Fox Life

There was a small living room in the front, so from Iris' position in the bedroom, she couldn't see the intruder. She took in a shuddering breath and rose from the bed. Her steps were quieter than she imagined herself being capable of, but she didn't pay much attention to it.     

Sneaking through the room, she plastered herself against the wall next to the door. With a quick glance over, she realized that the stranger was a man and was standing facing away from her. The morning was early and she hadn't yet opened the curtains, so it was hard to make out his characteristics in the dim light.     

Still, he was an intruder—that was all that mattered. Without any pangs of conscience, Iris lifted the lamp higher and rushed through the door. It was better to surprise the enemy than give him the chance to attack first.     

However, she had forgotten that she wasn't alone in the hotel room. Mila chose that moment to squeal in shock, and the intruder whirled around just in time to catch Iris' attack. She struggled with him over the control of the lamp for a second before she recognized him.     

"Kyro!" she shouted out, freezing mid-motion. What was he doing in her room? And didn't Gale just say he was busy working?     

Kyro took away the lamp from her hands and put it on the table nearby. A wry smile was on his lips as he looked back at her. "Is that how much you missed me? Maybe I should have stayed behind."     

"Aren't you busy?" Iris asked. Her mind was running in circles at lightning speed, unable to make heads or tails of anything.     

Wasn't he facing problems with Dioscuri? And Homeland for helping her out? He couldn't be back! It was impossible!     

"Gale pushed a dozen tasks on me, but I thought you might forget me if I took too long. And we can't have that now, can we?" His voice was teasing, but Iris could see the gentleness in his eyes, the warmth. The words he spoke had nothing to do with his true reason for returning, and both of them knew it.     

The dam broke at that moment, and Iris rushed into his arms like a man dying of thirst to a spring of clear water. Her hands wound around Kyro like they'd never let go. He was there and real, and he had come for her despite everyone telling him it was a bad idea.     

"Thank you," she murmured through tears, no longer able to hold them back. So many things had happened since he'd left, and none of them were good. The more she learned about her origin, the less she felt like knowing it.     

Was it really that wrong to just stay ignorant but sane?     

"You don't need to thank me," Kyro said, his hands wrapped tightly around her. "I'll always be here for you."     

His words only amplified the rivers running down Iris' cheeks. She tried to stop them, but the relief she felt from Kyro's sudden presence was just too strong. It was like she'd been strung too tightly before, and now that she relaxed, she couldn't recollect herself anymore.     

Out of some instinct, she started speaking at that moment. In a broken, faltering voice, she told him about the year of nightmares. As he massaged her back and listened attentively, she spoke about how she was hospitalized and put to bed.     

Overwhelming weakness was all she could feel, but when food came, it nauseated her. Nothing stayed in her stomach. If she tried to raise up, her head grew dizzy, and nausea assaulted her as well. Her life was being kept only by various machines and IV drips.     

For a time, she even was under an oxygen mask because breathing had become a challenge for her. The medicine she was prescribed did nothing, or in worse situations sent her into agonizing pain. Every bone in her body felt like it was being broken apart from the inside. But she couldn't scream, couldn't even roll around in pain because of her weakness.     

After a year, the sickness passed away just as suddenly as it had come. The doctors didn't know what had happened and could only release her with orders for her to come back every month for check ups. She did, but they found nothing out of normal, and she soon began living a normal life.     

It was extremely hard at first, her body having lost all muscle, but she worked hard to regain her lost abilities to the point that she could do as she wished and move out. But unlike others who'd relish the second chance at life, she found it lacking. So what that she had survived? There was still no one to care about it, the fact that she was still alive.     

In the end, she found some joy in spending time with her classmates, especially Shadi and Luca, but it didn't give her a reason to exist. She lived just to live, without any goal in mind. She was expected to study, so she studied, and then she would find a job, because that was what people did.     

It was painful to speak about all that had been boiling within her for years, but also liberating in a way. She worried that Kyro would dislike her for her defeatist approach to life, but she was too far in to stop herself. It was better to rip the bandage at once.     

When she was done, Kyro opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a loud yelp a few meters from them. They looked in that direction and saw a baby weasel lying on its back and complaining loudly. Before it was the front of a pet carrier from which a black paw was extended. As Iris watched, it slowly retreated back into the cage.     

"Is that…" Iris murmured in disbelief, blinking rapidly to clear her vision     

Kyro nodded in answer. He lifted his hand and brushed the tears from her eyes. "He wanted to be here for you as well."     

A smile blossomed on Iris' lips despite all that she'd just shared. She glanced at the dark shadow in the pet carrier, then turned to Kyro. "You're the greatest boyfriend in existence, you know that, right?"