Pak

　　I`ve always struggled to evoke, but this comes easier. My mind`s river is clearer than it`s ever been, and for as much time as I spend in my head, I know its geography well. Kano plays a gentle tune, and the music keeps me grounded. I collect all my magic in my brain. I divert it to my ears. I look my father in his eyes, and I crawl into his head.

　　It`s like reading a book, in a way. It`s like I`m really there, watching his life play out, a theater in my mind`s eye, complete with sound and color.

　　My mother looks just like Grandmother, but only superficially. Grandmother`s eyes never sparkled with excitement or curiosity like hers do. Grandmother never smiled or laughed. Grandmother`s face never softened when she looked at me the way my mother`s does when she looks at my dad. In the M閟poulis, living behind my father`s eyes, it feels like she`s smiling at me, lecturing me, joking with me...

　　Her favorite colors are pink and blue, the only colors she ever wears. The books in her study aren`t just for show. I can tell she reads them all the time because they keep shifting places on her bookshelves. She picks at the skin on her lips when she`s thinking, which is why they`re always cracked and peeling. She`s more sentimental than she lets on - she never wears any jewelry, not until he gives her the Catseye and she gets it made into a necklace. She`s left-handed, like me. And the droop in her eye was definitely magic gone wrong. It`s the only type of magic that makes her nervous. She hides her nervousness well, but I can still see it in the way her shoulders tense up when she goes to demonstrate a visual spell. But she still does it, just for him. I can tell when she`s lying or hiding something, too - her face goes completely neutral, all expression dropped like a brick. I wish he wouldn`t look at her feet so much. He`s even worse at eye contact than I am. And I don`t know how he didn`t figure out she was the Widow long before what happened at the Palace. There were so many clues that he just didn`t pick up on. He`s easily distracted, I guess, and kind of an idiot in some ways. He sort of reminds me of Kano, actually...

　　I think I`ve seen his friend Adar before. There are lots of silver elves in Iridan, but his scars are very distinct. I can`t think of where I`ve seen him - maybe in the market, in passing. It seems wrong that they haven`t met up again. I`ll have to talk to him about that.

　　I come out of the M閟poulis sweaty and out of breath, and it takes some time to get used to seeing again after spending so long with his strange blind sight. But for the short time that I still have it, I see my father`s true color: the same bright, pale green as my mother`s eyes.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

　　Rorri

　　"We should do a ceremony," Pak suggested once he had fully recovered. "A memorial ceremony. You haven`t done anything like that, have you?"

　　Rorri shook his head. All he`d done was draw her from memory and wish they could still be together. But his son was right. It was time to properly lay her to rest.

　　So the two young men went to gather flowers in her favorite colors, and Rorri found a clearing with a periwinkle tree. He asked its permission to tack up her portrait (Pak picked out his best one done in magic paint), and the tree carved out a heart-shaped indent for it to go in. They scattered petals at the tree`s base, and Kano sang a song based on one of Pak`s poems, one of the few with a seed of hope, written on a rare good day from his past:

　　hold tight to things you fear that

　　you may never understand

　　some day you`ll find that what you seek

　　is trembling in your hands

　　hold tight to anyone who loves

　　whose love is given free

　　whose love can clean your wounds

　　whose love can mend your bursting seams

　　hold tight to love, and then release

　　your shaky, fearful grip

　　for love must not be bound

　　it must be free to give

　　Kano really did have a wonderful voice, Rorri thought - a gentle, soothing vessel for his loving words. After seeing how alone Pak had been for so long, to watch them lean into each other filled Rorri`s heart with joy beyond description. He couldn`t have picked anyone better for his son.