weak as him would survive all the dangers of the surface...I waited for him to finish eating.

young Sarah : what's your name ?

Sarah : he didn't talk.....I could see he was still afraid of me....I tried again in a more friendly way.

young Sarah : my name is Sarah.....what's your name ?

Sarah : he responded in a very low voice....he didn't speak a word for a long while.

young Zet : Zet....my....my name is Zet.

young Sarah : hi Zet....are you going somewhere ?

Sarah : he shook his head hinting to say no...I was hoping to help him more.....it is very rare to see a human surviving on the surface.....I couldn't let him die.

Kipo : so you took him to your burrow ?

Sarah : I carried him all the way back to my burrow.....for how thin he was.....he was very easy to carry....he couldn't walk for a while....when I reached the burrow I sneaked past many people.....I didn't want anyone to know about me sneaking to the surface.....I had to hide him in my house for a while....hoping to help him thinking that he can leave whenever he is able to...days later....my parents noticed that I suddenly started taking much more food to my room....they started to suspect things....they knew something is going on....one day they came to my room and looked in it...I acted normal....luckily Zet was hiding behind the door.....they couldn't see him....by the time we became friends....he started talking to me.....we both know that we will have to tell my parents eventually if he wants to stay.....at this point....he really needed me to survive.....he didn't know how to look for food....he didn't know how to make a shelter or protect himself....he was not going to survive on his own.

Kipo : you couldn't see any hints for his powers ?

Sarah : no....the closest hint I got was his burn marks all over his body when I first saw him.....one day we decided to tell my parents about him.....Zet was afraid that they might overreact and kick him out of the burrow.....and I was scared of them knowing my sneaking habit.

young Sarah : we have to tell them....we can't keep it a secret forever.

young Zet : but what if they don't accept me here.....what if they kick me out ?

young Sarah : they're not going to kick you out.....if they know about it....you will be able to get out of the house at least.

young Zet : really ?....how ?

young Sarah : most people don't know each other here.....all you have to do is blend with other people.

Sarah : he liked the idea of him leaving my room after 2 weeks of being in it.....that gave him a bit of faith to tell my parents...then I got out of my room and called my parents to my room.....I was no longer hesitant about it.....I really wanted to help Zet to have a normal life.....there was no going back from this point.

young Sarah : so I want to talk to you about something.....it's a secret I was afraid to talk to you about.

Sarah's father : you can tell us anything...I'm sure we can understand.

Sarah : when my father said that.....I got very confident that they will accept him....and it was a mistake I made.

Sarah's mother : YOU WHAT !??

Sarah father : how could you do such a thing...why would you do this.....do you have any idea how dangerous it is ?!

Sarah : I only told them about me sneaking outside of the burrow....I still didn't tell them about Zet....he was hiding inside my room....he heard my parents.....he knew that they won't accept him....he ran away from the house and got out.....he was scared of their rejection....so he left.....I heard the sound of my window opening.....I couldn't leave the conversation with my parents...I had to stay while he was running away.

Sarah : After an hour of talking about this....I ended up grounded in my room.....I couldn't just stay put.....I got out of the window and started looking for Zet....I figured he would be too scared to run outside of the burrow....I started looking around the whole burrow....I was going to find him no matter what.....after looking for a while....I found him sitting in a corner near our running river.

young Sarah : there you are.

young Zet : go away....just leave me alone....I've caused enough troubles already.

young Sarah : no....I won't just leave you here like this.

young Zet : why are you helping me ?...I didn't ask for it.....and I'm telling you to leave me alone....but you're refusing.....why ?

Sarah : at that time....Zet knew a rule in life that was very wrong.....never be willing to give.....

Kipo : without taking in return.....this is a rule he was taught when he was in the temple....we saw it written on the walls.

Sarah : he was expecting me to ask him for a return....this is why he wanted me to go away....he knows he can't give me anything in return.....suddenly I had this Idea.

young Sarah : I have an Idea....follow me.

Sarah : I grabbed his hand and we got out of the burrow.....I had this idea to make him a shelter near the burrow....so I will be able to help him survive and be in the burrow more often....he liked the Idea....we needed to find a good place for building a shelter....it didn't take long till we found this area that was hidden by the trees....it was a perfect place for a safe shelter....I got him a tent....food...and clothes....I started visiting him every day....to teach him everything he needs to survive.....as days have gone by....he started to look better and better.....he was doing things I have never seen....he was jumping so high....he was a hunter by instinct.....I taught him how to use an arrow and a bow....it didn't take long till he started to never miss his target.....it was really impressive....after months.....he started to learn by himself....he no longer needed my help....he started to look stronger.....I don't think I ever visited him and he was sleeping....he was always awake and ready to fight...I started teaching him CQC.

