Silent.

『 2 』

❝A Brave One❞
- - -

"Okay."

"Eh?"

"I said okay, Phoebe. I'll join you."

Celena looked at him with those blank amber eyes of hers. How can he be so calm?  

"W - We can't tell..." She couldn't finish her sentence.

But he seemed to understand her. "We can't tell anyone? Yeah, I agree. They'll only try to stop us."

"For mom." She whispered, walking towards him.

"I figured. I've been considering joining myself, but I always thought of Mom and Haki and how I can't protect them while a soldier. But at the same time, this is something I want to do. I want to be useful." Neo explained, ruffling his hair. Sometimes, it scared Celena how they thought alike.

They began to stroll again, slowly and gradually getting to the ferry. 

"You're right," Celena said after a long silence. "Being a... a stupid rich girl isn't me. I want to f - fight! For mom!"

Neo was surprised by her declaration. Her normal blank eyes had tints of determination, and he knew no one could convince her otherwise. "When did you get this idea, Celena?" He asked.

Celena froze. She knew she was too excited for this... "T - Today... This morning."

Her mouth broke into a small smile out of embarrassment; it was sporadic to see Celena break into a wide grin. Neo has yet to see one of those grins again. He remembered that she always smiled, but they were all before she was seventeen. Neo discarded the thought and laughed at Celena's awkwardness.

"Today?! Ha, you must be really serious about this!"

"W - Well... Applications end this week s - so... I thought it'll be hard to convince you!" She quickly finished her sentence after realizing that she left him hanging.

Neo halted and nodded. "Yeah, it does end this week, huh? Tomorrow I'm busy with work, but the next day, we'll go together and register. I want to work one last day, say goodbye to everyone, and maybe bring a little more cash home for Mom and Haki."

Celena noticed why he stopped. They were at the entrance to the ferry already.

"Okay."

"Bye, Celi." With a quick hug and a silent goodbye from Celena, Neo watched her go through the gate.

Celena showed the Garrison soldiers her Sina citizen ID card and entered. She glanced back at Neo, met his dark brown eyes with her dark amber ones, and then walked onto the ferry. When she disappeared into the boat, Neo turned to head back home with a churning mind.

Am I going to go through with this? He wondered as he walked past hundreds of people sleeping on the side of the street, primarily women and children, since many of the men died in the failed mission of trying to recapture Wall Maria. Can I leave Hakura and Mom all alone? But then Celena's face with her eyes of determination flashed into his mind, and he tightened his jaw. She's going to go in. And she'll need someone to watch over her. My family can understand. They love Celena too.