The weight of Years

Luna couldn't hold back anymore. Her arms wrapped around Jaden, pulling him into the kind of embrace only someone who had lost everything could give. She hugged him tight, like letting go would mean losing him all over again. Jaden didn't move at first. His hands hovered in the air, unsure. But then, slowly, he brought them down and returned the hug. Firm. Protective. Like he was making up for all the years lost.

The people around them watched in silence, the children now quiet as they stood near the pillars of the temple. The warmth that usually filled the space was now replaced with something softer—something more fragile. It was reunion wrapped in grief. Joy wrapped in scars.

Luna pulled back just enough to look at her brother's face. Her eyes were red, wet, and trembling.

"I missed you, Jaden," she said, her voice breaking. "I thought I'd lost you forever. I spent years grieving. Years hoping. Wishing. Every night I'd pray you'd somehow come back to me."

Jaden's gaze dropped for a second, his jaw tight. "I missed you too, Luna. I never stopped. I thought about you every single day. After the fall from the cliff, I couldn't move… I couldn't even scream. I was broken in ways I can't explain. Paralyzed. Waiting for death to come."

He paused, swallowing hard.

"But he didn't come. Not yet, at least. I was found by a man named Master Shang. He saved me. Nursed me back when I had nothing left—not even the will to keep living. He taught me how to fight. How to survive. I owe him my life."

Luna's hand reached up to touch his cheek, right near the edge of the scar. "Oh Jaden… I know what you've been through. I know the pain behind your eyes. Because I've lived it too. Nobody could understand you better than I do."

She looked away for a moment, staring at the golden walls of the temple.

"After Dad threw you off that cliff, something inside me died. I was just a child, but I knew it was over. I cried until my voice gave out. I didn't eat, didn't sleep. I just… stopped being me. I went down to the cliff days later. I searched. I climbed and called your name until my hands bled. But you were gone."

Jaden listened, his body still. Every word pierced deeper than the last.

"I thought maybe the river took you. That maybe you were just… washed away. I told myself you were at peace, at least. But I couldn't live with him. Not after what he did to you. Not after what he did to us."

Her voice sharpened just a little. "I ran away. I didn't look back. I wandered for days until I found this place. They took me in. Gave me a name. A purpose. These children, these women… they became my family. But even with all that, there hasn't been a day—not one—that I haven't thought of you."

She broke again, tears slipping freely down her cheeks now. "I cursed him, Jaden. Every night. I cursed that monster who called himself our father. I begged the gods to make him suffer. And I wished, over and over, that Mom was still alive. Because if she was, none of this would've happened. We'd be together. Safe. Whole."

Jaden looked at her for a long time, his eyes darker now. More storm than shadow.

"I ask myself that all the time," he said. "What did she see in him? How did she fall for someone like that? Someone who could hurt his own blood? Sometimes I wonder if she even knew what he was capable of… or if she saw it, and just couldn't stop it."

He sighed, a heavy breath that came from a place deep in his chest. "He took everything from us, Luna. Everything."

"But not this," she whispered. "He didn't take this moment. He didn't take us."

There was silence again. Not awkward. Not empty. Just filled with all the words they didn't need to say anymore.

Jaden reached for her hand. "We're not those scared kids anymore. And he doesn't get to define who we are."

Luna nodded, wiping her eyes. "No. He doesn't."

The golden lights of the temple flickered gently above them. Somewhere, a child began humming. The weight between the siblings began to lift—just a little.

It wasn't healing. Not yet.

But it was a start.