41st of Ashan, 721
midday
midday
"Rakahi" "Common"
"Thank you once more," Hart said to Vega's cousins. They'd arrived at Hopetoun, and they'd left the ship off the shore, rowing in because there were no docks. Ruari was holding onto Hart's leg as he rowed, her eyes a pale blue, looking down at the water. Hart needed to be mindful of the oar, not to hit her, and it would have been better if she wasn't holding onto him. But she didn't like to let go.
In the vault, Ruari had been blinded to him. Holding onto him had been a reassurance that he was there; and he had been the only option for her, then, when it came to reassurance. Hart thought, with time, that she would get better.
He thought, with time, that he would get better, too.
Holding onto his leg, Ruari looked over at him and said, "Hat, a fish!" She held the sh noise on the word fish, and Hart said, "Did you see a fish, Ru?"
"Fish fish," she said, and he smiled. One of the cousins, Reese, looked at him when he did, and Hart smiled over at him. Reese didn't smile; he didn't like Hart, or maybe it was something other than that. When Hart smiled at him, he frowned.
Hart wasn't able to tell if the frown was in disapproval, or if it was something other than that.
"I've got money," Hart said, not for the first time. He was painfully aware that he didn't have any money on him, and that, up until this point, he'd had nothing to pay the cousins for their help. "The money's in Hopetoun, if that's..." The problem, he was going to say, but another of the cousins, Huw, said, "No."
Huw smiled. "No money needed," he said. "A friend of Vega's..." Is a friend of ours. He smiled big and the other cousin, Shon, seemed to agree.
"It's just that you've been very kind," Hart said, "And I would have needed to pay for a ship, if I hadn't met you at the docks."
"It's your good fortune then, that you did meet us," Huw said, and that was that.
The rowboat made its slow way to shore, and when they'd rowed all they were able to row, Hart lifted Ruari into his arms, saying, "Up." Ruari held onto him, still looking down at the water, and Hart stepped over the side of the boat into the sea. With his other hand Hart helped drag the rowboat to shore so it wouldn't be lost to the waves. "High tide?" he asked, and Huw nodded.
The cousins had agreed that Vega would either be in Hopetoun itself, helping out with things, or at their camp just outside of Hopetoun, helping out with things. Hart smiled a bit at that, and spoke to Ruari softly as they walked toward Hopetoun. "We're going to meet Vega and Wren," Hart told her. Ruari had heard a lot about Vega and Wren. "You want down to walk, Ru?" he asked.
But Ruari shook her head, and looked around with warm brown eyes. She pointed at the buildings and the palisade surrounding them, at what seemed to be a big tree to the side of the town with a spiraling stair and a sparkling light, or maybe it was a room, on top, and Hart said, "It's Hopetoun, Ru."
"Hoptoun," Ruari said, "Up up up," and Hart smiled.
"Hopetoun," he said smiling, not Hoptoun, but Ruari said again, "Up up!" There'd been some stuffed toys in the vault, and Ruari's favorites had been a bunny and a flunny. Up up up, was something she'd said when they were playing with the toys. Hop hop hop.
Walking where the cousins pointed them, to get to the side of the palisade, the first people in Hopetoun noticed them and Hart said, "Hello there."
They were in the settlement now. Judging by its size, there weren't all that many people; Hart and Ruari were bound to be noticed by most if not all of those that lived here. But that was helpful; that meant the settlers would all know one another. It meant the settlers would know Vega and Wren. "I was hoping you'd be able to point me to a friend of mine," Hart said to one of the people who'd noticed them. "Her name's Vega. My boy, Wren, is here and..."
"Hart!" Wren said, and Hart turned and saw Wren running toward him, through the small buildings. Hart dropped to a knee in time for Wren to run to him, and Hart wrapped one arm around Wren, the boy's face in his shoulder, and held him tight.
They were quiet for a moment, neither of them speaking, just holding on. Then Hart said, "I'm sorry," as Wren held onto him. Hart kissed the boy on the side of the head, above the ear, and held him as tightly as he could with one arm. "I'm sorry I said it might be a couple of days. I'm sorry it was longer." Wren nodded against him; it had been much more than a couple of days. It had been twenty-four days, or so the others said. Somewhere in there Hart had lost time.
Hart said, "I hope it didn't feel too long."
"It didn't feel too long," Wren told him. But the boy held onto him, and Hart did too. Ruari wanted to get down, maybe because of how long Hart held onto Wren, and he let her down. She held onto his shirt with one small hand and Hart wrapped both arms around Wren.
"You'll have to tell me all about what you've been doing here," Hart said, and Wren nodded. When it was time Wren let go, and Hart looked at him, really looked at him. He brushed a hand at the boy's messy hair, and then he looked over where Wren had run from and he saw Vega.
"Vega," Hart said, and the relief was evident in his voice. He looked at Vega and smiled, and he hoped she wouldn't notice that he was tired. He was so relieved to see her, and to see Wren. But he was very tired. "Wren, Vega this is my daughter. Ruari," Hart said. Ruari looked over at them, her hand still holding tight to Hart's shirt. Standing, he wrapped an arm around Wren's shoulders, and Ruari wanted to be held. He lifted her into one arm.
"Wren," he said to Ruari, so she would know who was who, and then he looked at Vega. "Vega," he said. "I met your cousins, they've been very kind. Though on the two days over, they insisted on telling me embarrassing stories about you." Huw laughed, a low sound.
Hart smiled. He was so relieved to be in Hopetoun. But there was much more than that when he looked at Vega. There was the tiredness, and there was something like disbelief. The disbelief spoke to the things that went unsaid; not with the people from Hopetoun who'd noticed them, and her cousins, and Wren there. Things like, Contrary to what I'd thought, he'd thought he might die, Ruari and I both lived.
Hart looked at the settlement, and his eyes settled on the sparkling, spiraling tree. "It's quite beautiful here," he said. They'd both lived. They both were there.
