Attentions

Once everything is in place and everyone has finished eating, they all meet in the living room where Frida brings tea for the girls and Salim as well as coffee for Antoine and her. The girls are laughing at who knows what and Antoine is watching basketball on TV with Salim. Frida serves everyone and comes and sits next to Reina, still on her armchair.

Thirty minutes later Frida suggests it's time for the cake. She gets up to prepare it and Halima offers to help her, she is already getting up, when Lisa grabs her violently and holds her back, almost shoving her. Halima lands on her buttocks.

"Excuse me, don't bother. Salim will help her. Isn't it Salim ? " She sounds almost menacing in her good intention.

"What… what ? " Halima is confused

Lisa looks seriously at Salim who still has that naturally chilly look. He gets up and leaves, we can't guess what he's thinking when he has that look. When he leaves, Lisa huffs, and lets go of the girl's hand.

When they come back, Salim had the knife and plastic plates in hand, turns off the light in the living room and there are only LEDs behind the TV and garlands that warmly light up the room. Frida holds the cake with the sixteen candles in both hands, a big smile on her lips. Instead of singing happy birthday, everyone sings "Citrus Sun," a song Reina had written that lends itself to the mood just as well as the usual happy birthday. Since she can't speak, she waddles around and imagines herself singing along with her lifelong family. She's crying. Halima cries when she sees her crying and wipes her tears away. Myriam is always serious even when she sings but she sings well and Lisa claps her hands to make the melody. Antoine and Salim waddle together.

When Frida kneels in front of her, Antoine is there and he asks her "Do you have your wish ? " She nods yes. She hands him a piece of paper, he opens it, he was already smiling, but his smile is even more pronounced when he reads the wish. He just replies, "Okay. Are we going to three ? " She nods again. The others are still singing. He counts to three and blows and they both think about the wish. Reina opens her teary eyes and she doesn't seem to have been so happy and grateful before.

Finally everyone applauds and Frida with Salim goes to cut the cake. The three girls hold Reina without risking hurting her. And Lisa gets up first, saying they have to give the presents. She goes and Reina thinks "The gifts ? "Wasn't that their performance ? After all that, what are they still thinking ?

When Lisa comes back with the computer, Myriam pulls her back to the desk that was left for her in the same place, Reina doesn't understand but they are all cheerful. Halima and Myriam stand next to her and Lisa puts the laptop in front of her and opens it. She walks around and comes to manipulate him. Reina sees the computer turn on, show the OS icon, get to the splash screen, and show the girls' picture when they were on improvised safari. Lisa types in the password : LIVEREINAVIVEREINA. Then after loading the desktop comes up with another picture of the girls in pajamas, they are a bit younger, Reina seemed a bit healthier, she is holding a pencil between her lip and her nose, she is sitting on a chair and holding an old notebook on which symbols are scribbled while Halima takes the selfie with a bad face, Lisa is on the side with her headphones and Myriam is reading a book on the bed.

Lisa checks that the computer is connected to the internet and goes to the video conference application icon. She enters an anonymous group and launches a call. It rings for three seconds then a first person answers but we see nothing, then another, and another, and another, and another: 64 people answer the call but for none of them we do not see who is behind the camera. Reina is speechless. She now notices that the three girls are in front of her, on the other side of the desk, all wearing solemn eyes. The two watch as Lisa walks forward. She seems to be thinking before she begins to speak.

"Reina. " Lisa is more emotional than usual, Reina doesn't know where to look. "Reina. Today is your sixteenth birthday. And so sixteen years of sharing your time with so many people, sixteen years of enjoying and experiencing ; we met respectively, when you arrived in the same kindergarten as me, you were already sick at the time but even with that, you held on. You weakened like the human you are, but even if life was relentless in preventing you from things, what you wished for, you had it by force of circumstance ; maybe because all work deserves a salary or because life knew how to balance itself. "

She barely stops when Reina hears her kindergarten teacher from the computer. Mrs. Raissa, who is now retired, declares : "Yes. Yes Reina, you were one of those who forged…". Then after her speech to her, from the most distant friend of elementary school to that of high school, 64 people for 40 minutes were grateful to Reina for being of such great help.

Reina can no longer speak but her heart reaches from the lowest of the earth, to the highest sky and the most distant star in the observable Universe and more.

Halima was supposed to give her speech last but she can't, she breaks down in tears in her friend's arms.

Myriam wouldn't be human not to cry. Lisa is the one holding back the most, but her eyes betray her. Salim and Frida are sitting, Frida is wiping tears and Salim, betrayed by his eyes like Lisa.

When finally the last speech is delivered, only one person remains. Lisa forces a smile as she is on the verge of tears and says "Don't cry already, while there is still the cherry. " Reina looks at Lisa, who pushes herself aside and lets Antoine pass, solemnly standing, in his best clothes. Reina doesn't understand, and doesn't want to understand when she sees a small box in his hands. They look at each other for a long time and before approaching, Antoine goes to Salim and stares at him just as strongly. They settle down. " I will do it ! " His tone is firm. Salim looks at him firmly as well and only replies "Act only according to your ambitions ! "

Antoine then has the approval of the father. He then goes to Reina who definitely does not want to understand what could happen. He comes to stand next to her. She watches him sitting. He becomes more tender when he begins to speak.

"You never asked me even if you must have thought it sometimes, why I chose you. And frankly, I don't know. It had to be you or someone else and it was you. And it had to be me or someone else and it was me. No other reason needed. Also, what condition is necessary to be loved, what are the actions to be taken, what morality to choose ? What if, as we have done so far, we eliminate all the questions to leave only one. I don't want to ask you how long it takes for a human to be loved or love. Just how I feel for you, I want to leave that one question alone. " He drops to his knees. Everyone in the room is silent, through the camera as well. We don't know what Reina thinks. "Reina, I want to ask you : can you give me whatever life you have left ? I want to become the husband of your life, I love you ! "

Wide-eyed, heart beating wildly, blood sprinting in the circuits, Reina is alone in herself and thinks that there may be yes and no as possibilities, the only one remains yes. So since she can't speak, she wonders if she loves enough to be heard. She searches deep within her for the yes out loud even if she has to hurt herself. She understood in Antoine's words that she did not need to know how to speak but only to exist to be loved but she wants to make her yes heard. So she searches for it deep in her lungs and her vocal cords and her jaw mimics an incomprehensible yes. As soon as she pronounces it, Antoine understands it, and the others are more surprised to have heard this moan that she pronounced.

Antoine puts the ring on her finger, the girls shout and go to join her but Frida notices that Salim is strange. He is right, as soon as the joy announced, Reina collapses.