“Hey, Yamii. You all healed up?”
“Good. That means I can do this.”
Kura smacked him on the back of the head.
“WHAT WERE YOU THINKING, YOU IDIOT?! LYRA AND I WERE WORRIED SICK!” she yelled, eyes welling up with tears.
Yamii turned toward Lyra. She had her back to him, but even without seeing her face, he could tell—she was crying.
Quietly, he flew closer and pulled Kura into a hug.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured. “I just… wanted to protect you. Both of you. This whole family.”
He held her gently, his voice softer now. “I’m really sorry. For leaving like that. And for everything I did.”
Then he looked back at Lyra. “You too, Lyra. Get over here.”
Before she could argue, Yamii’s tail curled around her and pulled her into the hug.
“Nope. You’re not getting out of this.”
“Don’t fight it,” Kura added, sniffling.
“Okay. Okay. No more tears. It’s time for us to head back,” Kura said, wiping away the last of her tears.
“Yeah,” Lyra nodded. “Can’t wait for things to go back to some semblance of normalcy.”
“That’s for sure,” Kura sighed. “The family’s probably worried. Well, I know Kane probably is. And Miki… maybe?”
“Oh, Kane and Miki are definitely worried about you and I. Kane is probably pacing like heck around the house worried about me and I know Miki cares about you a lot.”
[‘Hmm… Yeah that sounds about right,’] Yamii thought to himself.