Kipo : what's CQC ?

Sarah : it stands for short for close-quarter combat....basically fighting with your hands and knives.

Kipo : oh...ok....continue.

Sarah : After a year of turning him from the weakest person I ever saw to the toughest young kid I ever known....he was ready to share his big secret with me.

Kipo : his powers ?

Sarah : yeah....he finally opened up about it...he called me in the night....when I got out I saw his face....he looked worried about something.....he never told anyone about anything of his life....and it took him a whole year to tell one secret to his own teacher.....he grabbed my hand and ran far....he didn't want anyone but me to know....he had to get away from everyone first.

young Sarah : Zet....what's going on ?

young Zet : I want to show you something.

Sarah : when he told me he wants to show me something.... I got interested and excited.....this is his first time opening up to me about something.....we ran for minutes....he then made sure his surroundings were clear....I sat in silence waiting for him to start talking to me.

young Zet : so....I have a secret I want to tell you.....but you have to promise me you won't tell anyone.

Sarah : at this point I knew he wants to trust me.....he wants me to be closer to him than a teacher.

young Sarah : I promise.

young Zet : ok....don't freak out.

Sarah : he then started glowing bright yellow in his eyes and hair....he told me to not freak out....but couldn't think of doing something else.....he then started flying in the air.....he started shooting lightning energy out of his hands.....I was speechless....afraid.....but also amazed.....after a couple of seconds he came back on the ground and stopped glowing.

Sarah : he saw my widened eyes....he realized I was about to freak out.

young Zet : wait wait.....don't freak out Sarah....it's ok....I just have superpowers.

young Sarah : what do you mean you JUST have superpowers ?!.....you can fly !

young Zet : ok....long story short....I'm a rare kid....there are only 8 like me in the whole world.

young Sarah : but why didn't you tell me before ?

young Zet : I don't tell anyone anything.....you earned yourself an explanation for my great performance in almost everything you taught me.....I'm just different from other kids....I had to tell you because you have to know....I understand if you want to leave me now....it's ok.

Sarah : he thought that I was scared of him and being with him all this time.....he didn't want to hurt me.

young Sarah : no....I won't leave....I'm just amazed by what I just saw....I will never leave you like this.

Sarah : after that day....we changed what we do every time I visited him....we started walking together....he started to talk to me more and more....but he was always too careful....he never told me anything he didn't want anyone to know about.....and one day the stuff happened....the stuff that you know about.

Kipo : wait....so you're the reason why Zet is what he is now ?

Sarah : I helped him a lot....but I was never thinking that he would become that tough of a person....the person I first met is not even close to what he became.

Kipo : about your fight with him.

Sarah : hm ?

Kipo : do you ever regret what you did ?

Sarah : yeah...I guess I do....he was the closest person to me for a long while....and I lost it all because I wanted revenge on others that didn't even do me anything wrong in the first place.

Kipo : I know I'm not supposed to say this....but I think I have to.

Sarah : ok ?

Kipo : when he told me about this story....he told me that he forgave you.....It did take a long while for him to do so....but he did eventually.....we both know that he almost can't say thank you to anyone.....but he really appreciated all the things you did for him.....he understands that you are the reason he's alive today.....he just won't say it.

Sarah : he told you this ?

Kipo : no....but I know now why he didn't...I hope you earn his trust again.....he may not need you anymore.....but I'm sure he really wants you to be by his side again.

Sarah : do you know why he liked you in such a short time....while I took almost 3 years to do it ?

Kipo : actually.....that's a good question.....did he tell you ?

Sarah : well....he did.....he sees you as his Kate.....he really misses her....and you're the only one who reminds him of her that much.....If I were you....I would never dare to lose such a friendship.

Kipo looked at the ground for multiple moments, she sighed, she looked back at Sarah.

Kipo : alright.....let's go back now...I think we gathered enough fruits.

Sarah : yeah....let's go.

Kipo has learned so much about Zet and Sarah, she now understands what she means to Zet.

Sarah never felt regret in her life, Kipo helped her see how much she lost.

Leo listened to Zet, he now knows that Kipo isn't the same person anymore, he has to accept who she became and understand that she is no longer the same little girl, she is now a hero.