Flower of two worlds

27.- A place to call home

"Home is supposed to be the place where we feel safe and comfortable, a refuge we can return to exhausted after a long day's work, a cozy and pleasant space. Since I arrived in the new world, I only longed to go back home without realizing that I had found a second home."

Like all good things, it has to end, and so the time came when the brief time of fun came to an end. To the great disappointment of some, the time on the island ended, and it was time to go back home. Since there were several countries that had to return, a careful schedule was established for the planes to take off to their home countries.

At that moment, they were in one of the waiting rooms to board the groups from Japan and the United States, so the Americans took the opportunity to say goodbye to Sakura.

"You have to make sure to call me," said Ariett.

"Yes, I promise," Sakura assured for the tenth time.

"If you dare to forget about us, I'll go to Japan to give you the longest sermon of my life."

"I'll keep that in mind. I'll try to get in touch with you."

Ariett's eyes filled with tears at the thought of saying goodbye to a friend she had grown fond of in such a short time. Before Sakura realized it, her friend lunged towards her and gave her a tight hug while babbling a couple of incomprehensible words.

Sakura found it amusing that, since they met, Ariett had been insisting on seeing Sakura cry, and now it was she who was shedding tears. Perhaps Ariett was one of the most eccentric people Sakura would ever meet in her life, but she couldn't doubt that they had forged a crazy friendship. She returned the hug and gave her friend a couple of reassuring pats on the back.

"We'll keep in touch," she assured her.

"I set my number as your emergency contact on your phone, and it's programmed to remind you to call me at least once a day."

"Wait, what?" exclaimed Sakura, surprised.

When she reacted, Ariett had already separated from the hug, grabbed her carry-on suitcase, and handed her ticket to one of the attendants to board the plane. Sakura had no choice but to sigh and theorize about how Ariett had set up her phone to do what she said, or even when she took her phone to do whatever she wanted. She searched for her phone and, upon unlocking the screen, froze upon seeing that the screen protector showed a picture of Ariett making the peace and love sign, and upon entering the phone, the screen displayed a photo of Ariett hugging an irritated Theo.

"I think I dodged a kunai without knowing it," Sakura said, a drop of sweat rolling down her cheek as she imagined what her life would have been like if for some reason she had ended up in the United States or decided to live there.

Ultimately, each day would be a rollercoaster of emotions, though... She glanced at her Class 1-A friends, a small smile forming on her lips as she thought that each day with them was also a box of surprises, and she wouldn't change that for anything.

Seeing the photo on the screen, she made a skeptical grimace. For some reason, she felt a hint of fear that Ariett had done more than just set up those images on the screen and the reminder. She even considered the possibility of "accidentally" breaking the phone and getting a new one, as it wasn't the first time she had broken one by accident.

"Don't worry, I've already cleaned your phone and removed that setting so you don't have to call her every day. I just left those images so she doesn't realize I've intervened," almost as if he had read her thoughts, Theo approached next. "It can be annoying, but she means no harm. When she doesn't try, she can be a terrible stalker."